Eclipse Family Vacation

The sun had long set but that meant nothing to the ponies in the small city below who were enjoying their evening. Scarlet sat at the top of City Central, looking down at the city below and enjoying the view while she waited for Silver to return from his business trip. With a small sigh, she glanced down at her gauntlet to check the time, and then smiled as she slowly walked over to the purple night pony foal that was playing with some plushies a short distance away, “Orion guess who’s going to be here in a few minutes!”

The colt perked up and hopped in place, abandoning his toys for a moment as he smiled and ran over, earning another smile from the mare, “That’s right, Daddy’s gonna be home soon! Are you excited?!”

The foal responded with a big grin, jumping into the air and flapping his wings in excitement, earning a laugh from her, “Alright, calm down little buddy, Silver’s gonna be so sad if you’re all tuckered out when he gets here.”

Orion let out a happy squeak and cuddled up next to her as she draped a wing over him. She gazed back down at the city, reminiscing at how much The Oasis had grown in In just a year’s time. It had gone from a humble ghost town to a slowly growing city of their dreams, a place where imagination and creativity were more important than anything else. On the surface, the city was merely a modest example of what ponies and humans could do when they set aside their differences and worked together, but it was also a place where its scientists and researchers worked tirelessly in the hopes of making the world a better place with their projects.

It was a woefully optimistic dream, but it was something that they felt was worth fighting for. PRISM was still a fledgling group, but this city was their gift to the world. It was impossible to truly know whether they’d ever discover something that could brighten the dark future that they feared, but it didn’t matter to them, not as long as they at least tried. What started as an escape for Silver, a desperate attempt to try and make sense of his fears, had now become a goal that was becoming more and more attainable as the days went on.

In the distance Scarlet could make out a helicopter flying in, and as it neared closer she picked up Orion and took a few steps back, giving the pilot some room to land. The helicopter came to a graceful landing and a very tired looking night pony hopped out. With a running start, Orion took off, cheerfully galloping over to his father, who’s face lit up at the sight. Silver crouched down to his level and met him with a big grin, “Hey there buddy, I sure missed you!” He said as he pulled him in for a hug, then carefully lifted him onto his back.

With a big smile on her face Scarlet ran over, excitedly calling out to him, “Welcome back Silver! You get enough sleep on the ride over? I know you’re probably a little tired.”

The night pony smiled back, lightening up a little, “Not as much as I'd like, but hey at least I’m home now with my two favorite ponies.” He lifted the sunglasses he wore off of his head, and warmly embraced her, “You sure are a real sight for sore eyes you know that?”

Silver waved to the pilot and walked off of the landing pad as the helicopter departed. “You know, I really need to bring you along on one of these trips sometime, the Mariners’ lab up in Maine is starting to really show some promise, they’ve really been making some amazing progress with the Sea Castle.”

Scarlet leaned in and hugged Silver tightly, careful not to disturb Orion, “It’s great to see you too, I don’t know how you manage to stay sane after running everything here non stop.”

“Well I have you and Orion and that helps quite a bit. C’mon, let’s go take a walk.”

The two ponies started to trot back into the large tower, chatting and catching up along the way. “You know what Silver? We really need to take a proper vacation sometime, no business, no responsibilities, just you and me relaxing somewhere for once.”

Silver smiled, “Well go get ready then, I can put in a little vacation time for just the two of us. Where do you want to go?”

“Wait, you mean right now? What about Orion? I can’t just leave him here alone with a sitter.”

Silver shrugged, smiling as an idea came to him. “Well We’ll just take him along too, it could be our first big family vacation.”

“You think he’s fine to travel?”

Silver nodded. “Of course! My Grandmother took me all over the place as a kid and I turned out just fine.”

Scarlet laughed at him. “Well that’s certainly debatable.”

“So where should we go? California, Florida, Hawaii... anything in particular pique your interest?”

Scarlet paused in consideration for a few moments, “Hawaii sounds fun, but I’d rather save that trip for later. What about Michigan? You know, we never took Sapphire up on her invitation. It might be nice to show that we’re not still mad over everything.”

“Michigan? You know it’s going to be pretty cold up there right? Like colder than anything we're used to down here.”

“I think I’ll manage just fine, I mean how bad could it be?”

“Alright well if you say so… I’ll go get everything settled once we get to my office.”

The two looked out the window and over the lake in the distance, watching the residents enjoying their evening, “You know, this place sure has changed a lot over the last year… I mean that whole storm fiasco last year kind of threw a wrench in our operations for a while, but in the end it was oddly productive.”

“I’d say it worked out really well. Sapphire really lightened up once you explained that it was all one big misunderstanding.”

Silver nodded, “That’s true, it could have been so much worse right? Like thank God she’s only a pegasus, can you imagine what would have happened if a unicorn of her caliber had tried a stunt like that?”

Scarlet shook her head, “I don’t want to think about that, let’s just be glad we pissed off who we did, otherwise we’d have never made the kinds of connections that we did. How did Sunset handle your request by the way?”

“She said it was fine, but I made it very clear that if she ever does something like she did with the whole Sapphire situation again we would not hesitate to pull out of the deal. She seems a lot more welcoming in person, but I still don’t know what to make of her yet.”

She chuckled, “Maybe that sudden vacation is a good thing after all. Want me to come along with you to your office? Keep you company?”

“Don’t you have some work over in the new observatory?”

Scarlet shrugged, “Nah, the shipment got delayed again, nothing big, just a lot of complicated parts that they found defects in. Had to recall a whole truckload.”

“Well in that case, I’d really love that.”

The two continued walking down the plain hallway, an occasional door or window breaking up the bland walls.

“So did I miss anything interesting while I was gone?”

“Oh you know, nothing special, just the Neptune team making an emergency call right before you touched down. Isa wanted to speak to you over the video phone, it sounded like they ran into an issue with the Aquarius project right after you left and needed some emergency resources to make repairs.”

“Oh just approve it. Their research was starting to really show some potential when I was down there. I know they’re a bit eccentric but they’re hard workers and we need that data for the Horizon project. How’s the Helios team been handling?”

“They’ve been… handling.”

“Not good?”

The lights flickered a few times before briefly blacking out, “Not good. They’re trying though, the grid’s just having trouble holding up.”

“That’s fine. I know they’re giving it their all.”

Silver opened the door and walked in, cheerfully greeting the night pony that was waiting for him, “Hey Phoenix, I didn't realize you were part of the welcoming committee too, so what's up?”

"I don’t know how to say this Silver, so let me just rip the bandage right off. I’m stepping down. Effective immediately Patrick’s taking over as director of the Facilities and Operations division.”

Silver shifted uncomfortably.“That’s… err, ok. It’s just a little sudden," He paused for a moment, "Look, I really think you should reconsider. It’s not that I don’t think Patrick is up for the task, it’s just, well.. you’ve been such an integral part of making this place what it is and I just hope this isn’t a sign that you’re leaving.”

He nodded his head, “Silver, are you still afraid of a looming apocalypse?”

“Phoenix, what does this have—“

“Are you?” he interrupted

Silver sighed, “You know the answer to that…” He looked away. “Yes.”

“One year ago I was probably the most fearful pony there was, but look at me now. I’m confident, I’m not as fearful, and a lot of this is because of you.”

“But what does that have to do with any of this?”

“You’re afraid that I’m going to leave, and you don’t want that. You’re still afraid of change, even if you don’t consciously realize it yet. It’s only natural Silver. Fear is something that’s a part of what makes us who we are. But I could argue that change is something that’s almost equally important too.”

“So what do you think you’ve learned from my fears then?” he asked as he made eye contact.

Phoenix glanced towards the window, “That you’re a pony that cares deeply about his friends but is still trying to hold onto the illusion that you’re fearless. I’m not leaving Silver. This is my home and a dream that I feel is finally starting to come true, but I also found something in it that suits me better. I have the chance to really help other ponies this way. I was happy before but now I have the chance to really share what I’ve learned to help others. You included.”

Silver shuffled in place, finally taking a deep breath. “Maybe I am afraid of change.”

“And that’s perfectly fine. I know you’re afraid of their arrival, but you can’t let this obsession with the devourers consume your entire life. I know it’s scary, and I know you only want to help other ponies, but you need to help yourself too. If you won’t do it for your sake do it for Scarlet and Orion’s.”

“I… I’m just so worried that in the lines upon lines of calculations and predictions that we’re still missing something. What if this isn’t some far off threat? What if the Oracle project won't help us in the way it's supposed to?”

Phoenix shrugged, “We'll never know that Silver, all we really do know is that the best thing we can do right now is to try and find a solution to that threat now, in the present, if not for our sake, for our descendants sake. You’re not going to live forever Silver, so you shouldn’t let fear control your life like I did. You’re only going to miss out on the special moments in life and wonder where all the time went if you do, and then it’ll really be too late.”

