Spike the Dragon was sweeping the snow off the little gravel pathway when his stomach began to rumble. The air was bright and crisp, an excellent Hearth's Warming Eve morning by all accounts.

Spike rubbed his little tummy sadly, and then hiccuped.

"Oh no," he said to himself in his slightly nasal little voice, then he belched green fire and a tightly sealed scroll dropped into his claws. It bore the stamp of Princess Celestia herself, as all such letters always did. Spike sighed, placed his broom upon the treehouse wall, and wandered back inside. The interior was cozily decorated. The girls had spent a large part of the previous day decorating, and little wreaths, ornaments, and tinsel was strung up in just about every place a pegasus could reach. A rug had been put down, soft and plush, and a plate of cookies fresh from Sugarcube Corner sat under a glass cloche waiting to be devoured. A fire crackled merrily in the fireplace. Spike walked past all of this, and went up the stairs to the room of the illustrious Twilight Sparkle. She had still not gotten out of bed, nor gotten ready, despite Spike's many diligent reminders that her friends would be here any minute.

"Twiliiiight," he said in a sing-song manner, "there's a letter from Princess Celestia for youuu!"

The purple mare sat bolt upright out of bed, mane frizzing beyond belief, and a hoof was snatching for the paper before she even had here eyes fully open.

"Woah, girl!" he said, handing her greedy hooves the letter, "I'm sure she just wanted to wish her favorite student a Happy Hearth's Warming, that's all!"

"Must read!" Twilight barked sleepily, tearing open the seal and scanning the page up and down. Gently, Spike took the letter and turned it right-side up for her before heading back downstairs to finish his tasks. He caught a glimpse of Celestia's immaculate penmanship, and something about it seemed slightly off. It appeared more cramped than normal, as though written in a hurry, and it would strike him later that he remembered only two words from the passage. "Emergency" and "Dreams".

Stratus Fairweather had never been so nervous in her entire life. She sat in the middle of the den of Twilight Sparkle, surrounded by laughing and talking ponies- no, heroes. And all of them just acted like she... belonged? Her whole morning had been a blur of preparation. Getting ready, putting on makeup, choosing an outfit, making sure her wing feathers were properly preened, and a thousand other little things.

She'd been greeted by Spike when she'd arrived, who had been sweeping up snow on the porch. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight had already been inside the treehouse, laughing and talking. Applejack had arrived not long after, and Stratus hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to her much yet. Pinkie Pie had arrived slightly after that, giggling ominously, and Rainbow Dash had arrived last to no one's surprise.

"So, Stratus," Rarity asked over a sip of her specially brewed tea, "How's the store going? I know you haven't been open long, but it's always nice to see other entrepreneurs moving to Ponyville."

Grateful for the opening that Rarity made for her amidst the friendly banter of the other five, Stratus smiled shyly, "It's been going very well, thank you for asking! Scarlet runs a wonderful store, and I made very sure not to sell any competing products, but there are some things you simply cannot get in Ponyville! Or all of Equestria, for that matter."

Fluttershy nodded, and added in her small voice, "Your meat selection has been really helpful for the bears."

Twilight chimed in, "And your inks! Magical ink was impossible to get out here and I had to make the trip to Canterlot practically every week for scrolls! Now I can just... walk down and grab some!"

Applejack, sipping a warm spiced cider, scratched at the side of her head sheepishly, "I, er, haven't exactly had the chance to get down there and check it out yet. On account of livin' so far away. But I'll send Big Mac over tomorrow and see if there's anything we can use on the farm. Like Rarity said, it's always nice to help out local businesses when ya can."

Rainbow Dash, who was doing lazy loops near the ceiling, asked, "Do you guys sell any flight goggles? My old ones got a crack in them and I can't find a replacement anywhere."

Stratus blushed from being the center of so much attention, and was about to respond when she noticed that something was up with Pinkie. Her face was... contorting strangely, and her tail kept crinkling and uncrinkling.

"W-woah!" the pink mare said with chattering teeth, "that was a BIG one! Sorry gals, I gotta dip for a second. Keep the party alive while I'm gone!"

With that, she opened a hatch that had previously been concealed in the floorboards and leapt down a metal chute that extended into darkness. The hatch shut firmly after her.

"I... uh," Stratus looked around at the other five for direction on what to do about this. None of them seemed to pay any mind to her shenanigans, or really question where she had gone in the first place, so she decided to let it slide. She had a distinctly bad feeling about it, but couldn't quite put a hoof on why.

"What did you ask again, Miss Rainbow Dash?" She said, turning her neck upwards to look at the blue mare.

Said mare snorted with laughter, "I don't think anypony's ever called me 'Miss Rainbow Dash'. Just Rainbow is fine. What about you? Got a nickname for your friends?"

"Friends?" Stratus said, blinking in shock, "Um... no, I don't think so. I guess you can just call me Stratus. Or, um, Strat?"

Rainbow winked a magenta eye in her direction, "Sure thing, Strat! And I was asking about flight goggles."

