Ghost of the Everfree

Chapters

2 - Ah Ain't Helpless!
3 - So Many Ponies
4 - CMC Adventurers
5 - Quiet Work
7 - Mistakes Were Made
8 - A Full Day
9 - Morning Bright
10 - Breaking Bread
11 - Apple a Day
12 - On the Horizon
13 - Thorny Situations
14 - Security Blanket
15 - Welcome To Your Class
16 - Broadening The Herd
17 - So There We Were
18 - Inductions
19 - Read a Book
20 - Going Native
22 - Harbor in a Storm
23 - K I S S I N G
24 - To Woo, er, Be Wooed by a Filly
25 - Presenting
26 - A Little Song
27 - Hi
28 - Magic in my Heart
29 - Funny Hats
30 - Morning Reading
31 - By Luminace
32 - A Potion a Day
33 - Fresh Casters
35 - The Horror
36 - #2 Assistant
37 - Late Entrant
38 - Touching Bases
39 - First Base
40 - Downtime Complete
41 - Word of Trouble
42 - Hide
43 - Sudden Stop
44 - What we Can Do
45 - A Town Jailed
46 - Jailed, but not Subdued
48 - Mother Would Approve
49 - All Lines Made One
50 - Stocking Up
51 - Day Shower
52 - Reach Out
53 - The Good Word
54 - Fun Police
55 - Final Harvest
56 - Emerging
57 - Denouement
1 - Well Howdy There
6 - Take Only Pictures
21 - Write a Book
34 - In Good Faith
47 - Visiting Officers

2 - Ah Ain't Helpless!

"Ah thought they caught you." While Dry Whisper was quivering behind her, Apple Bloom was glaring at the huge form before them. It was like a bear, if someone got some bee stuck in the genetic vat at the time. A bug bear! The bug bear? Apple Bloom wasn't sure if there was more than one or not of that varmint. "Yer mistake crossin' mah path." She looked almost happy.

That happiness faded a little when the beast slammed down a paw big enough to easily encompass her entire body, roaring at her with such intensity that spittle messed up her fur and had her ribbon fluttering atop her head. "Now that's just rude."

That was a fierce Equestrian varmint! But it was still Equestrian. She grabbed a potion by the neck in her teeth and flipped it up, sending another sailing just a little lower after it. They were in just the right spot as she wheeled around and kicked them both, sending them at the great bear.

Turned out, that bug bear had no idea how alchemists worked, or perhaps he would have put more effort into avoiding those incoming bottles. No, it had been rushing to snap her up, claws outstrettched, when the potions hit it near center of its chest, then exploded. Two spheres of flame grew rapidly, spreading over the bear as its fur ignited, setting the entire thing on fire with new roars, not of dominance, but pain. "Whatcha get." Apple Bloom couldn't look much smugger if she tried.

As it turned out, immolated bug bears were still quite strong, and capable of fighting. A lesson Apple Bloom learned as the world suddenly began flying. It had swatted her aside, knocking her into the air. Dry Whisper's plaintive cry was barely heard as the colt scrambled for a better hiding place.

Dizzy but present, Apple Bloom grabbed another potion and upended it, swallowing the cork right along with chugging the contents. Her aches began to fade quickly, allowing her to hit the ground and bounce to the side, back in the fight. Her little earth pony belly could handle a cork! And it made it so much easier to get a potion in her in a hurry. "Now ya done made me mad!"

Dry Whisper watched on from the safety of a bush as bombs burst and roars bled together in the intense battle that neither seemed to want to back down from. "You are amazing," he whispered to himself, eyes wide as he watched the little filly so calmly face what was so obviously a dire threat. Such bravery was not something he had. Such bravery was... not something he wanted. That filly was nuts... But he could not help but feel enraptured. She was insane, but was it entirely wrong to think she was also kind of amazing?

Electricity crackled, somehow it had been contained in one of her bottles, bursting in a grand display of fitful lightning. The bear, it seemed, had enough, taking to the air and soaring away in search of an easier meal, perhaps. "Yeah, get out of here!" shouted Apple Bloom, shaking a hoof at it and turning away with a snort. "Now where'd he go off ta? Dry? Ya here?"

Dry peeked his head out of the bushes, looking left and right and up and around in fitful sweeps of the area. The monster was gone, and others hadn't rushed to take up its space. "You could have died!"

"But ah didn't." She trotted over to her worried little friend. "Ah can handle a lone bug bear! Woulda been easier if mah friends were here. Ah mean, 'sides you." She pat his closer shoulder. "C'mon, still got a town to show you."

"I thought you said this was a safe place." He emerged from the bushes the rest of the way, still fretfully glancing about. "Not all of us can fight like you just did." A little awe was in his voice, impressed by how Apple Bloom had, still quite insanely, handled the event.

"It's the forest." She waved a hoof about. "More monsters like ta hang out 'round here. The town's safer." They only had monstrous attacks about once a week instead of once a day. Improvement! "There's lotsa friendly ponies that can't wait to meetcha!"

Dry trailed along behind her. However mad she was, she was still a safe place, perhaps even safer, considering she was so eager to wade into battle, giving him so much more time to run away and find a good hiding spot. As friends went, he silently decided, he had found a good one. He just had to be careful for what she considered safe... He nodded to himself, the fear fading from his eyes in simple acceptance.

It was all dangerous. It always was and always would be. He had been silly to think there was variance in that. Just be careful, always. It was the way to be. "Let's see this town of yours." He accelerated a little, eyes darting for trouble, but he was walking at her side instead of behind her.

Apple Bloom decided to take that as a sign that the mood was lifting. She jumped forward with a skip of her hooves. "That's more like it. See, we made it out." They were just emerging from the forest, crossing a small bridge that didn't really need to be there, but it avoided having to jump the small river.

"Oh, hello." Fluttershy was out on her lawn, a few of her animal friends nearby, including her bear friend.

Dry squeaked, hiding behind Apple Bloom, who proceeded without slowing. "Hey, Fluttershy! Ah found a new friend."

Flutter leaned to the side to get a better look at the new pony. "Are they... shy? I know that feeling... Hello there."

Dry peeked out from around Fluttershy. The bear had not attacked, and none of the ponies present seemed worried about it. "Apple Bloom, isn't that another dangerous bear?"

"Who, him?" She pointed at the bear. "He's harmless! Wouldn't hurt a fly. Now if ya were a flounder, then yer in trouble." She snorted with a big smile. "Ain't that right?"

Harry, the bear, nodded in casual agreement and offered a paw. Apple Bloom scampered up into reach of it and a bear hug was the natural result, the bear gently cradling the little filly as she giggled and wriggled around.

Fluttershy giggled herself, joining the mirth. "Harry is a very well behaved bear. That is why he is always welcome to join me. I wouldn't like a mean bear."

Dry inclined his head left and right. A well behaved bear? That was a thing?! "Oh..." He fixed his eyes on Fluttershy, considering her. "You are a pegasus. I heard of those, but never saw one." Curiosity began to get the better of him as he trotted forward to get a better look at her. "Can you really control the weather?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, my... Some of us can. Some of us are really good at it." She pointed up in the far distance where some weather ponies were busy pushing clouds about. "One of my best friends, Rainbow Dash, is really good at it!" She turned a hoof on herself. "I prefer to help animals. I only help if they really need me."

Dry clopped his hooves. "Keep practicing! Druids can do both of those if they're good enough."

Fluttershy's ears pricked. "I'm not one of those..." That was when she took a closer look at the colt before her. He had a number of odd things going for him, like his whispy mane and tail, and his almost colorless eyes. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Apple Bloom leaped from Harry's arm, rejoining the conversation. "Ah think he's from Everglow."

"Oh..." Fluttershy shrank a bit with obvious fear.

Dry set a hoof on her side. He had found a friend! Finally, a pony that knew that fear was a natural response. "I'm good, I promise!" Then it hit him. "Oh, that's what a bad pony would say..."

Fluttershy's fear abated a little, turning instead into a little giggle. "I believe you. The things that were... unkind... to me were not ponies at all, you just reminded me of them, is all... I..." She rubbed behind her head. "I don't want to talk about that. Welcome, uh..."

"Dry Whisper."

"I like that name." She bobbed her head softly. "It feels soft."

Dry sat back. "Names can be soft?"

Fluttershy considered that a moment. "Rainbow Dash implies... It's energetic. It's not soft. Fluttershy is... soft."

Apple Bloom burst into giggles. "Fluttershy is one of the softest ponies ah know! No offense or nothin'."

Fluttershy set a hoof right on Apple Bloom's head. "Apple Bloom is a nice name. It feels welcoming and warm."

"Gonna have ta thank m'mom fer it." Not that that was... possible. "Never really thought ah how names, ya know, felt."

"Me neither!" chimed Dry with a smile. "That's an interesting thing. Thank you for sharing it with me."

"You're very welcome. What a polite colt you are." Fluttershy had clearly decided Dry fell in the 'good colt' bucket.

Dry looked to Harry, less certain. A friendly bear. Who knew such a thing could be? "You have shown me a few things."

"C'mon!" Apple Bloom hopped towards the town that was in sight a short distance away. "Still got so many more ponies to introduce ya to!"

"Have fun!" Fluttershy waved as the two foals ambled away. "I should probably tell Twilight about this..." Everglow things were usually a sign that things were going to take a turn, if they hadn't already.

A high pitched gasp rang out as a pink mare charged at them from down the road. "Who. Is. That?!" she demanded with a huge grin, practically bouncing in place, her hooves trembling with... excitement.

Dry had fled into Apple Bloom's shadow, half under the filly.

Apple Bloom raised a leg to reveal more of Dry. "This here's Dry Whisper. He's real shy."

"I'm not shy," squeaked the colt. "Just... cautious." He peeked up at the pink pony that was gazing at him with intense scrutiny. "Is she friendly?"

"Is she friendly?" repeated Apple Bloom in a deadpan. "She is, literally, the most friendly pony in the entire town!" She threw one hoof wide. "Yer lookin' at the master of friendship, overlord of parties, bringer of smiles, Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie reared up just so she could bow dramatically. "Aw, yer makin' me blush." She was not blushing. "Hi there! Dry Whisper, huh? You look kinda funny, but a good funny, like ha ha, not a bad funny, like ho ho." The difference, only she knew entirely. "Welcome to Ponyville! I have a few questions if you have a moment?"

Dry sat up on his haunches, Apple Bloom having stepped off of him entirely. "Oh. What are your questions?" A question could not hurt him, so far he knew.

"What's your favorite color, cake flavor, soda flavor, and food?" She brought her hooves together almost touching. "Do you prefer small parties." The hooves flew apart. "Or big parties?!" She moved one hoof beside her snout to stage whisper, "The big parties are way more fun."

Dry was quiet a moment, his hooves wobbling a little before coming together in a silent meeting. "My favorite color is a dark blue. What is a cake?" Perhaps surprisingly, he knew the next one. "Fizzy orange. My favorite food..." He licked his lips. "I have not had a green casserole in too long." The hooves split just barely. "I prefer small events with people I know well." He turned one of those hooves on Apple Bloom. "She would be welcome, were I to attempt it."

Apple Bloom threw a leg over him, drawing him close by the withers. "Aw! Thanks. By the way, she's already plannin' the party."

"But we're..." They were not talking. Pinkie was gone. A cloud in her shape was dispersing. "Oh..."

Author's Note

Tuesdays got busy! Got another update to do, ruuuuun!

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3 - So Many Ponies

It was hard to tell right away, but Dry's eyes were wide, gaping at all the ponies that moved about the town of Ponyville. "Most of them are earth-bound," he noted, fixing his view on a bright green unicorn. "Most... Do you know them all?"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "Ah know each and every one of 'em." She pointed at the unicorn Dry was fixed on. "That's Lyra. She's nice. Hey, Lyra!" When Lyra looked over, Apple Bloom pointed at Dry Whisper. "This here's Dry. Dry Whisper."

"Hello," he got out in a tiny voice. In a fit of utterly insane bravery, he did not dive behind Apple Bloom.

"Hey." She trotted up, looking at the colt curiously. "No offense, but you... are completely awesome!" She threw out her hooves wide. "Seriously, way cool. But also not an earth pony." She nodded with certainty.

"You are... correct," admitted Dry. "I am a ghost pony."

Lyra reached out and casually booped the little colt. "I thought you couldn't poke a ghost. What kinda ghost are you? A nice one, right?"

Dry inclined his head, bringing one eye to bear on her horn. "You're a unicorn."

"Yep." That was not much of a secret. Lyra nodded. "And you're a ghost I can poke, which I don't get."

Apple Bloom moved between the two. "Dry's from far away. Really really far away." She moved a hoof in a wide arc, though there was no wide enough circle to emphasize just how far away she meant. "Ah think ghost's more of a, you know, cultural thin'?"

Dry inclined his head. "We are ghosts because we live in the realm of ghosts. We are not actually ghosts though." He put a hoof behind his head. "Oh, is that what you thought? I am not a ghost, but I am a ghost pony." There, all clear! He resumed examining Lyra. "Are you smart?"

Lyra inclined her head at that. "I'm alright I guess?" With a soft shrug she pointed up towards the big crystal tower that didn't fit in with the rest of the town. "The smartest unicorn in the town lives over there. Twilight's a big brain pony, ain't she, AB?"

Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "Well, yeah. She's super smart. So smart she stopped being a unicorn."

That sent Dry for a loop. "I didn't know that was... What is she now?"

"Princess!" gusted Lyra with spread hooves. "You can tell, 'cause she's an alicorn."

A vision of a unicorn somehow becoming just their horn danced in Dry's head. A floating horn, full of nothing but arcane power and smug intellect. What power, and terror... "O-oh...."

Apple Bloom inclined her head at the awe struck appearance on Dry's face. "Yer not thinking what we're thinkin', ah'm gonna guess. Twilight has a horn, like a unicorn, but she also has wings, like a pegasus." She put out a hoof, then raised it a little. "She also got a bit taller."

"Oh!" Understanding snapped into place. "She's unified. How lovely." And far less terrifying than floating horns of scornful intellect and untold magical power. "I would not want to be unified. That sounds terrifying, but she sounds like she's enjoying it."

Apple Bloom joined in the fun of poking Dry. He was very pokeable. "Wait, so... in Everglow, ponies can be 'unified' but not be royalty?"

Dry inclined his head slowly, it dawning on him. "Oh, I heard a story... What was it..." But he was a little kid, and it wasn't that popular a story among the ghost ponies. "I forgot... There was a big unified!" He reared up briefly. "She was in charge. But it doesn't always work out that way... My uncle!"

"Yer uncle?"

Lyra inclined her head in the opposite direction, listening to the exchange eagerly. She had no idea what was going on, which made listening in all the more a priority.

"My uncle." Dry bobbed his head furiously. "He unified, just a little." He frowned with thought. "He became shiny, and said he had to go. He was old enough to stay in the ether, but he wouldn't. He said he was being called, and he left. Being unified is really scary." Which put it in a very large bucket of things in the world. "I'm happy just being a ghost pony."

"Well, ah wouldn't complain too badly if ah just had a horn out of nowhere." Apple Bloom shrugged. "Ah'd still be me. Ah'd still know how to buck a tree, make a potion or three, but ah could grab somethin' across the room as a bonus."

Lyra clopped her hooves suddenly. "Being a unicorn is great. But so is being an earth pony."

"Ah ain't complainin'" Apple Bloom waved it away before her expression shifted to a sly smirk. "But now ya gotta say what's so good about bein' an earth pony."

Lyra suddenly clapped Dry on the back. "Tag."

Dry squeaked, but composed himself quickly. "Earth ponies are tough! Earth ponies are brave." He was looking at Apple Bloom. "Earth ponies have, um, a connection, with this." He tapped at the ground with a hoof in rapid little motions. "They are almost the opposite of ghost ponies."

Apple Bloom squinted a little. "Yer alright with a pony who's the opposite of you?"

Dry leaned in towards Apple Bloom. "I am very scared. You do not know fear. When trouble comes, you will protect me, because you are nice, and do not have fear. I am very happy I found my opposite."

Lyra clopped her cheeks with both hooves from either side. "Oh, wow!" She burst into giggles. "I think he likes you, AB!"

Apple Bloom colored swiftly. "Don't go stuffin' words in his mouth! But ah do gotta get somethin' straight. Ah know what it's like to be scared. Ah get scared all the time."

This confused Dry quite a bit. "But you fought that huge bee-bear."

Lyra's eyes widened. "You saw a bugbear?! Where?!"

Why Lyra was interested, Apple Bloom knew not. "Off in the Everfree?" She pointed the way, which was enough to send Lyra galloping away. "Huh..." But she did not know of Lyra's secret service duties. "That was funny. Ah was scared, but ah had to fight anyway. If ah didn't, ya coulda got hurt!" She poked the colt dead center in his chest. "Besides, ah also wanted to show off jus' a little." She blushed with the admission. "But ah was scared."

"I would have hid." He had, in fact, done that very thing. "But thank you. You were really scared? I can't imagine it." Anyone as scared as he was would not be trading blows with a bugbear.

"Well, too bad." AB stuck out her tongue as she turned. "C'mon! Gonna introduce you to two fillies that are as good in a scrap as ah am, but they ain't earth ponies."

Dry followed behind, curiosity becoming stronger by the moment. "Are they unicorns? Pegasi?" He had seen those two tribes, other than earth pony.

"Both!" Apple Bloom lead the way to their clubhouse, winding out of town to do so. "Hey, girls! Ya in there?"

The door cracked open and a head poked free. "Hey!" Bursting free came a small pegasus filly. "Welcome back!"

"Scoots!" Apple Bloom charged up the stairs and the two met in a fierce hug. "Is Sweetie around too?"

Scootaloo called without turning. "Sweets! Ya gonna hide in there?"

Dry perked. A pony that knew fear, ah ha!

Another face poked free of the open door. "I was planning the next camp. It's gonna be so much better than the last one." She clopped her hooves with a big grin. "I can't even wait!"

Dry turned an ear to the side. That was not a fearful pony, that unicorn. Well... "You said they can also fight?"

The two fillies peeked down the stairs at Dry Whisper. Sweetie emerged from the small house entirely. "You look..."

"Are they?" followed up Scootaloo, peering at the colt. "Does this mean?!"

Apple Bloom sighed with a quirk of a smile. "This here's Dry Whisper. Yes, he's from Everglow. Be nice."

Sweetie blinked softly. "Dry whisper? Like a ghost?!"

Dry inclined his head. "Yes." What an insightful little pony! "Hello." He raised a hoof for a little wave. "Apple Bloom was telling me that you are just at good at battle as she is."

Scootaloo spread her wings, puffing her chest, and looking as proud and mighty as she could manage. Her small wings defeated that somewhat. "We are official adventures. We've all been to Everglow and survived the trip."

Sweetie pointed to Scootaloo. "She is a magus. She fights with magic, up close and personal." She turned the hoof on herself. "I, Sweetie Belle, am a bard. I like singing," she sung out that last word in a held melodic note. "And I can assist my friends with that magic."

Apple Bloom pointed at herself. "And ya already know ah'm an alchemist. I make up great potions fer all kindsa things. When we're not doing that, which is usually, we're also the--"

The three crashed together, striking a dramatic pose. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" they got out in unison without any visible prompt, falling back to their usual standing positions.

Dry was driven to a clopping applause at the theatrics. "You are good friends. Very good friends. And talented. You're about my age, but you already know so much, how?" He inclined his head slowly. "I am impressed, and a little scared." Well, he was always that, but especially so, cowed beneath the superiority of fellow foals that had adventuring levels.

Scootaloo inclined her head. "Don't sweat it. We all grow at our own rate."

Sweetie sagged at that. "Don't remind me! It took so long for us to get our cutie marks!"

AB flashed a bright smile. "Just made it more special when it happened."

The three turned to present their rumps to the colt, their unified theme of marks. "And it binds us togetha," finished Apple Bloom with a firm nod.

Scootaloo waved Dry closer. "Come on up! We don't bite, promise."

Dry considered the ramp/stairs a moment before he started up them. The fillies did not scare him. They were actually a protection against threats. He had three able fighters right there! How fortunate! "I am confused. Your brands were not there always?" He gestured with a toss of his head at his own brand. "I was born with mine. My mother and father had theirs. Everyone had theirs always..."

Sweetie circled the colt when he arrived at the top of the stairs and onto the platform. "Aw, yours is cute." She reached out to poke the cloud with the eyes peeping out. "Are you scared?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation there. That was not a secret.

"I knew it." Those were not predator's eyes or leering eyes. "Well don't be. We wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."

"Not a chance!" joined Scootaloo, striking a brief pose before she started trotting inside. "Come on in. Like Sweets said, we were planning our next cutie mark camp to help ponies."

"About that." Apple Bloom bumped against the colt. "Equestrian ponies gotta find their brands. Everglow ponies just have 'em. One of the biggest differences 'tween us." She nodded with confidence. "Once a pony figures out what their purpose is, pow, there it is." She walked alongside him into the club house. "Now whattaya all got in mind fer that camp?"

Sweetie pointed to Scootaloo. "She insists we incorporate some Everglow themed classes."

Scoots threw up her hooves. "Why not?! You think foals don't want to learn magic any tribe can do? I'm pretty sure they do!" Her eye lids fell with a smirk. "Or are you jealous that not-unicorns can get your trick?"

Sweetie gasped with alarm. "No! Besides, you have to know a lot of magic to do what a unicorn does pretty easily." She shrugged her shoulders. "It just comes naturally to us." A hoof jut at Scootaloo. "Just like it takes a lot of magic to fake flying, but..." She had walked right into that one. "Um, sorry..."

Author's Note

Sweetie! That was thoughtless, silly filly.

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4 - CMC Adventurers

Sweetie was watching Dry as the others talked. "So how did you get here?"

Scootaloo twirled around. "That's a great question. Was it a rift or did somecreature cast a spell?"

Dry's ears danced atop his head before he composed himself. "My mother brought me."

Apple Bloom blinked softly. "On one hoof, aw, that's nice, bein' wit' yer mom an' all, but why here?"

"She did not say." Dry rubbed behind his head. "She said 'young ghosts need to spend time among the living to grow up properly'. I told her I was scared, but she insisted." He smiled a little nervously. "She can be very stubborn."

Scootaloo thumped herself on the chest. "Wow, yeah, I'm with you. My mom almost ruined my life." She rolled her eyes dramatically as if more annoyed than anything else, looking back at it.

Sweetie decided to cut off that line of thought where it was. "I'm sure she had her reason, but I have a hunch maybe she got lost."

Dry inclined his head at the idea. "Lost? She is far better at walking through the ether than I am."

Sweetie raised a hoof as she nodded. "Better doesn't mean perfect. She probably meant to drop you off in Everglow."

Apple Bloom snorted. "So?" The girls looked at her. "Seriously, c'mon. Everglow ain't that nice a place. Kinda excitin', sure, but nice, not so much." She leveled a hoof at Dry. "The way ah see it, ya lucked out!"

Scootaloo buzzed, hovering a brief moment before she hopped beside their newest... client? friend? Could be both! "And if you want to learn how to do magic, well, ya got three teachers here." She pointed at each of her partners. "Each with a different style to pick from."

"Don't be mad." He looked afraid of that, though fear was the standard. "But I haven't seen either of your magics. Aunt Echo was an alchemist." Dry looked to Apple Bloom. "It's... less scary."

Apple Bloom pointed to Sweetie. "Go on and show 'em!"

Sweetie tapped at her chin before she stood up fully, clearing her throat. "As a bard, I am a performer, a singer specifically in my case, but bards can perform in different ways." She tossed her head as she thought of the possible ways. "You could even be a storyteller, but I like singing." And so she did, filling the room with melodious notes.

As she did, she fixed Dry, eye to eye, and he felt something new and strange. Her music was uplifting him, but, more oddly and perhaps strange, he felt his usual fear abating, withdrawing away.

But then it stopped as she became quiet again, watching him with a bright smile. "Wow," he managed, trying to find himself. "Wow."

Scootaloo burst into a fit of laughter. "If you thought that was great, which it was, you still haven't seen anything yet!" She clopped a hoof down. "My magic's about fighting."

Dry withdrew a little away from that proclamation. "Fighting is dangerous."

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Well, yeah? But not fighting can be even more dangerous at times." She looked across to Apple Bloom. "A monster hops out and tries to eat you, you fight, you run, or you get munched on."

"Running isn't a bad option," decided Dry with a nod. "Though having brave friends is nice."

Scootaloo came in close, almost touching. "You could be your own brave friend. You could take things that scare you and bam!" She punched the air all too close to Dry's face. "That'll show 'em not to mess with you."

Dry squeaked, falling over away from Scootaloo before he scrambled back upright, using Apple Bloom as a shield from the aggressive pegasus. "I'm not good at that."

Apple Bloom let out a little sigh, though her smile remained. "You're scaring him, Scoots. Dry, we're not here to force you. If you want to learn, we're right here, otherwise, don't worry 'bout it none."

And then a hug. Dry embraced Apple Bloom from behind, burying his face against her back. "You are just like Aunt Echo. So brave, but so nice. She was not a normal ghost pony."

Sweetie giggled at the display. "Because she was brave?"

"A little that." Dry wobbled a hoof, releasing Apple Bloom. "But more because she kept going to the living world. Alchemy--" He pointed at Apple Bloom. "--is not a normal job. You need a lot of living world things to do it. She didn't mind. She kept going back. She had a lot of living world friends." He smiled a little, thinking about her. "I do not think she will ever retire."

Apple Bloom turned to face the colt. "You already got some living world friends." She pointed to each of her friends, then herself. "Ah count three right here. What's a 'retire' anywho?"

Sweetie leaped at the chance. "To retire is when a pony quits their job, usually because they're old, to relax or sometimes find a different profession. Usually to relax."

Apple Bloom looked baffled at the idea. "Granny's all kindsa old, but ah don't think she's ever gonna quit."

Scootaloo nodded, but at Dry. "So your aunt's the same way. My aunts are super awesome too!"

Dry smiled at the warmth displayed. "Are all aunts so great?"

Sweetie rubbed behind her head. "Of that I am unsure. But it sounds like these three are. Dry?" He looked towards her. "Welcome. Whatever you want to learn, or even if you just want to be here. We're happy to meet you and lend a hoof."

Three hooves were projected at him, each with a smile attached. Dry was uncertain a moment before he reached one of his own to bump against the intersection of filly hooves, all uniting in the middle. "Thank you." He smiled, not scared in that moment, excited instead. He had found such lovely friends! "I should explain something."

Apple Bloom drew her hoof back, ears pricked at Dry. "'splain what?"

"How we work." Dry waved at himself. "We are expected to grow in the living world." He gestured broadly with a hoof. "To learn and get bigger. When we... If we... If we get wise enough... we can get into the ghost world, where the rest of us are, the ether." He wibbled both fore hooves in a ghostly like fashion. "And rejoin our people."

Sweetie slowly inclined her head. "Sure sounds like you need some magic then, unless ghost ponies can do it on their own?"

"I don't think so," he admitted, dancing in place. "If I do really good, and mom can find me, she might bring me a hook or a suit."

Scootaloo cocked a brow. "How does either of those help at all?"

He snapped at the air. "You hold the hook like this." Then he wrenched his head to the side. "To cut the barrier. To cut what's in the way, between here and there." He hopped, growing more excited as he spoke of the tools he did not have. "The suit's even better, lets you just slide in. Mom showed them to me, but she didn't give me one. She said I wasn't ready, had to grow first." He waved back over his slight form. "Still a colt."

Apple Bloom allowed her head to flop to the side a little. "Aw. We've all been there. Not big enough, they say. Not mature enough. Not enough, blah blah." She sprang to her hooves. "But you're in good company. An' so far ah see, yer a pretty amazin' pony already, and you'll jus' get better."

"Yeah!" eagerly agreed Scootaloo. "Now, you like hiding." She pointed to his cutie mark. "And that's all good and whatever... but I bet your real talent is something besides that."

Dry looked baffled at the idea. "Hiding is a very good talent."

"Sure sure." Scootaloo circled him. "And maybe it's involved. Like maybe you're a natural spy." She skulked like the imaginary spy she was. "Or a scout!" She dived behind cover that wasn't there, peeking around the imagined obstacle.

"Those both... They're kinda scary," he admitted in his unsure tone. "Is there a job that involves hiding and isn't scary?"

Sweetie suddenly smiled even wider than she had already been. "I know one." Both of the other girls looked to her. "He could be really good at watching animals, or birds. Being really quiet and staying out of sight is very important." She pointed at his cutie mark. "Like hiding in some bushes while keeping notes on what animals or birds go by and how they're doing."

Apple Bloom applied a hoof to her head. "Wow! That's a great idea! An' ah know just the pony that could help. You met her!"

"I did?" He worried his hooves together. "Did we get along?"

"Famously," assured AB as she went back for the door and pointed out at the home out of sight. "Fluttershy, the pegasus with the bear?"

"Oh her!" He would not easily forget the pegasus with a bear friend. "How would she help?"

Scootaloo snorted. "You met her. Didn't you see all the animals?"

"She did have a few," Dry admitted. "Is she a druid?"

Apple Bloom set a hoof against her head. "You are somethin' else. Don't know nothin' on some things, but know lots about other thin's. No offense or nothin'. She don't know no magic, 'cept her stare."

Scootaloo laughed at that. "Watch out fer that if you make her real mad."

Sweetie brushed aside her friends. "Don't pay them any mind. Fluttershy is the sweetest, nicest pony ever. And she loves animals. If you want to learn about how to watch them, I'd bet she's a good place to start."

"She seemed kind." Dry nodded at that. "But..." he trailed off, unsure look on his face. "Is it alright to ask her for help so quickly?"

Apple Bloom pointed at herself. "Ya got help from me like right after meetin' me and ah ain't mad. 'Sides, she likes animals, an' she likes when ponies like animals. " She nodded with all the confidence Dry lacked. "So if ya have animal questions, bet she'd do her best to lend a hoof."

"That does sound nice..." He joined her at the door, looking out towards the town, Fluttershy's house beyond it. "You'll come with me?"

Scootaloo suddenly charged, going right past both of them. "This is a case for Scoots! Hop on my scooter and I'll get us both there before you even realize we started moving." She was down the ramp with a giggle, hurrying for her ride. "C'mon!"

Apple Bloom shrugged softly. "She ain't wrong. Now, ah rode with Scoots before. It can be a bit scary, but she's a pro at this. Trust her, hold tight, and everythin' will be fine."

Dry started down the ramp, ears folded. "Are you... sure?" Scootaloo sure looked sure, perhaps overly much with a manic edge to her features as she impatiently waited for him. "It's alright if we don't get there too quickly."

"No such thing." She kicked the scooted, presenting the flat towards him. "Hop on up." When he got close enough, she slapped a helmet down on his head, his ears popping through slits at the top before falling back to their guarded stance. "I've done this ride a thousand times. We'll be there in a jiff."

"A jiff..." Not that he knew what a jiff was, but they'd be there in exactly one of those. He stepped up, reared up, forehooves hugging her from behind. "Please be careful."

"Careful is what daring ponies have to be," she assured as she kicked off the ground and began to buzz, her wings fluttering wildly against his front, propelling against the air and accelerating them all too rapidly. Wind began to rush around them as they powered down the hill with the help of gravity tossed in.

She was screaming, with the joy of speed.

He was also screaming, with far less joy involved.

Author's Note

The adventures of these young folk amuse me, even without classic adventuring elements, which are likely to come up, jus' sayin'.

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5 - Quiet Work

Dry heaved for breath, shuddering against Scootaloo. They had stopped. The stop had not been much better, all movement and speed, then suddenly not. How Scootaloo planted herself, he wasn't sure, but he was glad she was there to keep hold of as he shoved against her.

Not that this was much of a relief as he struggled to get himself back together. "Is he alright?" Oh, Fluttershy was there, apparently.

"I don't think he's ever rode, uh, maybe anything ever." Scoots let her scooter tip over as she stepped off it, guiding Dry's trembling form on the way. "I may have gone faster than we had to." She laughed a bit nervously. "He'll get better. Oh! We came to see you."

Fluttershy inclined her head faintly at the two foals. "Really? How can I help?" She wasn't sure what they could use her for. Hopefully not as a babysitter again!

Dry suddenly fell forward, releasing Scootaloo in the act of resuming four-hoofed standing. He squeaked and swallowed, his tongue running over his lips. Eyes starting to recover from their dilation, he let out one last great tremble. "O-oh!" He was becoming aware of the world again. "Fluttershy, hello. It is nice to see you." She was a far more comforting thing to consider than the ride he had barely survived.

Scootaloo threw a leg over his neck, pulling him closer. "Dry here's a pro at hiding."

"What an interesting talent." Fluttershy did not look that much more convinced she knew what they wanted.

Dry nodded at Fluttershy, his tension ebbing bit by bit. "They were saying I could watch animals and birds, while hiding."

Fluttershy's eyes sparkled with sudden understanding, sitting up. "Oh! Well, now that is something I have some experience with. Most ponies have a preference." She turned a hoof at herself. "Though who am I to talk? I love to watch birds and animals both." She lowered that hoof and a racoon advanced into its reach to be pet gently. "They're all so wonderful in different ways."

Dry smiled a little, recovering from his journey. "Are you certain Fluttershy is not a druid? Magic is the only thing I have not seen that matches what I know."

"Pardon?"

Scootaloo shook Dry a little, leg still hooked on him. "That's Dry for you. Did we mention he's from Everglow? He thinks you're an adventurer."

"Oh, my." Fluttershy leaned towards the colt. "What sort of adventurer do you think I would be?"

Scoots seemed surprised, recoiling a bit. "You're not upset?"

"I'm a little curious." She raised a hoof to her chin. "I haven't had... a lot of fun with that world, but... Well, what would I be, you think?"

Dry slipped away from Scootaloo with a toss of his head, hopping one step away to ensure his liberation. "A druid is a spellcaster of the living world. They love the natural world, and can talk to animals and birds." He inclined his head faintly. "They also use natural magic. Nature magic is, um, well..." He rubbed behind his head. "It can be nice and not."

"Treehugger!" The foals were looking at her oddly. "Pardon me... My friend went to Everglow, and she... She learned a kind of magic there. This sounds very familiar. Maybe she was a, what was it, a druid? She... She liked it." A little smile appeared, her focus not quite there, focused on memories instead of the present. "She could become an animal, she liked it. I kinda liked it too."

Dry clopped the ground with a soft thump. "Yes, they can become animals! Um. Sorry." He shied back a bit. "I didn't mean to distract you."

"Oh, no no no." Fluttershy quickly waved that idea even as she advanced, setting a hoof on the nervous little colt. "You gave a word I was missing, so thank you for that." She curled a hoof to her chin. "I suppose, of all the... Of all the ways I've seen ponies do it... a druid wouldn't be so bad. They're good at animals, like me. But I can't just... change into an animal, or a tree. Can they become trees?"

Dry frowned with thought, digging through his young memory. "Um... I think... the really good ones? I only heard stories, but a really good druid is a master of the living world, and a tree is a part of the living world, so...?" He shrugged helplessly with clear uncertainty. "Sorry."

Fluttershy let out a soft and deep sigh. "Maybe Everglow isn't all bad."

Scootaloo rubbed at the side of her face. "Have you been there before?"

"No! I mean... It's... Remember back then?" She gestured as if to the past. "When Equestria was in big trouble... When Everglow came..."

Dry suddenly had a hoof against Flutteshy's side. "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it."

Fluttershy's ears danced. "Um, thank you, but why do you say that?"

"You were scared." He nodded solemnly. "I know scared." A little smile displayed. "You were scared. I don't want you to be sad, Miss Fluttershy."

"Aren't you the most precious thing." She grabbed him up in a hug, squeezing the little ghost colt close to herself. "Thank you for caring. It's, um, past... My friends won... It..." She took a slow hissing breath, her wings flexing without her knowledge, echoing the pain she had felt in them. "It's past." It sounded like she was convincing herself as much as anypony else.

Scootaloo awkwardly shuffled. "Um, so... you two are alright then?"

Fluttershy released Dry as if he were hot. "Oh, sorry! That was rude of me..."

Dry slid to the ground, seated on his haunches. "I didn't mind." He inclined his head to the right, watching her. "Can you show me how to use my hiding talent with your friends? They said I have to take notes?"

"Oh, yes." Fluttershy nodded firmly. "A bird or animal watcher takes a lot of good notes, so we know how they're doing." Her tension faded as the topic shifted to one she was more comfortable with. "Not every pony can just ask how they're doing, so watching is the only other way. You watch and you take notes. Are there more than usual? Less? A watcher will be the first to know, so we can try to help our friends."

Dry suddenly brought his hooves together. "That does not sound scary." High praise from him. "I can watch the creatures while I hide."

Fluttershy inclined her head. "I think that word has a different meaning, in Everglow."

"Which word? Watch? ... Hide?"

Fluttershy giggled softly, a little titter. "No, creature. We say 'creature' to mean any sort of... Things that talk." She pointed at herself. "I am a creature, and a pony more specifically. A griffon or a dragon would also be a creature, oh, or changelings. There are quite a number of creatures in the world. Why, I imagine I haven't even found them all."

"You have griffons too?!" Dry looked towards Scootaloo. "You said this world was safer. What's a changeling?"

Scootaloo inclined her head. "Hey, I used to think griffons were trouble, but wait until you meet Gabby. She is... possibly the sweetest thing I ever met." She smiled in fond memory. "Oh, right. I should get back to the girls. Fluttershy, you got it from here?"

Fluttershy pointed down at the colt. "I don't mind showing him a few things, but where does he live? And where are his parents?"

Scootaloo applied a hoof to her face. "Right. He doesn't have either of those right now."

"Oh dear." Fluttershy set a hoof on his little head. "Well, um... For today, you can stay here."

Dry hopped up, his smile radiant. "You are very kind. I feel safe here." He looked from one animal to the next. They all lived in peaceful harmony. "Please teach me your ways. I will listen carefully."

"We'll come back tomorrow!" promised Scootaloo even as she powered away, her form shrinking with the fluttering of her wings propelling her along back into the town proper, away from the two left behind.

Dry considered that receding form. "Do you think she was afraid you'd change your mind?"

"Maybe." Fluttershy stood up properly. "But I don't think I will. You seem nice." As opposed to many foals she'd been around, Dry seemed quiet. Quiet and gentle. As foals went, she had already decided she was alright with Dry. "Now, what do you know about them already?" She pointed at the raccoon. "Do you know what he is?"

Dry considered the furry critter. "Um... A mouse?"

Fluttershy blinked softly. "Oh dear, we have to... start a little more basically. Wait here a moment." She trotted off into her cottage.

Dry jumped as something thumped him. Looking down towards it, a rabbit was scowling at him. "Uh..." He could not speak with animals. He had done something wrong?! Was that animal going to hurt him? Could it? He decided assuming it could was wiser than not. When the next kick came, he was hopping away. "Stop that."

But the angered animal didn't stop, squeaking and flailing its little paws as it came closer, but he had no intention of letting it get close enough to attack, withdrawing a little-- oh no, it was coming still, faster. He broke into a gallop, the rabbit hot on his heels.

Fluttershy emerged from her cottage, a book held in her mouth. Darting across her lawn was Dry and Angel Bunny. Were they playing a game? She set the book down on a cobble stone and inclined her head, watching them a moment.

"Stop chasing me!" wailed Dry, hopping suddenly back, right over the rabbit in a sudden shift of trajectory that would have done any hare proud. It would have been even more impressive had he stuck the landing, sprawling out with an oof.

It was suddenly quite clear that wasn't a fun game. "Angel Bunny!" The rabbit looked towards her. "You come here this instant." The rabbit gave Dry one more glare before breaking off his chase to go to Fluttershy's side. "That wasn't very nice. He's just a little foal. Did he do anything wrong?"

Dry watched as the rabbit and Fluttershy... conversed? The animal was squeaking and gesturing, and Fluttershy was reacting as if words had been said. Druid magic. Equestrian druid magic! All he could decide as he sat up, glad he wasn't being chased anymore.

"You go and you apologize." Fluttershy was pointing at Dry. "Really. You can't be like that any time a pony shows the slightest interest."

Dry inclined his head at the little animal approaching him, tension mounting. Would he be kicked again? Perhaps bitten? That little creature had teeth, and teeth really only had one purpose.

The rabbit made some kinda noise, then hopped away, the attack over. Had that been an apology? "Did I do something wrong, Miss Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy waved the colt closer. "No, that's just Angel Bunny, being jealous." She huffed softly, shooting Angel a look that he ignored. "But, that is a good reminder that avoiding animal attention may sometimes be the better option." She pointed at his rump as he came in close. "Which you are already good at?"

"I'm very good at hiding," he crowed with pride, a smile on his face. "The gods said I would be, and they weren't wrong." He pointed back at his own brand. "But the girls... They... I don't think they're wrong. Just because I am good at hiding doesn't... I may..." He sat on his haunches, trying to regather his thoughts. "Hiding may be the start, instead of the end."

"I would like that." Fluttershy leaned in, touching her nose to the cheek of the little colt. "Thank you for trusting me, to try this. I know that can be very scary."

"It is!" he emphatically agreed, but he wasn't running. He was relaxed. Fluttershy seemed like such a safe pony to be around. "What is in the book?"

Author's Note

Angel Bunny remains the little jerk he tends to be.

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7 - Mistakes Were Made

He stood before the door that seemed so much larger than it had the last time he stood before it. His arm shook of its own volition, trembling as he lifted it. His hoof barely brushed against it, failing to knock.

He had to be brave! Brave was not a word he applied to himself terribly often. Still... He owed Fluttershy... He kept trying to knock, but the trembles were ruining it. He brought the hoof back and slammed the door, overcompensating wildly. His face went red. "Sorry!" he yelped at the door as if he had hurt it, though he had done no such thing.

"Coming," came a muffled gentle voice from inside.

She was approaching. She would know soon the true measure of his sins. She would judge him, harshly. Then he would have his job taken away. She would order him away, never to return. The one pony that understood him would forever be gone, and who's fault would it be? His own. He did it. He messed it all up!

Fluttershy opened the door. "Yes?" But there was no reply. There was just a little colt, curled on himself, shivering and sniffling. Their sobs weren't even coming out properly, little hiccups of noises. "Oh my! What happened?" She looked the colt over for injuries, but nothing was obvious aside from some burs stuck in his fur. She got to plucking those out, biting into each and tossing them away. "It's alright," she gently assured.