“Do you think so?”

He nodded his head, “I know so. Trust me on this Silver.”

Silver nodded, “Thanks Phoenix, I really appreciate this.”

“I know you do, now go enjoy the rest of your day off, I know Scarlet’s been waiting for you.”

The sun was just barely rising above the horizon as Silver and Scarlet walked down the hallway, trying to stifle their yawns as best as they could. It wasn't often that they tried to get some rest so late at night, but it was the best way to assure that their travel plans would go as smoothly as possible and much to their delight, their foal, Orion slept peacefully on Scarlet’s back, a sight that melted Silver’s heart. They paused for a moment as a pegasus quickly flew past them in a gray blur before coming to a well practiced landing.

Scarlet looked towards Silver, smirking as she rolled her eyes, “Oh boy, this should be good.”

With a few idle flaps of his wings, Zipper slowly walked towards the couple, clearly contemplating something, “Oh hey, what’re you two up to today?”

Silver smiled, trying not to laugh, “Heya Zip, not painting your wings anymore?”

He rolled his eyes, “No. That was… that was just that one time.”

“Oh lighten up Zip, I thought it looked pretty cool. Anyways, we’re just taking that vacation you were briefed on yesterday.”

“Oh that’s today?” He asked in mock confusion.

Silver slowly nodded his head, “Yep, that’s today. So uhh, can we help you with something?”

“No… but maybe I can help you. You’re going up to the MWMP right? I was just thinking that maybe I could come along, ya know to pickup… some of the more advanced techniques so I could come back and teach the team down here…”

Silver shook his head, “That’s not quite how it works. Sure we’ll be up in the UP but we’re there strictly on vacation, for real, not like that vacation they took down here last year. At most Sapphire will probably show us around and that’s it.”

Zipper let out a sad sigh before perking up again, “Okay... but I could still stop by and try and touch base with them, you know?”

The two night ponies started walking forward, Zipper quickly following behind them. Silver shook his head once more, replying with a calm but stern tone, “I think we’re good Zip, that’s a federal program and they aren’t going to just let you fly around with them. What happened a year ago was a one time deal and we almost got washed away because of it. Besides, flights full, they’re not going to let you squeeze into the seat next to us.”

“Oh come on, are you sure you don’t need an extra set of hooves to help out on your trip? I could keep an eye on Orion if you two just wanted a little time to yourselves.”

Scarlet flashed him a warm smile, “Really, we’re good Zipper, thanks.”

“B—but…”

Silver paused, turning towards the gray pegasus, “Zipper, I know you want to come along and visit, but you’re the weather captain and your team needs you here. You knew that the job came with a lot of responsibilities when you volunteered for it. I can look at giving you some vacation time once you finish training your co captain, alright?”

“But…" He rolled his eyes and let out a loud huff, "It’s just not fair! you guys get to go up there and see Dazzle and the others…” he quickly corrected himself, “I mean you guys get to go up there and see all of the other weather ponies while I have to stay here and work!” He grumbled out in a sad tone.

Silver chuckled, “You want me to tell Dazzle you said hi?”

His face lit up, “Would you?!”

He let out a few more laughs, “Absolutely Zip, maybe I’ll see if she wants to make another trip down here.”

He jumped into the air, coming to a hover, “You’re the best, Silver!”

“Alright Zip, now please go get back to your team, they’re kind of waiting for you.”

“Sure thing Boss!” He nodded his head and zipped off into the distance, meeting back up with his team.”

Silver sat in his office with Scarlet and Orion, scrolling through his list one final time, “Alright, sunglasses… check, chargers… check… I think we’re ready… are you all ready to go Scarlet?”

“That’s the third time you asked me,” She smiled back and nodded her head excitedly, “But yes I am!”

“And you've got all of Orion’s things packed in there? I know he doesn’t need much but you know how cranky he gets sometimes.”

“I’m bringing the essentials. I’m sure they’ll be able to help if we need anything else up there.”

He nodded, “Just making sure. The last thing we need is a cranky colt on a plane without anything to distract him.”

“Hence why we’re leaving so early. So he’ll hopefully sleep the entire trip?”

He nodded his head, “Yeah, yeah, I know. You know how he can get though, waking up and crying for seemingly no reason at all. At least he’s not dreamwalking anymore.”

“No kidding, I didn’t realize that surging night ponies could do that, and I thought making sure he didn’t run around in the waking world was hard enough as it was.”

“That lecture from Sha’am sure didn’t make it any easier, at least she’s nice around foals. And at least she sent him back to his own dream before laying into me about keeping an eye on him.”

“Oh come on, I thought she was pretty tame with that, she didn’t even punish you.”

“Fair enough. We really should start heading out if we want to get there on time, I don’t know how much you’ve flown before but I have the worst luck with getting through security.”

She nodded, “Extra time to get through would be good especially with Orion.”

They stood up and trotted out of Silver’s office and headed down the hallway, up a flight of stairs, and out onto the roof, where Diamond Glider was waiting at the landing pad with a portfolio held under a wing, “Alright you two, I got your tickets all printed out, you’ll have a connecting flight at Chicago, before landing at Sawyer. I sent your itinerary ahead so they’ll be waiting. I’m sure you’ll recognize them the second you see them.”

Silver chuckled, “Ya tend to remember a pony who can summon Oasis sized storms. Thanks for getting this all set up Diamond, you’re sure you don’t mind taking over for a little while? I know it’s a lot of work.”

“Ha, you kidding? I’ve been used to doing your job for a while now,” Diamond joked. “But I’ll give you a call if anything important comes up that I need your input on, your gauntlet should still function up there, if not then I’ll just have Phoenix dreamwalk over to you.”

“Thanks again Diamond.”

“It’s my pleasure, enjoy your vacation.”

Silver nodded, patting his friend on the shoulder, “You’re the best Diamond, seriously. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

Diamond gave a quick nod as the trio walked over towards the helicopter, Orion meekly hiding behind the pair and lowering his ears in worry as they approached it. Silver looked down to the purple night pony colt that was hiding behind Scarlet and began to reassuringly talk to him, “Hey don’t worry buddy, you’re gonna have so much fun on your first big vacation.”

“As adorable as that is, I don’t think he can understand your sentiment,” she chimed in with a smile.

“But he understands the tone, right? Don’t you?” He insisted in baby talk, Orion responding with a big smile and happy little squeal. Straightening up he turned towards Scarlet, “See! Don’t doubt my highly tuned paternal instincts.”

“Hmm kay,” she replied sarcastically. “Let’s not keep the nice helicopter pilot waiting while you show off your stallion instincts, we can’t make memories if we’re standing here.”

“You’re right,” he watched as she wrapped her legs around Orion and quickly flew up into the helicopter, much to the colt’s delight.

They had made it to the Phoenix airport without any hassle, and as tired as they were, they were more than grateful for an afternoon flight if it meant that they wouldn’t have to worry about Orion causing a scene. Checking in was an easy enough process, almost easier than what he had remembered from his past experiences, and before they knew it they were making their way to the security checkpoint.

Orion was peacefully asleep on top of Scarlet’s back, much to their relief. If there was one really great thing about becoming a pony it was being able to go through the security checkpoint with ease. No shoes or belts to remove and they didn’t pack as much so didn’t need to pay for more luggage. Not wanting to press his luck, Silver quickly put the single small bag they had packed onto the conveyor, and walked forward. As if on cue Orion chose this moment to stir awake, drawing annoyed looks from all around when he began to cry and make a fuss.

Silver flashed a frantic embarrassed look and quickly ushered the two through, grabbing his bag with a wing on the way out of the checkpoint. Scarlet was able to soothe him quickly, ending the tantrum almost as fast as it began. Silver gave a sigh of relief and helped lay Orion across her back again and they continued over to their gate.

“Thank God you got him calmed down, I was worried that we were going to be that family whose kid just screams the entire time” He looked around, letting a big smile come across his face, “I don’t know about you but I’m so excited for this!” he enthusiastically shouted before snapping a couple quick photos, gaining some annoyed looks for the outburst from nearby travellers.

Scarlet looked around at the travelers that were now looking directly at them. “Silver, I get that you’re excited, but do you really need to document every single leg of the journey? I mean we haven’t even left the state yet.”

“Of course! It’s our first big family trip, we’re going to want to remember this forever!”

She smiled and shook her head, “You’re such a goofball, let’s go find a spot to rest, I know I could sure use it.”

He nodded his head, letting out a few yawns, “Yeah, me too.”

Good morning everyone, this is the pre flight announcement for flight 82 from Phoenix to Chicago, please gather your belongings and have your boarding passes ready, we will be boarding in just a few minutes. Thank you.

The pre flight announcement was enough to pull Silver from his nap, but Scarlet and Orion were still peacefully asleep next to him. He reached over and gently shook Scarlet awake.