"Oh!" Stratus said, nodding vigorously, "Yes! Actually I have quite a few in stock. My family is from Cloudsdale, you see, and-"

"Oh, yes!" Rarity interrupted with a bit more enthusiasm than she likely meant to, "I've been meaning to ask ever since I heard your name. Are you one of the Fairweathers? As in, well and truly?"

Stratus nodded again to the alabaster mare on her left, who shimmied a little closer. Was it getting hotter in here, or was it just the fire?

Stratus cleared her throat, "Yes, I am. My father is Astreus Fairweather, owner of the whole family business."

Rarity's glittering eyes widened a noticeable fraction, "My, my! Well then, it's doubly nice to have another mare of quality in this town! You simply must take me to visit sometime, darling."

Stratus grimaced and looked to Twilight, saying rather maladroitly, "Is there... some cider I could have as well?"

Twilight nodded, pointing to a wooden door underneath the staircase that led up to the loft, "Yep! The kitchen is through there, it's in the fridge."

"Thank you," Stratus said, and quickly scooted up and away. The entire room watched her go, and as she awkwardly squeezed her rather large frame through the doorway.

As the door shut, Applejack scowled at Rarity, "Now, what'd you have to go and do that for?"

Rarity blinked, completely taken aback, "Do what?! All I asked was to see her family home! It's quite a common thing for one lady to ask another!"

Applejack narrowed her eyes at the pruple-maned mare as her hoof tightened on her cider glass, "Her family clearly makes her uncomfortable, Rarity. Ah'm surprised a mare like you didn't notice that soon as you brought 'em up!"

Rarity waved away Applejack's comment as though the words could be gently swatted from the air between them, "Oh, pish posh, darling. She's just playing hard to get, it's a common tactic among business rivals."

"Rivals?" Applejack asked, aghast, "Rarity, her store don't even sell clothes!"

Rarity, her business acumen now under fire, narrowed her own eyes back at the offending orange pony, "But it does sell cloth, Applejack. I don't know if you've noticed, but my boutique used to be the only place to get a decent bolt of cloth, wool, or silk from here to Canterlot. Now there are two places, which means that, should she choose to undercut me-"

"Ah know how the market works, Rarity," Applejack grumbled, sipping from her cup, "Ya act like I haven't been runnin' the family farm for several years. Ah don't think she meant to undercut ya, and cloth is the least of her business."

The room was quiet for several moments, until Fluttershy chimed in, "I think Applejack has a point, actually."

The others all turned to listen to their quiet yellow friend.

"I don't think you guys understand how big the Fairweather company is," she continued, "I mean... Astreus Fairweather could buy and sell Ponyville without breaking a sweat. In fact, I was shocked to hear she was one of them because her store is... kind of small."

This gave everyone in the room a little pause, before Rainbow Dash helpfully broke the tension, "This is boring, can we play Cards Against Ponykind?"

"Ah'm gonna get a refill first," Applejack said, standing with a slight wobble.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw Stratus facing away from the door, unintentionally showing off her rather generous derriere which sat unfortunately above table-height. She had in front of her a half-empty glass of the fortified cider Applejack had brought just for the party, and she had also very clearly been crying.

"Woah there, sugarcube!" Applejack said, rushing over to her side. On the way she saw a large gnat sitting on the floor, and absentmindedly crushed it with a hoof, causing Stratus to flinch.

"Oh, er, sorry about that," she said with an abashed smile, wiping her hoof off on a nearby towel, "force o' habit livin' on the farm. You doin' alright?"

Stratus nodded, wiping her eyes with a leg and smearing her makeup slightly, "Yes, I'm fine. Honestly, I don't know what came over me. Rarity was just trying to be nice."

Applejack's smile tightened, but she said nothing.

Stratus gave the orange mare a weak but hopeful look, "Honestly, I'm fine. Thank you Applejack. Sorry that my first impression has been... poor. I really wanted to have a good time this evening, but now I'm wondering if I should just go..."

Applejack was about to answer negatively when something twisted in her gut. The feeling gave her pause, and she took a cautious half-step back from the golden haired pony, "Well... ah wouldn't say you've made a bad first impression," she began carefully, "but if ya feel like ya need ta go, ah understand."

Stratus blinked, and then actually laughed softly, "I'm surprised to hear you say that!"

Applejack nodded, now distracted, "Me too, Stratus. Me too. 'Scuse me while ah refill my drink."

Stratus shuffled over to allow Applejack access to the fridge, where she refilled her glass from the keg that she had brought. Her hoof was halfway to the stopper at the top to check if it had been messed with when she stopped herself.

Don't be ridiculous, she thought, she clearly just came in here to collect herself. Nothin' suspicious about that.

"Well," she said, moving back towards the door, "Ah hope you do stay. Rarity didn't mean nothin' by it, and the others all seem to like you."

Stratus didn't feel the need to point at that that statement implied Applejack herself did not like her, and she smiled, "Thanks Applejack. I'll... be out in a minute."

Applejack left the room, gently shutting the door behind her.

Author's Note

This chapter was so much fun to write, omg