"It's not alright!" he suddenly wailed, sitting up to lift her camera into view. "I destroyed it! I ruined it! I am so sorry. I... I understand." He held it out, barely holding it up with hooves that were not as sticky as Equestrian ones, the whole thing, and him, trembling.

Fluttershy inclined her head. The camera looked just fine from her angle. "Did you take any pictures?" she asked instead, deflecting the conversation away from what he was upset about. Her wings curled in, gently lifting the camera free of his hooves, working the strap off his head.

"Y-yes..." He swallowed heavily. "Do you want those?"

"I do." She strapped the camera to her own head for safe keeping. "Why don't you fetch them and meet me inside?"

That was a very confusing request, on first glance. He was being invited in, not being sent away? "You still want to talk to me?" He ran a fetlock over his running eyes, snorting with the copious snot that had built up within him. He was a mess.

"If you'd like." She went inside, but came back out shortly with a kerchief that she ran over his face, helping to clear away all the gunk from his falling apart. "Poor thing. Go on, fetch those photos. I bet you took some nice ones."

He did not understand what was going on. But... Fluttershy wasn't angry at him, despite having a perfectly good reason to be so. Perhaps... He should not question his blessings there. "Alright..." He trotted off back to his bush, but didn't hop inside. He could see the stack of photos inside and just leaned in to snap them up in his mouth in a big uneven pile.

Did the photos themselves have some kind of magic power? Was that why she wanted them? Maybe they could even fix the device that made them! Wouldn't that just be great... He began to smile, mind full of wishful thinking. The door was open, so he trotted inside, peeking left and right, though the photos blocked much of his vision.

"Over here," called Fluttershy, and soon she had the photos, spreading them out on a table in her living room. "Now, before we look at these..." She reached out a wing behind her, snatching the camera and bringing it over. "I want you to know, you didn't break this."

"But it stopped working." He inclined his head with confusion. "I didn't?" That was good! "What happened?"

Fluttershy somehow broke it open with a click. "It ran out of paper." She turned a wing at the photos on the table. "You filled them up with lovely pictures. I just have to put in more paper." She folded the camera closed with a fresh click and set it on the shelf it had come from. "It's not broken, just hungry. I'll feed it later."

Hungry! This Dry understood, bobbing his head. The poor magic box was hungry, not dead. "May I help feed it? It did so much work for me. I owe it."

"That's very kind of you." She gently mussed the top of his head, turning it back to his photos. "But first, let's see what you did." Fluttershy set a hoof on a portrait. "Aw, what a happy couple." It was the birds in their bed. "Finches. They eat nuts."

Dry nodded in amazement. "Oh..." They had just been birds in his eyes... "What is this?" He sniffled, still working out the last of his episode. "This." He tapped at the photo that held the strange creature in the ground.

"A mole," provided Fluttershy. "Very shy. They burrow in the ground." She leaned in over the picture. "You got lucky, getting such a nice picture of one."

"Ah..." The pictures were... Magic, in their own way.

"Bon Bon looks really upset." Fluttershy had tilted her head at the picture of the angry Bon Bon. "I hope that worked out..."

"She ran away." Dry shook his head slowly. "She didn't spot me, thankfully."

"Probably for the best," agreed Fluttershy, who was the one sane one, who understood there were reasons to be scared.

"She mentioned Lyra." Dry pointed out a window. "I met her before. Is she going to hurt Lyra?"

"Oh..." Fluttershy, instead of looking horrified, smiled, to Dry's confusion. "They are very good friends. Lyra did something that bothered her, but I'm sure they'll work it out. I can't imagine them actually hurting one another." She nudged the picture aside to look at another. "Oh, hello Winona."

She was looking at the dog, tail caught mid-wag, a bit blurry, but the rest of it was nice and sharp.

"That is a Winona?" What a curious word for a creature, but not entirely impossible. "They can hear and smell really well."

"They can," gushed Fluttershy in agreement. "That is a dog," she corrected. "But that specific one is named Winona. She is Applejack's pet, and is a very good dog."

"They seemed nice..." And terrifying! "They found me so easily. I still have so much to learn about hiding." It clicked. "Applejack... Apple Bloom's sister, I think?"

"Mmhmm."

Dry applied a hoof to his face. "No wonder she could smell me."

"Hm?"

"I was at Apple Bloom's." He pointed in a fresh direction. "In her tree house. Winona must have smelled me. She has a very good nose."

Fluttershy began to smile anew at that. "And when she smelled somepony familiar, she came to say hello. How nice." Then she noticed another picture. "I hope?" She nudged the photo away from the others, the one of the extreme closeup of Winona, tongue hogging up most of the frame. "Did something happen?"

"She jumped at me." Dry giggled childishly. "I was so scared! But she was not attacking me. She licked me and she ran away." Dry considered a moment.

"That makes sense." Fluttershy nodded slowly. "Dogs can be very excitable, but most don't want to hurt a pony. I'm glad you were just startled and nothing more than that." She sat up. "Mmmhmm. How did you feel, about taking these?" She waved a hoof over the collection.

"I..." What did he feel? "I... felt... like I was..." He worried his hooves together, struggling with that elusive word. "I was in control, and safe, but involved. I could see." He brought down a hoof on a shot of Scootaloo caught in the middle of her jump. "I would not want to be with her. But I was with her, right there. I was excited for her. I was scared for her. I was with her."

Fluttershy was quiet a moment. Had he said something wrong? Was his explanation that bad?! "I never looked at it that way." She nodded at the portrait. "Scootaloo is a very brave filly."

"Too brave." Dry smiled without certainty. "I am amazed, and terrified."

"So I see." She traced a line of one Scootaloo picture to the next. "You really captured it, what she did, from the start to the end." She tapped at the final picture, Scootaloo back on the ground, firing a triumphant grin at nopony in particular. "You know..." She drew her hoof back, the photo coming along as if it were sticky. "Maybe I was wrong."

"Wrong?" He struggled to even imagine that. Fluttershy had seemed a wise source in a world of madness. "You seem right so far..." He pointed at the camera. "That is a wondrous magical device. Thank you for lending it to me."

"It's not magic," she giggled out. "But you are quite welcome. Still... Did you have more fun with this." She turned her hoof to display the picture of Scootaloo mid-flight. "Or this." She set her other hoof down on the mole picture and lifted it into view.

Dry looked between the two pictures quickly. "Hm. Hum... Hm... That one made me excited." He pointed at Scootaloo. "That one made me curious." He pointed at the mole. "But now I know what it is, so I would not be as amazed if I saw it again."

"Would you be excited if you saw Scootaloo trying another crazy stunt?"

"Yes!" he blurted without even a scrap of delay. "I do not understand how ponies risk themselves like that... But to watch it does not hurt me, and I feel like I am... involved." He reached for the photo stuck to Fluttershy's hoof.

She released it for him. But his hoof was not selectively sticky like an Equestrian pony, and it fell to the table between them. "Oops." He grabbed the white edge of the photo. "I want to show this to her. Do you think she would like to see herself? She looks so happy in this."

"She does, doesn't she..." Fluttershy nodded, her gentle smile growing. "Go on. Show it to her. I bet she'll really like it."

"Thank you!" He curled, tucking the photo away. "Can you feed these--" He waved at all the other photos. "--to the mirror image taker?"

Fluttershy was still a moment, blinking owlishly. Oh. "No no. The paper can only be used once. I will put in new paper, I promise, so you can take more photos later."

Dry slapped a hoof to a cheek. "I can use it again?!"

"Of course." Fluttershy touched her nose to Dry's forehead. "You had so much fun, and took lovely pictures. Why, I couldn't imagine not letting you use it again."

Dry captured her leg, hugging it in a fond embrace. "Thank you! You are a great person and I owe you so much. Tell me what I can do to balance the scales."

Fluttershy looked ready to wave the whole thing off, but thought better of it. "Well... Keep bringing me pictures that happen to have adorable animals in them, and I will consider us even." She had never gotten around to doing that herself. It was what she got the thing for to begin with, only to end up leaving it on a shelf, forgotten. Having the colt eagerly taking pictures with it seemed like a fine use of it.

She'd have to get more paper for it, but that was well worth the price. "Now go along. Scootaloo doesn't know you're coming, but I bet she's excited without even knowing why."

Did Scootaloo have that kind of extra sense? Somehow that did not seem surprising to Dry. "I won't keep her waiting. I hope she likes it." He waved eagerly at Fluttershy, then hurried to the door. He closed it gently behind himself, a habit most foals did not have, and Fluttershy could hear him trotting away.

"That was a nice visit." Sure, there was that brief bit of crying, but she was hardly the pony that would chastise a pony for doing that.

Author's Note

Dry is a perfect little pony. Surely nothing bad will happen to or around him. What author would ever do such a thing? Stop getting ideas!

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8 - A Full Day

He was halfway through Ponyville when he realized his grave error. He had been so flush with the feelings of excitement and accomplishment that he had charged right out into danger. He was right in the middle of the strange new town he had only just learned existed. Strangers were all around him. Some of them were watching... Those ponies that were brave. Bravery meant they could do anything, and there were no brave ponies he knew around to offer protection.

Dry had messed up. The proof of it was all around him. What did he have to defend himself but a mirror picture of one of his few friends. There were precious few hiding places there, in the middle of town. He saw a bush, but he'd have to run for it, drawing more attention.

"Hey." Ack, a pony! Wait... He knew that pony. "You look lost." Lyra approached with a smile. "I'm not doing anything, so, want a hoof?" She offered one of those hooves towards him.

Dry inclined his head. "You are safe. Did Bon Bon not hurt you?"

Lyra colored instantly. "She was really mad and kicked me out." A nervous little chuckle. "I shoulda known better... She'll calm down, but until then, where are you trying to go?"

Dry felt his terror abating. Lyra was a friendly pony, and, better yet, a known pony, a known factor. "I was trying to get to Apple Bloom's tree house." He pointed where he thought was the right direction, where he had been going. "But everyone's watching me. Do they want to hurt me?"

"You are a little curious looking," admitted Lyra shamelessly. "But you're still a little foal. They're probably more wondering if you're alright than trying to hurt you." Lyra took note of the picture dangling from Dry's lips. "What's that?"

"Hm?" Ah yes. Dry set it carefully on the ground. "I made this, with Fluttershy's wonderous device. It makes mirror images on paper," he explained in a tone like a teacher imparting grand wisdoms. Surely not a single creature in the world knew of the power of the mirror image taker, not a one.

"Nice picture." Lyra was nodding, not looking nearly impressed enough for the moment. "Scootaloo was getting up to trouble, huh? One of her specialties."

"She was flying," corrected Dry in a breathless bit of admiration. "She said she couldn't, but she did. It was very brave." And insane, so insane. He didn't mention that part. He took the picture back up in his lips. "I want to show her the image."

"Oh, that's nice." Lyra began to turn. "Bet she'll like that one." She led the way, protecting him without even trying. Ponies were not staring at him so much with her there. Were they scared of her? "I have a camera."

"Hm?"

"A, uh, what'd you say... 'mirror images on paper', that?" She rolled a hoof as she walked. "I have one of those."

"Oh!" No wonder she wasn't quite as impressed as he thought she should have been. "Are the ponies of this town very wealthy?" Why else could they afford such things?

"I'm not rich." She pointed off at a manor visible down a side road. "Those ponies, they're rich. Cameras aren't cheap, but they aren't super expensive neither." They were leaving Ponyville proper, headed towards the large fields of apple trees. "As I was saying, I take pictures too! I could never get a selfie right though."

Dry could but blink. "Selfie?"

"A picture of yourself."

Dry frowned in thought of that. "What happens if you just take a picture of a mirror?"

Lyra burst into giggles at that. "Huh, yeah, you could do that, but then you'd get a picture of you... holding a camera, and the camera would hog up most of the shot. A selfie shouldn't have the camera in it." She pointed at Dry's held photo. "See, no camera. The camera should be the one taking the picture, not in it. Get it?"

Hm. Dry nodded softly, but his eyes wandered. There. Apple Bloom's house! He took a hurried step forward, just to come to a halt. "Thank you, for leading me."

"Not a problem." Lyra ruffled the fluffy mane of the little ghost colt. "Your mane is fantastic, by the way."

"Huh?" He hadn't heard that before. "What's so interesting about it?"

Lyra ran her hoof through it in more slow motions. "It's like air, like cotton candy or fine silk. I can feel it, but it's so wispy, but not, like, it's... lacking. It's voluminous!" She brought up her other hoof to fluff up the colt's mane. "I love it!"

Dry swatted at the hoof on him, giggling softly. "Only my mom does that."

"Your mom and a silly pony called Lyra." She stuck out her tongue at him. "Unless it really bothers? Sorry."

"Oh, um..." For being insanely brave, she was also being polite. "Thank you, for everything." He touched his nose to her hovering hoof, the held photo flopping in the closeness a moment. "I'm going to see if they're home." And he raced off towards the club house.

"I didn't hear a no." Lyra turned away with a giggle, certain she'd be enjoying a colt's mane another day.

"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle?" he called out as he ascended the wooden stairs. "Are you here?"

The door cracked open and a snout poked free. Sweetie Belle. "Oh, hey Dry!" She waved eagerly and backed up, the door left open in silent invitation. "They'll be here in a moment."

"Oh, good." He trotted in, kicking the door gently shut behind himself. He set the photo down on the ground and pointed at it. "Look what I did."

"Hm?" Sweetie advanced to see the photo. "Oh, nice. Caught Scootaloo at a good instant. When did you become a photo-- Wait, I thought you were going to take pictures of animals! Scootaloo isn't an animal." It seemed to strike her. "Well, technically I guess..."

"I took animal pictures too." He tapped a hoof on the photo. "But Scootaloo flew! You said she couldn't, but she did. It was brave..." And insane. "So brave." So insane. "I was..." What was the right words...? "I felt like I flew too..." But not nearly as dangerously, a key part.

Sweetie patted his shoulder. "It really left a mark on you." An ear quirked up. "I think they're here."

The door swung open, revealing the other two members of the CMC trotting in. Apple Bloom spotted Dry and went right for him. "Hey! How'd it go? Fluttershy se--" She trailed off, noticing the photo there in front of him. "Nice picture. Scootaloo, check this out."

"What?" Scootaloo trotted over to see it too. "Hey, it's me!" She grinned brightly. "You got my good side." She giggled with clear pride. "I was kissing the sky."

"You were amazing," gushed out Dry. "I thought you would die."

Scootaloo blinked at that. "But I didn't."

"That was the most amazing part!" He threw his hooves up high. "But I took many... pictures? I took many of them. Most of them are at Fluttershy's."

"I wanna see them!" Scootaloo thumped Dry on the back with a smart slap. "You take good pictures." She leaned in suddenly. "Are you a fan? Do I have my first fan?" She began to giggle with growing energy. "I never had one of those before!"

Apple Bloom stuck her tongue right out. "Dummy, we were yer fans fer ages. Don't forget it."

"Yeah." Sweetie nodded in agreement, pointing at herself and Apple Bloom. "We were cheering you on for years now."

"Well, yeah..." Scootaloo rubbed behind her head. "But it's different. You two are friends. Not a bad thing to be, don't get me wrong. It's different when somepony who isn't already a super friend is a fan." She pointed at Dry directly. "Like you. We barely know each other."

Dry inclined his head slowly. "I enjoy your bravery... from a distance."

Apple Bloom burst into sniggers. "You were screaming pretty loud down the hill."

"It was terrifying!" He shook his head, re-banishing those thoughts. "But watching her, that was different." He clopped his hooves down on her shoulders. "You are insane...ly good at what you do."

"Aw, it isn't a--" The room around them thumped violently, throwing them off their hooves. "What the?" The girls charged for the door. Dry went the other way, finding a corner to try to vanish into.

Apple Bloom peeked out the cracked door, only to scowl. "You again?!" And out she went, the girls chasing after her.

The bugbear had returned, having tracked down who had managed to fight it to a standstill. With a great roar, it charged at Apple Bloom. Sweetie's voice rang out clear and sharp. Scootaloo was already in motion, leaping past the bear to grab her scooter from below.

Apple Bloom dived to the side, avoiding a sharp barb in the process. "Woah! This is why ah said ah should be allowed to carry ah sword." But Applejack had been quite insistent on that point. No swords on the farm, or in Ponyville, or anywhere she could see. Just no swords! Bah...

"We got your back!" Scootaloo was wielding... her scooter?

Dry peeked out the door at the fight in progress. Melodic tones and the thumps of blunt things into flesh rang out as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom battled under Sweetie's melodic accompaniment.

"Ow!" Apple Bloom had been cut with a cruel swipe of claws, catching her on her small side. "Yer gonna pay for that!" Instead of being scared and running, she fought all the more determination, an explosion of fiery pain resulting from one of her many vials.

"Apple Bloom?!" Another pony was approaching, hooves clopping loudly. "Tarnation! Ah'm comin'!"

"Electric scooter!" called Scootaloo, bashing the creature with her scooter. The impact of the scooter itself was a mild annoyance, but the crackling zap of her magic brought out a screech of rage. It turned on her, reaching, but she deflected its claws with her scooter, laughing all the while.

"We got this," called out Apple Bloom, kicking the thing while it was turned to face Scootaloo. "And don't you come back!"

Not that it had fled. Perhaps noticing Sweetie Belle wasn't actually fighting, it went for her, teeth slavering with dire intent.

An apple from nowhere came zipping in, catching the bear across the snout as Sweetie jumped off the platform, hitting the ground without missing a beat of her song, still singing with a grin.

Apple Bloom crashed a thrown punch into the opposite side of its snout from where the apple had splattered. "Yeah, whatcha deserve! Oops!" She was grabbed by the incensed creature, thrown clear.

Scootaloo spoke a strange sudden word of power, and Apple Bloom drifted gently to the ground instead of crashing against it. "Thanks for the save!"

Dry watched it all with wide eyes. His friends were adventures, warriors, fighters... utterly and completely insane... He was amazed and horrified in equal measure, watching it all play out. Oh, if only he had the mirror image taker... Um, camera, yes, that.

"Git!" Applejack threw herself, hind hooves forward, crashing into the roaring bugbear as it struggled to face her sudden involvement in the battle. "Ya ain't welcome in our orchard!"

Her involvement only seemed to inspire the others. The bugbear was outnumbered and outmatched, it seemed. Dry inclined his head, feeling... almost sorry for it. The feeling faded quickly. If it had the option, it would devour him and not even feel bad about it. No, no... far better that the insanely brave ponies of Ponyville took care of it, yes... Still, would still be nice if he could capture a few pictures of the act...

So they found him clapping his hooves, a steady clop clop.

Applejack hiked a brow at the applauding colt. "Ya alright? Apple Bloom, git over here." As soon as her sister was in range, she snatched up the filly. "Look at that. We're gonna get that washed." And off she went, rushing Apple Bloom for emergency triage she hadn't asked for.

Author's Note

The bugbear goes for round 2... and discovers that all the CMC have class levels, and, oops, so does AJ. This was not a wise fight to pick.

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9 - Morning Bright

Sweetie Belle was working with Scootaloo to set out bedding in a basic cot of sort, even if it was on the ground. "I'm going to hazard a guess that Apple Bloom will be busy for a while. Applejack cares about her a lot. A lot lot."

"Wonder if she'll be a mummy by the time it's done." Scootaloo sniggered as she set a pillow in place. "There ya go. All nice and warm and cozy."

Dry considered the bedding. "Is it safe? That bear knows where we are. It could come back."

Scootaloo waved that idea away. "As if. With the beating we gave it, it's not coming back for a while."

Sweetie laughed nervously. "If Apple Bloom had her way and was allowed to have a sword, it might not ever come back. Still, we have protection for you."

Dry perked at this. "What sort of protection?"

Sweetie patted the blanket. "This isn't a normal blanket."

"It's not?" asked Scootaloo and Dry in sync.

"Nope" Sweetie nodded with confidence. "Anypony that slips under there and stays under there is shielded from detection. You won't be bothered in your sleep, promise."

Dry erupted in a grand smile. His new friends were full of amazing magic! He slipped right under that shielding blanket and all too soon, his faint little sleeping noises could be heard.

Scootaloo tip-toed out with Sweetie. "That blanket is not magic."

"It's enchanted with our friendship," countered Sweetie with a light giggle as she closed the door gently. "He's had a big day."

And so they headed back to their own homes. The club house was not bothered that night. Apple Bloom tripped over a great lump just inside the door. "What the?"

"Apple Bloom?" asked a small male voice from within that lump of fabric.

"Yeah?" She inclined her head at the lump. "Dry?"

"Yes." He poked his head out just barely. "They gave me a magical blanket of protection."

"Did they now?" Apple Bloom smiled a little, putting those pieces together. "It musta worked. Here you are, all safe."

"It is also warm." Dry nuzzled against his safe warm blanket of ultimate protection. "I am very grateful they gave it to me." It seemed to click. "Oh, lent. They will want it back, I imagine..."

"Yeah, belongs in the club house." She waved a hoof in a wide circle. "We use it to protect anypony that's staying overnight here."

"You are skilled." Dry emerged fully and began dutifully folding the things he had been nesting in slowly. "Are you guardians often? Those you protect must feel very safe."

Apple Bloom inclined her head faintly. "Not as often as yer thinkin'."

It was only then that he noticed something had changed. He abandoned the enchanted bedware to instead rise and rapidly approach Apple Bloom. "What is that?"

She sighed heavily. "Bandages. Sis went overboard." Her entire midsection was bound tight in one long roll that went around and around and around seemingly without end. "She cares about me 'lots, ya see. She's scared."

"Oh." Dry's estimation of Apple Jack increased. Surely a wise sister to understand fear. "My sister was just as worried for me, but she had to go, like I am doing now." He pointed at himself. "She's probably in Everglow. I still don't know how I ended up...not there... but I am not sad." He touched his nose to Apple Bloom's. "I have found wonderful friends here. I have found a purpose. I am learning and growing. This is... good, yes?"

"Yeah!" chimed Apple Bloom with a big ole grin. "That's the spirit!" She grabbed the ghost colt in a sudden hug. "Yer soundin' way less scared today."

Dry inclined his head left and right. "I had very good sleep." He pointed to the blanket. "Knowing nothing could find me, I slept better than I had in... forever." He returned to the blanket, trailing a hoof along it. "Is there a way... I could use it again?"

Apple Bloom's first urge was to give him the blanket, but it crashed on her where that would lead... The very first instant he was startled in the blanket, found by anycreature at all, he would be beyond upset, and he would lose faith in the crusaders. It was a short term fix for a long term problem. "That has to stay here," she answered at last. "But ah am glad ya had a nice night." She walked past him. "Let's head outside."

And so he trailed along after her into the bright light of the morning. He didn't have a magical blanket of nondetection, but he had the personal vanguard of an insanely brave alchemist. Almost as good! "I don't want to take your day from you."

Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder at Dry. "Aw, yer mighty nice. Don't worry 'bout it. 'Cause ah'm takin' ya with me." She started down the ramp to the ground. "Gotta help with the harvest. Now, funny thin', but alchemy ain't so good fer pluckin' apples."

Dry descended to the grassy earth. "What is?" He craned her head back to peer at the bright red apples that adorned many of the trees within sight. So many of them... "Can I help?"

"Yer welcome to try." Apple Bloom accelerated into a jogging trot, scampering along as fillies are known to do. "C'mon!"

They ran into Applejack and Big Mac, already at work moving entire barrels of apples around onto a cart.

"Mornin'," offered Big Mac with a nod.

For some reason, this was funny to Apple Bloom, giggling. "That makes two ponies what got good sleep if yer feelin' that chatty."

"Ayup."

Applejack smirked at the interaction. "G'morning Bloom. That yer friend?" Her eyes were on Dry Whisper. "Welcome to the orchard. Sorry ya got greeted by that big varmint like that. 'Least we done scared it off proper."

"You were all amazing warriors." Dry clopped his hooves in appreciation. "Weren't you scared you'd get hurt?"

Applejack frowned at that. "Poor little Apple Bloom did get hurt! If ah see that critter again, they're gettin' an extra kick!"

"Ayup." Big Mac shoved with his hooves, getting a barrel in position on the wagon they were working on.

"Ah'm fine." Apple Bloom pointed. "And that field of trees needs a buckin'! C'mon, Dry!" And off she scampered

Dry nodded to the two adults. "Thank you for having me." And off he went after her. They arrived at a tree, one of many like it.

Apple Bloom grabbed a bucket from nearby and set it under the tree, repeating this several times. Why? Dry wasn't sure. "Alright, ready."

"Ready for--" He didn't get to finish. Apple Bloom lashed out her legs, fore legs planted firmly against the ground. She collided with the tree, causing it to quiver and shake. Apples began to fall like a gentle spring rain, filling the buckets she had spread out beneath the tree. "Wow..."

He danced around under the brief rain, but then it was done, apples filling the barrels completely. "You said alchemy doesn't help with this."

"It don't." Apple Bloom got right to work nudging the baskets along. "Get one and follow me!" And soon the two were pushing the load of apple goodness back towards the waiting adults. "It took practice, an' watchin' mah sibs do it to get that right. Ain't no alchemy."

"Darn straight," agreed Apple Jack, grabbing the handle of the basket Apple Bloom was pushing in her mouth and easily lifting it up, turning it right over to spill the apples into a waiting barrel. "Fine work, Apple Bloom. Keep that up and we'll get this knocked right out."

When they arrived at the next tree and had baskets arranged under it, Dry moved up to the tree instead of moving for safety. "May I try?"

Apple Bloom considered a moment. "Ah gotta warn. The first... like... dozen times? Yer gonna fail. It happened to me." She pointed at herself. "It happened to both of them." She pointed back where her older siblings were. "Just a fact of life. Ain't nopony gets this right on the first try. But, if ya wanna try, well, ain't gonna stop ya." She backed away with a courteous gesture for Dry to advance.

Dry considered the great slab of living wood that was a tree. "But you can do it now."

"Sure can."

"Which means..." He turned away from the tree, trying to set his hooves as he saw her do. "Failing is a part of being great."

Apple Bloom smiled at that. "Now that's a big thought ya just spouted there."

He hadn't meant to make any great statements, but maybe it was? He smiled a little, her smile catching. "I will fail, but... learn? Like when I was taking the mirror images." And he kicked with all he had, bounced off the tree and instead propelled himself forward, going airborne a precious moment before crashing to the ground on his belly. Dazzled and scuffed, he let out a little pained noise.

Apple Bloom was at his side before he could even think to look for her. "Ya alright?" Her hoof was on his back, the other came in, offering something to his lips.

A bottle? A potion! He sealed his lips around the neck and drew it in. It tasted like a spicy apple juice, which somehow did not surprise him overly much. His aches began to fade quickly. "You are a good alchemist." He sat up, the potion cradled in his hooves awkwardly. "And an even better kicker of trees. How do you... not do what I just did?"

"It's all about bracin' yerself. Yer stance wasn't too bad, but..." She helped him up and they got right back to the tree. For such a fearful colt, Dry surprised her by wanting to try again. Applebucking isn't a trick any pony could master in a day, but as the sun grew heavy, he had something to show for it.

He lashed against the tree, a new tree, as hard and as well as he could. He didn't send himself flying, already a minor victory there. The tree trembled faintly.

A single apple fell, bouncing off the bottom of its basket and landing right next to it. "I did it!" he cried with joy. "Look!"

Apple Bloom went to grab the stem of the apple, sending it back into its basket where it belonged. "Ya done did. Yer an official applebucker now. Congratulations."

He began to clop with excitement, drumming his hooves together. "Maybe I will get even better tomorrow."

"And even better the day after, if we're still workin' then." She grabbed his ear suddenly in her teeth, half-dragging him away a few steps. "Let me finish this tree." With a practiced motion, she got the rest of the apples to follow their kin, filling all the baskets they had arranged for them to arrive in. "Let's get these moving!"

Together, they got their head behind a basket each and pushed them over to where the adults were working. Dry had not been a huge assistance that day, but Apple Bloom enjoyed having him around, and she worked extra hard to make up for it.

Which meant a lot of apples got gathered. They were on time and on schedule. There'd be plenty of apples to offer the ponies of Ponyville, and beyond.

"Where ya goin'?" Applejack hooked a hoof around Dry, drawing him back from his attempt to leave. "Ya work hard with the family, ya done get to eat with the family." She gestured with her head at their home. "Come on in and fill up that belly of yers. Ya done earned it."

His day, apparently, was not quite over. He had an Apple family to meet properly, over dinner. Why did he feel so nervous?

Author's Note

Dry, you are too pure for this world. Jus' sayin'.

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10 - Breaking Bread

As he stepped inside the farm house, the scents of dinner were upon him. Apple was the central theme, to no specific surprise. But there were many hints of spices and variations. That an apple could become so many different things, Dry had not known, but he had learned, just by being there and absorbing that scent.

"G'on." Applejack was behind him, gently nudging him forward. "Don't be shy. Granny! We got a guest!"

"Do we now?" As he came around the corner, he found the source of the voice, an elder of the apple tribe, seated at the end of the table in the dominant position. "There he is. Hm." She was studying him. Judging him. "Wha's his name?"

"Dry Whisper," he offered himself. "Nice to meet you... ma'am." He dipped his front forward and down before scooting out of the way of traffic, looking uncertain.

Apple Bloom found him. "You can sit next to me, here." She pointed at a chair. "Don't be scared. Everypony here's friendly, and ya did help out."

Granny's eyes were on him. But Apple Bloom insisted, and he hopped up into place, sitting down on the wide chair designed for a pony to be able to sink to their haunches on it. "It smells lovely."

"Ayup."

Applejack chuckled softly as she sank onto her own place, across from the little ones. "If ya think it smells nice, wait 'till ya get yer teeth in it. We're all here?" Her eyes darted along the table, counting. "All present."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "Except two."

Applejack pulled her hat down over her chest. "Not much we can do fer those two, but good thinkin'. A moment of quiet."

And things got quiet, to Dry's confusion. What for? The magical silence broke. Granny was reaching for food, and others followed suit, as if nothing had happened.

Apple Bloom pointed things out, reciting what each one. "And if'n yer a bit appled out, don't worry none. We got--" And on she went, naming several dishes that didn't have any apples in them. "Granny's an amazin' chef."

"Aw." Granny was still watching, even as she ate. "Ya gonna tell me about that colt ya brought home?"

Apple Bloom waved a hoof in a wobble at Dry. "This here's Dry, like he said. He's from another world! Everglow, remember that place?"

Granny cocked a brow at that. "You were talkin' 'bout that place." She was looking to Applejack.

Applejack shook her head quickly. "Not missin' it any! That place's dangerous."

"Yes," agreed Dry without hesitation. "Most places are... Apple Bloom has kindly protected me. She is so brave." He offered a bright smile at her. "I am very glad I met her. She's why I am here, instead of the forest."

Applejack reached across the table to pat the colt on the head. "Yer safe here. We Apples don't let no trouble come to ours."

Granny pressed hoof to hoof. "But is he ours?" She was watching him, that hadn't paused. "Ya like Apple Bloom?"

"Very much," he innocently affirmed, nodding at Apple Bloom. "She has many talents, and she's brave, and strong. She does look a little funny, but--"

Apple Bloom skewed an ear. "Pardon?"

It only clicked in hindsight that he maybe shouldn't have brought that up. "Um. I must look funny to you, don't I?"

Apple Bloom looked Dry up and down. He was not a pony. Not an Equestrian one anyway. His lines were different. Ornate? He had more of them. "Ya don't say somepony looks funny though." She shoved at his shoulder with a girlish laugh. "'Sides, yer not 'funny'. Ya do look interestin' though."

"Interesting!" he cried as if clinging to the word for safety. "That is a much better word. She is very interesting."

"Ya don't say." Granny's gaze had not wavered. "And Apple Bloom, ya like him?"

Apple Bloom looked up, food occupying her mouth a moment before she could chomp it up properly and get it down. "Huh? Sure, he's a good colt. Oh, he's stayin' here." She pointed off through a wall. "In the clubhouse."

Granny leaned forward a little. "Ya don't say..." And she stopped staring. Her eyes went to her food, which she began to eat properly, as if she had found whatever it was she had been searching for.

Dry had no idea what she had been looking for, but that she found it had to be good news, right? "I am not very good at apple bucking, but I got one. Tomorrow I will do better." It struck him and he raised a hoof to his chin. "I will also get the photo maker and take pictures. You all look amazing as you work. It should be captured, on paper. If you could see it yourself, I am certain you would like it."

Applejack inclined her head. "Huh."

Big Mac just chuckled a little, no words coming.

Apple Bloom threw a hoof over his shoulders, hugging him with one arm. "Ya heard that? He's an applebucker! Still new at it, but we all were once, right?"

Applejack nodded with far more confidence than she had a moment prior. "Congratulations. The first apple's a special one. Now that ya done that, the rest'll follow in no time." Her eyes fell over him, taking him in. "Yer a bit... slight fer an applebucker." He did not have the robust lines of an earth pony. He was more of a deer-like wisp. "But ya did it anywho, which just makes it all the better."

Apple Bloom noticed he had eaten, and stopped. "Ya full?"

Dry bobbed his head. "It was great." But he was not a creature that needed that much food. "Thank you." He dipped his head at each pony present, adult or child.

Apple Bloom sprang to the floor. "Ah'll walk ya back to the clubhouse." And the two were gone in a flash.

Granny looked, not to them, but to her older grandchildren.

"What?" Applejack was not one to sit quiet. "Somethin' on yer mind?"

"Our little Apple Bloom done came home with a colt friend and 'what's' all ya got?" A little smirk on her face, Granny chuckled softly. "Ah thought ya two were brighter."

Big Mac darkened faintly. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'." Granny rolled her eyes. "were ya even lookin'? She done took a shine to him, and he's ready to learn applebuckin' if it'll make her happy." She applied hoof to hoof. "And he ain't built fer that, ya just said so, but there he is, doin' it anyway."

Big Mac rubbed the side of his head with a broad hoof. "Uh..."

"What he means is--" Applejack leaned over the table a little. "They ain't datin' or nothin'. They're just little foals! Doubt either of 'em even understands what yer talkin' 'bout."

Granny hiked a brow. "Apple Bloom's been chased before, yer forgettin'. That cat. 'Least this one's a pony, and more polite anywho from what ya told me."

"He seems nice enough." It was her turn to rub a hoof against a cheek. "But ah ain't sure he's lookin' at her that way. He was more like a, well... a colt, a little one. Happy to find a friend." Her smile returned, gentle and growing in confidence. "Which is what they are. Just cause he's a he and she's a she don't mean it has to be that."

"It don't have to..." Granny ran a hoof along the table between the plates that occupied it. "But it could be. Our little Bloom's reachin' the age where she starts havin' those thoughts. Ah can't rightly place the age of that colt."

Applejack colored at the idea being put forward. "Granny!"

"Just speakin' the truth." She nodded firmly as she pushed her plate back, apparently satisfied. "Ain't so bad. He's a cute little thin', odd as he may be. And he knows how to do a day's work. She coulda done worse."

Applejack quietly chewed a moment. "Ah'll keep an eye on 'em."

"Ayup."

It could be nothing, but the Apple family would keep watch over the new development."

Apple Bloom was pulling the blanket back out where it had started the day. "Ya did good. Took me most of a day to get mah first apple too." She giggled at the memory. "Ah was so proud!"

"Like me?" He reached out, helping getting things in position with nudging hooves and pulling teeth. "I will do better tomorrow. We are not done, right? I saw many more apples."

"Plenty more," she agreed with a happy sigh. "Which is good! We sell those apples to keep the farm, and feed ponies."

"Farming is very different where I come from." Dry nodded softly. "Very different... You have sun here, to start."

Apple Bloom blinked softly. "The sun's a... pretty big difference... Ah don't know what ya could grow without one of those."

"I wish I could show you." His face brightened. "Tomorrow I will get the mirror image taker. I will take photos, so I can show people things."

Apple Bloom inclined her head at the thought. "What did you want to show me s' bad?"

"Our food." He bounced in place. "Our farms. Our trees. They're not the same, but I can't show them. I wish I could..."

Apple Bloom set a hoof on his shoulder. "Maybe some day ah'll see 'em. Eventually ya'll be able to go back to there, right? I'll tag along, get a peek at these no-sun trees." A brow went up. "However that works."

"Very well." Dry bobbed his head. "If I could show you... Tomorrow." He dived for the blanket, snuggling right up under it and curling in a ball. "Good night."

Apple Bloom smiled at her new friend, so comfortable there under the blanket of protection. "Who said that? Huh, Dry musta already went to sleep." She departed, just barely stifling her giggle as she closed the door gently, leaving the ghost colt to get his sleep.

The next day, Dry was up first and burst free of the clubhouse. He didn't take the protective blanket with him, however tempting that was. It belonged in the clubhouse, and he would not steal from the girls. The very idea sent a shiver down his spine. They were wonderful ponies who protected him! Returning the favor with betrayal? No!

The sun was shining brightly down on him. The ponies were just waking up. Some of them even waved. "Hello!" he called back at them. There was no time for fear, though he'd remember later. It was time for one of his favorite grown ponies. He knocked gently on the cottage door.

"Who is it?" She wasn't asleep, good! The door cracked open to reveal Fluttershy's face. "Oh! Dry." The door opened the rest of the way. "Good morning. What brings you by?"

He pointed past her, to the shelf that held the artifact. "I wish to create more mirror images today. May I? I will be careful."

Fluttershy looked over her shoulder a moment before the rest of her followed. "Oh, yes. I'm glad to see you've found an interest in it." She brought her wings in, picking the camera up into the air. "Now, remember, when you've used up all the paper inside, it will stop letting you press the button. That's perfectly normal. It just means--"

"--It's hungry!" However scared he was, he wasn't slow, already understanding the camera needed to be fed the special paper. "Is it fed and full?"

"Completely." She set the camera down across him, the loop snagging around the back of his neck to let it dangle there against him. "I look forward to any pictures you take of any adorable animals." She paused. "Or not adorable ones. Scary animals are worth looking at too, even if one may wish to avoid them."

Dry bounced into the air, hooves cycling in his excitement. "I have to get back before Apple Bloom gets there. We're going to harvest apples."

Fluttershy blinked at that. Not the activity she expected. "Oh, that's very nice of you. Ah! If you see any fruit bats, do get a picture of them. So long as they aren't in a swarm, Applejack shouldn't be upset, but I'd like a picture of that, if you can."

"Bat, got it." He bobbed his head quickly. "Thank you!" He dashed off back towards the clubhouse, hoping to be there before the girls got there.

Author's Note

Fruit bats? They get seeds and pulp everywhere, and that ends up creating typos, sigh... We can hope they don't show up.

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11 - Apple a Day

"There ya are!" Apple Bloom was at the top of the ramp that led to her clubhouse. She had spotted Dry coming back from the town. "Ah was wonderin' where ya done ran off to. Everythin' alright?"

He had failed to get back in time before she got there, but she didn't seem at all upset. "I got it." He shook as he ascended, causing the camera on its strap to jostle about. "I will be able to make images today while we work."

"Good job. We should get..." She trailed off as she moved go past him, noticing something. "On the other hoof, ya sit down right there."

"Is something wrong?" He had seen the way she tensed. He sat as instructed.

"Nothin' what can't be fixed." Apple Bloom moved to seat herself a small distance away. "Now, ah'm gonna cast a spell. Well, sorta? Alchemists do magic different." She began drawing things out and mixing and mashing and hurriedly producing a fresh bottle of... something.

"Now put the camera down." She tapped at the wood of the ramp. "An' step away. We don't wanna get it wet."

Wet?! Dry set down the camera as told, edging away from it. "What's going on?" But he did trust her, so he got free of the camera, watching her and wondering.

"Close yer eyes." The moment he did, she upended the bottle over his head, allowing the soapy shampoo to splatter all across his head. She began to work it in, at first working his mane and head, but soon working downwards across his form in a cleansing he hadn't asked for. "Already better!"

His cheeks went a bright red, but he remained still for the act. Only when a fresh wave of water ran over him did he squeak and open his eyes. She was pouring fresh water over him, rinsing the soap away. "I didn't do anything that dirty..."

"Tha's a perfectly colt thing ta say." She went inside the clubhouse to return with a fluffy towel. "Go ahead and dry up. Don't that feel better?"

Dry began to roll against the towel, working the water off and returning the fluffy wispiness to his mane and tail. "Is this important for applebucking?"

"Vital." Apple Bloom bobbed her head. "If we didn't wash every day, we'd stink, which you did. Ah fixed it." Buckin's hard work! Builds up a good sweat. Sweat's fine an' all, but then ya stink. An' stinky ponies have a harder time with friends." She grabbed the abandoned camera and soon had it strapped back around Dry's neck. "There ya go."

Dry jumped forward, delivering a warm hug to Apple Bloom. "You are too nice."

Apple Bloom gently pushed him back with a laugh. "Yer welcome. Ready?"

"Ready!" He turned and started down the ramp. "I will buck more apples, and capture mirror images. Today will be great!"

With a cheer of solidarity, Apple Bloom joined him in advancing on the orchard. It was afternoon when the other girls stopped by. Scootaloo's laughing cheer gave her away. "Did you see that?!"

"I certainly did." Sweetie was tilting her head at the spectacle. "When did Dry become an applebucker?"

Apple Bloom burst into giggles, gesturing at Dry and his baskets that had roughly half a dozen apples each. "He's gettin' better at it!"

With a sudden click, Dry captured an image of the two fillies propped up on the fence. "Hello! I am helping Apple Bloom and her family harvest their apples."

Sweetie squealed at the sudden picture. "Warn a filly before you do that." But she was laughing with no lingering ill feelings. "You're doing an amazing job."

The two slid down the fence towards the working two and joined in the effort without prompting. Sweetie and Scootaloo did not even try to buck. They eagerly pushed baskets around, much like Dry had done much of the day before. With each try, Dry got just a little better. It wasn't by leaps and bounds by any measure, but he was quite proud he could get as many as he did. Sure, he has to whop a tree a number of times to get all the apples free of it, but he was doing it.

It was still magical how Apple Bloom could get them all to rain free with one strike. So magic he captured several pictures of the event. He got one at just the instant her hoof touched the bark of the tree. "Perfect!" Timing was such an important part, he was discovering. "If you didn't know better, you might think she was just resting." He showed the pictures to the others.

It was true, the way her hooves were just in contact with the tree, there was no motion easily seen. She could have been leaning against the tree in an odd way. Apple Bloom burst into giggles. "That don't look like no comfy position to stay in. Yer silly." She bopped Dry with a laugh and got back to work.