“What is it Silver?” She asked with a yawn.

“They just gave the pre flight announcement, we should get ready. Wanna trade?” he asked as he looked down at the sleeping foal by his side.

“Nah, he looks so happy right now, I wouldn’t want to ruin this precious moment.”

He smiled and stood up, carefully lifting Orion as to not wake him, “Wanna give me a hoof?”

“You want him up on your back?”

“Yeah, just so he can stay nice and comfortable. We can settle him down when we’re on the plane.”

Scarlet gently deposited the sleeping foal on his back and he adjusted his wings to act like guards so Orion wouldn’t fall of. “Want me to go first then?”

“Yeah go ahead, I’ll let you handle the tickets.”

They trotted towards the line, waiting their turn to board.

Scarlet greeted the attendant with a smile, handing over their tickets and waving Silver over, “We’re all set to go in the pony section, three seats on the outside.”

He walked down the gangway and onto the plane, cheerfully greeting the attendants along the way. He moved forward into the pony section and stashed their bag under one of the cozy seats, carefully laying Orion down on the middle seat. The pony section was still a weird sight to get used to, instead of the standard seats, there were rows of what almost looked like cushions with lower seat backs spaced out in rows, that sat closer to the floor.

Content that he wasn’t going to suddenly wake, Silver and Scarlet took their seats and settled down for the long day of travel ahead of them, excited for their first big trip. He glanced over to Orion and Scarlet, who had already begun to fall into a peaceful sleep and smiled. He made himself comfortable, and closed his eyes and fell into a relaxing, dreamless sleep.

Orion was wide awake as they began their final descent at their destination, nose pressed firmly against the window with a wide-eyed expression. Below them a sea of green trees stretched out as far as they could see, gently rising up to meet them. Silver shared a glance with Scarlet and laughed, “He really takes after me, my grandmother always told me that I looked like that when I used to fly as a kid.”

“Well now you can tell her that goofy wide-eyed expressions run in the family.”

“She’s gonna love to hear that, Mom and Dad will too... quick, get a picture! They’re going to kill me if I don’t snap this for them!”

She chuckled, “You sure you shouldn’t have taken the name Shutterbug? You’d think that three dozen photos of a plane ride were enough.”

“But that’s not enough! We’ve gotta remember this forever!”

She smiled and shook her head, “Alright shutterbug. You better sit upright because we’re about to land.”

He nodded and faced forward, tapping on the seat with his hooves in excitement.

“You excited?” Scarlet asked rhetorically as she slid the camera back into their bag.

“Do you even have to ask that?”

She chuckled, “No.”

Orion lost all sense of bravery as they walked down the noisy arrival corridor and out into the gate area, keeping close underneath Silver’s hooves and nearly tripping him several times. “It’s okay little buddy,” he said reassuringly as he gave the foal a nuzzle.

Even for a pony the gate area was small, it had enough seats for just one flight but had gates for two planes to be loaded. The TSA screener was right next to a glass door that went out into a larger airport space. With the rest of the passengers already streaming out through the doors, he encouraged Orion to follow and headed out with Scarlet. Much of the crowd immediately took a left to head through a larger waiting area to the baggage claim area.

Which gave them an easy view straight out the main doors and over to Sapphire Sky and her family waiting. The blue mare was sitting on the floor with a sign saying Eclipse Family resting against her forelegs. Her fiance, Crescent Shadow sat next to her with a green pegasus filly peeking her head out from between his legs.

Silver had thought Sapphire was the most well muscled pegasus he had ever met but the black furred Crescent looked like he could take on an earth pony. Which he supposed was fitting as the pony was from Luna’s guard.

Silver gestured towards her their host and leaned down to get down to Orion’s eye level, “Alright buddy, I need you to be on your best behavior when we meet miss Sapphire, she’s being very nice and invited us over for our vacation, can you do that for me?”

Orion took a moment where he appeared in intense concentration before he responded with a big grin and happy flap of his wings.

The group worked their way over to the pegasus, Scarlet leading the charge, “Sapphire, you weren’t kidding when you said this airport was small.”

The pegasus smiled, “It’s cozy. So how was your flight? Hopefully you all got some rest on the way over. Better visit the bathroom before we head out for the hotel, it’s about a thirty minute drive.”

Silver nodded, gesturing down to the excited colt, “Sure did, Orion slept almost the whole way, woke up about an hour ago,” He looked towards Crescent and smiled, “I don’t believe we’ve met before, I’m Silver Eclipse, this is my wife Scarlet, and our foal Orion.”

“Greetings, I’m Crescent Shadow and this little filly here is Aurora,” he greeted with an Equestrian accent and gestured down towards the filly with a wing. The young pegasus was watching everything with bright hazel green eyes but refused to come out from underneath her father’s legs, “Sapphire’s told me all about you.”

“Good things I hope?” He said with a nervous chuckle.

He chuckled and nodded his head.

Scarlet broke in with a question. “You’re into astronomy right? I would love to hear about Equestria’s stars if you have time.”

“I have a couple books that I could show you,” he responded with a small smile as Scarlet lit up at the prospect of having access to actual Equestrian astronomy books.

She excitedly nodded her head, “I’d love to take a look at them! Thank you so much, I wish I had thought to bring some of my own.”

Looks like everypony is going to get along well, Silver thought to himself, as he looked over to Sapphire, “So where are we staying anyways?”

“Normally I would have you stay at my home. But I thought some place a little closer to the nightlife and fancier would be nice. I know how hard it can be to fly around with a young foal. So I got you a room at the Landmark Inn. It’s right downtown so it’s easy to get around and has one of the best views of the lake.”

“Thank you so much for setting up this trip, it’s so nice to get away from work and see someplace new.”

Sapphire smiled, “We’re glad to have you.”

“I can’t wait, this is going to be so much fun!” He excitedly shouted as Sapphire led them out of the terminal. Or intended to up until Orion started whining and getting in his way. “I guess we do need to visit the restroom.”

“Alright, everyone good to go now?” Silver asked as he looked over towards the now content Orion.

Scarlet nodded her head, “Yep, I’d say so.”

Sapphire cleared her throat, “Well if you’re ready, our ride’s waiting.”

Silver nodded and waved a wing towards the door, “Lead the way.”

“Mhmm.”

The group began to walk towards the door, Silver nudging Orion along when he would stop and look around every few steps. As happy as he was that the colt was so curious at his new surroundings, he was beyond ready to just unwind and relax. Planes were definitely more comfortable as a pony, but it was still an exhausting experience.

He smiled at the colt and continued to usher him along, “Hey buddy I know this is all really cool for you but you’re gonna keep Miss Sapphire waiting. You wanna ride on my back?”

The colt stopped and looked up towards him, slowly nodding his head.

He looked over towards his wife who was idly chatting away with Crescent Shadow. “Hey Scarlet can you give me a hand here?”

She smiled and looked over towards at Orion, “Is our little adventurer tuckered out already? Well we can’t have that now can we?”

Orion ran over as she lifted him up onto Silver’s back.

He quickly glanced back, “Is the little traveler happy now?”

Scarlet gave him a quick nod, “Seems like it to me.”

“There’s more to see outside.” Sapphire called back towards them.

Scarlet let out a few laughs, “Sorry for the hold up, we’re just making sure our little adventurer’s all settled and happy. This is a big change for him and he’s probably wondering why it’s so cold up here.”

Silver nodded in agreement, “Y’know she’s got a point there, this is the first time he’s been out of the desert after all.”

Sapphire gestured towards the open car door, “Tell me all about it in the car, do you need anything for Orion?”

Silver shook his head, “He should be good for now, to be honest, I think he’s just excited to see everything here. There’s not a lot of foals out in the Oasis yet so he’s probably not too sure about having an actual playmate for once either.”

“Poor little guy. Once Aurora makes up her mind on him, I’m sure she’ll warm up to him” Sapphire nudged the filly who was giving Orion suspicious glances.

The trio hopped into the back seat and cuddled up next to one another, with Orion sitting between them. He began to fidget around, but quickly settled down as the car started to pull away.

“So how’s everything been up here? Still keeping your team on that rigorous program?” Silver asked as he laid a wing over Orion.

“Equestrian certified program, they wish it was still the old regiment. Earth’s weather doesn’t require as much micromanagement as Equestria so we came up with a few ways to fill the day out Have your pegasi picked up their training seriously?”

“A little begrudgingly I think, but the results really show. If they have a problem with it then they sure haven’t said anything about it.”

“That’s good, let Dazzle know if they’re slacking off, I’m sure she’d love to request some time off to go run them ragged. Anything else interesting happening?”