With all four foals on the job, they about matched the apple harvesting potential of one of the adults. A fact Applejack noticed as the barrels of picked apples stacked high. "Ya doin' mighty good." She nodded at the two fillies that had joined at some point. "Hey, Scoots, Sweetie. Thanks fer lendin' a hoof. Shouldn't you two be at school?"

Sweetie waved a hoof over the orchard. "We asked permission to come help."

Scootaloo bobbed her head. "Cherilee said we could, but she was going to ask you to make sure we did. We're allowed to 'learn about farming.'"

Applejack let out a little ah, understanding dawning. "Well then. If that's what yer here for, time to get learnin'." She would not let the foals escape from their schooling without some learning going on. "Apple Bloom, ya already know this, so get back to it. Dry? Wanna learn about what yer kickin'?"

Dry's ears quivered. "Please?"

"Why I asked." She led three of the four foals away. It was like magic that she ended up with four foals when she arrived at a sapling in the ground. "Bloom? Whatcha doin' here? Thought you were headin' back out to harvest."

Apple Bloom waved at her friends. "Ya really 'xpect me to go back to it with them right here?"

Applejack raised a single brow high. "Points fer honesty, ah suppose... Now..." And she began to explain what it took to get an apple tree to grow, from a seed on up. "Now, as ya can see, this one ain't no seed no more." She patted the ground beside the sapling. "Once a tree gets this big, the first phase is done. On some levels, the hard part's done. A tree this big wants to grow big and tall!" She waved up high in a dramatic motion. "It's our job to let 'em, and keep things away that'd stop 'em."

Dry craned his neck up to the sky, pointing at the sun he couldn't look at for long. "The sun is involved. How?"

This caught Applejack by surprise. "Oh. Most plants need the sun. It's what they eat, sugar cube. An' we eat the plants. It's a cycle like that." She looped her hooves over each other. "And animals feed the plants, eventual-like."

Sweetie burst into giggles. "Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. We all didn't know that before. I just never got to see someone learn it besides with me."

Scootaloo threw a leg over Dry, hugging with one arm. "They say every day you should learn something. You got yours covered. Grats."

Dry looked back at the plant, which was not consuming the sun in any visible way. "How?" He slipped away from Scootaloo to circle the young apple tree. "Does it... When does it eat?" He gasped with a sharp raising of his front. "I want to see that." He nudged at his camera. "I'm ready."

Applejack let out a soft hrm. "Well, see how it has those green leaves?" She pointed at the green leaves of the sapling, spreading wide. "So long as they're all lit and warm from the sun, they're eatin'. Little tree's eatin' right now! Yum yum yum! It's a nice day out, bet it's right happy. Now, they can't talk to us none, so we gotta learn other signs to know when our trees are happy or not."

And so the lesson progressed, with what a happy and healthy tree looked like, how to care for them, and all the other parts that went into Applejack's job. Apple Bloom was quite happy to chime in on things she knew well, the sisters proudly giving their lecture on the wonder that was that young apple tree.

Applejack set a hoof on the topmost leaf of the sapling. "Now, see, this here tree, just like one of you." She looked at each of the four foals. "Even you, Bloom. Just tall enough to want to reach higher. Tall enough to stand on yer own. Tall enough to fight a little wind, and growin' bigger every day! But it ain't done, and neither are any of you."

Apple Bloom smirked at the comparison. "That's a right funny way of tellin' us what yer tellin'."

"Ah get it." Applejack withdrew her hoof. "Ya got a job. Ya got magic. Ya know how to fight. Ah'm proud, really. Ah'm real proud." She offered a hoof and soon Apple Bloom was in her grasp to be hugged warmly. "Of all of ya! But yer still mah saplin', and jus' like this one here." she pointed to the actual sapling. "I'm gonna fuss and try to keep ya safe. It's what big sisters do. It's what farmers do."

Apple Bloom thrust out her tongue at Applejack, though she was held without resistance. "I'll be yer little saplin' when ah'm feedin' you oat meal."

Applejack colored at the conjured mental image. "That ain't for some time yet... but you know that's true. Like Granny don't look at me like a little saplin' herself. You think ah'm annoyin', well, ah'm a grown pony." She released Apple Bloom with a soft laugh. "So take that feelin' an' double it. Now, don't get me wrong. Right appreciate the Apple clan sticking by one another. She cares fer me, but we care fer her, now don't we?"

"Yeah!" Apple Bloom thrusted a hoof high in agreement. "We just annoy each other sometimes."

"Sometimes," agreed Applejack mid-laugh. "Ya get it. Now, y'all been right good students. Think it's high time fer some lunch!"

With a communal cheer, the foals ran off in a hurry to get some vittles. Sweetie leaned in closer to the other girls. "I thought today would be mostly a day off from schooling."

Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "I knew Cheerilee said yes way too easily. I bet she and Applejack planned this."

Dry looked back over his shoulder. "I didn't think there'd be any school, besides... the hard kind." He took a moment to stamp in place. "But I like this kind of school better. Who is Cheerilee?"

Apple Bloom gestured at herself and the other girls. "She's our teacher." She pointed the way. "At our school. Where we learn all kinda stuff."

"Usually boring stuff." Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "We're almost done with it."

"Almost, but not quite." Sweetie inclined her head. "We could probably ask to be excused. We have our cutie marks."

"And a job," agreed Apple Bloom, but she kept on forward. "Not sure ah'm... ready fer that."

Scootaloo shook her head quickly. "Wow. We went from the last to get their mark to now we have a chance to graduate first. This is a bit of a mind blow right there."

Dry inclined an ear as his eyes wandered. It was not good to be looking behind oneself as one ambled alone, which he discovered as he ran right into the door of the house. "Oof!" He slid back to his haunches, blushing in shame. "What mark did you get?" They didn't seem to have any tribal tattoos that he could see!

Author's Note

Arrrrgleblarg. Writing these foals is just so... cute and cleansing. :heart: Surely no typo can survive this onslaught of sugar.

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12 - On the Horizon

Lunch, as it turned out, was scrumptious. Granny had provided well for the foals. Dry learned that Brands of Destiny were called marks at times, cutiemarks when one was being proper. "And you aren't born with yours?"

Apple Bloom laughed as she picked up a drink. "I was just as surprised when I found out ponies in Everglow are born with theirs."

Scootaloo guffawed, interrupted as it was with a new mouth-full of food. "We had to work a long time to find ours, but totally worth it in the end. A pony has to find what makes them click first."

Sweetie inclined her head at Dry. "How did you know what yours meant? I doubt the first time you saw it, it was all that apparent." She burst into giggles. "You were too busy sucking on your hoof like any foal that tiny."

Dry colored at that summoned image. "I had to learn too, just like you, but instead of working towards your 'mark'. I worked from my brand." He pointed back at his bush with the eyes peeking out of them. "I feel safe when I hide, and now I can take images." He nosed against the dangling camera. "I feel I am doing the right thing."

Apple chomped the last of what was on her plate. "Ya look like yer havin' lots of fun with the camera. Good on ya havin' fun with it and still keepin' up with the buckin'"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Not gonna lie, I'd be super distracted."

Sweetie didn't have a chance to speak her part, the front door slapping open and Applejack entering with a frown. "Trouble a field over," she reported. "Gonna check it out." She marched right past them all. "Stay here."

"Ya know that ain't happening." Apple Bloom hopped down and dashed off to get her own supplies. The other foals scattered off, in search of whatever they needed.

That left Granny with Dry. "You stayin'?"

Dry tapped his hooves together, suddenly nervous. "I'm not good at fighting."

"Figured ya might wanna take pictures." She pointed at Dry's dangling camera.

Dry's ears pricked up. That was... a good idea! "You are a wise matriarch."

"Ah try my best." She reached out, ruffling the wispy mane of the foal. "Stay safe."

"Stay hidden," finished Dry as if this were a statement he'd shared with someone else before, hurrying out the door towards danger he'd hide from if he had any option.

Outside, the trouble became obvious with a thin trail of smoke reaching up towards the sky in the distance. He raced towards it, eyes searching for cover on the way as he began to weave from one to the next, managing a spirited trot of a pace despite his ducking and weaving.

The source of the trouble crawled into view, a horrible creature with horns protruding from most directions as it stomped and smashed on a strawberry patch, to the clear horror of its farmer. The mare was shrieking in dismay, seemingly to the satisfaction of the demonic marauder that reveled in her discomfort.

Going straight there, Dry had arrived first. He dived into a bush that gave him a vantage point of the action without exposing himself. With a click he captured an image of the tall, bipedal, longtailed boney... thing.

"Now... as appealing as your screams are..." The creature grabbed for the mare, but she ducked and scrambled away. It was unfortunate that the ghastly thing was as fast as a pony. Well, it was evenly matched until its sickly skeleton wings began to buzz and it lifted into the air at a terrific speed, grabbing the mare and shoving her against the ground as it came back down, pinning her roughly. "That's better. I have questions for you, little one."

"No, no no no!" Dry clicked another picture of the dramatic event and swallowed heavily. Surely the others would be there at any moment. Any... moment.

"Don't be like that... If you don't answer, I'll have to... make you answer... You won't like that. I will. Oh... I will... Please, go ahead, resist..." The bone demon leaned in over the trembling mare. "Don't make this too easy..." It had clearly changed its mind, enjoying its sadistic game. "Let's start with something simple. What is your name, creature?"

But she was too busy squealing and thrashing about to provide even that basic an answer. No information was coming from her.

Not that this seemed to upset the demon. "Hmm, I suppose we'll have to get serious." He dig into her, getting a pained yelp. She was looking right at it then, eyes trembling in pinpricks, but quite focused. "There we are. Hello. What. Is. Your. Name?"

Dry clenched his teeth. Still no sign of the others. He was the only one there. If he didn't act, that mare would get hurt... more than she already had been. But to emerge was to face that creature of extremely obvious danger. The mare's shriek of pain shook him from his moment of paralysis. Someone had to do something, and he was the only one there. He set down the camera carefully. No reason to risk it in his foolishness.

The demon looked up as a small form burst free of a nearby bush. "Oh ho!" it cried out with a malicious smile. "You look much more familiar." It threw the strawberry farmer aside, forgetting her entirely. "Come here."

He had stopped being hidden, and so he had stopped being safe. Those were the rules. Simple rules for surviving. The demon was approaching him all too quickly on its sickly skeletal wings that had no reason to be able to support its weight. Not that Dry was focusing on the physical impossibility of it, instead fleeing in a wild panic. If he couldn't hide, running was a close second best option.

A great form passed over him with a woosh of wind. "Stop right there." Applejack met the demon with a heavy thunk of a thrown hoof. "Thought we were done with ya Everglow varmints!"

The demon reeled back, as much in surprise as any actual pain. "A defender? Fantastic. Be a witness." With a strange sudden spell of alien words, it slammed the ground, ice exploding upwards around Applejack, sealing her in a bubble before she could finish a cry of annoyance. "Now, you..." It resumed its chase of Dry, leaving Applejack as the momentary distraction she had been. "Come back here, little creature. It won't hurt." It chuckled darkly as it caught up with unnatural speed. "That was a lie. It will hurt quite a bit, but I'll enjoy it."

Dry figured he would perish. He broke the rules of survival. That's how that worked. Hopefully, at least the strawberry farmer got somewhere safe. That'd be nice at least... No matter how quickly he tried to run, his short little foal legs could not hope to outpace the demon's eerily perfect flight path. It was like it was riding a downward angled rope, coming in all too quickly.

"Fireball!" Now, it was not technically required for any spellcaster of Everglow magic to actually speak the name of the spell they were casting.

This did not stop Scootaloo from doing so, a triumphant grin on her face, hoof pointed at the demon, standing upright in an action pose, scooter on her other side as the little bead of brilliant magic zoomed for the creature.

It exploded with a great roar, the plants combusting, the earth scorched as it engulfed a great area around it. It was gone as quickly as it came, leaving fresh wisps of smoke, and an entirely unharmed demon, laughing at her attempt. "I have endured greater flames waking in the morning." It fixed its dread gaze on Scootaloo. "Stay." Magic grasped at Scootaloo, not holding her still, physically, but she could feel some strange shackling happening. "Spellcaster, you always have such delicious information. Come, share."

Dry collapsed, heaving for breath. The demon had changed targets, zooming in on Scootaloo with a dry cackling. "Watch out!" he cried, hoping it would somehow help.

"Don't worry, I got--" Her words cut off as the demon faded from sight with a single arcane word. "Alright, I wasn't expecting that." She lifted her scooter like a shield from the unseen incoming menace.

With a dull thunk of something heavy striking wood, the demon re-appeared in mid swipe, knocking the scooter away in a great arc. Its laughing resumed for only a moment before it vanished anew. "Think you can fight me? Please, try your very best." The voice was moving as it spoke, bringing Scootaloo's eyes with it, trying to get a bead on the darting creature.

A sweet note rang out over the battlefield, flowing smoothly into a wordless song as Sweetie came into view, a mace clutched in her snout despite the singing.

Scootaloo couldn't celebrate the arrival of a friend for long, a sharp stabbing making her yelp as the demon snapped back into being, the stinger at the end of its tail buried in her side and drawing away, leaving a trail of nasty green goo behind. She dove away from it, grabbing her scooter up, her faithful weapon and shield.

The demon wasn't giving her any space, on her, battering at the shield and slashing at her with dangerous intent. At least until a dull thunk announced Sweetie's arrival in the melee, bopping the demon on the top of the head.

"Was that the best you had?" The demon turned on Sweetie, grabbing and hurling her as one might a football, sending the squealing filly flying. "Now, as we were."

"Thunder hoof!" Scootaloo twirled in an uppercut, thrusting a hoof up into the available chin of the bone demon as her entire body crackled with the electric power. Unlike the fireball and the mace strike, her blow landed truly, sending the demon staggering back. "Yeah, not so tough now are ya?!"

"The insect has teeth," chortled the demon as it stepped closer. "I will enjoy plucking your wings." It was only then that it noticed Scootaloo actually had wings. "I am not being symbolic."

Scootaloo snapped her wings shut instinctively, shuddering at the conjured mental image, to the demon's clear, laughing, pleasure. "Jerk." She swung her scooter, a wide miss, but she wasn't actually aiming for it. She hopped onto the scooter in position and her wings buzzed, carrying her away at a rapid clip.

Sweetie scrambled to her hooves, her song continuing as she gathered herself. She spotted something and smiled, her volume raising in expectation.

The demon reached for the fleeing pegasus. "Little bug, beating your wings. It's as if you're offering them to me."

Its fingers were just able to feel the brush of those wings when a fresh pain brought it to a sudden halt. Apple Bloom had joined, resisting the urge to shout as she came in, her sword was plunged right into the thing's boney chest. Sure, Applejack had told her not to use a sword, or even have a sword, but...

The demon roared in fury, punching Apple Bloom across her snoot, not that it dislodged her. The fight was on, physical combatant against another. Dry noticed something was odd with Apple Bloom. Her legs bulged with power she didn't have before as she clashed and fought with the demon, single-mindedly focused on their battle.

Dry wrenched his view away from that battle. A sound drew his attention to the ice bubble jutting from the ground. The ice was opaque, but he could hear something thumping against it from inside. Applejack? He turned himself around, back to the ice. "I'll help!" He had learned how to buck, mostly. He'd assist!

He was taking part in a battle. It was amazing and terrifying, but he was doing it. He lashed out with all the strength he had. His forehooves were planted just like Apple Bloom had shown him so he could get all the power into the ice and not throw himself to the ground. He wasn't sure if it'd help, but he was already not hidden. Fighting wasn't as good as running, but running wouldn't work, and hiding had stopped being an option.

He would fight.

Author's Note

Did you forget this story was tagged as an adventure? Unfortunately, so did Dry, but here's a reminder!

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13 - Thorny Situations

His hooves crashed against the side of the ice barrier, a thump coming in reply. Applejack had done her part, from the inside. "Time it." Dry resisted the urge to keep flailing and instead waited, listening to Applejack's beating to time his own attack. "And..."

Braced and as ready as he was going to get, he unleashed the tight coils of his back legs against the shell, smashing at the same instant that Applejack's hooves came into contact. A loud crack sounded as fine lines spread from the point of impact. They could do it! They were doing it! He looked up at the others as he braced to finish the job.

Scootaloo had rejoined the fray, all three crusaders doing their part against the demon. Spells had proven unreliable, at best, against the strange creature, which left them with physical means of attacking. It was a pity the thing's bones were just as hard to get through. "Git back where ya came from, demon!" Apple Bloom's kick was caught and thrown to the side.

"Demon? Insulting." The creature swatted at Scootaloo with its tail, slowing her approach but not scoring a hit. "I am a devil. There is a difference, unknowing mortal."

A clear note rang out as Sweetie's song shifted. Her magic flooded into Apple Bloom, stirring her to greatness. Fueled with her friend's might, Apple Bloom brought down the sword as if it weighed nothing at all, screaming into its hilt as she did it.

The devil angled their arm to deflect the weapon, but it bit into it with a grunt of pain as it sank into the bone, leaving a sizable nick, already gone. Even as he staggered back, Apple Bloom was already twirling the blade to another open position, driving it against the side of the beast, her own shout unending in the moment of that savage attack.

"Faster!" Scootaloo gestured at Apple Bloom, thrusting a bright rune through the air that exploded brilliantly against her earth pony friend, causing her to speed up enough to get a third swing in, even if the devil was able to dodge back away from that one.

"Enough of this circus," the devil roared in obvious fury. "Questions can wait."

Dry waited for the right moment, tears brimming in his eyes. His friends needed help, badly. He tried to capture the image of a great and tall apple tree behind him. He'd knock all the apples free, even an Apple, with any luck. With a battle cry of his own, he drove his hooves back and could feel Applejack's touching from the other side of the ice. The cracking became a shattering as he drove through it, his hooves actually making contact with hers.

In a contest of pure strength, Dry was outmatched by a magnitude or three. Applejack's hooves kept moving. Dry was launched up and away from the bubble, hitting the ground with a surprised oof as breath was knocked free of him in an intense moment of motion. "Help them," he croaked out, struggling to regain his balance.

"Don't need to ask me twice." Applejack coiled around and jumped through the hole they'd made. "Think ya can come onto mah land and cause a ruckus? Ain't happenin'!"

"There you are," greeted the Devil as if welcoming a dear old friend, instead of a combatant it had locked out of the battle at the start. "I was just getting serious." And it was not lying, striking with claws and stinger and even lashing with its razor teeth that posed a threat to any foolish enough to be near it.

Fortunately or not, that group of ponies was not that well known for not being fools when it came to such things. Only Apple Bloom backed off a bit, and even that just so she could quickly chug down one of her potions, her injuries fading from ghastly to mildly painful as her alchemical mastery was shown to be effective. "We wore him down, sis. Finish him off!"

"Wit' pleasure." She crashed into the thing bodily, throwing hooves in a rain of thumps.

But it was not Applejack's battle to finish. With a rainbow streak, a pegasus bombed the battle. Dry looked in the direction the new fighter had arrived from and could see two other pegasi flying towards them. One of them was Fluttershy! Very brave of her; very foolish. Backup was on the way! Dry clopped his hooves with naked joy, the terror of the encounter ebbing a little. With superior numbers, even great foes seemed more manageable.

"Stop right there," boomed a large voice from the not-Fluttershy. "Put your hands up and cease immediately. You will be returned to your plane of origin without harm if you comply."

Dry could but blink in confusion. Not that the devil was much less surprised. "Who is that?" the devil insisted, still battling with Rainbow and Applejack. The crusaders had backed away, leaving the battle to the grownups that were showing up. "Someone of importance?"

Rainbow darted past the creature, kicking it along the way without a pause. "That's Princess Twilight Sparkle, and if you think we're annoying, she'll blow you apart without even sweating!"

Applejack laughed as she twirled around, pointing her rump at the devil in a promise of discomfort. "Now'd be a fine time to give up, pardner. She can do it, but she keeps her promises."

"Oh, a princess... How delightful." And he stopped attacking. The fight was, without fanfare, aborted. His eyes were locked on Twilight as she came closer.

Twilight's ears danced. As she came within a hundred feet of the thing, its voice entered her mind despite its mouth not moving. "Princess Twilight," it greeted with an audible sneer. "A pleasure to meet you. What interesting warriors you have, valiant, perhaps to a fault. We should talk."

Fluttershy landed a short distance away, peering fearfully at the devil before she noticed Dry and hurried towards him instead. "Are you alright?!"

Dry was not alone, the crusaders arriving at about the same time. Apple Bloom was passing her restorative potions out to her friends to mend their injuries. Dry declined one offered his way. "I am alright." Other than his one fall, he had not felt the claws or teeth or stinger of that creature. Instead he pointed at Scootaloo. "You look bad."

Scootaloo laughed in a strained way, wobbling. "Just feel... tired."

Fluttershy pushed Scootaloo over, which was unusually easy to do. "You just lay down and let me have a look at you." She began diagnosing Scootaloo as she would any ill animal. "Oh my..." She found where the stinger had punctured Scootaloo's side. "You were poisoned... It doesn't look... like you'll be hurt too bad, but you will be sick for a while." She patted Scootaloo's cheek gently. "Just lay there and let us take you home. You did quite enough today."

"You did!" burst Apple Bloom with a huge grin. "You were so brave! Ah wasn't sure we could pull it off. That thing was super tough, but we stuck together-like and we did it!" She thrust out a hoof. Sweetie met the hoof. Scootaloo was a little late to that action, but she got a hoof in their to form their standard trio. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, adventurers!"

Sweetie burst into giggles, but it died quickly. "Does it hurt?" She was looking at Scootaloo with concern. "Did the potions help at all?"

"They were good." She forced herself up, rolling to a limp upright on her haunches. "Doesn't hurt, just... tired."

"I heard of this." Eyes went to Dry. "The poison hurt your muscles." Dry could do little more than share that knowledge. "Time will fix it."

Fluttershy nodded firmly. "Yes, time and rest. Come along, all of you. Time to get you all... Apple Bloom, where did you get that?" She was looking at the sword clutched in Apple Bloom's mouth.

"Wha? This thin'?" She spat it out and nudged it aside with a back hoof as if to pretend she never even saw it. "What thin'?" But Fluttershy was giving her the look, threatening to increase into The Stare. "Alright alright! Ah kept it around, jus' in case." She picked the sword back up. "Glad ah did. Ain't usin' it irresponsible like!"

Scootaloo gave a tired laugh. "She was amazing with it. Why are yer... You look just as strong as I don't feel right now. It's not fair."

Apple Bloom patted one of her potions, a different color than the healing ones. "This special brew is just fer this kinda emergency."

"Well, share! Don't leave me hangin' here." Scootaloo reached weakly for the bottle, just to be swatted away, Apple Bloom Guarding her stash easily. "Aw, why not?"

"Mah healin' potions are safe for anypony." Apple Bloom gestured down the line of them. "But this one--" back to the one different one. "It's made just fer me. It'd just make ya sick."

Twilight was facing the devil, her allies circling it. They had all arrived, minus Fluttershy dealing with the foals. "Thank you for listening to reason. As I promised, I can send you home." Her horn glowed with the promise of magic.

"Not so hastily," the devil spoke silently to just her ears. "You are a ruler. You have needs, and I have means to fulfill them. No reason to be so hasty in getting rid of possibilities." It glanced at the others. The two warriors, Rainbow horse and Angry Farmer. Some kind of over-energetic earth mare, and a unicorn that looked like she was overdressed for the occasion even in just her hairstyle. "Go ahead, cast a spell. Hide me from sight, so we can discuss things, privately." His smile grew. "If you don't like the offer, well, you can always banish me later. What's the hurry?"

Twilight frowned faintly, but responded silently, "Must you whisper like that? I trust my friends completely. There isn't much you could tell me that I wouldn't want them to hear."

"Bold." The devil seemed only pleased by Twilight's reply. It rose to its full height, displaying its unnerving features. It stood over nine feet tall, already a giant by human measurement. For a four legged pony, it was a titan of threat. "But what I speak of has no value to their ears. What do they know of royal needs and wants?"

Twilight glanced left and right at her friends. "Very little." Their conversation remained unspoken, the others looking nervous at the silence. "But that hardly matters. Speak, out loud."

"If you insist," it spoke. "It was fortune that brought me here."

Applejack raised a brow. "More like misfortune."

Pinkie giggled at the turn of words. "Hiya!" She waved at the devil, seemingly unafraid of it. "I'm Pinkie. Pinkie Pie. What's your name?"

Dry peered across the distance. "Are they talking with it?"

Fluttershy looked to see. "That is not unusual..." Many were the fights the girls ended with a conversation. "But for now, you all should get home. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, can you get Scootaloo there?" Both fillies snapped sharp salutes and got to work carrying Scootaloo away. "Now, Dry, I hate to ask, and it's alright if something happened in the middle of all.. this... but where's the camera?"

Dry blinked, struck dumb a moment. "Oh!" And off he galloped on his little legs for the bush he had started in. He frantically gathered the pictures he had taken and the camera, awkwardly returning with them all just to half drop it all in front of Fluttershy. The camera was spared, strapped to his neck as it was.

Fluttershy inclined her head at the scattering of a few pictures. "Oh... Oh...." With a trembling hoof she touched the picture that showed the devil hurting the poor strawberry farmer. "Oh..." Tears had begun spilling from her eyes as memories of the time she had suffered at the hands of an extraplanar visitor. "Y-you... just leave those there." She turned away from those pictures.

Author's Note

The fight, she is over! The devil knows when it's outgunned, and would rather chat with the princess there. Those devils, they love making a deal. Their contracts never have typos, and that should worry you.

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14 - Security Blanket

Dry sank to his belly near the center of the room. He was back in the clubhouse, where things were, usually, safe...ish. About as good as one could expect, really. "You were very brave."

"Had tah be." Apple Bloom smiled at her rattled guest. "But so were you. You were busy bustin' out mah sister, right?"

"Yes... But I wasn't fighting." Dry glanced away. "I didn't go near that devil."

"I didn't want to neither." Apple Bloom snorted at the idea of wanting to be any closer to that particular creature. "And ya got Applejack just in time. Wasn't sure ah could beat it."

Dry sat up slowly. "Where did the others go?"

"Bed." Apple Bloom quirked a little smile. "Scootaloo's resting off that nasty poison. I'd collapse in bed mahself, but this is pretty close, and ah thought we'd talk first."

"Thanks." He coiled on himself, pulling out the slim sheets, his photos. "Fluttershy didn't want these." He set down the pictures he had taken that day, many involving the devil they had just left.

Apple Bloom winced softly. "Yeah, see... Tough memories, not everypony wants to face those." She hopped up suddenly, scampering over to Dry. "But, sometimes, they're the most important ones." She pointed at the pictures. "Some ponies want to remember the good times. Makes sense yeah?"

"Yeah." Dry set a hoof on a picture that captured the whole of the devil without things in the way, a full straight shot at just the right moment. "This tells me what to avoid. That's good."

"It is." Apple Bloom nodded. "You got a real survivalist thin' goin' on." She patted her guest on the head, fluffing his wispy mane in the process. "Ya should keep it then. Just don't wave it at Fluttershy. Not her thing. Only scary animals does she like at all." Her nose suddenly scrunched. "Amazin' how much she likes scary animals."

"I will have to find one then. Carefully..." He nudged the pictures aside. "Are you alright?"

"I didn't get stung," she reported proudly. "The rest was just a potion or two away from fixin' up. Stung at the time, sure, but it's all good new." She thumped her chest, pride shining. "Ain't gonna give up when mah friends are in danger none. And you didn't either!" She turned that hoof on Dry. "You were very brave."

Dry licked over his lips, processing the day. "I... saw that pony being hurt. I don't even know her name." He dragged a hoof down along his face. "I just didn't want her to be hurt anymore. I stopped hiding."

"Right good thing ya did too." Apple Bloom frowned softly. "Can't 'magine that woulda ended well for that mare. You saved her, Dry. Yer a right hero." She could see him shrinking. "Ain't no use denyin' it. Not like bein' a hero's a bad thing."

"It's a very dangerous thing." He wriggled free of the camera, setting it where it could safely rest for the evening.

Twilight shook her head the boney creature. "I'm sorry, but this really isn't your world."

"I've been to several," assured the devil. "Some truths remain constant between them. Mortal, always thinking your world is the center."

"Be that as it may, Equestria is a... special case." She flashed a smile, pride swelling in response to her home nation. "Our rulers are not only allied, but dear friends of one another. The 'common folk' feel no urge to conspire against us, because we genuinely work for their best interest. And no matter how many ways you try to ask, I have no tawdry secrets that'd do more than make me embarrassed, to no other effect, should they get out." She leveled a hoof at the devil. "If you insist on telling the world about that time I returned a book late, I would be irate, but I would survive, and society would not collapse."

The devil grumbled miserably. The creature before him was either an innocent creature, or the best liar he had ever seen. The first idea filled him with revulsion, the second... A good liar often hid things worth hiding. "Just because your past is clean does not mean the same for others. You are confident in your own actions, good. A ruler should be." He leaned forward, fingers steepled meaningfully. "But can you be that sure of everyone else?"

Twilight took a slow and shaking breath. "Pressed... I... am sure Princess Celestia has done things she would rather forget. She fostered this nation through dark times, before we grew as a people. I would not unleash you on her just to learn of the painful past she has earned the right to put aside."

Now they were getting somewhere. "My name."

"Hm?"

"I will give you my name. Zahrab Ignis. Remember it well, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Celestia... Hm, what secrets she hides."

Twilight's horn began to glow with the promise of power. "Be at ease. Go ahead, send me home. But when you want to know the truth, call me."

"Goodbye." bade Twilight, severing the thin thread that kept the devil tethered to the world that was not his own. He vanished as if someone had made an editing error, simply not there anymore. "I will not be calling." She shook her head with a scowl and went off to find a notebook. She had new notes to make!

A knocking came from the door leading into the clubhouse. Dry stirred from where he had dozed off, but he didn't know who it was. He was safe under the shielding blanket at least!

The door opened. "Ya in here?" It was Applejack.

Dry scrambled into clear view. "Hello." Applejack was a good pony, this he was sure of.

"Hey there," she returned fire with a smile. "Good to see yer lookin' alright."

"I'm okay." He trotted towards her, tail twitching. "You do not come here often."

"Nah, mostly let the girls have their fun." she waved it off. "But today was special, weren't it? Ah brought a pony what wanted to talk to ya. She's right outside."

Dry leaned to see past Applejack, but couldn't see who the mystery pony was. "Are they nice?"

"Mostly." Applejack smirked softly. "She's not a big fan of apples, but I didn't want her hurt none, so thanks fer that."

Her?! Dry hurried suddenly right under Applejack, charging for the door. There, at the bottom of the ramp, was a nervous looking strawberry farmer. "Hello!"

Strawberry Sunrise raised a hoof in reply. "You're so small," she noted with her usual blunt tact.

Dry colored. "I'm still growing!"

"You're already plenty big." When Dry arrived in front of her, Strawberry reached out, setting a hoof on his head. "You saved my flank. I thought that thing was gonna tear me apart!"

"Are you alright?" Dry was leaning left and right, looking at Strawberry from all the angles he could from his seated position. "You look alright."

"Because I am, physically at least." She shuddered softly. "Creepy thing. Glad it's gone! Not like you; you're a cute little thing." She grasped Dry by the cheeks. "But also kinda strange? What are you anyway?"

"I'm a ghost pony." He nodded firmly. "From another world." He waved a hoof out vaguely. "Not Equestria."

"He ain't lyin'." Applejack had joined them, parking herself next to dry. "He's from a world ah done been to before, Everglow. Right dangerous place, also where that varmint came from ah think."

"Sorta..." Dry did not even try to break down the related cosmologies around Everglow. "Everglow is dangerous. So is Equestria." He rubbed a cheek with a hoof. "So is everyplace, so far."

"Well." Strawberry leaned in, almost touching noses. "You made this world at least a little safer, so, a gift!" She coiled on herself and drew out a little basket overflowing with strawberries. "Hope you like these little treasures."

Dry accepted it, biting the handle. He could smell the strawberries, tickling his nose. "Smells good! Did you grow these?"

"I certainly did." Strawberry nodded with confidence. "And it's thanks to you that I get to keep doing that. Figure you deserve a break from all the apples they're probably feeding you." She stuck out her tongue at the mention of apples, meeting Applejack's eyes as she said it in open challenge.

Applejack snorted softly in reply. "Yer lucky ah'm busy feelin' bad fer you. Now ya done made your peace?"

Strawberry smooched the top of Dry's head. "You go on and enjoy."

"I will! Be safe, um, miss?"

"Strawberry Sunrise," offered the farmer. "Strawberry's just fine, or berry." She turned to display her cutiemark, that of a strawberry and a bushel of grapes. "They haven't invented a berry I don't like."

"And not an apple she did like," huffed Applejack.

"Oh, I Iike Apples, capital A, just fine." She patted Applejack on the shoulder. "It's the apples, lowercase a, that give... me concern. Go on." She shooed Dry away. "Try it and you tell me later which is better."

Detecting the tension between the two mares, Dry decided to accept the invitation to scamper away back up into the clubhouse.

Strawberry watched him go. When the door closed, she looked to Applejack. "I know you came a running. I'm not blind." She coiled and drew out a second berry basket. "You deserve a treat too. Thanks."

Applejack quirked a smile at that. "I woulda done it for anypony ah knew was is in trouble, and that there was a mighty big bit of trouble."

"Right!?" gusted Strawberry, shaking her head. "Hope that never happens again. Now take it." She thrust the basket forward, leaning her head forward to do so. "Besides, you could use more variety in your diet."

Applejack snapped up the basket. "This comin' from the mare what eats berries all day?"

"We all have our favorites." Strawberry seemed entirely untouched by Applejack's retort. "When did your little sister get so... bulky?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "She getting bad advice from Biceps?"

Applejack applied a hoof to her face. "Nice seein' yer all safe n' sound!"

Dry set down the basket, tilting his head left and right as he considered it. The odds of the basket being a threat, basically zero. The strawberries? Unlikely. Applejack surely wouldn't have allowed anything she suspected of being bad for someone to be passed right in front of her.

Still, of all the plants and fruits that could survive in the ether, strawberries were not one of them. He reached out and gently bopped one, sending it rolling on the floor for him to follow after. It smelled nice, and where he had struck it, a new, more intense, smell came. Sweet. He licked his lips with a little hum. "I will trust her."

He went through all that trouble of rescuing her... Not that he expected anything back, really, other than her being safe for one more day. He snapped up the berry, teeth holding it around the middle. With a wet slice, he bit down, cutting the innocent strawberry in half. The other half feel free of his mouth to the floor. The first half, he began to chew on thoughtfully, tasting the various components of what made a strawberry work.

It was just as sweet as it smelled! The seeds that covered it barely had a flavor at all, but the green bit at the top was a surprisingly tasty bit of veggies on top of the otherwise sweet mass.

Yes, a strawberry was a fine treat! Dry leaned down, snapping up the discarded half to finish with a happy little noise. But how did it compare to an apple? Softer and smaller. An apple he could crunch into. Strawberries he could almost inhale. Apples felt closer to the center of a meal, while strawberries felt way more like dessert.

But which was better? Dry frowned softly. Some questions were too big for a foal! He liked them both, he silently decided. They were both super tasty.

Author's Note

Dry gets his reward for heroism. Worth it?

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15 - Welcome To Your Class

"C'mon!" Apple Bloom had arrived early that day, bouncing around him in his blanket of safety. "Ya had enough just 'livin''. It's time to learn some thin's. Ya listened to Applejack just fine, like that, but another mare."

He poked his head out from his blanket. "Another mare?" He climbed free, confusion on his face. "What other mare?" He suddenly smiled. "Is it you?"

"Ah'm still a filly!" She colored softly. "Not a mare just yet, um... but thanks..."

"Who do you mean?" He grabbed the brush in the room in his mouth and got to grooming himself for the day. "Have I met them?"

"Nope!" she declared perhaps a bit overly cheerfully. "But ah think ah mentioned her before? Miss Cheerilee's all of our teacher." She waved in a wide circle. "You'll be in our class, learnin' with us."

Dry blinked as he set the brush back down. "Will there be others there, or just us four?"

"Lots of others." Apple Bloom waved that idea away. "A whole class of 'em. Foals like me." She pointed at herself. "But way less good at the adventurin' thin'. Most of 'em would just hightail it out of there if somethin' scary showed up."

"They sound smart." It took a moment for Dry to realize what he said. "Not that you are dumb! You are very brave, which is... Um."

She brought down a hoof on his head with a low clop of connection. "Ya doof. Are ya ready?"

"Wait, right now?!" He bristled even as he shook himself out. "Right now?!"

"Right now. Ya ain't got much else to do, do ya?"

Dry went to fetch his camera. Er, well, it was Fluttershy's camera, but it was his responsibility until he returned it! With it dangling around his neck, he turned back to Apple Bloom. "Is it safe there?"

"At school?" When he nodded, she burst into giggles. "Only real 'threat' we usually run inta is maybe wantin' to fall asleep if it's a borin' lesson. Besides, we'll be there! Scoots and Sweetie! Um, not Scoots, right this second." She rubbed her cheek. "She still feels bad after that fight. Let's visit her after school today."

"I would like that." Dry started for the door. "She fought very bravely. The least we can do is wish her well."

"Yeah!" Apple Bloom burst free of the club house just ahead of Dry, half-bouncing down the steps. "Can't wait to show ya off." She looked over her shoulder. "Hope yer ready to make friends!"

"No," admitted Dry plainly. "But I will try my best." He descended the stairs without hopping, but broke into a bouncing pronk to keep up with Apple Bloom once he was on the ground. He looked like a deer in ways, and his jostling gait was a reminder that perhaps he had some in him.

A fact not missed by Apple Bloom. "Since when did ya run like that? Kinda like Pinkie Pie."

Dry remembered the energetic pink earth pony. "Does she?" That brought up new ideas. "Has she been to Everglow?"

"Yep." Apple Bloom pointed ahead. "There's the school house." She hurried ahead, prompting Dry to speed up to match.

Other foals were present in abundance. "Who's that?" asked a filly with a tiara. "He..." She licked over her lips. "He's from that place, isn't he?"

Apple bloom quirked an ear at the other filly. "Hey, Diamond. If you mean Everglow, yep, he's from there."

"And he's following you." Diamond circled Apple Bloom to get a better look at Dry, coming in close. "Looks like a pony, but an odd one. What kind of pony are you?"

"Ghost tribe," reported Dry proudly. "You've been there?"

"Not by choice, but we were." She waved another pony over, Silver Spoon soon at her side. "He's from Everglow." Diamond pointed at Dry accusingly.

"Like, wow." Silver inclined her head left and right. "I didn't know we had an exchange program with there. I woulda signed up!"

Diamond applied a hoof to her own face. "You are not serious!"

"Why not?" She stuck her tongue out at Diamond. "It'd be nice to visit a Luminace library again."

Dry's eyes widened faintly. "You know of Luminace?"

That got Silver's attention and bright smile. "I am a priest of hers'. And in her name, I welcome you." She dipped her head at Dry. "May we be friends."

"May we be friends," echoed Dry with less certainty. "I know of Princess Luminace, but I am not a worshipper. Nice to meet you! I'm Dry Whisper." He thrust out a hoof at Silver, looking more happy about their meeting than confused.

With a firm clop of met hooves, the two were officially introduced. "Silver Spoon," she noted. "And that's Diamond Tiara." She leaned against her tiara'd friend. "We've both been there. It was tough, but we made it."

"Is she also a priest?" Dry looked at Diamond curiously. She had a very different... energy?

"As if." Diamond waved that away. "They call it a 'Mesmerist'." She tapped the side of her head. "One good look from me and I can get in a pony's head."

Dry shied back at that. "I feel... It's not fair. Everyone else my age already has a profession. I don't have any magic." He suddenly tapped the camera still dangling from him. "I have this, but it's not me, just something I am borrowing."

A bell suddenly rang overhead. "Class!" chimed Sweetie Belle as she rushed past.

Apple Bloom nodded, nudging Dry along. "That goes fer us too."

Inside was the largest pony in the room, a smiling mare. "Alright, class. Everypony..." She trailed off, noticing Dry coming in. "I see we have a new face?" That pony was not like her other little ponies. Long of limb and with a strangely angular body, was that even a pony? They were next to Apple Bloom, a likely source. "Apple Bloom, will you introduce us to your guest?"

"Sure thin'!" She kept right on nudging Dry to the front of the class to face them. The rest had taken their various seats. "Hey everypony! This here's Dry. He's a pony, jus' not from 'round here. He's from Everglow." Eyes widened across the class. Tales had been spread of that dangerous world. "Don't worry none, he's just a foal, like us. He's here to learn, also like us." She turned towards the teacher. "Speakin' ah that, can he? He's real polite."

"Well, hello Dry." The teacher nodded at him. "I'm Miss Cheerilee, the teacher here." She pointed to an empty seat. "And if you want to join us, take a seat and we'll begin." She realized just as she finished saying it. "Do you have a notebook, or a pencil?"

Dry shook his head quickly. "I'm Dry Whisper," he offered in way of a full name. "I have this." He tapped at his camera.

"A photographer, are you?" Cheerilee was smiling at the eager little colt. "That's lovely, but hard to use to take notes during class." She ducked her head down and came back up from behind her desk with a notebook and a pencil together. "You can have this."

Dry's eyes shined as he grabbed both in his mouth, much as Cheerilee had done. "The ponies of this town are so generous. Thank you!"

"If you don't mind my asking." Cheerilee inclined her head faintly. "Are you an earth pony?" He surely had no wings nor any horn.

"Ghost pony," corrected Dry, to the alarmed gasps of several foals. "Not that kinda ghost!" he quickly got out, coloring. "We live in a ghostly place. We're not ghosts."

Cheerilee reached out, resting her hoof on Dry's nose without falling through it. "This colt is alive," she declared with all seriousness, calming the class. "Have a seat. Now, today we're going to cover--" She slapped a black board, making it spin around to reveal a pony with a hard hat. "Manufacturing. A lot of the things you value--" She moved the pointer to various drawings of the goodies modern living allowed. "--came from ponies working very hard to make it happen. Ponyville is not home to much in the way of manufacturing, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have some idea how these things come about."

Dry saw other ponies were taking notes. Some of them were looking distracted and bored. He had nothing to be bored of! It was all amazing and new. He folded open the notebook and began scribbling down what Cheerilee was saying, word for word, as quickly as he could. Efficient note-taking was not a skill he had yet learned.

"Yes, Dry?" He had raised a hoof, and she saw it. "You have a question?"

"If I may." Dry brought his hooves together. "If they make these things so far away, how do they get here? Do they carry them here? Is it teleported?"

Cheerilee smiled gently. The new student was asking a valid question. He was listening. "While both of those are, technically, options, both have their issues." She looked to Apple Bloom suddenly. "Apple Bloom could tell you tales of how their family struggles to deliver things to places not even halfway across Equestria. We live in a big world." She spread her hooves out wide. "So we needed other solutions. You've all seen the train, have you not?"

Most ponies nodded quickly. But Dry did not, and Cheerilee was watching him, so saw that. "You haven't? The trains are very fast, though they can only move along their tracks. It takes considerable effort to put them down, the tracks." She turned the blackboard back to its blank side and got to drawing some tracks quickly. "But once they're there, goods, and ponies, can easily travel back and forth quickly. It's thanks to these that we, all the way over here in Ponyville, can enjoy nice things made in Manehattan or Baltimare." She pointed at the Ponyville dot and way across at the Baltimare dot. "If they had to walk here, we'd be waiting a very long time."

Snips inclined his head at the new student. "You never saw a train? For real?" He had found a student inferior to him in knowledge at something, a rare treat.

Diamond raised a hoof suddenly. "There's a train network on Everglow, the Thunder Rail. It does the same thing, but with more magic and less steam or pony power."

Cheerilee nodded at Diamond. "I have never been, so I will have to take your word for it. It's not surprising, in the end. Whatever the world--" She turned the board back to the one with the manufacturing ponies. "We have goods, and we have ponies that want those goods, and they're not always next door. When that happens, solutions to get them from A--" She tapped the manufacturing ponies. "--to B" She tapped the smiling pony getting the goods. "--have to be made."

The foals flowed from the building, lunch break had been declared. Some ponies ran off to play, but most were sitting about wherever was comfortable for them, nibbling at their food.

Diamond found Dry just as he was leaving the building. "Hey."

"Hello." He inclined his head at her. "Are you a duchess, or the child of a noble?"

Diamond's ears twitched atop her head. "Huh, you're not entirely off. Good eye." She leaned in. "And you probably don't have lunch." His flinch was enough to confirm that. "Which is why I came over." She turned away. "C'mon. My butler's right over there." She pointed the way. "And he brings way more than I'll ever eat in a day, so..."

"It's true," chimed Silver. "He never knows what Diamond's in the mood for, so he plays it, like, safe."

Diamond snorted at that. "That makes me sound like the problem. This gets the new kid fed." She waved at her butler with a grin. "He's joining us for lunch."

"As you wish, ma'am." Randolph did not question the odd-looking pony. He served all three of them and ensured they were all filled and hydrated.

Author's Note

Dry goes to school! And he learns things, and... yeah that's basically it. Dry was a good student. :heart: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have visited Everglow in earlier stories. This is proof that they did get back, yay them!

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16 - Broadening The Herd

The second half of class went by pleasantly, so far as Dry was concerned. He had a notebook full of notes in the form of a transcript of everything the teacher had said. Armed with new knowledge, he marched from the classroom with his head held up high and a merry pronk to his steps.

"Don't go too far." Oh, Diamond was there, waiting for him just outside. "I want to talk to you."

Apple Bloom slipped between them. "Ah'm sure Dry's kinda tired. This was his first day of school."

"The first day at this school," he corrected. "And with so many students. Do you think they liked me?"

Diamond smirked softly at that. "You are cute for something from Everglow, but, hey, count me and at least one pony likes you."

Dry applauded, well, himself. Apple Bloom was more cautious. "Ya barely know him yet."

"Which I'm trying to fix." She prodded Apple Bloom lightly. "Why are you so on edge?"

Sweetie arrived with a pleased smile. "Another day, another lesson. A shame Cheerilee doesn't know any magic to share."

Diamond laughed at that. "Now that would be something. Sadly, there are few ponies around that know the kinda magic we know."

Silver stepped up beside Diamond. "We Everglow survivors are a different, like, you know, breed." She waved a hoof in a circle, pausing on Diamond, herself, Sweetie, and Apple Bloom. Only to land on Dry. "You're from there, aren't you? What magic do you know?"

Dry sank to his haunches. "Um. Well..." He began to worry his hooves together. "I don't... actually know any. I know about magic, but nobody taught me any spells or anything." He tensed with worry. "I'm just a foal!"

Apple Bloom gently bumped against him. "So are we. We just jumped in the deep end."

Sweetie shook her head. "You're not... You don't have to learn magic. We're the odd ones here."

"Oddly awesome." Diamond tossed her mane, looking quite pleased with herself. "Still, you must know interesting things. You said you came from a 'ghostly' place. Wanna share?"

Silver bobbed her head. "Yeah, now that's a class I wanna sit in on."

Apple Bloom inclined her head. "Only if ya want to." But she sat, also curious to hear of the ghostly place.

"The ether..." Dry glanced left and right. "Imagine a place with no light, but it isn't dark either! Most of the color's gone, which just makes the places with color all the brighter." He brought up his hooves, pantomiming as he tried to explain. "Things come in two sorts. Soft and flowing, or hard and pointy." He clopped his hooves. "Both can be dangerous! It's um, an emotional place. Not... like 'this place makes me sad' kind of emotional."

He took a breath, marshalling his thoughts. "The things in it usually have an emotion and live it. The plane is emotions." He pointed at himself. "Guess you could call me fear. That's an emotion last I checked."

Apple Bloom quirked a smile. "Fer bein' fear, you were mighty brave just the other day."

Dry colored in his cheeks, a little smile forming, but only for a moment. "There is no gravity in the ether." He jumped in place. "If you're good at it, you can fly, even if you have no wings. But you have to be careful!"

Diamond nodded at the bouncing ghost colt. "I bet you have that part down."

"I'm still alive." As if that was proof enough that he had sufficient skill at the careful part. He tapped at his own head. "It's called a ghostly place for a reason, besides the bleached look and the flowing. Powerful thoughts can be given form there, usually from things living in the prime material." He danced in place. "Including actual ghosts."

All the foals there squeaked in alarm. Sweetie waved a hoof wildly. "Happy ghosts or sad ghosts or angry ghosts?"

Dry leaned in towards Sweetie. "You never know until you run into one, and then it's a bit late to complain." Oh, for once he got to see the others looking scared. It was a rare moment of... Oh! He lifted the camera strapped to his head and clicked a shot of them with a grin.

Diamond bonked him. "Hey!"

Dry snapped up the picture. "I will treasure this."

Diamond rolled her eyes. "So, you like taking pictures, huh?"

Apple Bloom burst into giggles. "It's his favorite thin'!" She pointed at his rump. "He likes to hide, so he can get a good shot."

Dry blinked softly. "That is fun," he admitted, clearly considering the idea. "Is it bad if I capture paintings of you?" He looked between the fillies.

Silver suddenly laughed. "Get a look at this colt. He wants pictures of all the mares." She leaned in, lashes fluttering. "How, like, super bold of you."

Diamond prodded at Dry with a smirk. "I thought you said you were fear. Sure looks like you're brave enough to me."

Sweetie's horn glowed, tugging lightly at the photo, even if Dry wasn't releasing it. "A photo of friends isn't an awful thing, but it'd be even better in a frame."

Dry recoiled a little. "Frame?"

Apple Bloom made a box shape as best she could with sweeps of her hooves. "A wood thing you put the picture in." She pointed at the dangling photo. "Keeps it safe and shows it off."

Dry's attention was captured instantly. "I want it to be safe. Where do I get a frame?"

Diamond held out a hoof. "Give up the painting and I'll get it framed." Dry was looking at her with obvious uncertainty. "Gonna have to trust me."

Dry looked at his other friends, who were just waiting for him to do something. "Um..." His mouth opened just enough to let the photo fall, becoming Diamond's in short order. "Please be careful with it."

"I'll get it back. Randolph!" The butler hurried to her side. She thrust the photo against him. "Be a champ and get this framed all nice for our new friend." She gestured with her free hoof at Dry. "Thanks."

Randolph tucked the photo away into a pocket that only Equestrian ponies had. "Right away, ma'am. Do you want to go home now?"

"I'll head there when I'm ready." She lashed a tail, clearly not ready just yet. "But I can walk myself." That was codeword for Randolph being let off duty. He dipped his head and walked off. "Now, with that taken care of." She clopped her hooves together. "Let's talk about you."

Sweetie thrust a hoof between Diamond and Dry. "Let's not overwhelm him. Dry's a pony in a new place, doing so many new things." She burst into giggles. "Like when we went to Everglow. Would you want someone pumping you for your life story right at the start of that?"

Diamond cringed at the memory. "Ugh... Alright, alright. You have a point." She hiked a brow at Dry. "But this isn't Everglow. I bet you haven't even fought one monster so far."

Dry sat up with a big grin. "Two!" He thrust up both hooves to count them. "I've faced two monsters. I only actually fought one of them, but I was there. I was... a part."

Apple Bloom nodded firmly. "Uh huh. That dang Bugbear came back. Then there was the--"

"--Demon!" piped Sweetie Belle. "Or was it a devil? I'm still unsure of the difference..."

Diamond looked Dry over with new eyes. "Huh, you took on both of those?"

"I fought the devil." Dry bobbed his head. "They helped." He pointed to Sweetie and Apple Bloom. "And Scootaloo. Oh! We're supposed to visit her."

Sweetie stood up. "Yeah, she got stung by that monster and wasn't feeling very good today."

"That's why she ain't here." Apple Bloom was already moving. "You two wanna come along?"

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara exchanged a look before they were both up and moving, an entire herd of foals setting off from school towards Scootaloo's house.

Silver was at Dry's side. "That's kinda amazing, that you didn't get hurt." She had an ear turned towards him, talking away even if he hadn't replied. "I mean, Scoots and the crusaders have fighting experience. You were, like, saying you didn't. So that's cool." She nodded as if to some beat, or maybe just agreeing with herself. "Good on you! What were you thinking, when it was happening?"

"Um..." He went quiet again a moment, glancing over at her. "Um... I... I had to help my friends. They were in danger."

"Aw!" Silver leaned in. "That's, like, the best reason. You get at least, mmm, five Lumie points!"

Dry quirked a shy smile. "How did you... come to worship Princess Luminace? She isn't even a god here... is she?"

"Is she?" echoed Silver. "I feel her power." She raised one hoof, ambling along on the other three. "I can feel her presence if I'm quiet enough with a good book. Like, what makes you think she isn't here?"

Dry hummed and hawed. "Well, I'm not... I don't know that much about gods," he admitted. "If you follow her, and you're here... Maybe that makes her here?"

"Maybe," agreed Silver with a big smile. "I'm alright with that. Means I'm bringing the princess here, and she's a good pony." Silver glanced away and back. "Actually! Do you have a god lined up?"

"No," admitted Dry without hesitation. "Mom said picking one is a very big choice."

"It is!" explosively agreed Silver. "May I suggest Princess Luminace?" She grinned widely. "She's super nice and loves to make friends." Silver leaned in. "And she loves studying magic," she sang out temptingly. "If you want to learn magic and be with friends, not many gods can even compete!"

"I've heard of her." Dry inclined his head. "She likes reading, doesn't she?"

"Reading is good." Silver Spoon bobbed her head firmly enough to need to adjust her glasses. "Reading new books with a friend? Even better. Making new friends, learning new things, treasuring old friends... Doesn't that sound like--"

Diamond Tiara suddenly thumped her friend away. "Cool yourself, Silver. Why are you pushing the new colt so hard?"

Silver's ears danced as she frowned, but the expression lifted quickly. "I'm not pushing! I'm explaining. He's from Everglow, so he's already used to the idea of gods, and being faithful to one. Equestrian ponies are still kinda... mostly confused by the idea." She rubbed at her cheek. "What if I don't wanna be the only one? Being the only friendship faithful is, like, way sad."

Apple Bloom thrust up a hoof. "Ah got no idea what yer talkin' about."

"See?!" Silver burst into light giggles, looking to Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie shook her head quickly. "Sorry."

Silver tried her best to get around Diamond, with limited success. "So let us talk about Luminace. I know you're not interested, Diamond."

"She's way too... Hmm, what's the word." She put a hoof to her chin as she walked, considering a moment. "Soft. Soft and squishy. Too soft for me! Just making friends isn't gonna get things done, Silver."

Silver rolled a hoof. "Which is why you learn more magic. Magic and friendship, and things get done." She nodded with confidence. "It's thanks to her 'soft' magic that we got out of Everglow, don't forget."

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "She did help." She let Silver get in close to Dry, wandering off herself a bit. "But so did that fox."

"The fox that Luminace sent!" sang out Silver in cheerful defiance. "Unless you have a better reason for a new friend just... appearing out of nowhere."

Dry blinked, eyes wide. "Will you tell me about your adventures? I'd like to hear it, if you want to share."

"Since you asked." Silver slid up against Dry with a giggle. "I guess I could tell you a bit about it."

Suddenly Apple Bloom and Sweetie were closer. They hadn't heard what actually happened to the Terrible Duo on their trip, just that they came back and seemed far less prickly to be around.

Author's Note

Gotta say, The Expanded Universe of MLP/Ponyfinder is actually kind of fun, with the various threads coming back together to say hi. Nothing like thinking back on those typos.

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17 - So There We Were

"Like, so we were in a real pickle." The crusaders and Dry were rivoted to Silver's story. "We wanted to get that book, but that Kara was being real mean about it." She stomped a hoof in annoyance. "But Lumie kept reminding us, in her way, that friends would bring us through. We needed friendship." She nodded in memory. "Friends to counter their gangs. Every time they almost had us, friendship came through for us. Our little lizard friend--"

"More of a reptile," argued Diamond, eyes rolling. "Hope he's doing alright."

"Me too." She let out a sigh, but went right on with the story. "To a friendly fox and local champions! We didn't do it. We did it." She threw her hooves wide. "All together, to get that book. And it wasn't in a dark place at all."

Apple Bloom leaned in. "Where was it. Ya done looked 'bout everywhere else, didn't ya?"

Diamond thumped in. "You would not believe it." A brief pause. "On the other hoof, maybe you would. You two have been there. That place is nuts... Kara's a clever mare, I'll give her that. She didn't hide it in a dusty cave. She hid it right out in the open, where nopony would ever find it!"

Silver nudged against Diamond. "But we did. Right there, in the center of everything. She had them just tuck it in the temple, the temple. Right there next to all the other holy books like it was no big deal!"

Dry's eyes widened. "Wow! How did you find it then? I never would have looked there for a long lost book."

Silver set a hoof on her chest. "Hello, Lumie! She is only the book master." She had to pause to get some applause going on. "But she didn't just grab my nose and, like, pull me where I needed. A god only helps you as much as you help yourself at best. Watch out for the ones that promise more than that, because they'll take more than that." She waved a hoof in a warning way, resuming her trek.

Diamond groaned with the memory. "Silver was sure she could look up great hiding places."

"And so I looked." She made a trotting motion, despite moving forward at a walking pace. "And looked! I kept reading and looking and... What's this?" She pantomimed holding something up. "This book doesn't belong here!"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both broke into laughter. Sweetie recovered first, "So you found the missing book while you weren't looking for it? That's amazing."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "And your first thought was 'This isn't in the right spot.'" She shook her head with a goofy smile. "Twilight sure would be proud."

Diamond nudged Silver away. "She's leaving out the part where we got the book out. That book was in Luminace's hands, her priests, and they don't like it when you want to take one of their books. Borrow it, maybe, but take? That gets them annoyed. And we couldn't borrow it. So..."

Silver sank miserably. "So we stole a book from Luminace... I think she's forgiven me. She knows I was trying to do the right thing! I say sorry all the time." She kicked a small rock. "It was the only way, they weren't listening to little foals like us. Um, but I didn't take the book with me. Besides, like, why would I? It can do a lot more good in Everglow than here."

Dry let out a sudden cheer. "You're heros! Not only do you have a god, but you're doing their work. Not many can claim that." He raised a hoof to his chin. "It must have been scary."

Apple Bloom thumped against Dry. "Most thin's are scary to you."

"Yeah..." He didn't even try to fight that. "But you did it!"

Silver puffed herself up tall. "It was quite the trip..." She suddenly went in close to Diamond, thumping her rump against her friend's. "And I made it thanks to good friends."

Diamond rolled her eyes, but didn't back away from Silver. "There's Scoot's place." She pointed at the building just coming up. "She got some Everglow excitement right here at home. Let's make sure she's alright."

"Ya said it." Apple Bloom hurried forward to the door and knocked on it excitedly. "It's us!" But no response came right away. "Oh right." She applied a hoof to her head. "She's sick." Apple Bloom casually opened the door. Not like a lot of houses were actually locked. "Scootaloo, it's us. Me an' Sweets. Dry and Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara."

"Wha?" came a weak reply.

Diamond strut through the house like she owned it. "Don't sound too happy." She flashed a bright smile on the recovering pegasus. "Wow, that really did do a number on you." She turned to Silver Spoon. "You got any Lumie magic that can help?"

"Oh, like, great idea." She mentally flipped through her prayers, considering her options. "Ah ha! Let's try this one." She advanced, hooves starting to glow softly. "If I may?"

"It isn't gonna hurt, is it?" Scootaloo was peering at Silver with suspicion.

"What? Me? Like, no, 'course not! I'm here to help." Silver Spoon flashed a bright smile, sitting next to Scoot's bed. "Now just relax." She began to speak strange praying words, setting her hoof on the prone form of the filly as she called on the warm healing magic of her god. A strange black tar seemed to rise to the surface, just to float away, carrying some of the taint free of Scootaloo.

"Woah." Scootaloo sat up, blinking. "That felt funny, but... good?" She waved a hoof, experimenting. "I have a little more feeling. Not all there, but better. Thanks!"

Silver looked over her shoulder at Dry. "You could do this too. Luminace is generous with her magic. She, like, loves the stuff, and the ponies that practice it." She resumed her prayers, bidding more of the foul ick to leave Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom clopped her hooves once. "Our adventure woulda been a lot easier if you were alon' for it."

Sweetie was peering at Diamond curiously. "You said you learned magic too, right?"

"Not that kind." Diamond waved dismissively at the healing magic being used. "I follow my cutie mark." She hiked a hoof back at it. "I'm in charge, and I show it." Oh, the smarmy look on her face. "I just... had to learn when to apply that... Speaking of that..." She worried her fore hooves together. "I never did say sorry, so... sorry."

Apple Bloom inclined her head. "Um... Sorry fer what?"

Silver booped Apple Bloom suddenly. "Fer being Diamond. Like, what else?"

Apple Bloom rubbed at her tapped nose. "Well, yeah, alright. Um, then, ah forgive ya."

"Me too!" squeaked Sweetie, bouncing in place. "We're a team now. Everglow Survivors!" She thrust out a hoof. It was but an instant before Apple Bloom and Scoots had joined, hooves meeting, all three of them looking to Diamond and Silver.

Silver burst into giggles, moving over to add her hoof to the meeting. Diamond was slower about it. "You are impossible." And yet, her hoof did come in, a five way union. "Still makes us the most impressive foals in the country by any measure."

"Yeah!" Scoots wasn't looking so sick anymore, excitedly bouncing on her bed. "There are adults that haven't seen a shred of what we've seen, and survived to tell the tale!" She pumped upwards with a hoof. "Because we're just that cool."

Apple Bloom inclined her head at Scoots. "Cooler than Rainbow Dash?"

Scoots squeaked at the idea, paling. "That's a really high bar!"

Diamond prodded at Scootaloo. "What is it with your hero worship? The way I hear it, you made it through Everglow better than Rainbow did. She lost a wing."

Silver shook her head quickly. "She got it back."

Diamond could but roll her eyes. "You can get almost anything back, she still lost it. None of us lost any body parts."

Scootaloo crossed her arms. "Hey, don't badmouth Rainbow. She was busy being awesome, and... sometimes... being awesome hurts. But she did it, and she kept on doing it. That just makes her more awesome!"

"Whatever." But Diamond was smiling in a not unkind way. "So here's a real question. If you were given a chance to go back, would you?" She looked at the crusaders daringly. "Or would you stay here where it's safe... relatively."

"Safe!" Dry had his hoof raised, that choice all too easy.

Apple Bloom giggled at him, hugging gently. "Don't be so quick! Now that would depend some. If this was, like, just a random thin', probably would skip it too. But if ah was needed fer somethin', then ah'd consider."

Sweetie bobbed her head. "And if Apple Bloom went, well, I'd be with her." They met, hoof to hoof in solidarity that was met a moment later by Scoots.

"As if you could leave me behind." Scoots slipped down from the bed, clearly feeling better. "Unless you were going to rescue me. That'd be awkward, but thanks in advance if that ever happens."

Diamond flicked her tail, eyeing the three. "You would do that for each other, wouldn't you?"

Apple Bloom nodded firmly. "Fer any of our friends. You included?"

Silver suddenly bumped into Diamond, nuzzling her forward towards Apple Bloom's extended hoof.

Diamond accepted it with a hoof of her own. "Alright, that goes both ways then. You get into trouble, we'll be there to help." She put out her other hoof towards Silver Spoon. "Only fair. Now, not to be mean, but odds are, you three will get into trouble before we do."

Scoots burst into fresh giggles. "Yeah, probably, but we'll all be awesome, together." Her eyes went to Dry. "Say, why do you look off?"

"Um." He fidgeted in place. "You're all about my age, but you've already seen so much, and done so much... I feel... small, like I messed up. Even if your stories are often very frightening, I keep thinking maybe I should be involved somehow..."

Diamond leaned in, a smirk on her face. "You did something we never did." That got him looking confused, but curious. "You're a foal not just visiting, but living on a whole other world." She did a wide circle over herself with a hoof. "You're going to be on an adventure for years, maybe forever. That counts, colt."

Silver nodded with a hoof at her chin. "She's not wrong." She just as sharply leaned forward, nose an inch from his. "So about the Lumie club! I'll show you the ropes. You'll be casting spells in no time! You don't even have to be, like, a unicorn." She danced in place excitedly. "You could do healing magic like me, or maybe you'd rather something else? Lumie teaches all kinds of magic."

Dry sank to his haunches. "Would she want a scared little colt." He pointed at himself. "I'm not very good at... that."

"But you were," countered Silver Spoon. "The moment friends needed you, you were there. That makes you the best kind of adventurer in her book, and mine." She nodded firmly, sure of her words. "In a scary world, it's good to have friends."

He wanted to argue that, really he did. But he couldn't. Friends were one of the things he wasn't scared of. A good friend did a lot to make things a little less scary... "Yeah..." He refocused on the smiling filly. "And you want to be my friend?"

"I'd like that." She fluttered her lashes. "You're interesting. Shaped kinda funny, but a good funny." She raised a hoof, casually feeling up his cheek and snout. "I like it."

He began to blush terribly. Sure, she was an alien pony, but she was a female alien pony of about his age and she seemed interested. He was just old enough to know that sort of thing. "Y-yeah." It hit him what he just agreed with. "I mean! We're all ponies, in the end."

"Yes." She released him. "And as ponies, we are stronger together."

Author's Note

These foals are giving me diabetus, just sayin'.

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18 - Inductions

Scootaloo tossed her mane back into shape, clearly feeling way better. "Say, when does Dry become official?"

Sweetie blinked softly. "Official what?"

"Official Lumie priest?" Apple Bloom waved at the hopeful Silver Spoon. "Reckon as soon as he wants ta be and learns the ropes."

Scootaloo shook her head. "Nah, not that." She grabbed her fellow crusaders. "He lives in our clubhouse. How is he not gonna be a crusader?"

Sweetie and Apple Bloom looked simultaneously floored at the idea, even if it made sense in hindsight. Diamond, on the other hoof, began to laugh at them. "You three are something else. He already has a cutie mark." She pointed at the mark on Dry's rump. "So what would he even do?"

Scootaloo waved that away. "So what? We have cutie marks." The girls turned without prompting to display their marks in unison, coordinated as they were. "And we're pretty good crusaders, last I checked."

Sweetie nodded quickly. "Oh yeah. Most of the official crusaders have marks, these days, or as much of a mark as they're gonna get." She burst into giggles. "Like that griffon!"

"You have griffons?" Dry asked with wide eyes. "Are they mean?"

Apple Bloom snorted. "Some of 'em. A lot of 'em, really, but not this one. Gabby's a sweet thing. Why we let her in. Hey, Scoots, who's watchin' ya?"

"Oh." Scoots pointed towards the front of the house. "Aunt Holiday was just getting some supplies."

Silver snickered softly. "Bet she's gonna be real surprised when she comes back to you being, like, all better."

Scootaloo bounced in place with a silly smile. "Surprised in a good--"

A door opening could be heard. "Scoots, I'm home!" came the kind call of her caretaker. "Feeling any better?"

"There she is!" And there went Scootaloo, hurrying to display the good news to her aunt.

Dry brought his hooves to the camera dangling free of him. "I would like to capture an image, of the Everglow Survivors. May I?"

Diamond inclined her head at Dry. "You asked that time. You're learning. Sure, but you're going to have to get Scootaloo first."

All the foals spilled out of Scootaloo's room to see what she was up to, to find her in the hug of Aunt Holiday. Holiday was smiling and crying a little, holding Scootaloo tight. "It's a miracle. I thought you'd be sick for a little longer than this."

Scootaloo waved a hoof back at Silver Spoon as she came into view. "It's her fault."

"Well." Aunt Holiday gently set Scootaloo down. "I'm not sure how that works, but I'm going to guess she'll tell me. Helpful little fillies deserve a treat." She rose and headed off into the kitchen on a mission.

Silver Spoon giggled, trailing after. "So, like, I'm a priest." She pointed at herself. "Which has a lot of complicated stuff, but, to bottom line it, I can ask a nice book god for power, and use that power to heal ponies."

"I see." Aunt Holiday likely did not see, but she was smiling and busily preparing that treat she promised. "It must have worked, considering how lively Scoots is now."

"All better!" called out Scootaloo, looking ready to tackle another bone devil if the need came up. "She's an Everglow Survivor, like me."

"Ohhhh." Holiday looked over at the smiling Silver Spoon. "That actually brings it into focus I think. Now, do Everglow Survivors like cookies?" A swift nod was a good answer. "Then you go join your friends while I make some."

Silver Spoon abandoned her explanation of how priests worked to join her friends. "She seems nice."

Scootaloo pumped a hoof. "She's the best, um, except Aunt Lofty. They're tied."

Diamond's eyes half closed, a smirk on her face as she leaned in. "Have either of them been to Everglow?"

Scootaloo paled at the idea. "I hope that never happens! Oh, gonna take a picture?" She saw Dry lining up a shot. "Get my good side." She struck a dynamic pose with a big grin.

"Actually..." Dry waved downwards gently. "If you could all get together, like a team?"

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara threw a leg over one another, smiling for the camera.

The crusaders reared up and met with their hooves over the duo's head. A soft click came from the camera, a picture slowly emerging. Dry let it fall to hang from him as he waited nervously for the picture to emerge. "I think this will be good."

"Your little friend's a photographer?" came Holiday's voice from the next room. "He better get a picture of these. Only proof left that they ever existed after I let the rest of you at them." She giggled, clearly not upset at the impending doom of her cookies.

Diamond got the photo first, casually chomping the edge of the photo and pulling it the last little bit out of the camera and setting it down on a low table. "Let's see." She eyed the portrait, but she wasn't the only one, the rest of the fillies rushing over to see how it came out. Calls and cheers rose with approval of how it turned out. "Not bad." Diamond tapped at it. "But I'm keeping it, at least long enough to get this one framed too."

Sweetie thumped Diamond, swatting her across the back. "It can be quite beneficial at times to have wealthy friends."

Diamond frowned at the swat. "Watch it. I'm not your source of bits, but I do like this picture." She tucked it away in the pocket that all equestrian ponies had. "You meet Featherweight yet? You two would get along. He loves taking pictures too."

"Oh, like, totally." Silver bobbed her head at the idea. "He's a thin thing just like you. Like, maybe he's what you would have been if you were born in Equestria."

Dry blinked with wide eyes at the idea. "Is he scared of things too?"

Apple Bloom waved that away. "Nah! He can get scared, but he ain't livin' scared. That's yer thing." She giggled softly, hoof raised to her mouth. "No offense or nothin'. Ya make it look good."

"Thanks?" Dry as not entirely sure how to take that.

Not that it mattered. He smelled something good, and saw it an instant later. A tray of fresh cookies bounced on the back of the round earth pony mare that bore it into the room. Holiday leaned to the side, letting the whole thing slide onto a larger table. "Get that picture before I let them touch it."

"Good idea!" He hurried forward and sat down, considering the picture a moment.

Silver burst into giggles. "We want to get some, Dry. Go ahead."

With an alarmed squeak, he got his eye up to the viewfinder and snapped a quick shot of the frosted delights. Each cookie had an image painted on with a thin layer of frosting. Their brands of destiny! Even his. Each cookie was meant for a specific foal. Destined! "All done."

That was the go signal. The fillies were upon him, and past, snapping up the cookie with their cutie mark and soon leaving only Dry's behind. He leaned in, taking up the cookie with his lips. "Thank you... Holiday?"

"That's my name." The mare was sitting on her haunches, pleased with how happy the foals were chewing at her creations. "And what's yours, little colt?"

"Dry Whisper." He took a big bite out of his held cookie, managing to balance it with his lips even as his teeth pulverized the sweet deliciousness. "Mmm! It's really good."

"I'm glad to hear that." She reached for the curiously shaped but still adorable colt, mussing up his mane without objection. "Are you friends with Scootaloo?"

"Uh huh." He brought up his hooves to steady the cookie as he nodded. "Are you her mother?"

Scootaloo laughed even as she crashed into Dry's side, almost knocking his cookie away. "I called her Aunt Holiday, duh."

"Oh yeah..." She had done that. "I forgot. Um, where is your sister then?"

"Woo, that's a big question." Holiday set a hoof against her own cheek. "She's busy saving the world, in her own way."

Scootaloo crossed her arms. "Not here. Neither of them are here. But I have a lot of other ponies that are super awesome and help me out. Like Aunt Holiday--" She waved eagerly at said aunt. "And Aunt Lofty."

"You have two aunts, that's nice." Dry nodded swiftly. "It's good to have a large family."

Apple Bloom sat up with a cocky grin. "Pretty sure ah got y'all beat on that front."

Sweetie shook her head with a low whistle. "I can't imagine any of us can beat the Apples. They're everywhere!" She threw out her hooves to emphasize that, her cookie held in her magic for easy nibbling at.

Diamond poked Apple Bloom, no fear in her eyes. "Why go for numbers when you can go for quality? My family, all Everglow Survivors." All the ponies peered at her, apparently even Silver Spoon finding that to be surprising news. "What? Oh, right, never mind." She turned away with an innocent whistle.

Silver Spoon was on her in an instant. "You have to finish that story right now! When did your parents go to Everglow? And, like, they got back alright. I mean, I saw them." She looked quite confused, but so curious. "Tell us!"

"I would... but they aren't being super talkative about it." Diamond shrugged emphatically, hooves turned up. "Just know they went there, and got back. Big ole adventure. They were worried about me." She snickered softly. "But I am already a survivor, and I had Randy. I was fine! I didn't even bring it up."

Silver prodded at Diamond. "When?! After we got back? Are they alright?! Are they scarred, like, on the inside?!" She began to shake her friend vigorously. "Do they need help?!"

Diamond shover Silver back onto her haunches. "Chill out. My parents are fine." She adjusted the collar she didn't have. "They're not foals," she decried, despite most of them being exactly that. "I'm sure they were fine. Not that they told me much." She shrugged. "Must have been super easy, not even a big deal."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "Applejack's been there."

That got a fresh scowl from Diamond. "Hard to forget! She's the one that sent us there with that crazy scythe! She... doesn't have that anymore, right? I didn't go checking."

Holiday's eyes darted from foal to foal as they expressed snippets of their exploits. "Oh my... You've all certainly been through a lot. I'm just glad you're all alright. Is this where you went to, Scootaloo?"

"I told you about it." Scootaloo stuck out her tongue in defiance. "It was great, and scary, but we got a lot out of it."

"Yeah," admitted Diamond. "We did kind of get a lot out of that..." She huffed, turning her nose up. "Guess I can forgive her, if she's done with that scythe?"

Apple Bloom crossed her arms. "All gone."

Silver clapped her hooves together. "Well, good for that." Her cookies was gone, devoured save for a few stray crumbs on her little snout. "So, what do you think?" She wheeled about to Dry. "Sound exciting?!"

Dry blinked at that sudden conversation turn. "Um." Well, what could she mean...? "Is this about Princess Luminace?"

"Yep." She nodded once firmly. "Just checking in. If you don't wanna, not going to, like, force you. She'd be annoyed if I did that. What kind of friendship would that be?" She sank to her haunches as she shrugged. "Not a good one."

"That would be bad," agreed Dry with a quirk of a smile. "I will agree to this. I would like to hear more about your god. Will you tell me about her?"

Silver's face brightened with resplendent joy. "With pleasure. Oh, can you read? I thought I saw you making notes." Once that was confirmed, she hopped back up to her hooves. "Then I will tell you, but also show you. I have a nice book all about her I'll gladly lend you."

Author's Note

Oh no, Dry's being recruited to a cult! This can't be good. At least we can be fairly sure Lumie's book is free of typos.

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19 - Read a Book

Dry inclined his head down at the open book in front of him. "Huh..." He reached out a hoof, carefully brushing the next page up just enough to grab it easily in his lips and bring it the rest of the way. He did not have the curiously dexterous hooves of Equestrian ponies, however that worked. He still wasn't sure. But the book was worth the effort of reading. "Huh..."

Though it had a lot of information, a lot of that information was about getting more information. It talked about how to handle and categorize books. It talked about the scientific method, which was an idea he'd never known of before. It discussed proper etiquettes, between fellow researchers and other people far removed from that. A studious god of friendship was who the book was for, and so it had all those details for those that may wish to pay heed to her and follow her ways.

"Dry!" came a shout from outside. "C'mon, school!"

Dry blinked softly. His study of the book didn't get him excused from other studies, clearly. He abandoned the book, scampering out to join Apple Bloom and head off to class.

"Ya look different." Apple Bloom inclined her head as he came down the stairs. "Yer mane." She reached out and patted his puffy hair, to his mild confusion. At least until she drew out a mirror for him.

"Oh!" His mane was... simpler. Like a round fluffy shape instead of the ephemeral whisps it usually was. "What happened? Am I sick?" Was there a sickness that did that?! He didn't know.

"Do ya feel sick?" Apple Bloom held the small mirror steady for him. "Ya don't look sick, just a little funny, up there. Actually, ya look a little normal, up there."

"Normal?" Dry shook his head. "That isn't normal."

"Fer you," countered Apple Bloom. "But normal fer us. Ah think ah mighta heard somethin' 'bout this. Ah'll check. Fer now, time fer class!" She tucked the mirror away and resumed walking.

"Okay..." He wasn't in pain, and didn't feel sick, just a bit worried, so he trailed after her. Drawing the ire of their teacher wouldn't help the situation at all.

The lesson of the day was about how rainbows were made, both with and without pegasus assistance. "Now, pegasi prefer to keep weather-related things like this under their control," instructed Cheerilee with a smile. "But a rainbow is rarely something to be worried about. So while they could prevent wild ones, what pony would want to?" She flipped to the next sheet that showed a nice big rainbow over crude drawings of smiling ponies. "They don't hurt anything and may bring a smile."

Dry took notes, a little differently than he had before. The book of Luminace had given tips and hints about that. He focused on the important bits, instead of copying every word Cheerilee said down. He was becoming a better learner! The thought brought a smile to his face as he scratched away with his mouth-wielded pencil.

At lunch, he found himself seated with all the foal Everglow Survivors. "What's the scariest thin' ya done run into?" challenged Apple Bloom, her eyes on Silver and Diamond.

Silver raised a hoof quickly. "Like, definitely the temple."

"What about the ghost?" countered Diamond. "We didn't know what was going on back then. That was pretty scary."

"But in the temple we were, like, separated and being chased. It was scary even when we did know what was going on!" Silver took a big sip from her juice box. "Oh." Her eyes were on Dry. "You're the scare expert. What's the scariest thing you ever saw?"

Dry let out a little hum. "The scariest..." He hadn't actually spent a lot of time considering what was scarier than the next thing. They were all kind of scary. "I... Oh, I think the scariest thing was when I was watching that devil attack that strawberry farmer. I knew if I stayed safe, she would be hurt, bad, or maybe killed. But if I came out, we could both end up hurt. There was no sure answer." He began to worry his hooves on one another. "But I couldn't sit there and watch her get hurt."

"Aw." Sweetie threw a leg over Dry. "That's how heroes are made." The other crusaders cheered on that idea. "Being scared like that and leaping into action anyway? You definitely have crusader material."

Scootaloo clopped her hooves together. "Sorry I wasn't there to start or I would have helped. Good job keeping her safe long enough for backup to get there."

Silver smiled at Dry without words for a moment, but noticed something. "Hey, your mane." She reached to pat the puffy mass much as Apple Bloom had. "I like it."

Dry warmed in his cheeks. Whatever had happened, at least, it seemed, everyone liked it, even if he had no idea... "It just happened. Apple Bloom said she'd find out why."

"Ah got an idea." Apple Bloom nodded firmly. "Also pretty sure it ain't a terrible thing, so don't worry none. On the case!"

"How's the book?" Silver's eyes darted, but there was no book about for her to find.

"Thank you," gushed out Dry quickly. "It's very nice. I didn't bring it here. I don't want it to be hurt."

"Good idea." She wobbled a hoof at Dry. "You're already, like, thinking right. How far did you get?"

"I was reading about library etiquette." Dry rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "I didn't know there were so many rules."

"The most important ones." Silver sounded officious with her big smile. "Would be that you want to keep quiet for other readers, and not to make a mess of the books. If you pick something up, you put it back where you found it. It's just polite, right?"

"Right," echoed Dry with his own smile. Those rules made sense. "Is there a library here?"

"There used to be," sighed out Silver. "A big mean jerk, like, blew it up! Twilight saved all the books she could, and they're in her place now." She pointed at the big tower that was home to the local princess. "Bet she'd let you read some if you were polite."

Diamond nudged against her friend. "As if you visited the library often when it was around."

Silver went red. "I learned to appreciate books later! At least Dry's learning nice and early. Good on you."

Apple Bloom pushed away from the table and hopped up to her hooves. "Ah'm all done. See ya in class."

It was about time to get back to it. Randolph silently descended on Diamond and Dry's remnants, whisking them away.

Not a fact missed by Dry. "Thank you," he whispered to Diamond on the way back to class. "For feeding me."

Diamond smirked softly. "You're making Silver happy. Keep that up." She tapped at his shoulder. "You joining her club or not?"

Dry's ears danced atop his head, shrinking a moment. "Why don't you?" Not an accusing tone, though he realized how it could be taken a moment after saying it. "You don't have to!"

"Of course I don't." Diamond rolled her eyes, smirk on her face. "As if she would even try. And that's the problem." She tapped Dry on the nose. "I don't like taking orders. Those gods will have to find somepony else to go chasing after them."

Dry returned to his seat, wriggling into place, pencil in mouth, but mind on that idea. Ultimately, he wasn't opposed to... following. If who he was following knew how to be safe, following them was a good idea! The trick was learning who was actually good at that, and who was genuine in wanting to keep you safe, rather than just themselves.

He glanced aside at Apple Bloom. She had been a good choice! She protected him, and was good at it. She was a good pony all around. Luminace had good things to say about such friends, but she also emphasized that one had to return those favors. Friendship was not meant to be a one way thing... But how could he repay Apple Bloom? There wasn't much he could do that she couldn't do herself, better, and likely faster...

Scootaloo he could take pictures of! She liked it when he caught her doing something dangerous. The more dangerous, the happier she was. He didn't quite understand why that was, but it was true, and so he could repay her kindness. Just catch her at the right time, and she was made happy.

Sweetie Belle... She was nice and cheerful, but he wasn't even sure what she wanted. She had no... She was just a happy filly! How does one repay a pony that had no desires?

"Dry?" Oh no. There was Cheerilee, looking at him. "You're normally so attentive. Is everything alright?"

Dry sat up stiff and straight, coloring darkly at being caught not paying attention. "Sorry! Um..." Well, since he had her attention, he raised a hoof to point at his altered mane. "Do you know why this would happen?"

Cheerilee inclined her head. "Hm." She paused whatever she had been teaching to come closer to Dry, looking him over in a slow circle. "Hm, well, it would seem to me..." She reached out, running a hoof through his mane. "That it isn't hurting you." This much was true. "Why don't you visit the hospital, after class? The ponies there would be far more knowledgeable than I am about this. Does it hurt?" Dry quickly shook his head. "I'm glad to hear that. In that case, please pay attention for now." And back she went to the front of the class to resume the lesson at hoof.

Once class was over, Dry did not rush to the hospital. For one, he had no idea where it was. Or... "What's a hospital?" he asked Apple Bloom as he walked alongside her.

Apple Bloom waved vaguely in its direction. "It's where sick or hurt ponies go to get better. Now, should note, Equestrian ponies don't got healin' magic like Sweetie and Silver have."

Dry softly ohed at the idea, realization coming to him. "But if they don't have magic, what can they do about this?" He pointed to his newly rounded mane. "I don't think a physician can do much about that."

Apple Bloom blinked. "Ya didn't know what a hospital was, but ya knew what a physician was?"

Dry considered that as he walked. "We have physicians and healers, but an entire building full of them? The closest to that would be a church full of clerics, which is not the same thing." He suddenly closed with her. "What does Sweetie Belle like?"

Apple Bloom's brows went up together, her bow somehow going askew. "That's a sudden question! Sweetie likes a lotta things. What makes ya ask that?" She went in as quickly as he had, brows lowering in a sly expression. "Ya fallin' fer her? Aw!"

Dry sputtered at the implications. "No! I mean, she's nice..." He crashed to his haunches. "I just want to thank her, for being a friend, and for helping me. I know what you like, and what Scootaloo likes. I don't know what she likes. As a friend, I'd like to know, and to repay her for being nice."

"Wouldn'ta blamed ya." The little filly shrugged, walking right along. "But fer a gift, hm. If it's something ya made, pretty sure she'll be super happy to get it. She loves personal touches, and she loves her friends, which you are, so somethin' personal from a friend? She'll be super happy."