“Well it hasn’t really changed much since you last visited, we upgraded our grid a little, but the real big change is that the land around the lake’s a lot more developed now. Turns out there was a whole network of abandoned mineshafts under where we decided to build, and some of them wound up caving in. We had to get some inspectors in to make sure nothing else was at risk of collapsing, but it was all fine. Gave a few night and earth ponies the bright idea to start carving out a cool underground hangout in a safe area. While you may have gone a little overboard with that whole storm, in the end it actually helped us identify some big issues we weren’t aware of, and gave us a nice place to cool off. It’s actually become one of our favorite hangout spots, we even decided to have our house built near it.”

“And Orion sure loves to splash around in the water too. He acts like its a race whenever we head down there and I wish he was always that adorable.” Scarlet added in.

Silver looked down to the colt curled up next to him, “That’s right, you’re our little sea pony aren’t you?”

The colt responded with a big grin and a series of giggles.

Scarlet rolled her eyes, “Considering Yinu’s the only sea pony we’ve ever seen, maybe we shouldn’t be making that connection.”

Silver nodded, “Right… I forgot that she’s a bit… much at times. Probably not a great idea to accidentally summon her when we’re talking about our foal.”

“Well if you like that lake, you may get a little enamored with Superior. The old ore dock is really going to be worth the trip. Not far from the Landmark and all the winged ponies hang out there to unwind,” Sapphire cut in.

Scarlet looked out of the window, eyeing the unfamiliar species of trees that were passing by, “I’m not sure what an ore dock looks like.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see it from the hotel.”

“I really can’t wait to check it out, I’m kind of a nut for old stuff like that.” Silver added in.

Their van powered its way up a short but steep hill and turned into the parking lot alongside a tall brick building with Landmark Inn emblazoned on the side, and came to a stop underneath a coach gate. The hotel almost reminded Silver of some of the old buildings he had seen around Flagstaff when he had visited before ETS. Without even seeing it for more than a few moments, he was already in love with the place and excitedly shifted in his seat.

“You want some help getting checked in?” Sapphire asked, interrupting Silver’s daydream. “It’s your vacation, how much hooves on do you want me to be?”

Silver shared a quick glance with Scarlet. “We appreciate the help but I think we’ll be able to handle this.”

“Gotcha, the reservation’s under your name, and you get some sleep before dinner. Think we’ll head home for a bit so Aurora can have a quick nap before her foalsitter shows up.”

Silver nodded, shivering slightly as he finally started to feel the cold air, “Thanks Sapphire. Does dinner at 8 work for you? We can check out some of the sights after if you’re not too tired.”

She nodded her head, “Already have a reservation setup, I’ll meet you in the lobby and we can all head over later.”

Silver smiled, “Can’t wait.”

The trio hopped out of the car and took a moment to make sure that Orion was ready to go. Silver led his family through the door into a gorgeous wood lobby and took a moment to gawk at the high ceiling and expensive looking chandeliers. Realizing he’d have time to inspect it better later, he continued trotting across the tiled floor to the front desk and greeted the unicorn attendant with a warm smile, “Hi, we have a reservation under the name Silver Eclipse.”

The attendant nodded, “Just a minute please.” He used his magic to navigate through the computer, “Ah yes, Mr. Eclipse. You’ll be in one of our guest suites, room 62.”

Silver nodded, “Thanks Mr…” he looked down towards the desk, hoping to find a nametag or name plate so he could properly thank the attendant.

“Scribbles.” The unicorn finished for him.

Silver smiled, “Thank you, Scribbles, I really appreciate the help.”

“You are very welcome, if you need anything please do not hesitate to ask.” Scribbles responded with a warm smile that made Silver feel a little more welcome and a lot less out of place.

The trio took a short trip over to the elevators and headed up to their floor, trotting down the long human sized hallway to their room, pausing so Silver could open the door. He lifted his foreleg up to the key reader and opened the door, happy that the hotel had pony compatible door handles. As they flipped on the lights they were immediately in awe of the large guest suite. Right off the bat, Orion began to explore the unfamiliar setting, sniffing about as he shoved his head in every nook and cranny, much to the duo’s delight.

Scarlet slowly walked around the suite, taking in their cozy accommodations, “This is a little more than what I thought we were getting…”

Silver chuckled, “What? You thought we’d be staying in some small motel room? I mean it is Sapphire after all, she definitely seems like the type to make sure her friends are comfortable.”

“Don’t you think this might be a bit much though, I mean do we really need a whole separate bedroom? This is more like an apartment than a hotel room.”

Silver shrugged and looked over to the young colt who had exhausted his need to explore and was now making himself a pillow fort with the cushions that were scattered throughout the room, “Probably not, but it looks like Orion’s already staked his claim on the couch, I think that leaves the bedroom for us.”

“Do you think… I mean should we stop him?” She asked as the pair looked on at the colt, who was now happily snuggled up in his fort.

Silver shook his head, “Nah, look how happy he is, he’s fine as long as he’s not breaking anything or causing trouble.”

Scarlet nodded and wandered over towards one of the windows, eagerly glancing out over the lake, “I really can’t wait to get out there and start exploring.” she gushed.

He joined her by the window, “ Yeah, it’s really amazing isn’t it? That dock she was talking about looks really cool too, I definitely can’t wait to check that out. We’ll need to show off the next time she’s down our way, let her stay in the new VIP villa, I’m sure she’ll love the lakeside view.”

Silver wandered into the bedroom and paused, eyeing the bed longingly, “Orion’s got the right idea, I’m definitely good for a nap right now.”

Scarlet replied with a long yawn, “Same, it wouldn’t hurt to get some more shut eye before we explore a little.”

Silver went about the suite closing the drapes while Scarlet removed her bag, and hopped up onto the bed. Stretching out, he let out a relaxed sigh. “Oh I could definitely get used to this. Do you think we could get a king when we get back home?”

She smiled and shook her head, “Silver, we don’t need a king sized mattress.”

“Oh come on, you don’t even know what you’re missing, it’s like sleeping on a giant cloud!”

Scarlet laughed, “You can’t even sleep on clouds, how would you know?” Scarlet hopped up and sunk into the soft mattress. She curled up and made herself comfortable, “But alright, maybe we can look at getting a new mattress when we get home.”

He lazily raised his foreleg to speak into his gauntlet, “Navi, Set an alarm for 7:30pm” After checking that the alarm had been set, he let out a few yawns and rolled over to curl up next to her, “See you in a few hours.”

“Night.”

The alarm on Silver’s gauntlet rang out, echoing in the dark room and causing him to reflexively flap his ears for a moment before waking from the much needed rest. Silver stopped the alarm and sat up in the bed, letting out a yawn before heading towards the window and taking a quick peek through the drapes. As he shifted out of the bed Scarlet started to stir as well, taking a quick peek at the bedside clock.

“Is it time already?” She asked in between yawns.

Silver turned back towards her and gave a slow nod, “Yeah. I was just taking a look outside. The area’s even more beautiful at night, I can’t wait to get out there.”

While they would normally be a little groggy and tired, they were both far too excited to get out and start exploring the local sights. Feeling relaxed and refreshed, the pair slowly trotted towards the living room, noticing that Orion was still comfortably curled up in his little fort.

Silver smiled, “Isn’t that adorable? I almost wonder what he’s dreaming about this time.”

“Maybe a mountain of plushies and candy? What more could he want?” She paused for a moment, “Do you think we should wake him up?”

Silver glanced down to the gauntlet on his foreleg, slowly shaking his head, “Nah, we’ve got some time until we’re supposed to meet up, he looks so peaceful right now, I’d hate to ruin it for him.”

“Alright, but just keep an eye on the time, I’m really itching to get out there. Crescent was saying that the sky is really clear at night, it should give us a really awesome view of the stars!”

“More awesome than out in the open desert?”

She shrugged, “Maybe, I won’t really know until I get a chance to really get a feel for it, but you’d be amazed at how a few variables can change the whole experience.”

“I’ll take your word for that, you are the astronomy expert after all.”

“Oh come on, you’re at least getting better with it.”

Silver smiled, “Well it helps that I have such a great teacher. We’ll have to do some stargazing later.”

Scarlet smiled, “I’m going to hold you to that.”

Silver and Scarlet sat in front of the quaint fireplace with Orion snuggled up in between them while they waited for Sapphire. It was colder than what they were used to, but being covered in fur definitely helped. The two had packed scarves which were currently wrapped around Orion.

Scarlet looked away from the fire for a moment, “Hey do you mind if I take a look around the lobby?”

Silver shook his head, “Go for it, I’ll keep an eye on Orion. Just let me know when Sapphire gets here.”

Scarlet trotted off, leaving Silver alone with Orion for a little while. For a moment Silver was tempted to join along, but Orion looked so comfortable and he didn’t want to pull him away from that. Before long Scarlet trotted back over with Sapphire and Crescent in tow. “Ready to go Silver? I don’t know about you but being cooped up in this lobby’s a little boring.”