"Personal," echoed Dry, scrambling to catch up with Apple Bloom. "What would you not have blamed me for?"

Apple Bloom hiked up a brow even as giggles came over her. "She's a pretty filly. A colt falling for her hardly seems that surprisin', really. But she isn't on the market, as it were." She bumped against Dry. "Not ready."

Dry had learned more than he had bargained for. "Oh..." They were still young yet. Not everyone was... He shook those thoughts free. "So about my mane?" Yes, hair problems were so much safer to consider.

Author's Note

Apple Bloom! You can't just drop a bomb like that on a poor innocent colt. There may be other typos hiding besides that obvious one.

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20 - Going Native

"On it!" Apple Bloom dashed off, leaving Dry Whisper to his own devices.

He considered that a moment before going for his book. He ascended the ramp up to the clubhouse and nosed inside, kicking it shut gently behind himself. "This is not a bad god at all." Even a good one! "A fine choice." He'd at least heard of a few others, but all seemed so... violent, or mysterious. Not like Luminace!

She was all happy and open. Her entire point was to make things less mysterious!

He gladly spent the next few hours learning more about the studious friend maker. "Oh!" There was a step he could do. There, in the book, was a diagram of a proper holy symbol of Princess Luminace. He grabbed his own notebook and carefully copied the image over, even if he had to go over... Wait.

He applied a hoof to his face. "Silly." He set the book up against a corner, backed up, and snapped a nice close picture of the icon instead. When the image emerge, he checked it with a satisfied nod. That'd work way better than any drawing he'd manage without years of practice. He set the camera aside, making a note to thank Fluttershy for letting him borrow it. He'd have to give that back, eventually, right? When would that be? She seemed in no rush to reclaim her amazing magical device.

Still, he had a picture! He rushed into town with it and a big smile. Trick there, he wasn't sure who to bring the picture... to... "Hm..." He could... He could just ask someone? The ponies of that town had proved kind and maybe with his new mane style they'd be even more accommodating? He wandered up to a mare that was just sitting there. Oh, he recognized her after a moment. "Hello, Lyra."

"Hey, kiddo." She was smiling, a good sign. "Did I ever catch your name?"

"Dry Whisper." He bowed towards her, lowering his front. "I was trying to find a place to make a bit of jewelry."

"Jewelry? Fancy." Lyra leaned in and got a better look at the photo dangling from his lips. "That? Huh, well, we have a jewelry store. Bet they'd take custom orders." She pointed the way. "And after that, you can get some candy." She pointed out a second store. "Tell Bonnie I sent ya."

"Thank you!" It was important to show thanks to kindness. Luminace had been very firm on that point. "I'm going to the jewelry store then. Do you need anything?" Repaying kindness with kindness was also a great thing. He wasn't sure he'd really be able to help Lyra, but even offering was a step in the right direction.

Lyra curled a hoof to her chin. "Mmm, nah. When I go to the jewelry store, it'll have to be super personal. Appreciate you asking. Go have fun." Down came her hoof, mussing up his altered mane. "Have fun!" She insisted, nudging him towards his first destination.

"Thank you!" he cried, charging ahead. He was soon inside the much quieter jewelry shop. It got points immediately. It felt safe and still, compared to the bustle of the middle of town. It was also filled with jewelry, which made sense to him.

"Hello." An older mare was smiling down at him. "I'm Clarity Cut. Welcome. What can I help a little colt like you with?" He tone implied little colts did not often come into her jewelry store.

He walked up to the counter. Running felt improper in that quiet place. Rearing up, he set the picture he had taken on the glass counter. "Can you make something like this?" He tapped at the picture gently. "It should be about this big, and hang around my neck." He held up both hooves in front of himself. "Like a pendant."

"Hm." She examined the picture intently. "Little boy, how many bits do you have?"

Uh oh. Money. That was a thing he didn't have much of... She could see the worry on his face and her hoof came in to gently muss his mane. "I appreciate what you want, but I have to make ends meet too. When your parents; have you asked them? They probably have some bits."

He sat back, crashing to his haunches. His family was a far way away. They would give no bits. "Oh..." Darn it... But the answer, it was right there. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara both walked like aristrocrats. Diamond's butler literally fed him every day! Surely they'd have money, and Silver would want him to get that! "I know!" he chimed, his poor mood lifting. "I'll be back." He grabbed the picture, craning his neck over the side of the counter just long enough to snap it up. "Sorry for bothering you."

He would ask, the next day. With his plans firmly set, Dry trotted through the town towards his home. He had everything sorted out! It'd be fine! He set the picture carefully aside to present later, when he had the money in hoof to actually get the work done. His first holy symbol, a mark of devotion! He burst into little giggles. It was worth being excited about, by his measure. But what to do until then?

Well... He could read! Surely she would be happy with that choice; it seemed safe to assume. The door opened and he squeaked, diving for cover under his blanket of protection. "Dry?" It was Apple Bloom. "Where ya at?" The door closed. "Done figured out what was happenin'."

"You did?" He peeked out from under the blanket, ruining its stealth effect. "What is it?"

Apple Bloom poked his nose, having known exactly where he was the entire time. "Yer becomin' Equestrian."

Dry slid up to his haunches, the blanket falling behind him. "Oh..." He rubbed at his cheek, only for the hoof to fall to the ground. "Oh." He looked at Apple Bloom with new eyes, taking in her shape and configuration. He'd become that?! Well, not a filly, right? Right?! There were guy Equestrians, he had seen them! He would not become a filly. That would be... No! He was a colt. "Why?"

Apple Bloom shrugged at that. "Now that ah can't tell ya, but it works both ways. An Equestrian pony stays in Everglow too long, or does the wrong thing, snap!" She clopped her hooves together with the word. "Everglow pony. Um, 'specially if they learn any shapeshiftin' magic. Instant ticket." She set her hooves on his shoulders. "Now don't be sad. Yer still Dry, and yer still our friend."

Dry leaned forward. "Wait. Did the ponies who became Everglow ponies... Are they still here?"

"Sure they are." Apple Bloom nodded rapidly. "Like Fluttershy's friend, Tree Hugger, all Everglow pony, but she turned back, just like yer doin' right now. Equestria don't need no Everglow ponies, and Everglow don't need no Equestria ponies, so..." She waved over his body. "So you'll fit right in soon 'nough."

"Then... that isn't nearly so bad..." If ever he... "If I get home... Um... If I go to Everglow, I'll turn back. That isn't so bad..." A temporary thing, and not a painful thing, so far.

"Great!" She bobbed her head as she got up to all fours. "In fact, if ya wanted to get it up an' over with, we could ask our friends. Bet Silver or Sweetie know a spell that'd finish the job. The only shape spell ah got is one that'll make ya big and strong, but it's only safe fer me, so... not that."

"Not that," echoed Dry, considering. "Should I hurry?"

"Well." Apple Bloom shrugged at the confused colt. "Yer kinda in the middle right now. Worst place t'be, ah reckon. Equestrian ponies are nice and Everglow ponies are nice, but half an' half?" She reached for his mane. "Don't rightly match, ya know?"

"Hm." He pointed to the book Silver had lent him. "I've been reading all about Princess Luminace! She's a nice god, and knows so much. I like her. But there is one thing I was wondering."

"Whas that?" Apple Bloom leaned in. "No expert on the god thing, but ah can try."

"Well... Are there any Equestrian gods?" He lifted his hooves up equal with his shoulders. "I am here, I should at least know of them. Feels rude."

"Right nice of ya." She circled left and right. "Um... Celestia and Luna are the only things that come kinda close. They ain't got churches or nothin' though. They do got holidays though!" She pitter-patted in place, dancing on her hooves. "Those're fun!"

"That's good." Though holidays were but one part... Which reminded him! "I wonder what holidays Luminace has." He wandered back to the book, intent on finding out.

Apple Bloom giggled at her studious friend. "Yer fallin' fer her somethin' powerful. Glad it's workin' out fer ya." She tapped her chin. "But if her holiday is, like, do a book report, gonna have to sit that one out if it's alright with ya."

"She wouldn't--" Oops, she would. He hurriedly flipped to the next holiday, blushing brightly.

"Knew it!" Apple Bloom liked smugly satisfied at calling that. "Dinner'll be at the house, so come on by, alright?"

He looked away from his book. "Is that alright? I didn't help in the orchard today."

"Don't be silly." She nudged the colt. "Yer a guest, and a friend, and also a foal. So that's three good reasons we won't mind havin' ya 'round fer dinner. Have fun!" And she was gone, just like that, leaving him to his scholastic adventures.

"Equestrian." He nosed out a mirror that had been tucked away, likely by the crusaders, for when one wanted a mirror? Either way, he propped it up against the wall and snapped a picture, not of the mirror, though he did capture that too, but of himself taking the picture. "It may be a while..." He still wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. That it was reversible was good, surely? But how should one feel about that?

Ah! He scurried back to the book. Perhaps Luminace would have the answer! He got to reading, and poring, and diving, but there was no specific answer to that question to be found. Just some advice.

If you find yourself in a situation without an answer, first, rejoice

Rejoice? He didn't feel like rejoicing in that moment, but he read on.

because it means you've found something new. Possibly for anyone, or possibly for yourself. Either way, it is a chance to learn and grow. Don't panic. Remember what you have learned here. Take firm hold of your journal and document what's going on. Leave nothing out, so those who come after you will have more information if they should happen to encounter the situation that has you perplexed.

Take notes? Hm. He curled, taking his notebook out of his saddlebag and setting it next to the holy text. He could take notes, for any other Everglow ponies that happened onto Equestria, and were just as scared and confused.

He could be their light and guide, even if he wasn't there anymore. A little smile began to spread on his face. That sounded nice. That sounded... good. He'd like that, to lift a pony up when they were miserable and confused. He could do a good deed, in the future. He may never meet who it helped, but... He grabbed a pencil in his mouth and got to scribbling his thoughts down, reversing the note taking techniques. Instead of compacting spoken thoughts, he was working on his own, but he did so diligently, for the lost pony, in the future, who may count on him to explain what was happening and why they shouldn't be scared. It'd be alright... He'd explain why, and, perhaps, some day, he'd be a hero to a pony he'd never get to meet.

That was the power of books, and what a magnificent power that was.

Author's Note

What's it take to get a holy symbol around here?

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22 - Harbor in a Storm

Scootaloo trotted along with Dry at her side. "You'll have a bed all of your own!" She waved excitedly forward at the place they hadn't yet reached. "With a door you can close. It'll be your room." She zipped in closer to Dry. "Not that we mind having you around, but it's really hard to do official Crusader business with you in there."

Dry had his camera dangling around his neck, and he filled his bags with his supplies. He was ready to move, at least physically. "And it's safe? She did not permit me to take the blanket of obscurity."

"You don't need that!" Scootaloo danced around him with no fear. Fear was not an emotion she seemed very familiar with. Was that normal? "My house is way safe. Besides, it has my aunties and me there."

"If you're sure." A house came into view and he sped towards it. "That is yours, right?"

"Nope!" Scootaloo came up alongside him and threw a leg over him. "It's ours."

He smiled awkwardly but didn't battle the change in terms. They went up together and entered the one story dwelling.

"Well, hello there!" There was Aunt Holiday with a big, welcoming smile. "I hear you're joining us."

"Nothing like a second foal." And Aunt Lofty with her sharper features. "I don't think we met." She offered a hoof towards Dry. "They call me Aunt Lofty, and you can call me that too. If you need something, we're here."

Dry met the hoof with a clop. "Dry Whisper. Nice to meet you, but I should unpack." He wiggled in place, making his saddlebags shake with their contents.

Aunt Lofty gestured at a room with a sweep of her hoof. "We just finished cleaning up in there. It isn't much, but..."

Dry scampered to the entrance and nosed it open just to gape. It wasn't a fancy room, but it had a bed and a window and a dresser and, perhaps most importantly, it was all his. "Wow..." His pace slowed as he stepped inside, looking around with wide eyes. "This is all mine?"

"All yours!" Scootaloo was right behind him. "Oh, and here." She slapped the door shut behind them and with a press came a loud click. "You can lock the door so nopony can come in if you don't want them to."

They could hear aunt Holiday laughing through the door from the outside. "We'll do our best to not need locking out."

"Let a colt have his space." Aunt Lofty was moving at a casual walk, unseen. "Didn't ex--" The increasing distance made the other words lost with the increasing distance as she kept on doing. Holiday could likely hear her, but they could not.

Scootaloo pointed at the working desk. "You can write and read there."

"Yeah..." Dry let his saddlebag slide to the ground and got to taking things from it. Soon he was stacking books in an orderly pile on that desk. He set the camera down carefully and put his other meager possessions about. He couldn't fill the room, not that he seemed displeased by it. "And this is all mine?"

"For as long as you want it." Scootaloo grabbed the door handle in her mouth and casually twisted it open. "Oh, from this side, you can always open it, for a quick escape." She winked more dramatically than technically required. "It'll unlock when you do."

"What magic." Dry came in close to sniff at it and grab the knob in his mouth. He pushed it closed and reached up as he pulled back. Click! He hit the button he saw hit earlier. "Is it locked?"

"Yep. Got it in one." Scootaloo bobbed her head. "You do that while we're outside to keep us out." She leaned in and grabbed it, twisting it open with a new click. "And now it's unlocked. Get it?"

"Wow..." He inclined his head left and right. "Neat. You trust me with this power?" He pawed at the door with a hoof gently, as if its great power could be too vast indeed.

"Of course." Scootaloo bounced in place. "This is your room. You get to do icky colt things in it." She tossed her head. "I have a room and so do my aunts, and we have locks too. So if you try to open a door and it won't open, stop trying!" Despite her words, she didn't seem to have a shred of animus towards Dry Whisper. "Make sense?"

"Right... Okay." He pointed at the locked door. "So we all have one of those?"

"Each and every one of us." Scootaloo pointed past the door. "Even some of the other rooms, so you can take a private bath or whatever. For now, if we're done here, we should get something to eat."

Food was a grand idea, and a fine distraction from things. Dry had a new home!

Diamond hefted up a glass that stuck to her hoof. "Here's to adventure."

"To adventure!" Silver met the glass with a tink. Both fillies looked over at Dry.

He had a glass in front of him, but had not moved to join them. "Adventures can be a little risky."

Diamond slapped the back of the ghost pony. "You got that right." The two fillies drank of their fruit juice without complaint. "Now, didn't Silver want to talk to you?"

"Oh!" Silver perked up as she leaned forward. "Dry! Did you make a choice about Luminace?" She clapped her hooves together with a big smile. "I'm here to help!"

Well, that was an invitation... "I actually wanted to, but I want this." He coiled and drew out his picture of the holy symbol. He set it between the two fillies. "What faithful doesn't have a holy symbol? There aren't any available... so I have to get one--" Silver grabbed him firmly. "Um..."

"That's a great idea!" She set one hoof on the abandoned photo. "I'll get two made, one for you and one for me." The photo got tucked away quickly, but she drew out a symbol, similar but different. "This is the one I got from Everglow. It'll be nice to have an Equestrian one. Besides, like, it's symbolic to have one Equestrian made. She's coming to Equestria!"

Dry dared a smile. That attempt had gone well. "If you get one, I will wear it. Oh!" He reached his snout back into his backpack and found a book dangling from his mouth awkwardly, refusing to come loose. "Mmmf!" It was also blocking conversation with its bulk.

Silver reached out a hoof and casually took the book from Dry. "What's wrong?"

Diamond cocked a brow. "You went sticky on us."

"Sticky?" Dry batted at his lips, back to cooperating. "What do you mean?"

"Equestrian ponies are stickier than Everglow ponies." Diamond set a hoof on a snack and just casually lifted the cake towards her mouth. "Like this." With a great chomp, she bit it in half. "Everglow ponies can't do that naturally."

Dry looked between Diamond and Silver a moment before he reached out and set his hoof on the glass he hadn't drained. He tried to pick it up and got it a few inches before it fell and broke, spilling juice and bits of glass everywhere.

Diamond shook her head. "You're not very good at it, but that's still better than most. Guess you're going sticky."

Silver raised her hooves to let Diamond's butler in to clean things. "Huh, welcome to, like, Equestrian life." She offered a hoof towards Dry, which was met with a loud clop. A pity they became stuck together. "Hey..." She wriggled it left and right and dragged Dry along with her. "Um..."

"Don't panic." Diamond was watching it all with a little too much amusement. "Just calm down and pull apart. He isn't that strong, so..."

The two foals pulled and tugged until a loud stretching pop announced the two hooves coming apart. Diamond clapped lightly. "That's proof that you're going Equestrian sticky. Better get used to that even if it is pretty useful, if you ask me. Especially if you aren't a unicorn, which you are not."

Dry worried his hooves together, which were not clinging to each other for the moment. "You're not worried that I'll stick to you?"

Silver giggled at the question as she waved the entire idea away. "Annoying, but what's the, like, worst that could happen? You want to stick to me and drag me away?" She giggled with fresh energy. "You're cute, but not very strong. If you stuck to me, I could walk away with you and there isn't much you could do about it."

Diamond grinned at her friends. "Call me if that happens. I'd like to see it. Go on, Dry, try to take Silver away."

Dry shrank in place. "I wouldn't want to do that!"

Silver patted him carefully, his fur a bit sticky at that moment. "It's alright. Huh, wonder what you'll look like all Equestrian." She leaned in with a grin. "Bet you'll be cute. You'd make a great little colt!"

Diamond snorted softly. "Stop looking with your heart. He'll still be a ghost pony, just an Equestrian one. That's alright though." She waved it off, eyes on Dry. "I say you should relax and lean into it. Not like any of us are sad to have you. Welcome to Equestria!"

Silver bobbed her head quickly. "Totally! You're fine as you, Equestrian or Everglow. You're still Dry Whisper."

"Am I?" He rubbed at his cheek to discover that his hoof could stick to the fur there. He flailed, at least his free hoof. It was only with the filly's help that he managed to unstuck himself. "I really don't like this... Am... Am I a coward?"

Silver set a hoof on his cheek, only for the other to join it in cradling his face. "I didn't go through the whole Everglow thing, but I hear some Equestrian ponies did, and it scared them too. It's, like, way okay to feel really weird right now. That's why I'm saying you can be sad near me if you want. You're still Dry, and he's a pretty nice pony."

Diamond snickered softly. "He's also the only pony on the planet that likes the same god as you, which has no effect on it at all."

Dry pulled away from Silver to look at Diamond pointedly. "We don't share a god. What do you think of me? Please be honest."

"Hm, well, you are a bit strange, but not a bad strange or anything like that." Her eyes wandered over the desperate colt. "You're alright, really. That's why we hang out. I don't hang out with total losers." Her eyes rolled dramatically. "Look, you're from Everglow, which makes you a cut above the others by default even if you're kinda a coward."

"You're not a coward." Silver stomped a hoof down. "You're scared of real things that can really hurt real ponies... really! That isn't being a coward. Besides, when it was time to act, you did it. You saved that mare when there was nopony else around and you coulda stayed nice and safe." She mimed a bush with her hooves. "All hidden away." She fell to her haunches. "You coulda taken pictures as that demon tore her apart... That would have shown who you were just as well, but, like, awfully! You didn't do that... You didn't." Tears welled up in her eyes. "When it was time to make a choice, you rushed out there, even if you were sure it was gonna hurt. You thought you might die, but you had to... You just, like, had to..."

Diamond put a hoof around her sniffling friend. "What she's saying is that you're alright, Dry. You'll still be alright if you go all Equestrian, or don't. We think you're pretty cool already, and you can only get cooler from here. How's that?" Diamond rose to her hooves. "We should get back to class."

Author's Note

Growing! Dry is doing it, and he has good friends, I say.

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23 - K I S S I N G

"We've noticed you." Snails was watching Dry pointedly. "Always hanging out with the mares."

"Yeah." Snips made as if to spit. He just forgot to actually spit outside of making the noise. "They're always, um, paying attention to you."

"And we've had it." Snails stomped the ground with an angry snort. Against a lot of colts, his anger would not work so well, but he could see Dry was cowering in fear. It was working! It was finally working! "And it's not just us."

"Nuh uh." Snips glanced left and right. "They're hidin'." He meant they were too cowardly to face Dry, but that sounded much better, and is what he remembered. "But they're watching, the other colts."

"They're watching you, not the other colts." Snails rolled his eye as if to be clear on that point. "So cut it out!"

Dry raised a hoof, shaking as it was. "Did I do something wrong?"

This question seemed to catch Snails off guard. "Oh, um... no?"

Snails bopped his teammate. "Traitor!"

"What?" Snails inclined his head slowly. "He seems nice."

Dry smiled at the dopey but rapidly nice-seeming pony. "I'd rather be friends if I have the choice."

"See?" Snails pointed. "They don't wanna fight."

Snips applied a hoof to his face. "I give up." His grand plan, ruined. He sulked back to his chair to sink on it and frown with appropriate rancor.

Snails was on the other hoof, inspecting Dry. "Your hair is neat." He reached up and patted the fluffy but more Equestrian-like mane that Dry had. "I like it." He giggled, easily amused.

Dry joined in the giggle, unused to such attention from another colt, but it wasn't a bad sort of attention. "I'm a ghost pony. Hi!"

"Hello. I'm a unicorn." Snails pointed up to his horn for demonstration. "They say I'm good at unicornininining." He stuttered that word despite being good at it. "Are you good at ghosting?"

Dry lifted a hoof to his chin. "I never thought of it like that. I think I am. Hiding is my specialty."

Snails clapped with approval. "That's great! Can you show me?"

"Okay!" Dry dashed out of the schoolhouse.

Snails looked around slowly at the Ghost pony-less area. "Wow... He's good."

Snips threw an eraser at his slow friend. "He went outside, dummy. Bet he's hiding out there."

"Oh." Snails went outside sedately, not at all upset for drawing Snips' anger. The outside world was much larger than inside. "Where are you hiding?" He looked under pots and buckets, then under a chair and a startled mare, but no Dry Whisper at all. "I told you he's good..."

"Right here!" Dry pounced free of some bushes, knocking Snails over with a happy giggle. "I was ghosting."

"That was good ghosting." Despite being knocked over, snails remained calm as he sat up. "Want to see me?"

"Yes, please." Dry had only heard rumors of how unicorns worked. "What sort of unicorn tricks do you have?"

"I can do this." Snails willed over several plastic shovels that twirled over his head slowly, but faster by the moment. "I can do more." He casually grabbed a rock in his magic, sending it spinning with the shovels in a dance. "Unicorninining!"

"Wow!" Dry was applauding the display with big claps. "That's amazing! Unicorn tricks are hey!" He lifted from the ground, joining the toys in their spinning. "Hey! Please put me down!" And suddenly he dropped along with everything else as Snails just dropped them all. "Ow."

"You alright?" It was as if Snails just didn't understand why that might have hurt Dry. "Are you mad?"

"No..." Dry sat up, rubbing where he bumped his head. "More surprised. That's amazing that you can throw me around with all that stuff, but please don't do that again unless I ask."

"Okay." An easy request, Snails bobbed his head. "Don't surprise me again. I don't like surprises."

Dry offered a hoof. "Deal." They met with a clop of hooves in solidarity to not turn their tribal gifts on the other without pre-warning. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Snails inclined his head. "Is it?"

"It is!" His first coltish friend was a special thing. "It's hard to make friends with other colts. Any tricks?"

"Oh, um..." Snails seemed to consider that gravely a moment. "Have you tried saying hi?"

Dry sank to his haunches. "Huh..." He hadn't exactly done that, exactly... "I'll try that. You're full of good ideas." He was clever enough to know that Snails likely didn't mean that to be all that clever, but Snails didn't really seem that kind of pony. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! We should go to class." He started towards the inside. "I hate taking notes," he got out in more of a suffering whine.

"Notes aren't hard." Dry coiled on himself and pulled out the previous day's notes, showing them to Snails. "See?"

"Wow..." Snails looked over the writing with wide eyes. "You wrote all of this?"

"Every single word." Dry found his hooves were sticking a bit more on command, so he carefully flipped to the next page. "And I'll do it today too. Do you want to see them after class?"

"Can I? Wow... Most ponies say I'm being lazy when I ask about that."

"You're not lazy." Slow, sure... But Dry didn't get lazy feelings from Snails. "If you want to go over what we learned, I'd be alright with that. It'll help me learn, too."

Snails applauded in celebration. "Thanks!" But he hurried right into class, lest he get in trouble for being late.

Dry followed him back inside and hopped into his seat. He took extra good notes that day. He was writing for two ponies!

"Luminace is kind." Silver was guiding Dry along. "And so are you. I saw you sharing notes with a colt, and you weren't even asking anything for it."

Dry blinked at the idea. Wait, he could have asked for something?! But he dropped the idea quickly. "Snails isn't very good at writing, but I am, so I thought I'd share with him. I think he wants to learn."

"We all, like, want to learn. We're just not all good at it." Silver smiled as she walked. "And you helped him get closer. Luminace is super happy with you!"

Dry went red at the idea. "A god is happy with me?"

"Well, I am, and I'm her priest, so I think she would be too." Silver turned in place. "In fact, she's so happy I have a gift for you."

"You do?!" Silver pressed something against his surprised hoof and he turned it upwards for a look. There, dangling from the end of his hoof, was a silver Luminace charm. "Oooo, it's perfect." He hung the holy symbol around his neck and danced with naked joy. "Now I look the part!"

Silver casually brushed her own chain into view with a smile. "I have one too, so we match. Now we can be library buddies."

"Ooo!" Dry had red enough to know about those. "We will help each other study?"

"Yes." Silver paused, but it turned into laughter. "Meanie! I thought I'd be your first, but you have a library buddy already."

"I do?" Dry looked around as if that'd reveal it. "Who?"

Silver booped the extra-dimensional pony. "Snails? He's relying on you to help him learn. Sounds like a library buddy to me. Now, you and me? It'll work different. We're peers. We'll help each other learn things on the same level, like... get it?"

"Peers, got..." He raised a brow at Silver as if getting something for the first time. "Are you asking for my help to study or to court me?"

Silver went red quickly. "W-what?! You should..." She turned away from him, hiding her face as she danced impotently.

He grinned softly. In at least one way, Everglow foals knew which way was up. "I am very flattered and accept."

"Wait, what?" She turned back on him, looking dizzy as if the turning knocked it out of her. "What are you accepting?"

"Your courting me." Dry nodded softly. "I am ready."

Silver sank back onto her haunches. "B-but..." It had happened all too quickly! She was the one that made the first move, and he noticed, and instead of running or pouncing her, he had... accepted her courting?! "Do you even have parents?"

"None that you will meet, I bet." Dry tilted his head. "So you only have to convince me. I look forward to meeting yours when you think the time is right."

"You are way too calm!" Silver threw her hooves up at the situation. "You fear everything but this? This you're just accepting?"

Dry leaned closer to the upset filly. "You are an upperclass filly. I am nervous that you picked me, but you did. It is my job—" He patted himself on the chest. "To be courted properly. I didn't think anyone would court me. This is exciting." He danced in place with a giggle.

Silver set a hoof on her head. "I need to take, like, a break." And she wandered away without another word.

They did not leave Dry alone for long. Diamond came up snickering. "Wow... Just wow." She shook her head at Dry slowly. "You've got some real nerves doing that. If I didn't know you were harmless, I'd already be ringing you dry."

Backing up a step, Dry swallowed nervously. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Not yet." Diamond raised a brow. "But I bet you would if I don't step in. Want some advice?"

"Please?" Dry inclined his head. "Are there more steps I do not know? I only know the ghost pony ways, and they are not your ways." That much seemed clear. "But I want to do it right. She made the first move, didn't she?"

"She did." Diamond was smiling way too much. "But reminding her will just make her embarrassed, so stop doing that. Step one! Her parents. Your parents are off on another world." Diamond waved a hoof in the air in a fluttering. "Hers are not. In fact, they are over there." Diamond pointed to Silver's house with a soft snort. "You will have to visit and say hi. You will want to be decently dressed for that."

"I'm not already?" Dry was dressed as a student, which wasn't very well. He had a backpack on, and his holy symbol and not much else. Like the Equestrian ponies, he had picked up a few habits of wearing clothes every day. "What kind of dress?"

"Not a literal dress. That'd be funny." Diamond imagined Dry in various frilly dresses, all fitting poorly on his form. "I want to see that.. But no! You have to dress up fancy, like us." She reached up and primped her mane and the tiara that rested on it. "I'll lend a hoof. I care about her, which means I want you to succeed and not embarrass her."

Dry didn't resist Diamond's advance. He was walking with her as she ensnared him with a leg and got to hiking. "Thank you for showing me. Equestria is a strange world, but it has some nice things in it. I think she might be one of them."

Diamond whistled softly as she went. "Wow, there you go. You sure she's chasing you?" She nudged against Dry. "Look, just don't take my friend away. You two want to be lovebirds, fine, whatever, just don't shove me out in the process." She raised a brow. "I'm still trained with mind magic and I will use it if I think you're taking my place. Capiche?"

"I do not know that word." This did not stop him from piecing together the meaning in general. "I will not try to scare away any of her friends like you. You make her happy, and I like you, too. Um, besides, you feed me every day!"

"Glad you didn't forget." She squeezed his trapped neck on the way. There was so much to teach.

Author's Note

Dry makes a new friend! Did you see that coming?

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24 - To Woo, er, Be Wooed by a Filly

"We need a tux." Diamond was digging through her wardrobe. They were in her home where she was rooting about. "At least for when you see them. Then you can go back to wearing whatever." It turned out she had a lot more than just clothes for her in that closet that she was busy throwing to the ground behind her. "I doubt you're suddenly going to be a fancy pony. That's not you, and it isn't what she wants, anyway."

Diamond grabbed a black and white suit and held it up against Dry. "Mmm, no..." She tossed it and resumed her rampage on her clothes. "Meeting her parents is the make or break for you. She made the first move, which you rubbed in her face." Diamond looked far too amused at that fact. "But that means she has to introduce you to them. Good on you, you don't have to do it yourself. But what they see still matters." She dug out another suit that was a pale green with no pizazz other than looking sharp, but it pleased her and she and set it against Dry. "Better!"

She casually tossed it over his back. "Put it on and see how it fits."

Dry grabbed it in his mouth and nodded, scurrying off to do just that.

"Kids these days." Diamond shook her head softly. "There's a changing room right there." She pointed to a convenient corner of her room. "Get in there and try it. Now, while you work on that, we need to talk about other things. You are not a well to do pony. Some ponies are going to assume that's why you have any interest in her. And don't tell me she acted first! That won't make a difference!" Diamond cut across her throat with a swipe of a hoof.

"Charming a mare into making the first move isn't impossible. Now, lucky you, I know you. You didn't do that. I know her too, and she didn't do that. Point remains that you have to show you're 'worth' her, even if the two of you are alright with the situation." She thumped the divider between them. "Welcome to the upperclass life!"

"I am not trying to tell you this." He poked his head out. "It fits a bit oddly. I think it is because I am not from here." He had an Everglow body, minus his mane, which didn't count for much.

"Come out here and let me see it." She waved Dry out of his hiding place and examined him critically. "Alright, close enough. We can get the rest fixed." She clapped her forehooves together. "But it means we don't have to get a whole new suit, so that's a plus. Now, public attitude! You don't want to roll over too easily, because that would go right in the other direction."

"Other direction?" Dry wriggled free of the suit in a set of contortions and kicks that left the suit on the floor. "What's the other direction?"

"Duh." Diamond rolled her eyes. "The other options is that she is the one pulling you around. You're there just because it amuses her, poor you." She leaned in. "Closer to the truth if we're honest, but that's not the whole truth, now is it?"

Dry swallowed thickly. "I-I though we were friends, and we share a goddess. And she wants to court me and I'm still new at that but I am willing to try!"

"You don't need to convince me." Diamond patted him on the shoulder gently. "This is about convincing the rest of the world, and not by shouting that, let me tell you. It's about what you do and, possibly just as important, how you do it. Now, point in your favor! She's mentioned Luminace before. It's already a known fact she's all over that alicorn." She clucked her tongue softly as she reached out and batted at Dry's holy symbol.

"So that gives you an edge. You two have a common point ponies can see and grasp easily enough. This means don't take that off. It's as much a part of the bond between you two as anything else. And there will be others. I can't imagine Silver Spoon won't get you a gift or two... or three? Wear what you can wear, but don't throw it in pony's faces. Just wear them and go about your day. Having them in view sends the right message."

She turned slowly in place. "But, again, works both ways. You'll have to get her some gifts. If only she showers you, yep, obviously she's the one calling all the shots and you're the victimized lower class being yanked around by the rich filly that they can't say no to." Diamond scowled at Dry as if remembering something from the past. "You don't want that."

Being courted by a high-class filly came with more strings than he had thought of originally. "I see. I don't have a job... How do I get her a gift that's worth her time?" He could imagine the jewels being shown in that store. None of them were free... "I don't have parents to ask for an allowance."

"About that." Diamond prodded Dry suddenly. "How old are you? Are you a foal? A foal foal? Or a stallion foal? Give me a hint!" She threw up a hoof as the others carried her away fitfully. "You being from another world makes that hard to guess. Trust me, other ponies will guess. High, low, they'll guess."

Dry considered Diamond a moment. "I don't think we're that far apart? Um... I'm fifteen years old. Old enough to stand on my own." He flashed a nervous smile. "Young enough to not be good at it."

Diamond cocked a brow at the admission. "You're older than us?! You don't act it." She prodded at the colt as if that was somehow his fault. "Well... That throws an entanglement into things. Some will say you used your rugged otherworldly charms on her. There's not a lot we can do about that." She lowered her brows. "If it helps, you're close enough it'll stop mattering eventually if you two stick together."

Dry watched her pacing. "We're both learning how to be adults. Um, if it helps, I know so little about this world. I feel very behind you."

"Again, don't need to convince me." Diamond waved a hoof at that idea. "Alright, I'll lend a hoof. But you can't tell anypony." She thrust a hoof at her own chest. "I have bits. We can shower Silver Spoon in things she likes, but you better treat her right. If I find out I was financing a bad time, I will end you and don't even think I'm exaggerating!" Her voice became an almost shrill shout at Dry as she glared him down with deadly intent.

That she was a spell caster that could bring pain with a glare didn't help. "Got it?"

"Got it." Dry sank to his haunches, even if he was trembling a little. They had a scary friend in Diamond Tiara. "I will do my best, promise. I don't want her to be sad. I don't want to be sad either. Um... If... If things don't work out, is there a graceful way to end it without being hurt?" He didn't look forward to being hurt!

"Wow... No." She shook her head slowly. "Unless the two of you come to the realization at the same exact moment and share it, again, at the same moment, it will probably involve a pony, either you or her, being hurt. That's how relationships work." She performed an especially slow golf clap of her hooves. "Still, points to you for even thinking of that. Shows you're thinking ahead, I like that."

"Now, I say that, but she started this." She smirked at Dry with a wicked intent. "If you dump her, which I am not suggesting, you are absolved of most of your wrongdoing. She tried to court you, and failed. It will be egg all over her face. Still... talk to me first, alright? Give me a chance to work things out." She leaned in with a charming smile, as if he imagined all the malice. "I am both of your friends. I want you two to be happy."

"Right, of course! Thank you, for helping me." He set his right hoof on the abandoned suit. "I would have been so lost if you weren't there. Seriously, I am grateful."

These were all facts Diamond knew, but it was so nice to hear them said out loud. "Let's go over how to greet a grown mare of a superior social class." She raised a brow. "Because you're doing that. You may be older than us a little, but you aren't even close to Silver's mom's age, and thank goodness for that!"

Dry blushed, his entire face warming at the even idea of being that old. "That would be inappropriate... unless our parents decided for us."

Diamond cocked a brow at him as silence fell across the room. She was gazing at him like the alien he was, as if he had just said something so inconceivable to her that she struggled to put the pieces together. "Wow... Gonna... put that one right under 'glad I'm not in Everglow anymore' if they do things like that."

"It's not like that!" He hurried to her, even if she wasn't facing him anymore. "That isn't a common thing at all. I'd be very surprised. But if a noble, or your mom, says you're marrying someone, um, you get married." He rubbed at his cheek helplessly. "I never saw it happen, just heard of it, really!"

Diamond dismissed it with a flick of her tail. "Lucky for us, you have no mom around to say you're married." She turned back to Dry with a smirk. "You're on your own, and you attracted the attention of Silver Spoon, lucky you. So, to be clear, never bring that up ever again. That'll bring the head on Silver's parents, who didn't do anything, and it won't matter."

"Forgotten!" He saluted the best he could. "About the suit?"

"I'm bringing you to a tailor tomorrow." Diamond grabbed up the suit in her mouth and dropped it on one of many cabinets. "Today we work on you. You don't want to embarrass her, right?"

"Right!" He bobbed his head quickly. "Please teach me your ways."

Diamond burst into giggles. "I like the way that sounds. Alright, student. Sit down, shut up, and listen to what I'm saying."

And the advanced study in... Well, alright, advanced was going a little too far. Diamond settled with teaching him the basics so he wouldn't make a fool of himself or Silver when he was addressing ponies of higher status. "Now, I'm told you're a nerd." Diamond batted at Dry's holy symbol.

"Um... What does that mean?" It was not a word he'd ever heard of before.

"You don't know? A nerd is someone who studies a lot. A bookworm, a know-it-all. In training, in your case." She sat on her haunches and crossed her arms. "You and Silver Spoon. Nerds."

"You keep saying it like it's an insult..."

"It is, to some ponies. Fortunately, I'm already your friend." She rolled a hoof. "I was getting to a point. As a nerd, you will want to do nerdy things. You'll need these skills to go up to ponies with the bits and ask them to finance things. Most of them aren't nerds, I should note, but they like looking good. Having their name attached to some big discovery? That makes them feel good. You have to sell them on that possibility."

"Oh... But I'm just... I'm in school." He inclined his head. "A person in training isn't going to start any projects that anyone would want to invest in, and I'd feel awful taking their money."

"That doesn't mean it's early to start learning the ropes." She turned away. "Speaking of that, help me clean up. We made quite a mess getting your stuff." Diamond made the mess. She was entirely responsible for the mess she made. That didn't stop her from making her request.

Author's Note

Foals converse and I love it. :heart:

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25 - Presenting

"There you..." Silver's words died in her throat as she gaped at the pony she had been called out on suiting. "Wow..." He was wearing a suit! It fit him pretty well. She hurried in and did a tight circle, peering at him. "Wow! Looking good!"

Dry was doing his best to stand tall and proud, with mixed results. "I only hope it is worthy of you. You like it?"

"Love it!" Silver Spoon clopped eagerly with a giggle. "You should dress up all the time. It looks so good on you!" Unsaid and unthought, but the clothes concealed some of the alien nature of Dry Whisper. "But why? Is there a special occasion I forgot about?" She looked around for the missing holiday or event.

Dry shied back a step. "Oh, um, no... I just wanted to fit?"

"Fit, like, what?" Without asking or warning, Diamond was there to whisper in her ear. "Oh!" Silver raised a hoof to her chin in a moment of consideration. "Looking good! It really does suit you."

Dry smiled so brightly he squeaked, which was a new thing. He jumped back and looked around for the source of the noise, but couldn't find it. "Did you hear that?"

Silver burst into giggles at his reaction. "That happens when a pony smiles really big, watch." She forced a big ole smile on her face, hooves at her cheeks as they stretched into a squeak. "See?" She let them go, relaxing back to her usual smile. "Do Everglow ponies, like, not do that? Guessing not."

"They do not..." He rubbed where the squeak had come from, another step towards Equestrianity. "Is that... considered a good thing?"

"It's more of, like, just a thing." Silver shrugged gently. "Some ponies do it more than others. Now, let's move on to something way more fun!"

Dry perked up at her. "What sort of fun thing? A good fun?" Or a terrifying fun. Both was a strong possibility at times. He didn't flee though.

"The best kind!" She was applauding the idea with a vigorous stomping. "You picked a god, a good one I should think. If you're ready, I'll show you how to reach out to her."

His eyes went wide. "You'll show me how to be a cleric?!"

"Sure, if you want that." She tapped at her chest. "I'm a warpriest, but you could be a cleric, not that different in the end. Either way we're praying to Luminace for a little shard of her, like, brilliance and we do stuff. Sound fun?"

"Yes, um..." Dry flopped to his haunches. "Does that mean I give up being a picture taker?"

"What? No." She snorted at the idea. "Who said that? I'm gonna get a job when I grow up, and warpriesting isn't a job around here." She tapped Dry on the snout. "Probably for the best."

Dry considered that with a blank face a moment before he perked his ears. "Probably. Um, alright, so I can be both of those things." He gathered himself back to his hooves. "That sounds fun! Um... I would prefer to avoid fighting."

"So not a warpriest, we covered that." Silver waved it away. "Straight cleric, praying for miracles, and getting them. Now, we're not wizards." She shook her head firmly. "There is no book of magic for us to read over and over. It doesn't work like that! It's about dedication and being open to her acting through us. Like, with me?"

He was not with her. He was excited though, stomping in place. "How do I start? She's nice, right?"

"One of the nicest." Silver leaned in, touching her nose to his. "Besides me. Even gods have to step aside for..." She colored, aborting the thought with a cough. "Anyway! You have to learn how to hold that power." She cupped her chest with her forehooves. "In here. Until you figure that out, there won't be any magic. It's not built in, like, what, you thought you were a unicorn? No! You're a ghost pony." She raised a brow. "And they don't have magic built in... do they? Doesn't matter! We're going to ask Luminace nicely, and hold it, here." She thumped her chest for emphasis.

"Here?" He tapped at his own chest, slighter than the stocky earth mare before him. "Alright... How?" He sat before her, one ear quirked up at her. "Show me."

"That's what we're here for!" She sat down with him. "So listen up! You've been reading her book, right?"

"Every day!" He smiled with pride at that. "Is it in there?"

"Sorta." Silver turned away and started marching down the road, confident that she'd be followed, which she was shortly afterwards. "That's just an introduction. Everypony that worships her should read it, but not everypony who does becomes a cleric, or a warpriest, or something else. They may just follow her ways and that's fine. It's another thing to be her staff." Silver put out her hoof in a proxy for the magic staff of her god. "Reaching for her, performing magic for her. We are our tool for friendship and to learn. Does that excite you?" She pivoted sharply in place to face him.

"You can be her, like, eyes! You like looking at things and getting pictures. She enjoys seeing things, especially new things, or old things from new angles. Are you ready to serve her? She'll reward you, because she is a good friend too, and good friends do that."

Dry wilted suddenly. "I have done little of that."

"You are a foal from another world." Silver rolled her eyes. "You don't have a lot to give, but that's alright." She waved Dry forward. "You're still giving things. You give your time. You give your attention. Like, you give a lot!" She suddenly stopped cold. "You gave me a coltfriend to chase." Her cheeks went a bright red as she burst into giggles. "So don't tell me you didn't give me anything!"

"By the way!" She was looking him right in the eyes. "Tell me more about what you, you know, like. You like taking pictures, I got that. Tell me more."

"I want to know that!" He pouted a bit. "Um, about you. I know what I like." He realized he was fascinated with her, but knew so little about her beyond the surface. Was he being foolish? "Um... Please. I suppose we owe each other that much..."

"Right." She resumed the trek to Sugarcube Corner. "So let's get a snack and chat about nothing but ourselves for a bit. No magic, no big lessons, just us. Sounds like we both want to learn about what's gonna be taught today."

And they chatted and nibbled on cookies, two things that went together surprisingly well. "You like word puzzles?"

Silver blushed softly. "I do them quietly, by myself. Diamond doesn't get them at all..."

"That sounds fun." He leaned in over the small table that seperated them. "Show them to me!" And soon he had a book set before him, drawn from her pocket. "Ooo." He set a hoof on it and pulled it open with his new stickiness. "I did it!" He was mastering Equestrian stickiness, a bit at a time.

"You did," chuckled Silver Spoon in a good natured tone. "Now let's see if you can beat the first Sodoku. I already, like, beat it, but I do them out of the book." She tapped at the page. "You can do it in the book, go ahead. This one's more of a math puzzle kinda. I'll show you how it works."

So he learned the secrets of sodoku. It was right up to his speed, involving no danger of any kind and a good book to puzzle over. That he was proving decent at it helped, and the day passed pleasantly between the two with a little insight gained between them.

"Look at you." Scootaloo was there when he got to his new home, which was her home. "Not gonna lie, a little creepy."

"Creepy?" He directed an ear at her and stopped his advance just a little in the door. "What did I do?"

"You're dating Silver Spoon." Scootaloo rolled her eyes softly. "I know we made up... but it still feels so... ugh." She shuddered in place. "No offense! I hope you're super happy... It's me, not you."

"Do you not like her?"

She tensed at the question. "No! No... We get along just fine... We just weren't always so chummy." She laughed nervously as she turned towards the kitchen, tail stiff behind her. "Look, she and Diamond used to be the banes of our lives. Am I happy they cut that out? Totally! Want the best for both of 'em!" She started ambling away. "Still feels weird that you're dating her. It's a me thing!"

He followed after her into the living room. "Oh, past differences? I'm glad we're past that then. They seem so nice, and so do you. What could you have even fought about?"

Scootaloo peered over her shoulder. "Wow, um... Say." She turned back to him. "You're used to her. You have a specific view. Sounds great. Not even complaining, but that isn't my view." She hopped up onto a chair and grabbed a glass to take a big draw from. "Don't get me wrong. Seriously! You do you. Not even mad at you."

Dry hopped up next to her, sticking to the chair with a soft yelp. It took him a moment to free himself and sit properly. "Sorry... Um... Was she mean?"

"I don't want to dig up old dirt." Scootaloo smirked softly. "We helped a pony that did want to dig up old dirt, her specialty. Hope she digs up some ancient dirt someday and learns something amazing."

"You... are hiding." Hiding was a thing he knew all about. "That's alright." He played with his hooves in front of himself. "I hide sometimes too... If you want to tell me, you can, but I won't make you, um, come out if you don't want."

Scootaloo's hooves fell to either side of her, the glass clunking to the ground, spilling water in a splash. "Did I... Did you?" She started to laugh, flopping against the back of the chair. "Wow... I probably deserved that." She clunked down the mostly drained glass on the small table between them. "Look, uh, difference here. Equestrian ponies don't start with their marks. We mentioned that, right? Mine took a long time to come in!" She turned in place to show off her crusading mark. "And before that, me and the other girls were really worked up about it."

"To go without even the hint of the gods, that must have been very difficult for you." He glanced down to his mark, given to him before he was even born. He always had a clue as to what he was supposed to do, right there. "How does that involve Silver Spoon?"

"She got hers before us, her and Diamond Tiara. They... held it over our heads and made fun of us." She worried her hooves, breathing speeding up with the memory of bad times. "We've gotten over it, really! But... it's hard to just forget it... Don't tell them!" She hopped down from the chair. "Seriously! I don't want to... Just don't."

"I won't." He set a hoof over his heart. "You are trusting me in your hiding place. I will not betray that."

"You are so cute." She went around the table with a giggle. "So, uh... if I can ask, you like fillies? Most colts your age think we're like covered in icky slime and avoid us as often as not." She waggled her brows. "Until they get a little older and suddenly they're interested, or so I hear."

He blushed gently. "I already... went through that phase... I apologized to my sisters for calling them names... Um... Fillies are cute, and pretty, depending on the, uh... one... Silver is both! I'm sorry she hurt you though. I would stop her if it was happening now."

"I bet you would." She set a hoof on his side. "Brave coward, It's in the past, seriously. It's alright."

Author's Note

Scootaloo has feelings about this... It felt right to me. You?

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26 - A Little Song

Dry blinked as he fell from the bed. Some sort of sound was reaching him, and he wasn't sure what it was. Scrambling out of his room to hear it better, it seemed like... a song? Like an entire town was busy doing it. "What?" He went to the front door and nosed it open just enough for a peek. "You're so vague. I'm so impatient." His whisper wasn't a whisper. He had sung it, loud and clear.

"What are you trying to say?" He emerged from the house to scurry to a bush, eyes wide at the strange melodic magic that washed over him. "I should just let it go, but I can't help but ask. You're so vague. I'm so impatient." His heart was fluttering in his chest. Part of him knew that he should hide, not be out, seeking the strange magic that was overwhelming him.

"I want to know." He crept out of the bushes, slinking towards the singing he couldn't quite make out. "What are you trying to say..." He trained his ears on the melody, trying desperately to make it out properly, but all he could hear was the enchanting hint of meaning.

"I should just let it go, but I can't help but ask you. I heard you singing that song outside the window." He glanced back at the house he had come from, the window that separated his room from the rest of the dwelling. "I am curious but also scared."

He felt a resistance, a mild one. Like a thin film in the air, he passed it effortlessly, but with it, he became a thrall to the magic, and joined in its melody without further thought on the matter. The song, he discovered, was that of a mare fretting about getting things together in time for her anniversary, and the town coming to lend a hoof and comfort her.

Dry was helpless to recite the exact words later, even if he sang some of them. He was a part of that song, delivering his lines as if he had practiced them for months! But that wasn't even the worst part, really. No, at the climax, not the climax of the song, but of his specific part of it, he slid forward on his knees. That move was not one Everglow ponies did often, but it felt right at the time, and he did it.

And everything bent and moved without complaint. He was left panting as the song went on without him for a moment. "What?" He lifted a hoof into view and gaped. "What?!" A tingle washed over him. It was time for him to sing, but he was in no mood. "What?!" He fled from the singing, tears stinging at his eyes. He fled all the way back home, slamming the door on the still singing populace of the town. He had other things to worry about.

"Dry?" She knocked gently on his door. "We have to get to school. You're awake, right?" She knocked more firmly. "If you didn't lock the door, I'm comin' in!" The knob rattled with her grab and twisted open. "Nope." She pushed the door open, revealing her smiling face. "Wakey wakey!"

"Go away." It was hard to see who had spoken that, covered in their blanket as they were, just an oddly conversational lump on the bed if one didn't know better.

Scootaloo closed the door behind herself with a kick. "Not feeling good, or something else?" But no reply came. "If you didn't want me here, you really shoulda locked that door." She came closer on spritely hooves. "And we do have to go to school."

"Tell them I don't feel well." The lump moved, rolling over?

"How can I help?" She reared up, hooves on the edge of the bed. "Got the sniffles? Need some tissues? Soup?"

"No!" Dry curled all the tighter on himself. "Those won't help..."

"What will?" Scootaloo stepped up onto the bed entirely. "Just tell me what you want and I'll go get it."

"Nothing!" he spat with a sudden fire, just to deflate, becoming a smaller lump. "Nothing's wrong... Maybe it's all better. You probably think it's all better."

Scootaloo considered a quiet moment. "Alright, I'm guessing here... But did you go more Equestrian last night?"

"Yes." A soft sniff followed it. "I... fit in better now... yay..."

Well... sure, but Scootaloo resisted the urge to take it as any kind of good news. "You're still Dry Whisper, you know that, right?"

"Am I?" With a ruffle of the blanket, his hoof came into view, simpler and Equestrian in make. "This isn't Dry!"

"Looks like it to me." She reached towards the hoof but hesitated, not making contact. "Because Dry's a thing on the inside, not the outside." Scootaloo sat back, still on the bed. "None of us stopped being us when we went all Everglow."

With some wriggling, his face came into view with the rounded cuteness inherent in Equestrian ponies. "It didn't bother any of you?"

"That would be a lie." Scootaloo waved it away. "It bothered us a lot." She coughed into a hoof, her little wings spread out. "But we got past it, and you will too. If you're worried, what I can see of you looks pretty great."

"You're just saying that." He kicked the blanket free, revealing the entirety of his form. Equestrian physics had taken some liberties, with his limbs thin and long. The deer-like ratio of his body had been amplified as he rose tall, taller than he had been, though narrower the other way. He hadn't gained mass, just moved it around. "What even is this?" He shook his floofy cloud-like mane atop his head. "Ponies don't look like this that I saw."

Scootaloo grinned at her revealed friend. "What are you talking about? You look like a Featherweight or a Snails, who are two perfectly normal ponies, just on the lanky side, and there's nothing wrong with that." She folded in her left wing and pointed to her right. "These are awfully small for a pegasus..." Her cheeks began to glow. "They actually stop me from doing some things I wanna do... But they're still me, and they don't make me a bad pegasus or a bad pony... just different."

He considered the many foals he knew, settling on Snails. Snails was kinda tall and lanky... he... "I'm a snail..."

"You look like Snails, share his general... shape." Scootaloo fashioned the air with her hooves as best she could. "You didn't think he was ugly, did you? You two were getting along."

"He seemed nice." A little smile appeared against his will. "Will he be surprised?"

"Probably! But not in a bad way." Scootaloo hopped down from Dry's bed. "Feeling better? Let's get some food in you and we can get to school."

Dry followed her out into the main room where her aunts were relaxing around the table. "Oh, there you are." Aunt Holiday had spotted him and was patting the table. "Come on and get your breakfast."

But he slowed instead of finishing his approach. "Don't I look... at least different?"

"Oh, of course you did." She nudged a plate closer with a hoof. "But you need to eat no matter what, and a growing pony, double so!"

Auntie Loft smirked at her partner. "Leave the colt alone. He'll eat when he's good and ready."

Dry arrived at the empty chair, resting a hoof on it as his tail curled slowly behind him. "I... changed..."

Auntie Lofty shook her head. "A colt your age? That'll happen, a lot." She put a hoof on her chest. "When I was about that age, I changed a lot too, let me tell you!"

"If you let her tell you, you'll be late for school." Holiday nudged the plate a little closer. "Eat. Being hungry won't help you."

Dry climbed up on new limbs, only tripping twice before he got himself seated. "Um..." Well, if he was Equestrian... He reached for a fork, a tool that had confused him and grabbed it. His hooves were sticky when they needed to be and he held it easier than he had before. His stickiness was really coming in. He beamed at the mastered eatery with more pride than a colt his age should have had.

Lofty noticed with a raised brow. "Not used to cutlery? Scootaloo said you were from far away. Do they not have those, there?"

"Um..." He put the fork into his pancake, slicing it easily. "Sort of. Where I'm from, no, not so much." Ponies didn't have enough grasping digits to hold a fork and eat at the same time. One advantage of Equestrian life, he could shovel in the food into his waiting mouth. "Mmm... Did you cook this?"

Lofty pointed to Holiday, who burst into merry giggles. "Guilty as charged. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Eat up and good luck at school, both of you."

Scootaloo had already eaten and waited with an impatient hoof-tapping for Dry to finish wolfing his portion down. "Let's go!" She dashed for the door, grabbing her scooter along the way. "Hey, wanna ride? I bet you'll have a better time."

"Than last time?" Dry went to her side, considering her and her riding device. "It was very scary."

"It'll never stop being that." That didn't stop her from offering a hoof. "But you can hold on better, so try it! It'll be scary but fast and we'll be there in no time!"

He wasn't sure, but... "I will trust you." He stepped up behind her, reared onto his hind legs. Equestrian ponies could stand on their hinds just as easily as Everglow ponies. He hugged her firmly and clung, his stickiness applying to her. He did feel more... Oh no!

She had accelerated suddenly, small wings fluttering in wild abandon as they fired through the town. He screamed. There was no other answer he could think of but to do that, only stopping when she slowed down at the school. On the positive, he was still clinging to her. "Um..." He stepped off slowly, releasing her. "You weren't wrong."

"I knew it!" Scootaloo parked her scooter safely and came trotting up in time for the other girls to appear. "Hey!" They met, hooves clopping together. "He's--"

"--changed," cut in Apple Bloom, beholding Dry's new form. "Neat. Looking sharp! Wait, the opposite. You are not looking sharp, but that's cool."

Sweetie nodded firmly. "You are looking Equestrian! Are you in any physical pain?" She casually poked at him, feeling him for any places out of order, but he was a perfectly fit Equestrian, just that he wasn't that previously.

"Dry!" Silver Spoon had just noticed them, eyes wide. "What happened to you? Are you, like, alright?!"

Dry smiled at her, but that expression crumbled. It was her, the mare suiting him, and he was looking extremely improper compared to his usual self. "Sorry!" He wasn't dressed, and he was Equestrian. That she was Equestrian to start didn't register in his young mind. "I'm so sorry!" He covered his face in his hooves and flopped to the ground as if to hide from his shame.

"Woah woah..." She walked up to his prone form. "You didn't, like, hurt me. Is he alright?" She looked to the other fillies, who all nodded quickly. "Good. Stand up, Dry. Let me get a look at you." Shaking like a leaf, he did just that with little jitters of fear at what she would say. "There, so..." Her eyes wandered, taking him in entirely.

He could barely breathe as she examined him. Was he hideous?! Had he already lost the first mare to show interest in him? Maybe he was too young to worry about that. Equestrian ponies seemed to take their time about-- "Not bad." She set a hoof on his chest. "I bet your suit doesn't, like, fit even a little anymore. We're gonna have to get it adjusted."

Despite all his fears, the ponies around him were ready to accept him as he was.

Author's Note

Welcome to the Equestrian life, Dry! With a song, he completes his transformation. That feels proper.

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27 - Hi

"Hello." Snails was watching Dry as they sat at their desk. "You look, um, different."

On one hoof, Snails noticing was almost surprising, considering how unperceptive the colt had been so far. Still... That was quite the change. "In a good way?"

"Lookin' good." Snails bobbed his head. "Shh, she's coming."

'She' was Miss Cheerilee with her usual sunny smile. "Good morning, class! I'm..." She trailed off, noticing that one of her students had changed, but she caught herself and pressed onwards. "--ready to get into some fun things today! Of special interest to the unicorns in the room, we're going to cover magic." She flipped over her board, revealing that she meant historical uses of magic. Any hopes of learning magic were dashed.

She was not a magical tutor. An earth pony would not be a natural fit for that anyway. "Our past is full of interesting magic, both used by unicorns, and not. We are, as a whole, a magical species. Even an earth pony like me could..." She saw Apple Bloom waving wildly. "Yes, I am aware you've learned some magic, Apple Bloom." Her sour expression lifted into a bright smile. "Which just proves the point. We're all magic, unicorns just do it the most often. And through history, magic has visited us, sometimes at the least expected moment."

Dry listened to the stories of magic through the ages, how it helped determine the flows of great conflicts or peaceful goings with equal abandon. "Um." He raised a hoof and began to wave it.

"Dry Whisper?" She looked towards him, examining his new nature freshly. "You have a question?"

"Yes, ma'am... What about song magic?" He put his flat hoof against his throat. "Has that done a lot?"

She hummed softly. "Now that is a good but difficult question. The magic of the heartsong is quite powerful indeed." She put a hoof over her own heart. "It comes when it feels like it, carrying ponies away with what's on their minds and, well, hearts. During heartsongs, great things can be accomplished, or, sometimes, just seeing things clearly as your heart sees it, and that's a magic all of its own, hm? The most important thing I can think of concerning heartsongs is that they are always true, but..."

She lowered that hoof. "That truth relies on who's singing. To make it more complicated, you don't always remember what you sang, or that you sang at all. Don't be alarmed. If you don't remember, odds are good nopony around you remembers either. Unless that pony is Pinkie Pie." The entire room nodded softly in acknowledgment of Pinkie being the known exception in all cases. "Either way, you may sing your truth, which may not be the truth others know. Even if you remember the words, don't assume it's proof of anything but your feelings on the matter."

Dry rubbed his cheek with thought creasing his furry brow. "Does song magic... work on a lot of ponies, at once?"

"Oh, it certainly can, and often does, especially for holidays." Cheerilee nodded as she began scribbling on the board with the chalk she held in her mouth. "And a few notable events, such as..." The lesson was continuing, detouring into great moments of heartsong in the history of Equestria.

But Dry wasn't satisfied, waiting until she turned around to wave at her.

Cheerilee inclined her head slightly. "You are very curious today. Dry?"

"Yes, um, sorry..." He worried his hooves a moment. "What happens if you don't sing?"

"You're asking excellent questions." She set her chalk down on the lip of the board. "Now, generally, there isn't a reason to resist heartsong. It doesn't hurt ponies. If you feel like singing, sing. On the other hoof, if you don't want to sing, it can't force you, just encourage you. If you don't rise to the challenge, two things can happen." She raised two hooves, sitting back on her haunches.

"One: The heartsong ends. If a vital singer isn't taking part, the magic can unweave, and that's that. Two: Somepony else fills in the gap. If the singer wasn't vital, somepony else will take up the missing part. A stumble, but the magic continues and nothing's hurt either way." She lowered her hooves with a nod at the class. "But there really isn't much of a reason to fight it. You may even learn something valuable, or help somepony else to do so, so just sing, and let our hearts have a moment to share their opinions on the matter, without our brains getting in the way."

"One thing." She reared up onto her desk. "Even if you do run away from a heartsong, that doesn't increase the odds of you remembering it, so don't do it for that." She sank down to her haunches, eyes on Dry. "But you've been asking some very specific questions. Were you visited by a heartsong?"

"Um..." He had been seen through! Miss Cheerilee was too perceptive an adult, used to handling colts like him. "Yes... It was my first time."

"You look like you're alright. Did you learn anything, besides being surprised?" Her expression was calm and accepting, though quite locked on him.

"I..." He waved a shaking hoof over himself. "That's when this happened... Um... I think the 'heartsong' is very Equestrian... Taking part in one brought me over... Ready or not."

"Hm." Cheerilee stood and walked towards Dry at a slow pace. "That makes some amount of sense. Now, class, this is a valuable lesson. The heartsong is a form of magic. Usually, just to express ourselves, or get things done, but it can do other things too." She set a hoof on his desk, eyes on his. "Like invite a friend in. Welcome, Dry Whisper."

He felt a pain and his vision was blurry. Oh, he had shed some tears. Wiping them away with a little sniffle, he smiled at the teacher. "Thank you..."

"You're very welcome. Now then..." She returned to the front of the room to continue the lesson of historical magic use.

"That happened to me once." Silver Spoon was walking at his side, leaving the building. "That I, like, remember at least. That's the worst part, if you ask me." She poked at his side. "That I could be doing something and not remember it. But it's not like we forget all we did, just the singing part. So weird..."

Dry shook his head slowly. "I never had that before." He had only encountered the heartsong once properly. "Can... Can you start one? If I started to sing, would it begin?" He clapped his hooves over his face, as if that could happen accidentally.

Silver swatted at his hooves and hopped up across from Diamond. "Hey girl!" They met, hooves clopping firmly. "Dry's, like, super curious about heartsongs. It's cute."

He was cute! He colored at the word applied to him. "I was... just wondering if you could start a heartsong."

Diamond shook her head. "Not that easy. Probably a good thing too, or ponies would just do that, all the time. I don't want to be stuck singing forever. Think of it... as... Alright. Your heart." She thumped her chest with a grin. "It gets full of stuff, and it wants to get out, right? That pressure gets too high, and it gets out. Heartsong."

"Oh. Oh.... I... think I get it." But his heart was full of things. "Why haven't I sung then?"

Silver Spoon looked at him with fresh worry. "Are you that worked up?" She threw a leg around him. "Tell me about it? I wanna help!"

He began to darken swiftly at her attention. He was very far from used to having a girlfriend, especially one that cared so much about him. "I want to make a good impression." The words hadn't been spoken, as he planned, instead a gentle song. "To make a little confession."

Diamond sagged against a hoof, watching the two of them. "They're so cute I want to barf." She had used a word that was hard to rhyme with. One could see her struggling to think up a line.

That was alright, it wasn't her song. Silver was ready to take her part, "You're fine the way you are. Your change is handsome, like, not a scar." She set her hooves on his trembling face. "A different you, but still you. It's the same heart even if the face's brand-new!"

He pushed one of her hooves away. "I can't even see myself," he sang in an upswell. "The answer's not on a bookshelf." He set a hoof on his new holy pendant. "Not even finished growing, and this is what I'm showing?" His hooves all hit the ground at once. "It's not fair..."

"That doesn't mean we don't care." She nuzzled his frowning face and gathered him in closer. "It's an adventure you didn't sign up for."

"Is that why all the uproar?" Diamond was watching the two of them almost fall over each other. "Think we were asked? I think not. We were just put on the spot. Ghosts and worse, knocking on doors. Getting through that place was like surviving the wars."

Silver nodded at her friend. "We just weren't ready. We wished somepony would hold us steady."

"On our own, a world hostile. Looked like we'd be stuck there a while." Diamond leaned over the table, glaring at Dry. "Sound familiar, well it should. Is that a rhyme? Well it could. We're facing down the same threat, but you got a leg up. Bunch of friends giving a check-up." She reached, placing her hoof on his nose that squeaked with the boop. "Count your blessing, should be good. Worshipping now, so you should."

He flumped to his haunches on the chair, the song music fizzling miserably when he didn't take his part. "I'm just a little scared... Um, thank you, both of you. All of you... You're amazing friends! Of all the things I'm scared of, my friends are not one of them." He clutched closer Luminace's symbol. "Friendship is worth it, at least."

Diamond waved at him silently.

Silver got the message. She slipped from her chair. "We agree on that. Now... Seriously, you're doing alright. Eat some lunch." She casually buried her face in something fluffy and came up with a big chunk removed from it and covering her face. "It's good."

He squeaked softly, digging out a small napkin at the end of his sticky hoof. He shoved it against her and began cleaning quickly. "You shouldn't do that!"

Diamond fluttered her lashes with a giggle. "Don't like seeing your girlfriend get dirty?"

"She is not meant to be." He brought back the napkin from her cleaned snout. "She is a vision of perfection."

Both fillies began to darken. Silver Spoon punched him right in the chest. "Stop it! I... alright, don't stop it, but... gosh!" She suddenly fled away.

Diamond smirked at the stunned colt. "No, you didn't mess up." She popped a little hoof-full of nuts into her mouth. "You just made her feel things, and sometimes foals hate when you do that, colts or fillies. Do it again."

"I don't want her to be upset." He brushed himself clean. "We should get back to class."

"Hey, just saying." Diamond hopped down, trusting her butler to take care of things. "Being bothered in just the right way is exactly what a pony wants. You did good, trust me."

The school resumed with more magical adventures performed through the years. "And that's how we discovered coal." She was pointing at a drawing of a train, smoke billowing upwards. "And with it, a minor revolution! Digging it up and using it became two major industries, and it still is, and magic was involved in that too. As I started, we are magical creatures. It shouldn't be that odd that magic influences us as we explore this wonderful world of ours."

Author's Note

Cheerilee gives important lessons. That's all that matters, right?

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28 - Magic in my Heart

Dry darted from cover to cover. He was in no particular danger as he dove into a bush. The middle of Ponyville was not a place he had been attacked often, but it was his way, and that hadn't changed. "Hey." He popped his head out of the bushes, looking around wildly before he saw Scootaloo rolling towards him. "Why are you hiding?"

He clearly wasn't doing a very good job! "How did you find me?"

Scootaloo came to a skidding stop, hopping off her scooter. "Well, even if you hide really well, you still dart from place to place." She made swooshing gestured with her free hoof. "And that actually makes you more visible, sorry to say. Kept seeing something dart around and when I checked it out, there you were."

"Oh..." Dry had more to learn about stealth... "Hello." He emerged from the bushes entirely, shaking off the bits of twigs and leaves on the way. "It's nice to see you."

"You too. I was headed for the clubhouse." She pointed the way. "We have some Crusader stuff to plan. Um..." She peeked around him, at his rump. "Hm."

"Hm?" He glanced back at his perfectly normal pony posterior, Equestria style. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah! Just imagine you're not super interested in that." She waved it away as she hopped up and came down facing the clubhouse, already mounted and ready to go. "So have fun!"

"Wait! Interested in what exactly?" He took a step forward, hoof outstretched, not that he had much hope to stop her if she wanted to go.

Fortunately for him, she did pause. "Helping people find their marks, or make sense of them. You got yours, and you know what it means, which is good!"

"Yes!" He nodded firmly at that. "I wouldn't mind helping people decipher their destinies. How do I do that?"

Scootaloo patted him on the shoulder. "Good on you for being ready to lend a hoof, but we're doing one on ones for now. Next time we run a big thing, we'll invite you to help, promise." She did not look at all certain about his prospects in a counseling setting. "But, for now!" And with rapidly beating wings, she zoomed off, around him, then off to the clubhouse in a blur of speed.

"Guess not." Not that he had anyone to say that to exactly. "Hm..." He went to the other place Scootaloo visited from time to time, her house. He had a room there that he went into, finding his book. The book. The book of books. "Luminace be praised." He unfolded it with his strangely attractive hooves. There were times when that was starting to come in handy. "Becoming a cleric of you takes... a long time.." He inclined his head at the book. "You are such a studious god..."

It made sense that followers of her were required to enjoy studying. It wasn't that he disliked studying. Learning new things could be fun! He paid attention in class, and tried to ask good questions... "A good question is something worth more than a good answer," he spoke, quoting some part of the book he was reading through.

But the others had learned. From what he heard, they learned quickly.

Danger and Learning

He liked... one of those things. He squinted at the chapter headed suspiciously, turning to the next page slowly. "Learning is best when it's safe."

Learning is not always best where it's safe, we have discovered. While a safe and quiet learning environment can be ideal for entirely scholastic learning, when trying to discern things that involve movement and excitement, an environment of moving and excitement can be proper.

Consider a sport player. They can read books on proper playing techniques for years and still be a poor player in the end. They have to be actually playing the game they wish to master, with its attendant muscle memories and real world trials to gain a good grasp. This isn't to say a good book couldn't help them on this journey, of course, but it can't replace the physical work in learning a physical task.

"Hm..." But was clericing a physical thing? He only knew one pony that could even hope to answer that. He snapped the book shut and tucked it away, only to come to a freeze. "Wait..." He looked back and... He had his saddlebag, but... there? He coiled on himself and nosed into the bag. Nope, no book. "Where?" He turned round and round, not seeing where the book had vanished to.

He had just been reading it! He was the one that tucked it away. Where did he tuck it to? He shook off the bag and nosed all through it, taking out the few things hiding in it, but still no book, just an empty bag. "It can't... I'm the expert in hiding!" He refused to accept that a book has beaten him at hiding. He sorted through the room with angry snuffs and grunts, tossing things aside.

"What's all the mess?" Aunt Lofty was peering through the open door at the growing clutter being made. "You lose something?"

Dry abandoned his search to turn towards the older pony. "Yes. I was just holding a book." He put out his funny Equestrian hoof. "And I was going to take it with me, but... it was gone! I can't find it anywhere!"

Lofty came closer slowly. "Is that so? Very curious... But I have an idea. You always wear that saddlebag, don't you?"

"It's not there," practically wailed Dry, sinking to his haunches bonelessly. "I checked, twice! No book!"

"I had a feeling not..." She stopped in front of him. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to find your book. It may feel a little funny, but if you trust me, I'm nearly certain you'll have your book."

So sure?! "How?!" But he sat up anyway. "Please... That book was a gift. I'd be so upset if we couldn't find it." As if he wasn't already quite upset.

"Calm down. Just sit still." Aunt Lofty reached a hoof for him, his side. She casually pressed into a space he didn't know, suddenly giving the sensation of violation. It was like she was reaching into his mouth, a strange sensitive place. He squeaked, but tried to be still anyway as she brushed around. "Here we are...." She brought back her hoof, a book attached to it.

Luminace's book, he saw with widening eyes. "There it is!" He pounced the book, and her arm, hugging both with a wild woot of celebration. "Where was it?"

"In your pocket, silly thing." Aunt Lofty let him hold her arm, patiently waiting for him to calm down. "Everglow ponies don't have those, I remember Scootaloo mentioning. You're an Equestrian pony now, and we have pockets. We store things in there when we want to walk around with things, and often don't bother with saddlebags unless it's very large, or a lot of things."

"Where there was wondering, now there is answers." He released her arm, but kept the book. "Thank you so much! Um, now that I have this... I'm going to head out."

"I'm not stopping you." She stepped out of the way. "But be back in time for dinner. Energy like that, I bet you work up quite a hunger."

"You're the best aunt!"

"Don't tell Holiday that." Lofty winked dramatically. "But between you and me, I'll take it. Go on." She easily shooed him out on his way.

He took off from the house at a full gallop, tossing the book into his bag on the way. It didn't take long to arrive at Silver Spoon's large house. "Hm..." He'd never actually visited before, he realized. Still, he was there... Knocking wouldn't get him in trouble, he thought? He knocked gently, almost hoping nobody would answer.

"Sir?" Oh no, a formal butler had answered, looking down at him through the opened door. "Can I help you?"

"Hello... I'm, uh, looking for Silver Spoon?"

"Very good." He nodded in a short little motion. "I'll see if she's available." And he turned and left, closing the door on his way.

He had survived the first step! He let out a sigh of relief. "You can do this..."

The door swung open violently. "It actually is you! Who told you where I live?" Silver Spoon was on him in a flash, one hoof wrapping around his neck. "Not that I'm, like, mad."

"Diamond mentioned it," he squeaked out, unsure how to feel about the sudden hug. It wasn't all bad, he decided swiftly. A good thing for a couple to do. "I wanted to talk about Luminace and clerics and things. Is that alright?"

She spun him to face her directly. "You have my complete attention. Almost." She turned an ear back. "Reggie, get us a snack please!"

"It'll be ready in the sitting room." Dry could hear the receding steps of the butler.

Silver started into the house with a spritely walk. "Come on in and tell me what the question is. You have questions and hopefully I have answers to them."

"Hopefully," he echoed, following her inside and pausing to close the door before catching up with her. "I was reading the book, and it said that reading is good."

"Of course?" She peeked to the side at him. "And?"

"And that it isn't always enough... Learning by doing is important... And I wanted to know..." They were entering that sitting room, with a big table with snacks strewn across it tastefully. "Um, is being a cleric more of a scholarly thing or a 'you have to do it' thing?"

Silver hopped up into an available chair and snatched an apple to chew on. "Mmm, well! I learned by doing. There's a lot about it that you have to... do... There's a lot you can read about too." She put the apple aside. "But I'm a war priest, don't forget. You don't want to be that... I think? Or do you?"

"Um." He wandered his vision across the room. It was finely appointed, speaking of the rich ponies that lived there. "You don't have to spend time on me... I don't think I'd be that good at fighting, not like... face to face?"

"Then don't." She said it so casually. "Who said you had to?"

"You're a war priest? They fight... right?" He cycled his hooves in the air. "Or why call them that?"

"I do, but that's me. You're not me." Silver Spoon held out a grapefruit towards him. "Don't try to be me. I'm all the me we need in this relationship, you know? So be helpful. Clerics are great at helping! Pray for help for your friends. They'll love you for it. Heal them, make them faster, make them able to do their best. Who needs to shine? Not you! You hide. So hide, and pray as hard as you can for your friends, who are silly and brave and won't hide."

Dry accepted the grapefruit, turning it slowly in his hooves. "And my friends... You'll be alright with that? With me hiding when you're fighting?"

"You won't just hide." She leaned in. "Like, you didn't before... When we need you most, you'll be right there, helping... But until then, you'll keep out of trouble, and, like, is that bad?" She took a fresh bite of her apple. "Now, about praying! You've been doing some lay prayers, right?"

"Luminace be praised!" He clapped his hooves together piously. "Like that?"

"That's a start... But when you're praying for a tiny bit of her power, it's deeper than that." She tapped herself on the chest. "You have to feel her, in here. You have to lay down and let her will come rushing in. Twice."

"Twice?" He inclined his head. "When you cast the spell, yes?"

"Oh, yep, like, that's one of 'em." She flashed a bright grin. "But not the only one. If you don't do the other, you have no spells to cast, so..."

There was more yet to be learned, but he felt he had made the right choice. It was time to learn away from a book for a little while.

Author's Note

Pony pockets are so confusing at times!

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29 - Funny Hats

Dry fiddled with the new adornment on his head. "Will this help?"

"It can't hurt." Silver pushed the hat down from the side more firmly onto Dry's head. "And it looks nice on you, all religious!" The priest's hat was just what Silver Spoon insisted would help things along. "Now..." She flipped through the book past so many chapters. "This is where you want to be, but we're not reading this." She casually closed the book with a thump. "You said you're done with book learning, for now."

"W-wait!" He reached for the chapter she had opened to for such a short time, but it was gone. "So... what do I do?"

"It's time to pray! And I mean in here." She tapped at her chest. "Every morning, without fail. Well, if you fail, no spells that day. It's a small price, but you have to mean it. So... The big question." She leaned in, almost touching. "What does she mean to you? Her relationship with you and to the world is kind of the big driving point here."

"Me? But... We never met." As if one usually met their gods. "I'm still learning about her. Um..." He drew the book closer, closed as it was, and hugged it to his front. "She seems nice. And she likes learning, and teaching. I like learning... I'm not... the best at teaching, but it's good..." He wasn't as sure on that point it seemed.

Silver batted her lashes at Dry. "I'm not the best teacher, and I rarely do, except now. I'm doing Luminace's work." She pranced in place with a big smile. "But I wasn't not loyal before then. Wanting to learn is the bigger part of that. Denying somepony that wanted to know something would be closer to making her irritated. You should at least suggest a fitting book, duh." She rolled her eyes at the theoretical situation. "But back on point."

"Her relationship?" Silver Spoon nodded. "To me?" Dry curled a hoof on himself. "Well... what's her relationship to you?"

"Cheater!" She stuck out her tongue and flopped to her belly. "But alright, only fair... She is, first, my savior. She picked me up when I was at my lowest and ready to cry. I might, like, actually have been crying... Keep that to yourself... Either way, she's the one that offered a hoof when I needed it most, and she'll always be that kind smile and whisper of sense when I most need to hear it." She batted at her left ear with a hoof. "That's super personal to me. More... broadly, she's the spark of insight, and knowing. She's that bright smile when a nerd finds what they're after. She's that stroke of brilliance when a scientist finally puts it together. She's that itching drive that pulls them forward before they get there, always looking, seeking..."

She let out a happy sigh, an equal smile on her face. "She's kind of great... Your turn."

"My turn, right, yes..." He sat up straight. "She... I don't want to phrase it in how she's helped me. She is a bravery I understand, and that is very special to me." Dry worried his new Equestrian hooves slowly. "The bravery of wanting to know, even when you're really scared of looking, or even of knowing... It's scary, but it's a scary I understand. Not knowing can be even more terrifying. I--" He squeaked, hugged fiercely by Silver Spoon. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" She smooched his cheek and hopped back. "That was, like.. I love it! It's so Luminace, but it's your Luminace, which isn't mine, but so valid. So so valid!" She was dancing as she spoke. "I love it! I also like... I... Hm." She stilled herself with new thought. "You're a scared pony, no offense."

"None taken." He watched her, waiting for her to continue.

Which she did without prompting. "But you find bravery here... She brought me bravery too. It was different, but the same in some ways. She's not a goddess of bravery, but to be curious, which is her, you have to be brave, so... She drove us both to be brave without really worrying about that, specifically. It's perfect! Now... Capture that, your Luminace. Hold that version of her, the special you-version nice and close." She hugged the air in front of her firmly. "Think about her, and you, and how you and her get along. That is the Luminace you'll be talking to, and asking politely for spells."

The brave seeker of knowledge... Dry thought of that, rocking slowly in place. "And then I ask nicely for the spell I want?"

"Mmm, not like 'May I have that healing spell?' Not directly." Silver turned to point at a shelf of books. "Think of it more like you're relaxing with Luminace, feeling her vibe, and, being the kind of pony she is, she lets you come in and look at all her books. She has so many! You'll wander around. Some of them are so complicated you won't even understand, but looking is important. Curious seekers, like, right? So you look, and you find the ones that you like, and you read those. Those are your spells for the day. As you get better, you can read more books that day, and more complicated ones."

"Okay... But once I know the healing spell, to keep using that example." He made a patting motion with his hooves. "Why can't I use it over and over, all day, and the next day, and the day after that?"

"It's not your spell," chastised Silver Spoon with a wagging hoof. "It's Luminace's. She let you borrow the book, not have it. When you cast a spell, you are borrowing her power and might. That isn't forever. Except cantrips, we'll get to those. Most spells, you're not the direct source, so you can't do it again because you were never the one doing it. You have to, the next day, chill out with your Luminace and browse her library. She likes company, don't be a jerk, go visit!"

"Visit, right... In the morning?" He looked out the window to see it was afternoon. "Already too late?"

"Be consistent." Silver wriggled her nose. "If you pray in the afternoon, then you always want to pray in the afternoon. Luminace, is, like, real big on routines. She loves things that come in patterns. If you want to annoy her, study with her a different time each day." She frowned at the idea. "Don't actually do that, she'll get mad. Now... if you're in the middle of a crisis, say, you woke up in the morning to being chased out of town by something scary!" She shook her hooves in the air, pantomiming some huge beast.

"Well, if you only get a chance in the afternoon, she'll forgive that. You had a good excuse. Don't make it a habit." She nodded in confidence with her description. "So wait until tomorrow. Besides, we're not done. I wouldn't trust you with a spell right now anyway!"

Dry's face fell at the blunt denial. "I'd be careful... Careful is something I am good at."

"I'm sure you would be, but you don't know how yet. Let's go over it!" Silver began to clap. "I wasn't saying you can't, just not yet. Let's learn how."

"Ooo!" His woes turned to delight. "Teach me, please."

"The specifics are... specific. You'll learn those with Luminace, but the basics you need, that I can teach you." She stood up straight. "Now, unicorns can cheat, but neither of us are that, so we have to use our hooves--" She stepped from one to the next. "--and our voices and sometimes extra stuff to tell the universe what we want and direct our god's will." She reached back into her pocket and drew out a collection of things. "We'll get some for you, later." Not that she wasn't already splitting some of the bits of string and coins into piles equally. "Let's begin."

And it was that Dry learned how to approach spell components to become the bridge between the world they lived in and the divine powers they would pray to.

Dry emerged from Silver's house, pleased with life in general. "You're looking happy." Dry went stiff, looking around. Oh, there was Snips, looking at him not entirely kindly. "C'mere." Still... He was obviously already spotted, so he did come closer. "What was that?" Snips pointed at the house Dry had just come from. "You trying to butter her up?"

Dry blinked softly. "What? She's a friend, and... she's suiting me." He colored brightly at that admission, even if it was true! "She's my first suitor!"

Snips peered at him with one eye, head turned to bring the eye even with him. "Suitor? You mean like you're engaged?! When did I miss that?!"

"N-no! Not engaged... Engaged comes after, maybe... Suiting means you're trying to get engaged." Dry bobbed his head with the clarification. "It means she is trying to win my heart."

Snips shoved him suddenly. "Get out! Why is she chasing you out of anypony? You looked super weird until just recently. She's one of the richest prettiest fillies around!"

"Yeah..." Dry was happy to be pleased with that fact. "And I like her back... I hope it works out."

Snips squinted at him with new confusion. "Hope it works out? She's the one suiting you! You just said that! You get to decide if it 'works out' or not. What's to hope about?!"

"It might not work out?" he ventured, as if it were obvious. "We may not get along. What she wants or what I want may be different. We're learning about each other and how we get along. If that... goes well, then we can get engaged." Dry sank to his haunches. "Are you suiting or being suited?"

"Of course not!" Snips stomped in place in a little fit. "You're a foal! I'm a foal! I'm way more mature than you." He waggled his brows and struck an imperious pose. "I'm already a self-made pony! I bet you haven't even run a business before."

Dry considered a quiet moment. "No. I do not think she desires me for that. Oh, I should check... If she thinks I can help with business, it would be a bad surprise." He turned right back for the house.

"Hold up there!" Snips rushed in front of him, cutting off that path. "You can't just ask her!"

"Why not?"

"Because..." Snips threw a hoof across his front. "You are so immature. You'll hurt her feelings!"

Surely an Equestrian pony would know how another Equestrian pony worked. He nodded at Snips slowly. "Alright... How do I check then? I don't want to dissapoint her."

"Isn't she chasing you?" He prodded Dry lightly on the front. "So it's her fault, isn't it?"

"In a way... but I do like her. Even if she stopped suiting me, I would want to be her friend. As a friend, I feel bad hurting her, even if it is her fault."

Snips slapped a foreleg over his eyes. "Wow... No wonder you two get along."

"Hm?"

"She says that 'god' or whatever is all about friendship and stuff."He rolled his eyes. "You sound like Twilight giving a friendship sermon, I swear."

If that was meant to be an insult, it failed. Dry was smiling more than ever before. "I want to be a good friend, and a good friend wouldn't let another friend get hurt, even if they were doing it themselves."

"Hold your horses!" Snips was too small to physically block Dry, as much as he was trying. "At least drop the question later, not at her house."

"Will that help?" Dry wasn't sure how it would. Still... "If you're sure." Finally, he turned way from the building. "I'm going to the lake. I hear it's safe to swim in."