“Absolutely, I’m starving.” He looked over to Sapphire, “So where are we going anyways?”

“A nice local place called the UpFront. It’s not too far, just a few minutes away. What’s with the scarves? Are you cold??”

Silver looked towards Scarlet, “A little, I think I should be fine with just a scarf, we might want to grab something for Orion so he doesn’t get too cold though.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’d be interested in some sweaters,” Sapphire nodded knowingly.

Scarlet nodded and turned back towards Sapphire, “We’d love that. Silver thinks he’s fine but you better grab him one too just incase.”

Silver was about to object but instead nodded his head, “Yeah… that might be a good idea. It’s kind of been a while since I’ve been up north.”

“We won’t be going too far tonight so you should be fine, I’ll scrounge something up for you tomorrow.”

Scarlet smiled as the group began to walk towards the door, “Thanks Sapphire, we really appreciate this.”

As they stepped out into the cold, Orion began to slow down, quickly impeding Silver’s progress.

Sapphire looked down at the shivering colt that was trying to hide between Silver’s legs with a look of concern, “I can draw heat in around me, if you want I could carry him over there so he won’t get too cold.”

Scarlet nodded her head, “We’d really appreciate that.”

“Sure, I just want to make sure you’re all comfortable, I know it’s actually cold here and not the hot desert you’re used to.”

Silver nodded and stepped around him, “Okay buddy I know you really want to look around but Miss Sapphire’s going to keep you nice and warm until you have a sweater.” He calmly said as he carried the purple colt over towards Sapphire and set him on her back. He began to fidget around until he felt the comforting warmth, and quickly settled down.

Happy that Orion was content, Silver spoke up again, “So you said it’s only a few minutes away? I don’t want to be rude but I’d love to get going, we’ve kind of only had airplane food today and that’s definitely not the best.”

“I think it might be worth the wait.” Crescent responded.

As they trotted down the street Scarlet jumped into more talk about astronomy with Crescent while Silver excitedly looked around at the different buildings that lined the downward sloping street. The ones immediately surrounding the hotel were brick with simple accents and a beautiful white stone church. Further down the hill at the next intersection with a stoplight was a newer glass office building surrounded by ones made out of a red stone. A clock tower on a five story one made of dark red stone and bricks had a brightly lit clock tower perched on the nearest corner with copper surrounding it weathered into a beautiful green.

Silver struggled not to fly up and inspect the buildings closer as they stopped to wait for the light so a small amount of cars and a bus could use the intersection. “Man… I’d love it if the Oasis had a few buildings with… character like this. No offense to our architect but you just can’t beat the old stuff.”

“There used to be a lot of big money here. I took a class in college and we toured all the old mansions here. I’ll take you on one tomorrow evening,” Sapphire explained as they waited.

“Tempting me with history stuff? If we weren’t tied down to the Oasis I’d absolutely think about moving here.”

“Pity, I’ll need to try harder.”

“I’m sure we’ll enjoy a tour, doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to exhaust everything on just one visit.”

The group continued to walk down the street, turning left onto a street with a steeper slope to arrive at a large two story building with the restaurant. Ponies of all tribes were hanging around it and faint music could be heard coming from within. As they left the sidewalk to head down a short flight of steps inside, a light green unicorn waiting inside at a small desk broke into a cheerful greeting.

“Good evening, welcome to the Upf—” She began to start, pausing once she noticed Sapphire, “Oh! Hi Sapphire, we’ve got your table all ready, Emily is already waiting.. Are these the out of state friends?”

She nodded, “Evening Lotus, I found these strange desert ponies from Arizona wandering around town, I guess they needed a break from the heat and decided to come hang out where there’s good weather.”

Lotus turned towards Silver and Scarlet, “You guys actually live out in the desert?”

Silver smiled and nodded, “Yep, it’s not the most comfortable place but it works for us. That said I’m glad to be somewhere cool for a change.”

“Well your table’s right over this way, it has excellent acoustics for the band.” Lotus happily trotted through a tall arched doorway, leading them into a sizable dining area arranged around a center dance floor with four big brick pillars framing it. The style was definitely based around all the exposed brickwork of the walls with soft yellow lighting that wasn’t too bright for a night pony. At the far end of the dancefloor a band of ponies were playing instruments on a small stage while a few dancers moved to the beat. Orion lagged behind briefly as he stopped to stare at himself in the heavily polished floor.

Lotus lead them towards a booth where Emily was already seated with menus already spread out on the table. “Alrighty, you all enjoy yourselves!” she cheerfully chirped. “Your server will be with you in just a minute.”

Scarlet took a seat next to Emily, while Silver took a booth seat with Orion next to him, who seemed to be more interested in trying to peek over the booth to get a better look at the unfamiliar surroundings. She immediately turned towards Emily, cheerfully greeting her while Sapphire and Crescent filled in the empty seats. “Hey Em, it’s great to see you again, how have you been?”

The pastel night pony returned a warm smile, “I’ve been great, I bet you’re happy to finally be out of that hot desert” She looked over towards Orion, “And I see you two have a new little friend with you, what’s his name?”

Silver smiled and pulled the curious colt in close to him with a wing, “Orion. It was Scarlet’s idea, he’s named after our favorite constellation.”

“Well that’s a cute name, so I take it your still into astronomy?” She asked as she turned back towards Scarlet.

Scarlet perked up, “Oh absolutely, Crescent’s been letting me borrow a few of his astronomy books from Equestria and it’s kind of hard not to photocopy and document every single page.”

“Are you able to read Equestrian?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Scarlet nodded, “Well… kinda… sorta. It’s still a bit rough but I think I’m getting better.”

“She’s been filling notebook after notebook just with all her little translations and comparisons between our stars and theirs. I didn’t realize there was that much to write about.” Silver added.

“Oh it’s nothing really, I just want to make sure I’ve got everything noted down and cross referenced.”

Emily shrugged, “I don’t know, your own private library on another universe’s stars is something to brag about if you ask me. Nobody would have been able to say that a couple years ago.”

“Well… alright it kind of is.” She added in agreement.

“And the Oasis? How are things out in the desert?”

Silver nodded, “Well, we had a few… setbacks after Sapphire’s little storm, but on the bright side the Lake’s been holding and the river’s been circulating the water enough that it hasn’t gone stagnant. The Earth ponies are doing a fantastic job at keeping all the plant life going too, the whole area’s turned into an actual Oasis.”

“That’s good to hear, Sapphire’s been known to go a little overboard sometimes.” Emily leveled a smirk at the pegasus who frowned playfully in response.

Silver glanced over towards Sapphire, “It was definitely one hell of an introduction. A bit scary to be honest, but it turned out well enough in the end.”

“I’m happy everything is going well, hopefully you’ll be able to move past dealing with that manipulative unicorn.” Sapphire added in with a smile, referring to Sunset Blessing.

“Yeah… well we still have to keep that whole partnership up for now, at least until we’re done paying her back. She has sent us some interesting projects though, stuff that’s almost worth dealing with her shenanigans for, and besides, there was a change in management after that whole incident and she assured me that that wouldn’t happen again. Don’t know what to really make of it, but if it makes you feel any better we’ve been looking into other partnerships and options going forward.”

“You can tell a lot about a pony by whose company they keep,” Sapphire shook her head but didn’t comment any further, instead choosing to change the subject. “So is that pegasus that kept trying to impress Dazzle still running the team?”

Silver smiled, “Yep. Zipper’s still… well, Zipper, but he’s definitely keeping them in line and trained. I was kind of worried that he wasn’t going to really be up for the task but when he’s determined to get something done he’ll get it done, no matter the cost.”

“Good to hear. If he needs any motivation, tell him if I hear he’s slacking off that I’ll make another surprise visit.”

“I sure will.” He paused for a moment, “This is a bit of an odd request but could you tell Dazzle that he said hi, I kind of promised that I’d pass it along.”

Before the conversation could continue further a white pegasus trotted up to them. “Howdy, I’m Snow Comet and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start y’all with anything to drink?”

Silver glanced around, “Well uh.. We’re kind of from out of state, what do you guys have?”

“Well we’ve got Sparkling Rain, Paradise Punch, Mint Dream, Celestial Cider, Moonlight Mango—”

“Moonlight Mango please, I’ll have one,” Silver answered a little quickly.

Comet nodded, “Mhmm. And for the rest of you?”

“I’ll have one too.” Scarlet added

Sapphire nodded, “Celestial Cider for me.”

Comet looked over towards Crescent, “And for you?”

“Sparkling Rain please.”

“Water please.” Emily added.

Snow Comet nodded and walked away, giving the group some time to catch up. As Scarlet began to ask Crescent another round of astronomy questions Silver began to look around the room, taking in the different ponies and humans that were enjoying their evening. Out of the corner of his eye Silver noticed a pair of partials deep in discussion, without thinking his ears pivoted to hear them better, letting the music and conversation fade into the background.