"It's fun!" Snips led the way towards the water, the topic shifted entirely.

Author's Note

The lake is much more fun than considering relationship affairs, let's be real.

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30 - Morning Reading

"Whatcha doing?" Scootaloo was in the room's entryway, watching Dry curiously. "You've been staring at that book a while."

"Um." He considered the professions of his friends. Scootaloo was some kind of warrior/wizard. Apple Bloom was clearly an alchemist. Sweetie was a bard? None of them derived their power from a divine source. None of them had to pray in the morning, or evening, or any other time. They probably didn't even...

"Hey, do you have a god you like?" One way to find out, actually asking. He hoped the question wouldn't offend, but trembled faintly in the worry that it would.

Scootaloo inclined her head, but it came to her and she perked. "Oh! That Everglow thing, right? I never got into it. Silver Spoon is way..." Suddenly, a big smile erupted on her face, turning smoothly into a scheming one. "You're copying Silver Spoon, aren't you?"

His face went hot instantly. "Yes, and no! I like this god, and would even if Silver wasn't involved, but her being involved is a nice, um, turn of events..." He gently pawed at the book in front of himself. "I am trying to pray to her, so that they might let me into her library."

"Well, cool. So what do you have to do?" Scootaloo casually hopped up on Dry's bed, watching him from her new perch. "Is it like a spell?"

Oh, right; she understood spells. "In a way, but it's more... in here." He tapped at his chest. "Less outside. Way less... loud." One could pray out loud, as he considered it. "And flashy."

"Well, go ahead." She shooed him on with waves of her hooves. "Show me your magic."

And so he had an audience. There was no more chance to delay. Disappointing Scootaloo, who had been so good to him, felt like a terrible option. He dipped his head and thought of Luminace in her vast knowing, and her vaster curiosity. She was the bravery that would open a box to see what was inside, even when you were scared what might be hiding in there.

She was the will to look and see, even when what you were seeing was frightening. She was the kind voice, calling others to share in the joy of discovery, to share and learn together, and be safer together. She was knowledge in all its forms and stages, to have it, to seek it, and to share it; all aspects of her.

Words. Concepts. They danced in front of his closed eyes. He couldn't quite put a hoof on a single one of them, but, as a whole, they made sense, and they were good.

He blinked open his eyes to see Scootaloo snoring softly. How long had he been praying?! "Are you alright?"

Scootaloo perked up. "Mm?" She opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing at her face with a fetlock. "You zoned out super hardcore. I didn't want to abandon you, in case it wasn't going the way it was supposed to. Um, so what happened?"

A fine question... "I... think..." He hopped to the ground. "I think I will try a spell."

"Wait, that wasn't already a spell?" Scootaloo peered at him suspiciously. "Not that I'm mad at seeing you do something, but what was that?"

"Um... You have to get ready to do your spells, don't you?" He hoped!

"Yep!" She hopped to the ground and dashed away, returning with a book. "Behold, my spell book!" She slapped it down next to Dry's. "I have to study this all the time. Do you have any idea how complicated these are?" She nosed the book open and slapped a hoof down. "Here's a simple one!" It covered a page in dense graphs and small script. "And you have to know it right or you don't get your spell, so...Study study study. I swear, Everglow just like seeing ponies doing their homework." She stuck out her tongue. "Which is not fair, Equestrian ponies usually not getting much homework."

Dry considered the local school and its lack of homework. "But this lets you do very flashy things... far flashier than the other school does."

"True." Scootaloo waved a hoof at him. "You have a point. At least we get something for it." She hugged her book close, as if to say she had no hard feelings existed between them. "So your praying was like me brushing up for the day? Cool. Well, you did it. Show the magic!"

So he did. He spoke words he didn't know in a language he couldn't say. He moved his hooves on the ground in precise patterns that meant something and the power of it sparkled through him in little electric arcs, then it was all gone, all except for a strange weight he could feel, like he was mentally holding something up, like a thought he couldn't shake free and kept looping back to. "Um."

"I don't see anything. I heard the magic words." Scootaloo peered at Dry's mouth, source of the spell words. "But nothing happened."

He had done something, he was sure of it, so sure. There was something inside him, waiting to do... something. "Maybe I have to... be more magic." He pointed at a book across the way, his journal. "Shalawooda!" Nonsense, but magic sounding, he hoped. He could feel that thought jump, but so did the book. It lifted slowly into the air before his widening eyes. "I did it!"

"Neat!" Scootaloo hurried over and snatched the book right out of his magic grip. "Hm, not a very strong hold." She put the book down gently. "Can you do it again?"

"Um... Shala?" He imagined the book rising, and it did! He tried imagining it dropping, with no funny words, and it did. He could raise and lower it as he pleased, be he couldn't pull it over, just make it hover. "I'm casting a spell!" The limits didn't bother him. He had cast a spell, and the power was his!

Scootaloo rolled her hooves over one another slowly. "But you're not. You did, sure. I heard that! But you're not right now."

"It's the same spell." He danced in place. "What else can it do?" Lifting books up was all well and good... "Um..."

"Can you... change something?" Scootaloo patted her own book. "I can set things on fire or electrocute stuff."

"I wouldn't want to do that." Such acts of evocation were more than a little scary. "But what about looking like it?" He waved a hoof at Scootaloo's book as the magic surged within him, wafting out in waves of orange and red that stained the book in flame-like patterns. "Awesome!"

"Woah." She held up her book and turned it around before she looked inside it. "Phew, you didn't color the inside. Scared me a second there!" She folded the book under an arm. "That is pretty neat. Does this spell have a name? Most spells are called what they do, so that'll help."

"Pres... Press... Presto! Prestee? Presti... digits..." That was a thing neither of them had. "Uh..." He squinted at the words in his head, so vauge and hard... "Pres... ti... digits... ation?"

"Magic tricks?" Scootaloo inclined her head at his startled expression. "What? Trixie was going on and on about it."

"Trixie?" He was so distracted, he felt the spell slip free of his thoughts. He still knew the spell. He could cast it again. Was it a cantrip? It must have been. "Who is that?"

"She's a big show off." Scootaloo marched off, returning without her book. "But she knows magic tricks. She does not know any Everglow magic, and she hasn't visited there... yet?"

"Yet?" Dry squinted at Scootaloo. "Is there a portal?"

"Not like a nice stationary one we can hop through." She patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry, but we've fallen through into Everglow a few times in a few ways. Me and the girls were playing with Twilight's spell. She was the first one, and she did it... kinda on accident too, really... A happy accident in the end. Hm, the only pony that went there on purpose is Diamond and Silver, and it wasn't their purpose. Applejack sent them there."

Dry's eyes shined. "Applejack has that power?"

"No," drawled out Scootaloo. "She had a fancy magic item that did it, and now she does not. For the best, trust me. You don't want to mess with that thing, and neither does she."

Dry sagged, but it was a short-lived thing. "That's alright... I have things to do right here."

Scootaloo ribbed him with an elbow. "You don't want to go away now that you have a girlfriend, I get it." She laughed at his blushing. "Not like you've been hiding it, so don't look so embarassed. I'm not making fun of you, promise! Hey, if you're a magician now, how about pulling a rabbit out of a hat?" She produced a proper tophat to try on. "Go on!"

Could he? He did the dance and sang the words. That weight returned, waiting to obey him and do the magic. "Ready." He took the hat and slowly waved over it. "A rabbit..." He reached into the hat, unsure if it'd work, and he came out with... something rabbit shaped. It was like a paper mache rabbit with googly eyes, as done by an eager foal. "Huh..."

"Huh," echoed Scootaloo, peering at the fake rabbit. "Technically, that counts. Congratulations, you're a stage magician." She began clapping slowly. "Hm, what else can stage magicians do..."

"Maybe I should ask that pony." He gave the hat back, but kept the fake... Oh no. The rabbit fell apart, the paper that made it tearing easily, and the rest of it dissolving back into the magic it came from. "Aw..."

"Easy come, easy go." Scootaloo shrugged without great loss. "Maybe when you get better at it, you can make them stick around?"

"Maybe..." An idea came to him and he reached for Scootaloo. "You have something stuck behind your ear." He meant to pull out a shiny golden bit. Instead, a very obviously fake cardboard coin came. Still, it was a coin.

It was enough to make Scootaloo burst into giggles as she snatched the coin from his grip between her hooves. "Neat! Wow, cool." She realized a moment later that her rough snatch made the coin fall to dust. "Oops..."

"Easy come, easy go," echoed Dry back at her with a smile. "Besides, why worry? You don't clean, um, enough. I see more." He drew out a small pile of other coins for her delight. "See? You really should watch back there."

"Stop that!" She swatted at him with gay laughter. "I wash just fine, thanks. Neat spell though. Not very good in the middle of a real fight... but really cool. Hey, that was your first?"

"My very first." He sat up, looking so proud of himself. "Luminace be praised."

"That's your god, right? You must be getting along, since she gave you that. Neat! I might have tried that out, but I'm already doing my own kind of magic, sorry."

He shook his head quickly. "You have nothing to apologize for. I don't... think you'd be a good fit, no offense, I swear, but you do not search for answers to things, at least anymore."

"Anymore? I used to but stopped?" Scootaloo tilted her head curiously. "What do you mean?"

He pointed to her rump. "You used to seek that answer, a lot, I am told. You would seek that answer and ask so many more questions. Luminace would have smiled on that quest, but you reached the end, and were happy not taking up a new questions."

Scootaloo looked back at her cutie mark. "Huh... Never thought of it like that. I answer questions! I help ponies answer their questions. It's what the Crusaders do." She nodded with certainty, sure of her place in the world. "So we're already doing your Luminace's work without her, so there."

Author's Note

What you get, trying to tell Scootaloo she isn't already awesome. Still, first spell! Woo!

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31 - By Luminace

He couldn't hold himself back. He had to tell her! Galloping through the town without even hiding himself, he scrambled to her gate and almost ran into the unforgiving iron. Instead, he knocked on it. Why was it closed? It hadn't been last time he'd come.

The door swung open smoothly. The one that had done it stepped into view, the proper butler of Silver Spoon. "It isn't locked," he informed in his calm way. "Please, enter."

Oh! Dry reached for the gate and jiggled it a bit until he found how it latched and got it open with a soft squeak. "Sorry, sir."

"Think nothing of it. Have you come for the lady?" He stood straight, eyes forward, and so very formal.

"Yes, please." Dry hurried, but only after he closed the gate behind himself. "Is that alright?"

"Very good, sir." He turned in place. "This way, please." He lead Dry to a small room with a low table that had a few snacks on it. "She will be by shortly." With a last nod, he vanished quietly out the door.

Not that the door stayed closed for long. Dry had barely dared to put a hoof on a cookie when it burst open. "Hey!" she called, hopping into the room. "I didn't expect you back so fast. What's up?"

Had he come too quickly? "Um. I did my first spell." That was important enough, right? He hoped.

"Ooo." She didn't sound upset. "Which one? Was it a cantrip? I'll be bummed if it wasn't and you can't, like, show me."

He dared to smile. She looked entirely pleased by things. "Pres ti digits ation," he said each word slowly and precisely. "It's a spell that does magic tricks."

"Neat!" She clapped her hooves. "So, show me! What're you waiting for? I wanna see!"

He said the magic words and did the magic dance. He could feel that force in his head, waiting to do things. "Alright, now..." He looked around for what to magic. "Ah." He pointed to her face and her glasses slowly lifted into the air.

She squeaked, grabbing them with both hooves and forcing her glasses back onto her face. "I need those!"

Oops. He blushed, realizing after the fact that was a prank too far. He willed a cookie to rise instead, hovering up hover the plate it had been resting on.

Silver casually snatched it from the air and took a crunchy bite from the defenseless cookie. "Neat. Can it do anything else?"

"I'm a magician!" He clapped his hooves and brought them back apart, revealing a pile of crude animal tokens that spilled to the ground in a heap that broke and shattered on impact.

Silver burst into giggles at the display. "Don't make a mess." But the broken things were dissolving into nothing before her eyes. "Hm... What else?"

Dry let the rest of the animal tokens fall from his hooves. "Um, this!" He waved at her glasses but thought better of it at the last second, instead covering her face with tiger stripes.

"Ee, what was that?" Apparently she could feel something happening. She got out a mirror quickly to scope the damage. "You... painted me." She peered at her tiger-striped face. "Does this wash off?"

Um... "I..."

"You have no idea." She looked more amused than appalled. "Well, that spell put it there, see if it can get rid of it."

"Good idea!" His girlfriend was so clever! He focused on her stripes, imagining them being cleaned away. It was as if a thousand unseen brushes were scrubbing away the marks, eating away at the stripes slowly but steadily until her face was left as unblemished as it started.

Silver was watching the whole thing with her mirror. "I had a feeling you could do it." She lowered her mirror, tucking it back into her side. "This is, like, super cool. Can it do anything else?"

"Hm. Well... I can make things. I can color things. I can clean things..." Dry tapped his hooves with each thing. "I can lift things up into the air and put them back down. That's already a lot."

"It is, don't get me wrong, but it sounds like you don't know, so! I suggest you sleep on it." She smiled at his confused expression. "I mean it. The spell is up here." She tapped at his head. "So think about it, let it come to you. A good night's sleep with it bouncing around up there will help you understand it. You can think about it tomorrow when you pray too. Luminace wants her priests to know what her spells do. Ignorance is bad, but wanting to fix it is one of the most wonderful things. She won't leave us hanging. Just have faith!"

Faith, yes. Dealing with divinities required that. "She wouldn't let me down." He felt certain of that. Luminace was a kind and knowledgeable god. Surely she'd share the secrets of the spell she had given him. He smiled suddenly, a bright dawn of his features. "This is fun."

"Isn't it?!" She bounced forward, landing at his side. "It's so nice to have somepony else around to share this with. I don't have that spell... But maybe if I prayed for it, tomorrow, I'd get it...." She suddenly waved a hoof in front of her face. "But now I sound like I'm trying to one up you. Like, no way. Congratulations!" She threw her hooves up and wide. "You did it! Your very first spell. That's a huge step, and I'm not, like, trying to say it isn't. It's just us divine sorts--" She waved a hoof between herself and Dry rapidly. "--We get our spells from the same kinda place, so any spell I do, you can do, if you're good enough, which we're working on. Other way around too."

Dry took a little brownie from the table, nibbling at it. "So do you get one cantrip?"

"Hm?" She turned to watch him. "Do you mean, like, at a time? I assume Luminace only gave you one because you're super new to it. She doesn't want to hurt you, filling your head with too much at once." She tapped at her head. "I have five cantrips ready to go."

"Wow!" He did not disguise his awed amazement. "So I have to practice... alright." He casually colored himself, green and brown colors settling over him as if something was spray painting him busily. "There, now I can hide better."

Silver considered her camo-colored boyfriend. "Mmm, nah. That's not working for me." She pushed him towards the door. "But keep practicing."

"Eep!" He was being dismissed, physically. "Are you busy?"

"I usually am." Silver nudged him further on. "You think being me is easy? I have a lot to do. Super happy to see you though. Meet you tomorrow at class, alright?"

"At class." The door slapped shut, sealing him out in the doorway. "Bye." His girlfriend was pretty, and rich, but also busy, as rich people tended to be. That was part of the package. If he wasn't ready to accept that, perhaps he was in the wrong place.

"This way." The butler had returned silently to show Dry to the exit. "Thank you for visiting."

It all seemed to happen so quickly, but there he was, outside the manor. Hm. But he was also a spellcaster. He was more than just some random pony. He smiled at the thought of it. He would learn more, and do more. He... It felt giddy in a way and he began walking along the road, unable to hold still. He'd be one of the big ones. Which meant things would attack him... He'd have to get better at hiding. Spells would help with that, right?

Great power had its ups and downs, and he was barely in the front door... "Oh!" There were ponies he could ask that weren't rich socialites with too much to do. He raced off to find the crusaders. That time he thought to peek in the window of their clubhouse first, to not interrupt them if they were giving a consultation. Nope, just the three, talking about something or other. He couldn't hear what.

Easy to fix! He knocked on the door. It popped open, revealing Apple Bloom. "Hey there!" She waved at him with a bright smile. "Come on in."

Scootaloo waved from where she was sitting. "Dry! I told the girls about your first spell."

Sweetie clapped eagerly. "I know that spell! It's a fun one."

Dry twitched his ears. "But I thought it was a holy spell." He stepped inside the clubhouse. "You're a bard."

"I'm a what? Oh! Right, yes." She was not as familiar with the term as one would expect one who was that. "Some spells are just so good they turn up all over." Sweetie pointed at herself and the other girls. "We're all kindsa different, but we share spells."

Scootaloo bobbed her head. "Sometimes, when I figure one out that Apple Bloom really likes, she copies it, but into a recipe. How that works, I have no idea."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at that. "Spells are recipes already, just not ones that turn into potions, usually. I just translate it into a potion recipe. Same effect, in a potion. Same magic. Scootaloo and I use the same kind of magic. Sweetie doesn't, and I bet you don't either."

Sweetie shook her head quickly. "Nope! He's with Silver Spoon, doing God Magic." She waved her hooves mysteriously at the phrase. "I do social magic, like my singing--" She sang that part out musically, a sweet held note. "And you two do, what was it...? Arcane! Arcane magic, the most magicky magic, if you think about it. Twilight must be proud."

All three laughed at this. Apple Bloom dashed off to a cupboard. "We didn't expect you to stop by today, but the timing's great." She pulled out a small round cake and set it between them all. "Congratulations!"

"Yay!" cried Sweetie Belle, transitioning to a proper song. "Your very first spell, bet you can't quite tell. It's a huge step, trust me here, great power is coming near. Use it carefully, your specialty. You are full of good will and integrity."

Scootaloo whooped at the finale of the little song. "Yeah! I'd rate you at 2/10 for will turn out to be a super villain some day." She threw an arm over Dry, hugging him with it. "Welcome to the magic club!"

The other two fillies quickly joined with a communal cheer for their friend's achievement. Dry was left trapped between them with an awkward smile. "I... I will try to use it properly." He slipped free, sitting in front of them. "In a way Luminace would be proud. To find, learn, and share."

Apple Bloom laughed at the idea. "Those all sound like good goals. But which of 'em is yer goal?"

"Um." He considered that with a little frown. "To find, and share, I think..." He waved off at the camera that wasn't there. "I like seeing, especially new things, and sharing them." He began to smile, more and more by the moment. "That is how I will glow with a little of Luminace."

Sweetie swatted him on the back. "Now that's a goal I can get behind. I'm not much of a photographer myself, but you are great at it. It's like magic, with less funny words."

With a sly smile, Dry leaned forward. "But aren't the funny words most of the fun?"

Scootaloo howled with laughter. "He's not wrong."

Apple Bloom set a hoof at her hip. "Hey now. My magic don't have no funny words at all, and ah think it's powerful fun, thank ya very much."

Oh no, he had offended one of his friends, his first in that land. "Your potions are very impressive. I'd love to see how they can be fun too."

Author's Note

Dry is feeling the rush of gaining a level, even if it isn't level 1 just yet.

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32 - A Potion a Day

Dry was not used to wearing goggles, but he had them, big and bulbous, on his head. He adjusted them, hoof on either side of them as he peered through them at the vials arranged before him. "Is this safe?" Of course it wasn't. But there were relative values there.

"So long as you do it right, like wearin' those goggles, you'll be fine!" Apple Bloom grabbed a smaller vial in her mouth and poured several drops into the larger, causing it to shift rapidly from an angry red to a vibrant green-purple. "Today, gonna show ya my magic!"

Dry applauded the idea. "What does your magic look like?"

"This, to start." She waved at the collection of beakers and flasks. "My magic is all about provable solutions that work the same each time." She tapped at her left forehead slowly. "No guesswork. You put A and some B together and C happens. That ain't gonna change. Prayin' to some god's nice an' all, but that's a personal relationship, ain't it? So it could vary a lot, 'cause that's what relationships are gonna do."

Dry pointed at Apple Bloom's book. "Doesn't Scootaloo work with a book too? Is her magic not reliable?"

Apple Bloom waved a hoof at that. "Ah'm not tryin' to talk mean 'bout nopony. Talkin' bout strengths, not weaknesses. Now, her magic's jus' fine an' all. But mine's so reliable, I can share it." She reached back into her Equestrian pocket and drew out a slim vial, thrusting it at Dry. "Go on, take it."

Dry accepted it with an unsure noise. "I don't know how to cast your magic..."

"Yes ya do!" cried Apple Bloom with a grin. "Reliable magic don't need no heavy trainin'. Ah already did the heavy liftin'." She nodded at the vial Dry held. "All ya gotta do is drink it. Now, see, if Scootaloo copied one of her spells and handed it to ya, wouldn't work. Gotta know how to read it, and that ain't no small thin' is what it ain't." She shook her head for emphasis on that. "So either she casts a spell on you, or ya ain't enjoyin' it. Now, what ya got there." She pointed at that vial Dry was holding. "Ah could go a world away, and ya could still drink it. Don't need me no more."

Dry turned the vial left and right slowly, the orangesh blew sloshing with the motions. "Oh... I think I see. Even if I learned all sorts of prayers, I'd need to be there, praying. Your magic lets you make these." He jiggled the vial at her. "And once you make them, anyone could use them."

"'xactly!" Apple Bloom nodded firmly. "Now, there are two exceptions." She raised both her hooves. One came down. "Ain't nopony but me should drink my mutagen if they know what's good 'fer 'em! That's made wit' me specific in mind, and it'll make your belly real mad at you if you try to put it in there, so don't do that." She nodded at the vial Dry held. "That ain't it, so don't go worryin' 'bout it none."

"Good." He had started to wonder. "What's the second one?"

"Two!" She lowered the other hoof. "Ain't figured out a way to make bombs that're good for longer than a moment. So that's a 'spell' ah gotta be there to 'cast'." One could hear the quotes she put around those words. "Probably fer the best, don't need to be handin' out bombs to ponies like they were candy er nothin'."

Dry held up the vial towards the sun and looked at the sun, through the vial. He could see little bits of sediment drifting around inside, not perfectly clear. "This can't be the mute... or a bomb. What is it?"

"Take a sip an' find out," teased Apple Bloom with a cocky smirk. "Won't hurt ya, promise."

"Hm." He turned the vial around. A label! It showed a pony. A perfectly normal pony. What kind of label was that?! Wait... That pony stood next to an apple tree. That part was normal, except the apple tree seemed to be about the same size as the pony, or the pony was the same size of the tree. That pony was big! Bad drawing, or a hint of its nature? "I trust you." Friendship was about that at times. He grabbed the cork in his teeth, popped it free and got to chugging down the strange potion.

It tasted of spicy mint, a curious combination.

Warmth exploded through him, radiating out from his belly. It wasn't like a fire burning him. It was like he was sitting next to a cozy fire, except that fire was on the inside, warming him up with a surprised squeak. He swelled in all directions, becoming larger than Apple Bloom, larger than Applejack, and even larger than Big Mac. "Woah!"

Apple Bloom clapped eagerly at his growth. "See, worked fine. Ya did it, cast one of mah spells, and didn't even have any trainin' to do it."

"Wow..." He sank to his haunches, shaking the ground beneath his increased bulk. "Your magic is amazing!"

"Toldja! And that ain't even a big one." She turned her eyes up at his bulk. "Well, alright, in some ways it's the big one. Makes ponies big! It don't last too long though, should be worn off afore too long."

Dry considered the advantages and disadvantages of his new size. He was surely stronger, and scarier to things that might want to hurt him. Those were good! But hiding when he was that big felt almost impossible. What would he do, duck behind a house and hope for the best? "I'm glad... But thank you for showing it to me." An idea came to him with a big smile. "I will repay you."

"Ya don't nee--" She didn't get to finish, being picked up as she was. "Wha?" Dry set her on his haunches and started walking with her. Apple Bloom burst into laughter, wrapping her legs around his neck and grabbing with her hooves for a better grip. "Well, if yer offerin' a little ride around, ain't sayin' no. Let's surprise..." She scanned the horizon quickly. "There's Big Mac! Let's surprise 'em!"

"I never did this before..." He had become the hunter instead of the hunted. Big Mac was doing a terrible job of hiding, kicking trees, and walking around without even trying to duck into a bush. Amateur. Dry slunk up on him, walking as quietly as his large form allowed. He kept down low, allowing the trees to provide some amount of cover as he slunk up on the big red pony that had become not so large, relatively.

Oops! Dry's heart hammered in his chest as Big Mac perked up and looked around. Had he made a sound? It was harder to sneak when so large. He could hear Apple bloom giggling faintly on top of him, the first noise she'd made since he started his hunt.

But he was a pro as hiding and sneaking! He resumed his journey with careful steps, going over barrels with precise lands of his big hooves to not knock them, or anything else, over. Dry was getting close to Big Mac, and hadn't been spotted. He dared a smile, rump wiggling. It was time to attack, like a cat in a jungle! He hunched down as far as he could, muscles binding tightly.

With his head down and his eyes narrowed, Dry's lips pressed into a grim line. His nostrils flared, and he puffed out his chest. A small smile nudged at his lips. With a great release of that tension, he jumped forward into the air, not shouting. Shouting would ruin the surprise! Big Mac noticed him, but it was far too late, his eyes widening as the great form of Dry Whisper came crashing in, a few last inches passing by in what felt, to Big Mac, to be like minutes as they came together with a thud, all three of them crashing to the ground.

Apple Bloom hopped free of the accident, laughing wildly. "Woo-ee! Ah didn't think he could do it, but he did it!"

Big Mac rose next, shaking his head free of the dizziness. "Apple Bloom?" Yep, it was her. "What?"

Dry sat up on his big haunches. "Sorry about that. I didn't hurt you, did I? Apple Bloom made me big and... I was just playing, promise."

Big Mac smiled at the suddenly bashful huge colt. "Ayup." It was hard to be angry at the show of worry. He turned instead at Apple Bloom, fixing her with a glare.

No words were required. "Sorry!" she squeaked. "It weren't mah idea!"

"Um..."

Dry's uncertain noise was enough to tell Big Mac who had actually had the idea. He crossed his arms, tapping a hind hoof at her. "Nope."

Apple Bloom wilted, caught red hoofed. "Sorry... But it were funny! Gotta admit that."

Big Mac casually grabbed her, getting a squeal as he rubbed her head with the flat of his hoof in a round of noogies.

Dry watched the two and their antics, unsure. "Um... are you mad?"

"Nope." Big Mac released Apple Bloom to her own hooves. All settled, he wandered back to working, and not hiding properly. He'd be pounced again, Dry was sure of it. Why did they refuse to learn?!

Apple Bloom scrambled back up onto her perch atop him. "That was fun!"

Had it been? "Where to next?"

Apple Bloom considered with soft hums. "Ya ain't gonna keep extra sized fer too much longer." She pointed at their tree house. "How 'bout we stop there. If yer still big, the girls'll get to see it."

"That sounds fun." Not that he galloped. No, skulking was so much safer. For being bigger than a story, he was doing his best to remain as least obviously visible as he could, keeping himself below the tree line and veering from one collection of those trees to the next.

Becoming smaller did not come with any warnings. The world began to expand around him and the weight on his back grew dramatically. He was giving Apple Bloom a ride, and he was not big anymore. His advancement slowed to a strained heaving, but he wasn't giving up.

Apple Bloom gave up for him, hopping free. "'ppreciate the ride, but no need to throw somethin' out." She dashed up the ramp to the clubhouse and threw open the door without a pause. "Ah'm back! And ah brought company."

"Company?" Sweetie poked her head out, easily spotting Dry ascending the ramp. "Oh, hey!" She waved at him, the motion turning to a beckoning inside. "I wanted to talk to you, so your timing is quite fortuitous."

"It is?" Dry advanced past Apple Bloom to find Scootaloo was there too. They were all present. "How can I help?"

Scootaloo grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down to his haunches. "We are the Cutiemark Crusaders!" The other two nodded. "But now we're part of another group."

"An awesome group," added Sweetie. "We want to start a new club that already has members."

Apple Bloom inclined her head. "Am I part of this? Ya didn't talk to me 'bout this."

Scootaloo waved that off like a trifling concern. "The Little Spellcasters!"

Dry blinked softly. "I don't like that name."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Don't neither, means any big member's gonna feel real awkward, and even we're gettin' bigger."

Sweetie curled a hoof to her chin. "We were trying to think of better names when you arrived. Hm. Everglow Wizards?"

Scootaloo hiked a brow. "None of us are actually wizards." She pointed at herself. "Magus, Bard--" She pointed at Scootaloo. "--Alchemist" She pointed at Apple Bloom. "--And, uh, cleric right?" She pointed at Dry Whisper. "All different kinds, but no wizards."

Sweetie nodded at Dry. "Then let's ask the one who's an expert, relatively, on Everglow Magic. What would you call it?"

Author's Note

New club? Who does that?!

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33 - Fresh Casters

All the pressure was on Dry to think up a proper name. "Magic's been here before, right?"

All three fillies bobbed their head. Sweetie pointed up at her horn. "But it used to be unicorns only. With Everglow magic, that doesn't matter so much."

Dry tapped his chin, curious a moment how that worked. To have all spellcasting in one tribe of ponies. He could imagine problems. "Alright, so this isn't a new thing, but it is a new approach to an old thing. A fresh start. Fresh Casters?"

Scootaloo hopped up, wings fluttering in a giddy moment of flight before she came back down. "That works no matter how old we get."

Apple Bloom polished her chest with a hoof. "Makes me think of mah apples, and ah like that."

Sweetie giggled at the idea. "Nice fresh apples, I imagine. Alright. Fresh Casters!" She thrust a hoof out, and the other two clopped their hooves to meet it. She looked to Dry. "C'mon, yer a Fresh Caster too."

"O-oh! Yes." He got his hoof out as quickly as he could, bumping the others. "Fresh Casters! Wait. There are at least two others that should be here."

Apple Bloom frowned with thought, but it came to her. "Oh right! Ya learned how to do the cleric thing from Silver Spoon, who's a 'warpriest', right? But who's the other?"

Scootaloo shoved at Apple Bloom. "Really?! Who goes with Silver Spoon. Diamond! Is she a caster though?"

Dry pondered on that with a soft hum. "I think she is a rare kind. I don't know what they are called, but she implied she could glare at a person and do things."

Sweetie Belle whistled sharply. "Our worst dreams, come to reality." All three fillies shivered, but Sweetie was already giggling. "Good thing she's on our side these days."

Scootaloo shrugged. "Well, if she's a caster the Everglow way, she qualifies as a Fresh Caster."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "Objection! Um, not about her specific, but wouldn't Twilight an' Pinkie count? Twilight's where we got our first book ah magic from, don't forget."

"Pinkie does magic?" Dry was not that knowledgeable of the ways of Pinkie.

Sweetie covered her mouth with a hoof in a vain attempt to hide her giggles. "She's been performing magic since before she went to Everglow and it only got worse since then. She's a bard, like me!"

Dry clapped with a smile. "Have you asked her for bard advice?"

Sweetie inclined her head. "That's... not a bad idea. I'll ask her next time she looks free. She's a busy pony!"

Scootaloo waved that away with both hooves. "If you ask her, she'll make time. If you wait, you'll be waiting a while."

Apple Bloom crossed her arms with a firm nod. "Scoots has the right of it. Gotta put yerself on her radar and she'll figure out the rest. Don't try to out schedule Pinkie."

"I'm not that good at schedules." When Pinkie had arrived could not be said, but she was dangling from the roof, falling to her hooves among the foals. "Heya!"

Dry jumped back, as did the others in surprise. "Oh! Miss Pinkie."

"That's me." She pointed to herself to make that crystal clear. "And you are Dry Whisper, and Scootaloo, and Sweetie--"

Scootaloo casually popped a hoof in Pinkie's available snoot. "Since you're here, Sweetie was wondering if you'd be open to some bard lessons. She's one of those, like you."

"Wow!" Pinkie slipped around Scootaloo to peer at Sweetie curiously. "Got the magic of music all buzzing inside you, desperate to escape?"

"I just have to sing!" That last word was sung out musically as Sweetie grinned at her fellow bard. "That magic feels right to me. You sing sometimes too, don't you?"

"Mostly heart songs." Pinkie tapped her chest. "But those count. Those are the world's bardic magic. I always remember them. You should too, if you're already doing song magic."

Sweetie frowned in thought. "Hearts as strong as horses." This only got curious looks from everypony else. "What? It was a song we sung, together." She waved at the other Crusaders and back at herself. "You don't remember?"

Apple Bloom inclined her head. "I remember saying that, once. I don't remember it bein' no song."

Dry flipped his ears back. "Song magic is very scary."

"Aw." Pinkie through an arm over Dry. "Don't be like that. Heart songs are great! Besides, you remember yours."

Dry perked an ear. "Y-yeah... how do you know that?"

"Cheerilee told me." As if talking to teachers about their students was entirely normal. "You're from Everglow, right? Do they have heart songs there?"

"I never heard of them!" Dry rubbed behind his head. "At least... until I came here. We sing because we want to sing, not because we are told to."

"Well." Pinkie shrugged dramatically. "Nopony tells us to sing, we just do. What's wrong with that. Anyway." She twirled to Sweetie. "You, young song student, want to learn more about it?"

"Please." Sweetie danced in place. "If you have the time."

"I will make the time." Pinkie winked even as the other Crusaders looked so smug with their prediction coming true. "What about the rest of you?"

Apple Bloom shook her head slowly but firmly. "Nah, but since yer here! We're startin' a new club an' ah was reminded you qualify for it."

Pinkie's eyes widened. "What?! Really? What kinda club?" She leaned into Apple Bloom's personal space. "Is it fun?!"

Apple Bloom shied away from the eager Pinkie. "It's about creatures what use Everglow magic. We're callin' it the Fresh Casters."

"Oooo." Pinkie clapped as the meaning became clear to her. "I'm one of those! Everglow magic is fun, but so is Equestrian magic. Together is even better!" She threw her hooves wide, confetti exploding from them. "Like Sweetie."

Sweetie Belle blinked at being called. "I'm not..."

"Of course you are, silly." Pinkie waved that away. "You're a unicorn, so you got Equestrian magic for days! But you also use Everglow magic, combination, pow!" She punched at the air, bouncing like she was in a boxing match. "It's great!"

Sweetie edged away from the energetic earth pony. "You... have a point, perhaps... What combination do you use then?"

Scoots ribbed Sweetie with a laugh. "Are you serious? Pinkie is... Pinkie. She was full of magic from the start. Only Twilight or Starlight can match her for being magical."

Pinkie tipped the overdone hat she hadn't been wearing. "Aw, thanks. I owe it all to the mistakes of my future self." The all peered at her oddly. "What? Things happen, later. Trust me. It'll make sense eventually. So Fresh Start, huh? Sign me up!"

"Fresh Casters," corrected Dry, two hooves close together but not touching. "Welcome to the club."

"Yay! So what about Twilight?"

Apple Bloom sat up proudly. "Done brought her up afore. We just need to go ask her."

"On the case." Pinkie was gone, a cloud in her shape fading away where she had been a moment before.

Scootaloo reached out, waving a hoof through the cloud as it evaporated into nothing. "Easy come, easy go... That's Pinkie for you."

Dry looked to Sweetie. "Can you do that magic?"

"No!" she squeaked out. "That's all Pinkie magic right there. Oh, do you think she'll show me how?"

Apple Bloom shrugged softly. "Maybe? Can't say right fer certain. But ah do think our official first meetin's a success. See y'all next week."

They were all looking at him. Dry blinked slowly. "See you next week?"

Sweetie giggled softly. "We have to get back to Crusader stuff." She made gentle shooing motions. "So..."

"Oh!" Dry hopped to his hooves and made for the door. "Sorry, wasn't trying to be in the way."

"You're not in the way, Dry," assured Scootaloo with a smile. "But you don't want to get bored to death with our stuff. We'll hang out later!"

"Didja hear?!"

Twilight looked up from her telescope. There was Pinkie, hanging off her balcony. "DId I hear what?"

"The crusaders!" Pinkie threw herself up onto the balcony properly. "They started a new club!"

"Is.... it cutie mark related?"

"Nope!" Pinkie pointed at herself. "And I'm already a member."

"Are you now?" Twilight pushed her telescope away a few inches. "Is it a..." She trailed off, considering. "Why don't you tell me. What kind of club is it?"

"Fresh Casters!" Pinkie wobbled her hooves as pink energy wafted free of them. "For ponies that use Everglow magic, like me, and maybe you? That's what I'm here for!" She bounced high. "Wanna join?!"

Twilight hiked a brow high. "That those three practice Everglow magic is not someting to celebrate."

"But it's also not going anyway." Pinkie landed and sat on her haunches. "So you can help them, or complain about it. One sounds way more fun."

Twilight wrinkled her snout at the idea. "Do they even want me in their club, or is this entirely your idea?"

Pinkie pointed at her purple princess. "They were talking about you, and I was there and I said--" She pointed at herself. "That I'd go and ask you, so I came over and you were looking in your tele--"

Twilight put a hoof on Pinkie's nose. "I get the idea. Well, if the purpose of the club is to exchange magical knowledge and tips concerning it... That does interest me. Do they have an official meeting place yet?"

"Nope!" Pinkie leaned dangerously forward. "But I bet you have an idea."

"I... do..." She pointed down at the tower of a castle she owned. "We have a fine library, which would make an excellent place to keep notes about magic."

"One thing!" Pinkie raised a hoof. "This does mean you have to stop telling them to not do magic anymore."

Twilight hiked a brow. "I... Hm." It would be hard to join their club of magic using if she was still trying to convince them not to use magic. "I can still voice my concerns on how it's used?"

"Of course." Pinkie bobbed her head. "But not about if it should be used. They're using it. I'm using it. You're using it. Arguing that is kinda silly! If you're alright with that, I'll tell them!"

Twilight weighed the sides of that. "Hmmmm... Scootaloo uses magic I understand. I will want a copy of her spells."

Pinkie tilted her head. "And she wants a copy of your spells. I think that's a pretty common kinda want. I don't need your spells though." As if she had any use for them. "Apple Bloom wouldn't mind having a peek."

"Hm? I thought she was a potion brewer, like Zecora? Why would she want to look at my spells?"

Pinkie shrugged softly. "She has a book of spells like you, even if they end up as potions. Don't ask me, ask her! Dry, Silver, and Diamond don't need a peek. None of them use that kind of magic."

Twilight sat up, ears quivering on her head. "When did we get so many ponies that... Dry?"

"Dry Whisper?" Pinkie gave a dismissive wave. "I threw them a party? You were there! You don't remember him?"

"Ah, right, of course..." She had not remembered every party Pinkie threw. "And he practices magic?"

"Ayup! Don't know what kind, but no books, so no spell swapping, sorry. Meet him at the next meeting!" Pinkie was vibrating with excitement. "Which will be right here? In one of the libraries? I better tell them." And she was gone, not even leaving a cloud behind.

Twilight shook her head at the space that once held Pinkie. "This should be interesting... Still, this may be good for them. Diamond and Silver deserve to have a chance to speak about their... experience and what mark it left on them." She set a hoof on her own chest. "Listening is one part I can play, as a responsible adult in this new 'club.'"

Author's Note

New developments! And it has a Pinkie in it, so it hasta be fine, right?

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35 - The Horror

Three average mares. If the average mare also had a beaver? One of them smiled at Dry curiously. "So, you're from there? Everglow?" She waved at herself and her sisters. "We've been. Nice place." She turned her hoof back to herself. "I'm Rose, by the way. We're all druids, trained in Prisma. You know what that is?"

Dry bobbed his head quickly. "Druids are natural spellcasters. There are very very few of them in the ether, but I know of them." He offered a hoof. "I'm a cleric, priest of Princess Luminace."

Rose met his hoof in a firm clop. "Luminace... I think Twilight mentioned them... Anyway hi!"

"Hi," burst out Silver, rejoining the conversation. "We came for a reason. We're making a club for ponies that cast Everglow spells, and you qualify. Wanna join?!"

Daisy inclined her head. "Hmm... Is it dangerous?"

Dry pointed at the tower. "Twilight will be there."

Lily chuckled softly. "That is not the assurance of safety you think it is... Sure, she usually works it out in the end, but getting there can be quite a trip."

Rose nodded at Lily. "Right? Still, she saved us from Everglow. It'd be kind of rude to snub her magic club."

Daisy raised a hoof, heat shimmering from it. "We're not as helpless as we used to be."

Lily hugged that beaver. "Not that we want to fight or anything... but we're not helpless."

Silver nodded softly. "Great. I'll let Twilight know you're coming. Say, since I think she's a druid too, do you know how to reach out to Tree Hugger?"

Rose perked. "Ole Hugger?" The three giggled as one. "Easiest way to reach her is to ask Fluttershy. Those two are thick as thieves."

Lily sat up, watching Silver Spoon. "I heard you got lost in Everglow. Glad you're back. Sorry for not saying that earlier... but if you're joining this club, you have to have magic too. What do you do?"

"It's alright." Silver pointed at Dry. "I'm like him. We both love Princess Luminace, praises to her and anyone who wishes to be a friend."

Dry dared to lean against Silver, and wasn't pushed away for it. "I am a cleric. She is a warpriest. There are small differences."

Rose's ears pricked right up. "Is that like our orders? I'm stone."

"Animal." Lily hugged her beaver for emphasis.

"Fire." Daisy clapped her smoldering hooves together. "Different paths, but all druids. You two sound like you're on different paths to the same basic thing too."

Silver hummed. "I never thought of it that way... Thanks. I'm actually happier, knowing we're closer than I thought." She squeezed her boyfriend firmly with one arm. "We'll go bother Fluttershy, see if we can't get Tree Hugger in."

The flower mares waved as the two headed off. Rose leaned towards the others. "They are so in love. It's adorable."

"Right!?" Lily burst into fresh giggles. "It was so cute..."

Daisy tapped her chin slowly. "I hope they aren't getting into trouble... Alright, let's get ready to visit Twilight and talk about magic things." With a noise of approval, they got to preparing.

Fluttershy opened her door. "Oh, Dry Whisper. Lovely to see you."

Silver cocked a brow.

"And you," Fluttershy quickly amended with a nervous smile. "We haven't talked as much... Um... Silver Spoon was it?"

"You got it. We're on the hunt for, like, all the Everglow spell users." Silver adjusted her glasses.

Dry took up from there, "And we heard your friend, Tree Hugger, is a part of that. So we want to ask her."