“I just don’t know, I want to get it over with but you heard about the issues ponies have been having getting back right?”

“What’s more important though? Being uncomfortable here or being comfortable but stuck there?”

“I just don’t know, I mean we have our whole lives here… it’s a lot to give up.”

“But we’re not comfortable like this. Whatever happens we’ll work through it together.”

“I know, it’s not fair we’re being punished for not wanting to rehumanize.”

Silver blinked a few times and stopped focusing on the conversation as he looked over towards Sapphire. “Hey Sapphire, what's the whole partial situation?”

She raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“Well I don’t want to sound like I’m eavesdropping but I just overheard a couple talk about getting stuck in Equestria if they want to fully transform.”

“Oh, that. Surprised you haven’t heard about it. Princess Twilight negotiated it so that any partial who wishes to be a pony can go to Equestria to receive the spell. Since no ETS spell is allowed on Earth, it’s an easy work around. Problem is that once they’re there, they get stuck behind so much red tape to return home that they may as well be exiled with no way of knowing when they can ever return.”

“Wait, but what about you? I mean you go there and come back home just fine.”

She shook her head, “It's different… those bigots who tied it up don’t care if you’re one or the other, but they don’t want partials to ever think becoming a pony is acceptable so they’ll punish them for it anyway they can to encourage them to make the right choice. It’s one of the few ways they have left to do it after the original treaty. I only get fast passed for travel because of my daughter.”

“I didn’t know how bad it really was, that sounds awful.” He paused for a moment, “Sorry if this kind of killed the mood, I didn’t mean for this whole conversation to get so… serious.”

“It’s fine, it’s better that you at least know now.”

“So Emily, did you wind up dreamwalking more? That vision you showed me while you were down in the Oasis was such a cool little trick.” Scarlet added in, trying to change the subject.

She looked around and shook her head. “Not really, it’s just not really my thing. I mean mass brainwashing isn’t really a good talent to have.”

“But you turned the vision into something so beautiful, don’t you think there’s something else you can do with it?”

She shrugged, “I mean, sure, I guess it could be useful for something, but it’s not really something I can turn into a career.”

“Well what do you do now?” Silver asked in curiosity. “And where’s Will?”

“I’m Sapphire’s night assistant and he’s off doing a… thing with some family in New York so he won’t be back until next week.”

“That’s too bad, tell him I said hi the next time he’s around,” Silver stopped to think about Emily’s job, thinking back to his own plans for his talent. “Well maybe it doesn’t have to be for a career. Can’t you have a hobby?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember Somewhere?”

She nodded her head, “Yeah, what about it?”

“Well I was kind of thinking of using it to help teach others. I have this big persistent space with no real barriers, that’s kind of the perfect way to bring ponies together and I’m really just using it as my own little personal sandbox right now. It could be so much more though, like the perfect classroom if you think about it. Maybe you could use your vision talent for something like that?”

“A... dream classroom?”

“I don’t think he meant it that way Em. The vision changed the way we thought right? What if you kind of did something good with that like using it to teach someone a skill? They’d have to agree of course, but once they did you could help them learn through it.” Scarlet added in.

Silver nodded, “Kind of like putting the important information right into their heads, I mean hell I would have loved to have that as a foal.”

Emily shrugged, “I could, but that sounds almost like another full time job doing something I’ve never done and don’t really enjoy doing.”

“Sounds like a job… all joking aside, think about it. I just wanted to do something productive with my talent, and I figured that if I could do something unique I might as well put it to good use.”

She nodded her head. “I’ll think about it. It’s going to take some time to get used to the idea, but maybe there is some good I could make from it.”

“It doesn’t have to be anything right now, just do what you’re comfortable with when you’re comfortable doing it.” Scarlet added reassuringly.

Their dinner arrived as the discussion shifted to less heavy matters like Orion’s pillow fort, and the group had quickly dug in. Silver made sure that Orion was eating instead of playing with his food while Scarlet looked on at the band on stage with a cheerful look on her face. There wasn’t much conversation in between, but the couple didn’t mind at all, they were just happy to have an actual meal from a restaurant with a large menu.

Pleased that Orion had finished his meal without any issues Silver looked back towards the group. “So what’s the plan now? I can’t imagine that you two are going to hang out with us all night.” Silver asked as he gestured towards Sapphire and Crescent.

Emily began to speak up, “I’ll be showing you around, there’s some cool little hangouts around here that you might like.”

“Like the ore dock? Sapphire brought that up earlier and it looks really impressive from what we’ve been able to see.” Scarlet asked.

Emily nodded her head, “That was first on the list, we can head over right after dinner if you want to start with it. Is Orion going to be okay with the cold though?”

Silver nodded while looking towards Scarlet, “Yeah I think so. Sapphire was keeping him warm on the way over but Scarlet had the idea of taking our scarves and bundling him up for tonight. Sapphire said she’d try and get us some sweaters tomorrow but this should hopefully work for tonight.”

“I don’t think he’s going to like it too much, but I think he’ll like it a lot more than being out in the cold all night.” Scarlet added in.

“And if it doesn’t work we’ll just hang out inside somewhere. We’re not too worried about missing one night of our trip.”

Emily nodded her head, “We’ll give it a try, there is a store nearby we could probably pick something up. Will just need to decide before it gets too late, they are only open till eleven.”

Full and content, the group stepped outside. Orion had started to fuss about at being bundled up so tightly, but quickly settled down once they were out in the cold and the lower temperature began to set in.

Scarlet chuckled, “See? I told you he’d settle down once we got out here.”

“Well I’ll make sure you have a few sweaters tomorrow. So you guys wanted to check out the ore dock?” Sapphire asked.

Silver nodded, “Yeah, it looks pretty cool.”

“Alright, we’ll stick around long enough to get you there, but then Crescent and I will need to head out for the night. Emily can show you all the night sights though.”

“Perfect, well I’ll let you lead the way Sapphire.”

She nodded, gesturing over to the towering structure, “Well… it’s right this way.”

The group moved along, with Orion keeping close to Silver and Scarlet, though this time he wasn’t pausing to shiver constantly. It wasn’t an ideal solution, but bundling him up in a pair of scarves would at least work for tonight, and the two could at least deal with the cold for now.

“Well here we are, the old ore dock.”

Silver and Scarlet craned their necks up to get a better view of the towering structure, in awe of how massive it really was now that they were up close. Like a giant heavy concrete rib cage, it rose up out of the water almost a hundred feet into the air. They could see clear through the structure to the far end facing out towards the lake. Big metal chutes lined the upper half of the exterior and they could make out ponies flying to and from a flat roof. Silver thought the heavy bare bones industrial design stood out in stark contrast to the quaint brick buildings they had just walked by, but to him it was just as impressive. Almost like some retro Sci-Fi creation by someone imagining what might be, even though it was probably built a hundred years ago. To put it simply, he was in love with it.

Sapphire smirked, “Well go ahead, you can fly around here if you want, it’s not like anyone’s going to stop you.”

Silver looked back over to her, “Do you want to show us around? I mean I don’t even know where to start with this.”

She shook her head, “Emily can, I hate to just leave you guys, but it’s getting a bit late for us. We can hang out more tomorrow though, I’ll get those sweaters together for you so you don’t need to constantly worry about having to bundle Orion up. I’m sure he’ll appreciate being able to move around more.”

Silver nodded, “It’s cool, I can’t expect you to stay up all night with us. You guys have a nice night. Thanks again for dinner, it was nice to catch up a bit more, and nice to meet you too Crescent.”

Crescent gave a quick nod and Sapphire said a final goodbye before flying off, leaving the group alone with Emily.

As Emily led the trio further into the structure, the assorted night ponies and pegasi glanced down at them in curiosity. It was blatantly clear that the family stood out, but they didn’t feel out of place with Emily as their guide.

She began to speak up, “So this used to be the old ore dock for the mine, trains would come up here from tracks that used to run through the city, but now it’s mostly just a hangout for the winged ponies. I think they eventually want to work on making it into a sort of home, but I don’t know how that’s all coming along.”

“And what a hangout, I mean this place is huge.” Scarlet added while looking around, her voice carrying through the structure along with the sound of waves breaking against it.

Silver gazed around with an excited look on his face, “It must have been amazing to see back in the day. The Oasis used to be an old abandoned mining town so there's a lot of old collapsed mine shafts and whatnot, though we don’t have anything like this back home. Mind if we look around a little?”

“We have plenty of old underground mines but they’ve been closed down for a long time. You’ll need to go see the Tilden to see what mining looks like here now.” Emily shook her head, “Look around as much as you want, though, that’s why we’re here after all.”

The pair nodded, wasting no time at all exploring the place. They quickly hovered around, looking through the structure and taking turns carrying Orion so they could each explore the little nooks and crannies to their heart's content. Gradually they worked their way to the top, finally coming to a rest on the top of the massive structure.

Scarlet looked around at the sky above, “I can definitely see why this place is so popular, I mean just look at the view!” She exclaimed glancing back at the glittering street lights before turning out towards the water where she could see the lakeshore stretching to the horizon off to her side. “It’s like an ocean but all fresh water.”

Emily smiled, “And no sharks, promise.”

“I can see why ponies would want to live here,” Silver added while keeping a close eye on Orion.

“Did you want to do anything specific? I mean you’ve got a whole week to explore so it’s up to you.”

Scarlet nodded, “Well you mentioned pictured rocks when you visited us, that’d be kind of cool to see.”

“Oh that’s already been planned out, but you definitely need to see them at sunset, not the middle of the night. Trust me, it’ll be worth getting up early for.”

“I’ll take your word for it, why don’t you show us some of the sights out here, the ones that are nice to see at night. Oh and we definitely need to get some stargazing in later, if you know any good spots where the sky’s clear.” Silver suggested.

She nodded, “Sure, let’s go check out a few places on Washington before they close. Are you good to fly with Orion?”

Scarlet glanced towards the bundled up colt, “Flying up around here is one thing, we could at least take turns, but I’d feel better if we didn’t do a whole lot of flying with him right now, just to be safe.”

“That’s alright, we can walk.”

“I’m okay with that, it gives us some more time to talk. If there’s anything that stands out to us in particular, we can take turns flying around.” Scarlet added.

Emily nodded, “Well if you’re all done here we can get going.”

Silver looked towards Scarlet, “Sure, I think I’m good to go.”

“Then let’s get a move on, I think you’ll really enjoy some of the other nightlife around here.”

It was reaching the middle of their trip and Sapphire had suggested that the group visit the large structure known as the Superior Dome. Scarlet and Silver had immediately agreed, noting that spending time in a large heated building and taking a short break from the cold was probably for the best.

And large it was. The Dome had been designed for American football and was apparently the largest wooden dome in the world. Its beautiful wooden structure was proudly on display, creating a latticework of triangles and walkways that encircled them overhead. The silver skin that was pulled tight over the skeleton to keep out the elements was even visible from inside.

Silver sat with his family next to Sapphire’s and thousands of others on the bleachers, enthralled by the exciting game of hoofball that was going on below on the astroturf field. He had never really been much for watching sports play out at home, but seeing them in person? That was an entirely different case. In person you could really feel the energy of the crowd, and even though he didn’t really understand the game itself, he couldn’t help but cheer along with the rest of the group.

The buzzer suddenly rang out, signaling that it was half time and it startled Orion enough for him to frightfully try to hide in his legs. The colt gave up when it stopped and looked around in worry, earning a laugh from Silver.

He pulled the frightened colt back next to him and pulled him close to give Orion a reassuring pat on the back. “Hey don’t worry buddy, it’s just half time, I know you’re not used to all this noise but it’s fun!”

He took a few more nervous glances and then calmed down some more, snuggling up between his parents.

Scarlet smiled, “See? It’s not that bad.”

Emily stood up, “I’m going to grab something to drink, you guys need anything?”

Silver nodded, “Just a few waters please.”

She nodded and trotted off to grab them.

Sapphire looked over to the trio, “So what do you think so far?”

“I think it’s amazing— I mean just look at the way it’s built! Almost reminds me of the one back in Long Beach.” Silver answered as he excitedly looked all around.

“The building is nice, but I’m still trying to understand what’s going on. I mean I’ve never seen this before.” Scarlet cut in.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow, “What do you want to know about?”

“Well it looks like soccer but what’s with the buckets the goalkeepers are using?”

“It’s an Equestrian thing. Earth’s version is kind of a mix between soccer and a sport in Equestria called buckball. Though that is only ever played with three ponies on each team. Basically the earth ponies and unicorns defend while the pegasi kick the ball to try and score. Neither of them can use their abilities or magic except for the goalies. That’s why the pegasi are all running instead of flying. The buckets are just another way to try and stop the ball from going into the goal.”

Scarlet nodded, “Interesting. It’s definitely different, but not really in a bad way.”

Sapphire continued, “Pegasi will get a penalty if they fly or get past the other teams defense and unicorns will too if they use their magic to directly grab the ball. Winged ponies don’t have to be the forwards but since we tend to be faster it’s how things tend to turn out.”

“I’ve never really been much of a sports guy but this is actually kind of fun to watch. Seems like there’s a ton of strategy involved, gotta make sure you have the quickest pegasi making the run and the strongest earth ponies keeping a close eye on the ball… this might make for a fun past time back home, I can already think of a handful of ponies that would be up for trying it out sometime. What’s it called anyways?” Silver excitedly interjected.

“Hoofball, not really the most inspired name but it works well enough. Are you thinking of trying it out sometime?”

Silver gave a quick half nod, “Maybe, It might be a fun thing to try.”

Scarlet tried to stifle a laugh, “You’re gonna try and play this? Not that there’s anything wrong with that but… you’ve never really struck me as the… athletic type.”

He frowned in mock indignation, “I don’t really know if I should be insulted or not. But I mean I might as well try it out, I’m not going to quit my day job or anything but it looks fun.”

She smirked, “Well if you want to do something productive, I sure won’t stop you.”

“It might be a challenge if you don’t have a lot of night ponies back in the Oasis, unless you’re coordinating it when you’re awake with the others.” Sapphire added in.

“Well it’s worth a shot, I don’t know how many will actually be interested, but worst case it’s just an occasional event that we break out every once in a while,” Silver added.

Scarlet turned to ask Sapphire another question, but was interrupted as a small group of ponies trotted up to the blue pegasus and asked her something that Scarlet couldn’t quite hear. Deciding to let her take care of that Scarlet simply looked back around the arena. As she glanced back down to the turf she smiled as an idea came to her. With a smile, she turned back towards Orion, “I know this is all a lot for you, but why don’t we go play in the grass for a little while? Does that sound fun?!”

Orion nervously looked around and gave a quick flap of his wings as Scarlet lifted him up and began to fly down towards the field.

The next few days seemed to fly by, and before they had even realized it their brief week long vacation was almost at its end. Sapphire was off getting the tickets, leaving the family and Emily alone. Silver, Scarlet, and Orion stuck out like a sore thumb in their cozy sweaters, but they didn’t care in the slightest. As warm as they were, the cold wind that would blow in every once in a while would still send them into a flurry of shivers. Despite the chilling wind, Orion was still as curious as ever over the new area they were in now.

“You know, if you’re too cold they’ll have blankets you can borrow on the boat.” Emily added as she looked on at them.

Silver looked over to Scarlet and Orion, and then back to Emily. “Yeah, that’d be a good idea. Just in case it gets too cold for us out on the water.”

She nodded, “Oh it will as soon as the boat gets movin.”

Silver took the opportunity to snap a few more photos for his album while Scarlet chatted over some of her notes with Crescent.

Emily looked down at Orion who was currently looking around at the tour boats with wide eyed curiosity. “Has he... ever been on a boat before?”

Silver shook his head, “Nope, we’ve been hoping to get some boats out at the lake back home but that really hasn’t been a priority. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about him though, looks like he’s already excited for it.”

“He’s definitely trying to win the cutest foal award.”

Silver raised an eyebrow, “So how long’s the boat ride anyways?”

“About two and a half hours, so it’ll be a long one. If you need to use the restroom you better do it now.”

Silver smiled at the thought of a nice relaxing boat ride, bringing back memories of his childhood spent at lakes and rivers with his parents. “That sounds relaxing, I bet we’ll have plenty of time to chat and just enjoy the nice weather.”

Scarlet nodded, “I can’t wait.”

Silver watched as Orion excitedly took a few steps off the path onto the grass, stopped, then eagerly approaching the dock. Scarlet was also keeping a close eye on him, but despite their worries he didn’t run off too far before returning to them. The cold wind blew on them again, causing a few more shivers, but the blankets that draped over their entire body and were secured around their necks kept them reasonably comfortable. They had received them earlier in the week and Silver was still getting used to looking like a little horse with it on.

“You ready to go buddy??” Silver asked as he Orion finished coming back to them.

Orion made an excited squeal and bounced as they continued towards the dock.

Scarlet laughed, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Sapphire chose that moment to come flying in to land with a small hop. “Tickets are all set, let’s get in line.”

The pair nodded and walked forward, keeping Orion close while they strode down the long dock to board the boat. The last thing they needed was for the colt to randomly run off and cause trouble. They stepped aboard and took a blanket that was lying in a pile next to the entrance, then took a seat next to Emily.

Silver turned towards the pastel pink night pony, “So we’ll get to see them at sunset?”

She nodded before replying with a hint of sarcasm, “We are going on the sunset cruise, so yes.”

“Alright, just making sure.”

“Just relax and enjoy the cruise, I’m sure you’ll love it.”

Silver nodded, “Alright, I’ll take your word for it.”

He glanced over towards Orion, who was peeking over the side railing. “Watcha looking for buddy? Trying to see if there’s any fish like back home?”

The colt didn’t give a response but instead continued to glance around at the lake’s surface as if he was entranced by it. Occasionally glancing out in the distance where the water became the horizon with a look of fascination that Silver couldn’t help but feel proud of.

“Looks like he’s still trying to figure out what’s up with all the water.” Sapphire added.

Silver let out a chuckle, “You think? I kind of wonder what’s going through his head, he went from the desert to a big metal tube in the sky to a cold area with lots of water around. It probably feels like a completely different world for him.”

“I hope he’s not too attached to this place, he might be a bit bummed once we’re back in the hot desert.”

Silver smiled, “Well I guess that just means we’ll have to come back here again.”

The boat was quite full but Sapphire had negotiated them some reserved seats on the upper level open to the elements. Silver was definitely happy to have the extra blanket as the boat began cutting through the water out onto the lake to follow the coastline heading East. To the West, the sun was just starting to turn the sky orange, and would be setting sometime towards the end of the cruise. A few minutes in and they began passing by the cliffs along the lakeshore, already beginning to glow with a golden light.Emily’s insistence at saving this for the final day was definitely worth it, both Silver and Scarlet were immediately in awe of the beautiful sight.

“Wow, you really weren’t kidding Em, this is beautiful!” Scarlet exclaimed, helping Orion up higher to more easily see the towering sandstone cliffs that contrasted against the dark blue water and the green trees above.

Silver pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures, letting out a happy sigh. “This is amazing. Definitely nothing like what we have back home.”

Silver snapped a few more pictures before quickly passing the camera over to Sapphire. “Could you get a quick picture of us please?”

“Just one quick picture?”

He nodded, “Just so we have this memory saved forever.”

She shrugged, smirking slightly, “Alright, get together and I’ll snap it for you.”

The family leaned in close while Sapphire snapped a few photos, handing the camera back over to Silver.

“Thanks Sapphire, I know it’s corny but Silver really wants to make sure we have these memories recorded. It’s kind of a big deal to him.”

“It’s alright, I get it. You gotta make sure you capture all those special moments.”

“Exactly! He’s only going to grow up once, I just want to make sure we can spend as much time making these memories as we can.” Silver gazed back over towards the sunlit rocks, “You know, I’m really going to miss this place. Even if it’s been a little cold at times but that was kind of a nice change of pace.”

“Cold… right,” Sapphire smiled.

Emily let out a small yawn, “So what do you guys think of it? Was it worth getting up early to see?”

Scarlet nodded her head while Silver snapped a few more photos, “Oh absolutely, you really weren’t kidding when you said we’d have to see them at sunset.”

“Yeah, as much as I love seeing the valley at sunrise the whole… package of this place blows it out of the water.”

“So is it right back to work when you get back or did you at least give yourself a few extra days to rest?” Emily asked

Silver shrugged, “Not exactly, we reorganized how we operate things after you guys left so now I have a lot more time to spend with my family. We’re still working a few things out, but it’s really going well so far. Cuts out a lot of the stress now that everything’s spread out amongst the team a little more evenly.”

“Well that’s nice at least, you won’t have to jump right back into it.”

“Absolutely. I know it might be a little premature, but I would definitely want to get a small vacation home up here someday. It’s just such a nice area and Orion sure seems to love it.”

Sapphire nodded, “I can probably put you in contact with somepony who could help with that. We have more than enough space.”

“I don’t think that’s even a question to be honest. We will be coming back.” Scarlet added in with a smile.

Crescent spoke up, “We’ll be missing the area as well.”

“What do you mean?” Silver asked

“Normally we go to Equestria to celebrate Hearth’s Warming with my family on Cloudsdale. Usually it’s only for one month but I have a guard evaluation in Canterlot that will extend it to two and a half.”

Scarlet raised an eyebrow, “So uh… what’s Equestria like anyways? I mean I’ve heard all about it and I’ve been studying the language, but I’ve never had the chance to actually ask about it. Is it really all that different from earth?”

He nodded his head, “I have heard many human visitors say that we seem caught in time. In a way that is correct. While there are many similarities, our magic meant many of the inventions humans created have no reason to exist.”

Scarlet’s face lit up in intrigue, “I never would have thought of that, but it makes a lot of sense now that you say it.” She paused for a moment, trailing off in thought. “Um, hey Crescent? I kind of a big favor to ask.”

“Hm? What would that be?”

She glanced down to her well worn notebook, the overpacked tome threatening to burst at the seams, “So… this is kind of a long shot but I figured there was no harm in asking. I’ve been asking you so much about the stars in Equestria and I’ve been studying so much… would it be possible to maybe see them for myself?”

“Are you asking me to help you visit Equestria?”

She nodded her head, “I know it’s asking a lot but that would be such a big dream come true for me… not to mention how useful it could be for astronomers and scientists here. —It’s okay if you can’t though, I understand.”

Crescent paused for a moment, as Scarlet felt a lingering feeling of nervousness well up inside. Finally he broke the silence, “I can put in a good word but that’s it. Princess Luna has invested in a new observatory with Earth technology and she was seeking out a handful of astronomers to aid in its operation. I wouldn’t think to promise anything, but if you’ll allow me to pass along your notebook for her review, perhaps she would be interested and impressed enough with your work to include you as she begins mapping our sky.”

“You want to show the Princess my notebook!?” She excitedly yelled out, earning a series of confused looks from the other passengers onboard. With a nervous expression she lowered her voice, “—I mean that’s fine, it’s a bit rough but as long as you bring it back in one piece I’m perfectly okay with that.” She paused for a moment, “So you’re sure that this won’t be any trouble at all?”

He shook his head, “None at all. In fact, having another pony who’s awake all night would probably be even better for this project. I will get back in contact with you about it as soon as I have an answer.”

She excitedly nodded her head, “Thank you so much! This is seriously like a dream come true!”

The group sat and enjoyed the sights until it was time for them to return to shore, chatting back and forth during the ride back. All too soon the boat pulled back into its place at the dock and they disembarked. Orion and Aurora both badly needed to visit the little ponies room after being stuck on the boat for hours. Their ride wasn’t going to be there for a little while longer so they went to sit at the small park on the shore. Silver and Sapphire led their respective foals off, leaving the others alone at the park.

“If anyone else is interested, I could really go for a quick bite to eat before we head out, I’m going to head over to Muldoon’s and get a pasty, you want me to pick you up one?” Emily asked as she looked towards Scarlet and Crescent.

Crescent shook his head, “I’m not hungry, but thank you for the offer.”

Scarlet nodded, “Sure. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of those so go ahead and grab me one too, I’m not a picky eater.”

Emily began to walk over towards the shop, “Alright, I’ll be back.”

Scarlet took a seat on a nearby bench with Crescent and idly flipped through her notebook, making sure that everything was in order before she handed it over to Crescent. “Okay, please take good care of this, I know it doesn’t look like much but it’s really special to me.”

Crescent carefully took the notebook and deposited in his saddle bag, “I’ll be very careful with it, promise.”

Scarlet’s face held a look of worry at first, which softened to a smile once she saw how careful Crescent was being with it. “Thanks. This really means a lot to me.”

The other parents returned, and Silver took a seat next to Scarlet with Orion. Sapphire, and Crescent began to follow in Emily’s hoofsteps, leaving the family alone for the time being.

Waves gently rolled in to crash along the shore, the sun beginning its final descent turning the entire sky a dark red. The warm color bathed everything in a soothing glow and a light breeze continued to blow off the lake encouraging Silver to cuddle with his family.

Scarlet gazed off into the distance and leaned in closer with Silver and Orion, wrapping her wings around them. “You know, I’m serious about wanting to come back. Sure it’s cold here, but it’s such a nice area and I think I could get used to it over time.”

Silver smiled, “Well, if you insist… for real though I’d be perfectly fine with that, I could absolutely go for a week of peace and quiet out here every year.”

The pair snuggled closer squeezing Orion a little too tightly causing him to give an angry squeal. Laughing nervously they gave the colt some space, letting him settle back down. It was a little sad that their vacation would soon be coming to an end, but they were both happy to have been able to experience something new and to solidify friendships.

Author's Note

This takes place around a year after Desert Getaway, in mid to late November.

I'd like to give a very special thanks to Lawra for editing and assisting with this entry, it was a huge help!

Here's a lineup of main characters that have appeared or have been mentioned so far, this will be updated with every chapter, showcasing each new (and returning) main character that makes an appearance.