Fluttershy pinned an ear back. "Oh... I never went. I can't say I'm eager to change that... Still, Tree Hugger doesn't seem to have as bad a memory of it as I do."

Silver leaned in, peeing at Fluttershy. "If you were never even there, like, how do you have any memories of it?"

Dry nudged against Silver. "Don't make Miss Fluttershy uncomfortable."

Fluttershy took a deep, sharp breath. "It's alright... Everglow came here, don't you remember?" She was looking at Silver Spoon with that question. "They caused a lot of damage, and I was trying to help... I didn't go to Everglow, but I got to meet some of it... and it didn't go that well."

Dry shrank back. "Oh... I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't want to upset you. You've been nothing but kind to me."

Fluttershy reached to muss Dry's poofy mane. "You didn't do a thing wrong. Are you still taking photos?"

"I got a little distracted... but yes." He reached into his pocket, which was still a new thing, and casually produced the camera. Equestrian ponies had a built in bag of holding. That part was a pretty nice part of being an Equestrian pony. "I'm not using it as often lately... Did you want it back?"

Fluttershy put up her hooves, barring the approach of the camera. "It's yours."

Dry flopped to his haunches. "W-what? That... You are too kind, Miss Fluttershy. Isn't this artifact too... I can't accept that much of a gift!"

Silver threw a leg over him. "It's just a camera. It's not that expensive. And if you don't let her give it to you, I'll do it, and you wouldn't refuse your suitor's gift, now would you?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened, hooves dropping. "Suitor?!"

Silver Spoon colored faintly, realizing this was news to Fluttershy. "Y-yeah! Like... I'm suiting Dry." She waved between herself and Dry Whisper. "If that's alright?"

"That is more of a question for your parents." Fluttershy looked amazed more than anything else, gaping at the foals. "Do... you plan to get married?"

Silver waved that off. "Maybe later. Like, I know we're foals. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy a little practice." She rubbed her side against Dry's. "I like being girl/boy friends, and maybe we'll stick with it... Later."

Dry was beet red, squirming in place. "I'm enjoying being courted, even if I didn't see this coming. I admit, I'm not used to the idea of courting that does not end in denial or marriage, but I can wait. Silver Spoon is worth it so far."

Silver pawed at him. "Stop that! You monster." She pounced him, delivering a firm hug of approval for his words.

Fluttershy giggled softly. "Well... that sounds lovely. I wish you both the best of luck, in finding happiness and how you fit with each other. Now, about Tree Hugger. She'll stop by in a few days. Do you still stay at the clubhouse?"

Dry pointed, still laying on his back. "I'm living at Scootaloo's house with her aunts. They're so nice, giving me a place to stay. I get my own room!" His eyes shined, that still a nice thing to have. "You can lock the door."

Silver pawed at her pinned coltfriend. "Stop looking that happy about a door. If it wasn't completely inappropriate, like, I'd hook you up at my house. Then you'd be living in luxury."

Dry sat up, helping Silver to her haunches. "Oh goodness, no... I couldn't do that while we're courting."

"That's what I said." She gave a last gentle swat. "You're lucky I know Scootaloo, or I might get jealous."

Fluttershy smiled at the foalish antics. "I don't imagine Scootaloo is terribly interested." She wouldn't have thought Silver Spoon was ready yet, but that had been proven quite firmly. "Besides, her aunts wouldn't allow anything inappropriate."

Silver perked. "You met them?"

"Oh, my, yes." Fluttershy nodded firmly. "A lot of us grown ponies share in keeping an eye on Scootaloo, so I have plenty of opportunity to chat with them once in a while. It's been less since they've moved into town."

Dry inclined his head. "Them being closer gives you less chance to speak to them?"

"Strangely, yes." Fluttershy smiled as she thought back. "Now that they're here, they take care of Scootaloo more consistently, so the rest of us aren't called on as often. It's better for Scootaloo to have a stable source of supervision." She giggled softly. "Even if Rainbow Dash misses her Big Sister Watching Time."

Silver prodded at Dry's side. "If she didn't have an adult around, I'd be more worried about you sharing a house with her. It's not, like, appropriate for a filly and a colt to share a house by themselves. Downright strange... Unless they're related, of course."

"About Tree Hugger." Fluttershy pivoted back towards the original topic. "I'll come to Scootaloo's house, or point her there, when she stops by."

Dry bobbed his head and hopped up to all fours. "Thank you so much, Miss Fluttershy. Luminace smiles on you and the friendship you provide."

Fluttershy giggled softly. "Oh, well... thank you."

Silver began nudging Dry away. "See you later!"

"Dry!" He jumped, startled by the call of one of Scoot's aunts. "A pony's here to see you."

Dry hurried from his room to the front door. It was already open, and a pony stood there. Equestrian, of course, but also different. her hair was done up in big dreadlocks. She had a calm smile and her eyes were only half opened as if she were sleepy. "Woah... Your chakras are far out, colt."

He blinked at the new pony. "Hello?"

"Hey." She leaned in, taking a casual sniff of Dry Whisper. "Wow, you smell like that other place. Have you been to Everglow?"

Dry started. "It has a smell?! Um, yes. I'm from there." He rubbed behind his head. "Oh, Tree Hugger?"

"That's me." She pointed to herself as if that wasn't clear already. "Like, Fluttershy said you wanted to talk to me? What's up, Everglow colt?"

Dry clopped with a radiant smile. "Nice to meet you! I heard you're a druid. We're forming a spellcaster club, there." He pointed to Twilight's tower. "For ponies who use Everglow magic, like you and me."

"Far out." She looked to the tower and back to Dry. "You cast spells too? Wicked... Are they nice spells?"

"Very nice," he assured with a firm nod. "I can heal and support ponies."

"Awesome." She reached for his head, mussing his mane gently. "That's a really nice magic. I'm a druid, but you know that already. I commune with nature." She paused for no ready reason, gazing off into nothing. "Your nature is a little odd, colt," she said, breaking the silence as suddenly as it started. "Like, way far out."

Dry inclined his head. "Well, I am from Everglow... That nature and Equestria nature's not the same... but I'm not here to hurt anything."

"Nah..." She kept right on stroking the top of his head. "No way. You have a good vibe, just a different one is all. Who's going to be at that club, besides you?"

Dry pointed all the more firmly. "Twilight, the crusaders, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and Pinkie Pie. Oh! And the flower mares." He turned his point towards their stand, even if not in direct sight.

"Woah, cool." Tree drew her hoof back. "Rose and the girls? If they're there, I'll show up. They attract a fun time." She winked at Dry. "Even if they'd rather not." She seemed sedately amused at the flower girl's plight.

Dry blinked at that. "They said the same thing about Miss Sparkle."

"Which means having them all, like, together, means something interesting is even more likely to happen. Somepony has to be there to keep an eye on them, you know?" She nudged Dry. "You'll help, right?"

Dry smiled at that. "If I can, Miss Hugger. I'm hoping we can talk about magic." He brought his hooves together. "Maybe we can all learn some things."

"That sounds fun too. Plenty of reasons to be there, so count me in." She turned from the door. "I didn't know there were so many kinds of Everglow magic, like, far out. I want to see them all." Confident that going to the meeting would give her a chance to do that, she walked off with her sleepy smile.

Dry closed the door behind her. "That went well..."

Author's Note

This story has really touched on all the ponies of Equestria that picked up magic in Everglow. Have you read their stories? None of the ones mentioned here are being made up for this one, promise. Only Dry Whisper is new to this story.

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36 - #2 Assistant

A knock arrived and Dry didn't jump that time. He was getting used to that. "Who's there?" he called out to the front door.

"Dry?"

Female, older than a filly, but not old old. Dry hopped down from his chair and trotted over in a hurry to grab the knob in his mouth and pull the door open. There was Twilight, smiling at him. "There you are. I was hoping you'd be in."

Dry inclined his head. "It's not time for the club."

"It is not. I wanted to talk to you, personally." She waved between herself and Dry. "About your god. A lovely pony... I've met her before."

Dry blinked with owl-wide eyes. "You have?! How do you meet a god? They do not live in the plane of mortals, which we both are."

"But they can visit." Twilight hummed softly. "Twice, in this case... I called her on Everglow, and here, and she was gracious enough to answer. I am humbled, like being visited by Celestia, but with even less knowledge. They... It was a great moment."

Dry clapped his hooves, eyes still as wide as saucers. "How do I call her? If it would not be a bother to her. I would love to speak to her."

"You can only ask... And it is up to her if she arrives." Twilight leaned in closer to the colt. "She is a god, after all, and we are mortal ponies. Forcing her is a few steps beyond us. Not that I'd want to. She's very busy, and nice, and I respect both of those."

"Of course!" Dry colored as he backed up, opening the way for Twilight to enter, which she did without prompting. "She is the burning curiosity, and the excited cry of one who has found an answer and wishes to share it with the world."

Twilight inclined her head. "And that is why I am visiting." Her horn glowed as she closed the door behind herself. "I may have met her, but my knowledge of her is anemic at best. You seem to already have a better grasp on her religion. Would you teach me?"

Dry clopped a hoof to his cheek. "It would be an honor!" Twilight smiled radiantly. "But I can't." She deflated with confusion. "If I instructed you, Silver Spoon would be very jealous, for good reason! She is also a Luminace worshipper. She taught me! I would be a poor boyfriend if I didn't get her involved."

"I see..." Twilight considered that. "The last time I interacted with Silver Spoon was... less than ideal, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't allow her to grow?" She reached to ruffle Dry's mane. "She gets along with you, so she must be doing alright."

Dry colored at the wording. "I think she's... pretty great, ma'am. She's courting me, but she won't ask the question." He rubbed behind his head. "Equestrial foals stay foals longer."

Twilight blinked at that. "Do Everglow foals stay foals for a shorter period of time?"

Dry worried his hooves together. "Everglow can be a hard world. We can't protect our foals for as long as you can. They need to stand on their own hooves faster. I was surprised to be put in school when I arrived... but it's nice too... I would be jealous of the Equestrian foals, but I am one now."

"Hm." Twilight raised a hoof to her chin. "Putting aside how old and mature you should be, at what stage of development are you? Are you an infant? Clearly not. Child? Adolescent? Young Adult?"

"Um, of those... young adult." He sat up with an unsure pride. "If I had very wealthy parents, maybe I would still do a few things, training they wanted me to have... Otherwise I would be an adult. That is why I am here." He tapped the ground. "My mother would not bring me to the living world if I wasn't old enough to handle it, and she isn't here anymore... If I'm not an adult, what am I?"

Twilight went rigid. A thousand answers came to her, but they were all unkind, and Dry was not an Equestrian. His people were not her people... "You are a pony. You are loved by the ponies around you." She set a hoof on his shoulder. "And I am delighted to have met you. Now, I would love to discuss this god of yours, but I will hold myself back until you and Silver are together."

Dry bounced to his hooves. "We will both be at the club meeting."

"True... She is a god of magic, among other things, is she not? Our club is well within her jurisdiction."

Dry seemed only happier at that idea. "We are being friends and studying magic. That is exactly what she would want. It is a pleasure to do a little of her work with you, Miss Twilight." A thought came to him. "Oh, you are a princess, um, your highness." He dipped his head. "Sorry, not trying to be disrespectful."

"No offense is taken." She turned for the door. "I will gladly see you at the club meeting, and there I will just be Twilight, not princess. My title would only get in the way when we're all on equal standing in regard to Everglow magic."

He waved at the departing princess. "Let no mystery go unexamined," he uttered in a proper goodbye of Luminace's faithful.

Twilight hesitated. "That sounded official... I'm looking forward to learning more." Rather than prying at Dry further, she fled to avoid temptation.

Dry giggled with joy, but was by himself again. But he could fix that! He hurried out of the house.

Silver walked alongside Dry and the crusaders. They were all headed for the same place. "This is, like, super great!" She looked to her other side, where diamond kept up with her. "I don't know exactly how your magic works. Maybe tonight, you'll share?"

Diamond inclined her head towards the big tower they were approaching. "Save that for the meeting. The Everglow ponies said mine is one of the more obscure ones." She gave a smarmy grin. "I'm just special like that."

Dry nodded in easy agreement. "Very special. But not as special as Silver Spoon."

Silver colored and pawed at dry. "Aw! You are too much."

Apple Bloom giggled at the exchange. "Colt has you two figured out."

Scootaloo snorted softly. "I'll never let a stallion work me like that."

Sweetie raised a brow. "A lot of mares say that until it happens. Special someponies make a pony's head do wierd things, mares or stallions."

Dry joined his courting filly friend in blushing. "I'm not trying to... manipulate anyone. Silver Spoon is the most special pony in my life right now."

Silver swatted at him all the more vigorously, radiating intense heat from her red face. "Stop that! Um, well, here we are." She advanced ahead of the others to clop at the door. "Anypony home? We're here for the magic club!"

The door swung inside, revealing Spike, already mid-wave. "Hey there. Twilight's inside." He hiked a thumb. "She's doing the Twilight thing and making sure everything is perfect. Go in there and distract her."

Apple Bloom nodded firmly. "You got it. C'mon!" She waved to the others, leading the way into the castle. "How ya doin', Spike?"

"Me? I'm alright." He closed the door once all the fioals were inside. "Twilight said more were coming, so I'm here to answer the door for them."

The foals went past him, up some stairs, and found a large sign pointing the way. "Fresh Casters, this way," read Sweetie out loud, pointing in the same direction that the arrow was pointing. "Guess it's in there."

Diamond accelerated to the front. "Are we the first then?"

"Almost!" The door glowed with her magic, Twilight opening it and peeking free with a big, hopeful, and perhaps manic smile. "Welcome! For those of you that operate with a spell book, I have arranged a display area. Mine is already there, so place yours next to mine, if you would."

Scootaloo reached back, producing her book. "Uh, alright. A lot of them came from yours, I'll admit." She hurried in and added her book next to Twilight's. "But I got a few of my own. Hope you like them!"

Twilight clapped with undisguised joy. "Oh, I will! Now... I'm not an expert on other forms of magic use. Do you?" She was looking at Sweetie.

And Pinkie answered, there apparently. "Nope! Bards don't need a spell book. Come on in here, Sweetie!" She gladly welcomed Sweetie, the two chatting about bardic magic without any delay.

Diamond shook her head. "No book here."

Silver joined. "Me and Dry have a book, but it's about Princess Luminace, not really about her magic outside of the barest basics and etiquettes. Most of our magic comes from praying and getting to see the library She keeps."

"Praise unto it," agreed Dry. "It's big, bigger than... Bigger than anything! I feel so tiny when I am in it. I hope to add to it. I'm writing a book! Not on magic..."

Silver nudged against Dry. "Luminace collects more than magic books, so I bet she'll love your book when it's ready. Like, what is it about?"

Apple Bloom produced a book. "Ah have a book! But it's more like a cook book than what y'all do." Still, she added it to the two other books. "Ah cook up treats! Or tricks. Depends on if ah like ya or not."

The door swung open, a placid earth pony mare walking inside. "Check it out... I love the energy here." She nodded to each spellcaster in kind. "Each different, but coming together so nicely. Loving it..." She spotted the books and veered for a peek. She reached up to flip one open and peer a the words. "Woah..." It was not her magic. "Radical..." She closed the book and turned away. "But who needs a book when you have friends? They're the most fun book around."

Dry giggled suddenly. "Luminace be praised! What a devout thing to say. She would smile on you and your words."

Silver nodded at Tree Hugger. "He's right. The quest for knowledge is unending, but the knowledge you can gain with a friend can be the best kind."

"Righteous." Tree went to join the two. "So, tell me about this Luminot person. They sound nice."

"Princess Luminace," cut in Twilight, sitting among them. "A fascinating pony! An alicorn, but far more powerful than any of the alicorns you may know." All three other ponies in that conversation peered at her. "Including myself... She is a God, with a capital G. She rules over another plane of existance, I'm led to understand."

Silver raised a hoof sharply. "The eternal library, stretching out in all directions with every book any pony has written, at least in Everglow."

Dry curled a hoof to his chin. "If it only has Everglow books, we could offer her books from Equestria. That would please her."

Silver's eyes widened at the idea. "Wow, like, great idea! We should buy books to offer to Luminace. A little at a time. I don't think she wants a whole new wing being dumped on her without a chance to read some of it."

"Far out." Tree Hugger nodded at the idea, considering it. "I'm not big on, you know, reading. I prefer living life." She raised her hooves. "Take it between your hooves, experience it... A book can't do that."

Twilight shivered with excitement. The club was already going well! "There are advantages to both routes. It's a lesson I've had to learn... a few times... Books are invaluable, but actually seeing is a step that can't be replaced." She put a hoof behind her head. "No amount of books would have prepared me for my time on Everglow, for instance."

Author's Note

The first meeting of the Fresh Casters has begun, and ponies are getting along nicely! Which class would you take, were the choice given?

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37 - Late Entrant

"You are all here, this I doubted. It is so good to see you all with eyes unclouded." Standing in the doorway was Zecora, her eyes a bit wide.

Twilight climbed to her hooves quickly. "Zecora! Welcome. I didn't even think to invite you. You don't practice Everglow magic, do you?"

Apple Bloom waved a small hoof at her book. "She taught me the start of potion makin' that ah took to the next level! Ah bet she could do alchemy if she wanted."

Zecora's harried look softened at Apple Bloom. "You I missed most dearly." She gestured beside herself. "Come and join me nearly. I have learned the ways of this Everglow world, my very fate feeling furled. My potions take a new and strange angle. Perhaps you can help me to untangle?"

Tree Hugger slowly listed her head. "Woah. You've been there? Far out, zebra mare. Do you have a cookbook, like Apple Bloom? They're collecting them." She turned her head at the collection of books set up.

Zecora frowned at that. "I have many books with many more recipes. Though I was called more for battle than my usual remedies." She put a hoof on Apple Bloom's head. "But I'm glad I am back, this world far more sedate. I am still getting my head on straight."

Twilight perked an ear. "I don't remember picking you up. How did you get back, if you were there?"

Zecora buried her face in her hooves. "I may never have left, always where you know me, but I ventured far and wide and that world did I see."

Rose raised a hoof. "Twilight rescued me and the girls." The others nodded in agreement on that.

Tree hugger was seated in a meditative stance. "I rescued myself, with the help of some local friends. It was righteous. Sounds like you pulled yourself back, zebra mare. Far out, and totally cool. That shows some real inner strength." She inclined her head faintly. "And your chakras are so brilliant. I love it."

Twilight put a hoof behind her head. "Fascinating... You were able to adjust the recipes you already knew... Fascinating!" Oh, how had the club paid off. "And I'm quite glad to hear you're safe. Please, join us. This club is for ponies who use Everglow magic, which you are now a member of?"

Apple Bloom hugged her striped mentor. "C'mon! I wanna see what you've learned. We can compare Everglow recipes." She began tugging Zecora away to do just that.

Zecora pulled back. "Are we not missing a pony, a certain apple mare? She's been there more than once, for friends and childcare."

All three crusaders blushed. Diamond put a hoof against her face. "Really? Of all the ponies in Equestria, I'd think you'd know if Applejack qualifies or not.

Dry thought back to the battle he had seen Applejack in. "I didn't see her cast anything..."

Apple Bloom folded her arms, giving up on guiding Zecora. "She knows some magic. She just don't cast it like some ponies do. She prefers to 'just be an earth pony.' So she casts things that makes her better at it. So she won't be throwin' elements like Scootaloo." Who looked proud at the naming. "But she does know some spells... Ah invited her, really, but she ain't real big on that part of thin's."

Dry perked an ear. "If she was invited, then it's her choice. This is a club. You don't have to come here. That wouldn't be very friendly."

"By the quill." Silver shook her head firmly. "That would defeat the entire point. We're here, like, to celebrate and share! It's exciting to see so many ponies dipping their hooves in this new kinda magic with us."

Twilight took a quick note with a floating quill. "Was that a Luminace saying?"

Silver Spoon colored faintly. "Y-yes. An interjection she approves of, or more specifically the ponies that follow her. I don't think she personally cares too much about that... but even a god may have need for, like, a good interjection."

Twilight considered as she looked around. The flower mares were chatting with Tree Hugger. What about? She wanted to find out. "I'll stop monopolizing you about Luminace a moment." She slipped over to the eagerly chatting druids.

"That's freaky." Tree Hugger inclined her head. "I never got an order." She raised a hoof to her chin. "But I wasn't given the formal intro package either. Just me, feeling my way through life." She waved her hooves as if inspecting some unseen ball. "I made it through, my way."

Lily waved at her pet beaver. "But you could end up with an awesome animal friend!"

Daisy allowed her hooves to smolder with the hint of a fire without combusting outright. "Or speak to the unbridled fury of flames."

Rose shrugged. "If you're expecting some fancy show from me, too bad. Stone doesn't do that. That's why I like it so much. I make art and keep ponies from messing up the land while they're around."

Tree Hugger blinked softly. "Radical... I can dig it. Nopony ever taught me about any of that." She shook her head slowly. "I get along with animals just fine. I get along with plants just fine. I get along with the elements... I can't say just fine. They'd roast me if they had a chance. Wouldn't even feel bad about it."

Daisy nodded at that ."It's true. I love fire, and it would cook me and barely notice along the way if I got careless. We're ponies, we get to have opinions and stuff."

Rose noticed Twilight standing and listening. "Hey, Twi. You don't do any primal magic, do you?"

Twi shook her head. "I'd love to... but I'm already being pulled in so many directions... Every 'tradition' of magic approaches things in such a novel way." She threw her hooves wide. "I love it, but I also don't have time to learn all of it." She twirled to where the foals were chatting. "Diamond Tiara there uses the 'occult' tradition, a creepy name, and one somehow shared with bards? I'm still trying to get this all figured out... But then there's divine magic." She shared a little wave at Dry, their eyes meeting a moment. "Calling on higher beings. Then there's arcane." She pointed to herself. "Magic magic, I like to call it. Do the right thing, and the universe reacts. Magic." She was on a roll, pointing back to the druids. "And you have primal magic, natural magic, bending and controlling the forces of nature itself. Some Equestrian ponies have that working for them already. I'd challenge you to say any Pie member isn't an avid primal magic user without thinking about it. Pegasi make use of it to keep our weather straight, and other earth ponies help make the fields vibrant and fertile. Primal magic is easy to understand."

Tree Hugger nodded sedately. "One kind of magic's already plenty for me. Druiding is where it's at." She put out her hoof, to be met with firm clops from the flower mares. Agreement was there. "Maud Pie isn't a wizard, of any kind, but she is a real good fighter. Real talented. Don't have a name for it, but I was blown away." She sank to her haunches. "I'd hate to be a monster that got on her bad side."

Rose frowned, imagining Maud. "Did she have a sword?"

Tree shook her head, but Twilight answered first, "Maud is very good with her hooves. She can pound solid rocks into dust."

Rose's ears flipped back. "Wow... Remind me not to bother her."

Diamond was staring at Scootaloo, peering at her, into her. "Let yourself go," she bade. "Just let me take over for a moment."

"You'll make me do something dumb," grunted out Scootaloo. "No way..."

"No is not an answer I'll be accepting today." She brought up both her hooves, clopping them smartly in front of Scootaloo. "Stand up." Scootaloo obeyed Diamdond's command. "Turn around in a circle." The filly did just that. "And there, full control. Now, I'm not a bad filly. I won't make her do anything too bad..."

Dry watched with wide eyes. "Wow... You can't make friends with that though... You can't command someone to be your friend."

"With the right tricks..." Diamond winked at Dry. "Or you can just talk to them, I guess. Scootaloo, still listening?" Scootaloo nodded without a word. "Tell us your absolute favorite icecream flavor."

"I like to say chocolate, but I like tutti frutti for a treat." She licked over her lips, perhaps dreaming of that ice cream.

Diamond waved. "And there you go. I think my control is proven. Scootaloo, snap out of it."

"This is dumb." Scootaloo crossed her arms. "You'll never get control of my mind! I'm way too strong for you!" The room filled with giggles of the ponies watching. "What? She won't!" But it began to dawn. "She already did... What'd you make me do?!" She checked herself over quickly for any kick me signs or marker doodles. "Girls!"

Sweetie giggled musically. "She didn't do anything awful, promise."

"Yeah." Apple Bloom gave a too dramatic wink. "We'll go for ice cream after the meeting."

"Tutti frutti," suggested Sweetie, barely restraining her giggles.

Scootaloo began to color. "Hey!" She pounced at them, inspiring a moment of wrestling.

Silver Spoon shook her head. "Let's not make that a habit, but it is an interesting ability."

Diamond rolled her eyes. "You weren't complaining when it saved us a few times."

"True..." Silver waved at Twilight. "Did you have more Luminace questions?"

"A few dozen." Twilight sat beside, Silver Spoon, invited. "I had asked Dry Whisper, and he said you're the expert in this matter."

Silver Spoon buffed her chest with a hoof. "Thank you, Dry. Now, how can I help?"

"Well! I'm curious... Now, for you and Dry, the relationship is quite clear. If a pony isn't practicing divine magic, is there a reason for them to even think about Princess Luminace?" Twilight brought a floating quill into position, ready to write.

Silver adjusted her glasses. "That's a silly question. You don't use divine magic, but here you are, asking about her. You were thinking about her before you even knew either of us did divine magic. She touched your life, more directly than, like, most ponies, but you don't have to be getting spells to have a reason to think about her."

Dry bobbed his head quickly. "She is the light in the eye of any eager scholar. She is the tremble of a pony's lip just as they reveal their findings with the world!"

Silver swatted at her boyfriend. "You wax all poetic when you talk about Luminace, you know that?"

Dry colored darkly. "Is that bad? She... Everything about her is so amazing... The only pony that could even try to compete is you."

It was Silver's turn to darken terribly. "Dry! Cut that out." She grabbed him in a firm hug and smooched his cheek, to his delight. "He's not, like, wrong. She has a lot of things to take after. Think of it like Princess Celestia. Nopony's getting spells from her, and we don't deal with her directly often, but everypony knows her, and she shapes how we think, a lot."

Twilight raised a hoof to her chin. She had dealt with Celestia personally a lot! But she was not a standard case. She tried to think of the average pony, never seeing Celestia day to day. "I... Hm..." Her quill busily jotted down her thoughts. "Fascinating. Then, if you think Luminace has so many positive qualities, are you going to try to spread the word of her around to other ponies?"

Silver pointed at Dry. "Got one."

Dry smiled awkwardly. "She ensnared me, and showed me Luminace's glory. Now I have two mares that I can't stop thinking about."

Diamond snorted softly. "If this was anypony other than a god, I'd be real jealous for Silver Spoon."

Author's Note

Fresh Casters, sharing magic!

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38 - Touching Bases

"What marvelous work!" Zecora flipped to the next page with a brush of her nose. "I recognize them, with that Everglow quirk." She pointed to a specific recipe.

"Ayup." Apple Bloom beamed with pride. "You showed me that one before I took it a, uh, step beyond."

Zecora rested a hoof against the side of her head. "What master of arcane has taught you this? Surely some schooling to learn how to use this."

Apple Bloom pointed towards Twilight, chatting as she was with others. "I stole, er, borrowed her book. Then we--" She waved wildly at the other crusaders. "Put it together fer our own take on thin's. All arcane."

Sweetie raised a hoof. "Technically occult."

"Like me," joined Diamond with a smirk. "The tradition of the mind."

Sweetie giggled softly. "I was thinking of learning some arcane too, very tempting..."

Zecora looked between Sweetie and Apple Bloom. "You taught yourself? This is quite a trick. If asked moons ago, I would not predict." She sank to her haunches and offered Apple Bloom's book back towards her.

Apple Bloom took it, but put it back on the podium with the others. "We're sharin'! Get your recipes caught up an' bring 'em over! Ah'd love to see 'em, and you can borrow mine. Only fair!"

Tree Hugger poked Twilight on the rump, getting her attention. "Hey, princess."

"Twilight will do," she assured with a nervous smile. "How can I help?"

"You're the happiest mare here." Tree smiled as she looked Twilight over. "But there's something poking at me, tickling at the edges, you know?" She tapped at her chin, trying to get a grasp on that feeling. "There's a reason you're looking."

"Looking for what?" Twilight considered the hippy pony curiously in kind. "Magic? I've always had a love for magic, and I've been curious about Princess Luminace for some time."

Pinkie dropped between the two. "This is a 'me' thing."

Twilight blinked softly, but Pinkie knew Pinkie things... "Alright. Have fun?" She rose and walked off, confusion clear on her face.

Tree focused on Pinkie, though her eyes remained only half-opened. "Woah... That was sudden. What's up, party mare?"

"You are really close to messing things up." Pinkie raised a hoof in a shh motion. "Stop that."

Tree let out a soft hum. "You are far out, party mare. You see things in a really out there ways..." She brought her forehooves together. "I'm not trying to harsh the buzz."

"I know you're not." Pinkie bounced in place. "But you almost did. Shh."

"Hey." Diamond was there, poking at Pinkie. "I've been meaning to talk to you, and since you're here..."

Pinkie whirled in place to face Diamond. "Allo! This isn't my kinda party, I will admit, but there are a lot of smiling faces in here, so somepony has to be doing something right!"

"Yeah yeah yeah." Diamond waved that away. "I want to know what happened with you. You were helping us, and then you were gone." She raised a brow. "And yet, here you are."

"Here I am." Pinkie smiled a little too large, sweat beading on her brow. "I'm glad you're safe."

Diamond leaned forward. "Good to be back. Now where'd you go and why?"

"Then the fox pony lady." Silver had joined the conversation without being invited. "She finished the job."

"She helped us that night, but we had a lot more to do to get home." Diamond snorted softly at the memory. "So I wouldn't say 'finished'." She glared at Pinkie. "So, what was the deal?"

"Well..." Pinkie danced in place nervously. "It's not like I went to a when and where you'd never even be able to imagine!"

Diamond cocked a brow. "So you did that... That's strange, but doesn't explain why I'm still looking at a Pinkie." She pointed at the Pinkie that was clearly there. "Not off in some 'when and where'. I can imagine this pretty well."

"Ha... ha ha." Pinkie rubbed her hooves together. "It's not all that important. I was doing my thing, you were doing yours. We all ended up where we needed to be!"

Silver smiled gently at the sweating Pinkie. "Is this something you need us to trust, as a friend?"

Pinkie started, ears dancing. "Oh, yes! Yes yes... Please yes."

"Then I will trust it." Silver half-turned away. "You have been a great friend, Pinkie, and I hope that continues."

Diamond lightly bopped Silver and glared at the silent Dry. "Talk some sense into her. Pinkie abandoned us when we really needed her."

Dry gulped. "Oh, uh... I don't know what happened, but..." He looked at Pinkie. "Did you do the best you could?"

"I swear!" She began a ritual that ended with a faked cupcake in her eye. "It's... I'm not trying to be sneaky. I actually kinda hate having secrets... It's really hard to explain! Please trust me."

Dry nodded as Silver had done. "Then I accept that, as a friend."

Pinkie grabbed Dry and Silver under an arm each. "You two are awesome! Now, I should go talk to Sweetie. She wanted a few bardly tips." With a puff of smoke, Pinkie was gone across the room to a more comfortable topic of magic and singing."

Diamond buried her face under both hooves. "Your goddess is really nice and all, but it's ticking me off really big right now."

Silver pulled her colt closer. "Don't be mad. That's water under the bridge. Pinkie's kinda out there, but she usually does things for a reason, even if they're kinda hard reasons, like, you know?"

"Sweetie." Twilight was seated with a few others in front of Sweetie. "I had meant to ask. You are a bard now, I'm told, a magic user of songs. You weren't... I don't mean to be rude, but I remember your last performance I saw."

Sweetie colored with a squeak. "Do you mean...? We put on quite the show at the Pony Games."

Twilight swerved an ear off to the side. "That's true, but that didn't involve you singing. What's changed?"

Sweetie rubbed at her burning cheeks. "Well, practice, for one... And singing by yourself is not the same as singing with others. I love the other crusaders, but singing is not their thing... Singing by myself was when it started to... click? For lack of a better way to phrase it."

Apple Bloom waved a hoof up in the air. "Show her what you can do!"

Sweetie cleared her throat, a few little las and mes to warm up her voice. "This goes to my friends, who have always stood at my side. To the friends I haven't made yet, but will, and the ones behind me." With a last little breath, she began to sing. The other conversations in the room faded away to watch her melodic tunes rise and fall in smooth crescendos that had nothing in common with the rough performance Twilight had alluded to.

"Wow..." Twilight sank to her haunches, then flopped right over. "That's.... That's magic."

"Sure is," whispered Pinkie. "She is a Bard, capital B. We love to sing and share our emotions with the world." She casually flopped atop Twilight. "And she's awful good at it! I had tips, but none of them were about holding a note. She has that under control already."

Twilight made a soft noise, her attention more on listening to the song being produced by that filly.

Silver thumped against Dry. "She's not bad." She raised a brow. "Are you hoping I'll learn how to, like, sing?"

Dry knew a trap when he saw one! "You are already mesmerizing, but if you want to, I'll help however I can."

Silver snorted softly. "Smooth talker... I think I get it though." She leaned against him in the relative quiet of Sweetie's song. "You're scared."

"Always." Dry did not hide that.

"You're scared of me." Silver pawed at his side. "You're scared you'll say the wrong thing, and I'll hate you forever. You're scared you'll mess it all up."

Dry cringed back at the awful things Silver was implying. "I hope not..."

"But you're still scared of them. Every word you say is a careful word to avoid that happening." She put her hooves to Dry's cheeks. "I'm sorry you're so scared of me... It's alright if I get annoyed sometimes, you know?"

Dry felt his eyes sting, tears falling onto her hooves. "If I mess up... How do I undo it? I want to hide this perfect time away, so nothing can take it from me, or break it, or..."

"If you, like, hold it too tight, then even you won't get to enjoy it." She gently nuzzled his cheek, the two of them flopping over.

Sweetie's song came to a halt, her cheeks on fire. "Oh! Um, glad you enjoyed it. I didn't think it was... that romantic."

Scootaloo snickered behind a hoof. "Pretty sure that woulda happened if you were singing or not, Sweets."

Twilight ascended to her hooves. "Alright everypony. This has been an incredible meeting. We've already started exchanging so much, and I can't even wait for the next time!" She pointed to the podium. "Do claim your book, but first, with your permission, I'd like to make a copy of each." Her horn glowed with the promise of her magic.

Dry offered up his not-magic religious tome. "Luminace would only be pleased to see her words copied and shared."

With a zap, Twilight made two of the book instead of one, claiming one of them from the air. "Thank you, Dry. I'll be sure to get a copy out for anypony to study who wants to." She turned to Scootaloo. "May I? Your book is arcane, and I'd love to see if you have spells I don't have yet."

Scootaloo flashed a big smile. "Only if I can get a new copy of your book. I bet a lot more of it will make sense now that I have a good grip on the whole thing."

"Deal." Twilight rapidly made a copy of the two books, giving one of each to Scootaloo, and keeping one for herself. "This...is more tiring than I'd want to admit... Why does Everglow magic have to be written with such specific inks and techniques?" She wiped her brow clear of some sweat. "One left." She looked to Apple Bloom. "May I? Your spells aren't directly usable, but I'd love to compare and contrast."

Apple Bloom puffed up with pride. "'Course ya can! Ah did borrow yer book... without even askin'. Ah'd feel like a real heel if I didn't let you borrow it back. Shoot, yer not even takin' mah book, just makin' a quick copy. Don't see no harm in that."

Twilight copied the book without the exact techniques required to cast from it, but she didn't plan to cast from it. A fair deal to just have a book be a book. "Thank you. All of you, have a safe trip home, and let's meet up again soon. Actually... Next week?"

Rose shook her head. "Woah, weekly? That's a bit much, Twi. Hats off on nothing exploding." The other flower mares cheered at the lack of explosions. "But weekly is way too much of a temptation for the universe."

Tree Hugger draped over Twilight languidly. "Book princess... Once a moon sounds closer to right. I like to go where the wind calls me. I can be back then, but not every week, you know?"

Twilight folded her ears, drooping, but not pushing Tree Hugger away. "Is everypony alright with that? Once a moon?" Noises of confirmation rose up from the crowd. Their club would meet once a moon. "Very well... One bit of homework." She raised a hoof up over Tree Hugger, to the sky. "Keep your eyes open for other ponies coming or going from Everglow, or any other exotic world. We know how to deal with that. The least we can do is be there to lend a hoof if we can."

Author's Note

The club meeting was a success, right?

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39 - First Base

"You." Silver was walking out of the castle, Dry at one side, Diamond on the other. "It's time."

Dry quirked an ear at her. "Time for what? How can I help?"

"Oh, you can help, for sure." Silver edged closer, veering to the side towards him. "It's all about you."

"Yeah, catching the hint." Diamond smirked at her friends. "Had fun, see you tomorrow." She went off in the other direction, leaving the two to their own devices.

Dry swallowed nervously. "Why is she leaving?"

"Because she isn't needed, but she's an awesome enough friend to know that without me telling her." Silver leaned in so close he could smell her breath and feel it washing across his snout. "I owe her one."

Dry flipped his ears back. Was... "I thought we were still courting?"

Silver sat and crossed her arms. "I heard you think you're more mature than us, but you don't act like it sometimes. Kissing while courting is, like, not even that big of a deal. You're going to marry somepony you've never kissed before?!"

Dry licked over his dry lips, trying, and failing, to think up a proper reply to that. "I..."

"I'm going to kiss you," stated Silver Spoon in the bluntest tone she had to wield. "You will kiss me back. We will enjoy it. How does that sound?" There was no subtlety there. She wasn't hiding behind sub-contexts.

Dry colored vividly. It wasn't that he didn't know what a kiss was. No, no, he knew all about that. That didn't make his first one any less daunting. "I would like that... It's...my first, please don't be mad if I get it wrong."

"My delicate first timer." Silver touched her nose to his. "Guess what? My first too. The others were all not-romantic, so they don't count. We'll make this easy. Start by touching lips to faces, they don't even have to meet, not at first." She smooched him on the cheek to demonstrate. "See, not so bad."

Dry wheezed, but he hadn't died, nor had she been scared off. "Not so bad..." But did he dare to return the favor? To attack was to expose himself to danger, but to not attack? That also had risks. She might get irritated at him, seeing as she just asked for it. He was in a position where there was no safe path. Exposed and vulnerable, Dry had to choose how to fight, because hiding had been taken away from him.

So he would die. But how he would die, at least that was left in his hooves. If he had to be found... He touched nose to nose with her, not going for the face, at least, not randomly. He pressed his lips to hers directly, inhaling her aroma and gently walking into her, maximizing their contact. If he would die, he would do it in the hooves of the mare he happened to like a lot. At least that wouldn't be so bad.

Silver let out a surprised, if muffled, noise. She hadn't quite realized how it worked. Even the tamest, most timid, and meek of creatures will fight when cornered. She had pinned her boyfriend against a wall, and with flight and hide removed as options, he had attacked, and... it was kinda nice. She raised her hooves to embrace him, leaning back into the kiss. As she hugged him tighter, she adjusted her head to allow their lips to meet deeper.

"Woah!" Spike blinked owlishly at the late-foal smooch fest he had just walked out on. "Uh..."

Treehugger casually pulled Spike back towards the inside of the castle. "Leave them alone, little dragon. They're enjoying the night." She gave a dramatic wink and walked sedately past him into the night, ignoring the empassioned foals entirely.

Fortunately, neither of the kissers had any room to even notice her, trying their best to fall into one another, if only for that pesky material existence preventing them from completing that act, but there was enjoyment in trying as hard as they could, exploring where the other started and ended in their fiery embrace that seemed to have no end in sight.

At least until a hoof gently tapped at either of their shoulders. Twilight smiled at the two gently, if a little nervously. "I'm glad to see you two are getting along well, but if you could... not do that right in front?" She angled her head back at her castle. She cleared her throat softly. "You're both old enough to enjoy a kiss, but--"

Silver drew back from the kiss, but didn't let Dry flee entirely, even if it felt like he would if she let him. "Sorry. Like... just got out of hoof a little." Not that she looked like she was that upset about it. "We'll head home." She tugged Dry away.

But the direction... "Scootaloo's house is this way." He pointed in another direction, not the one Silver was pulling him towards.

"Scootaloo will not help us tonight, Dry." She rolled her eyes. "Use your big boy maturity for a change."

"Oh." He walked after her, dazed and confused.

They had a pleasant evening.

"Silver Spoon!" thundered a male voice, startling both of them awake. "What is the meaning of this?!"

There was Silver Spoon's father, looking displeased, to put it mildly. "And who is this?!"

Dry had failed to hide properly. What he deserved for getting too comfortable. "Sorry, Sir. Would you like me to leave?"

"Not so fast." He thrust out a hoof in Dry's way. "I need to know what happened first. What did you do to my daughter?"

Silver growled low. "I can make my own dec--"

He held up a hoof, quieting her. "Tell me," he ordered of Dry with a heavy scowl.

"Um..." He sat, hooves coming together. "We kissed, sir... Um... She's courting me..."

The father blinked softly, his turn to be stunned. He twirled on Silver Spoon. "You're courting him?!"

Silver stood up as tall as she could, still quite a bit lower than her father. "Yes I am, father. I am chasing his hoof. He has been a gentlepony." She rolled her eyes. "We slept together and the most he did was kiss."

That she sounded like she might have hoped for more only brought up a blush to the stallion's cheeks. "Silver! Not in my house! Filly.... I... I thought you respected me." He suddenly flumped to his belly. "What did I do wrong?"

"Dad." Silver turned to Dry. "This is between us two. Go on." She waved him away.

A chance to run and hide! Dry took a step forward to find a hoof in his way, attached to Silver's father's arm. "Sir?"

The father sat up, eyes on Dry. "Tell me the truth, foal. What do you plan for my daughter?"

Dry rubbed behind his head. He was the one being courted! "Um, sir... I will protect her as best as I can. I will treasure her, if she asks The Question. I will be treasured... Um... You have raised a very nice daughter, sir..."

The father smiled wryly. "Right..." His eyes snapped to Silver. "You are a tough-minded little filly... If I tell you not to see him, you'll just see him when I'm not looking."

Silver looked perhaps a bit too agreeing with his words, a smug smile on her face. "See... Look... Look." He waved between Silver and Dry. "No more secrets. I shouldn't find this out walking in like this! We're a family... I love you, Silver Spoon... I want the best for you, I always did..."

Silver shrank a moment before rushing up and hugging her dad. "Of course you do. I love you too, daddy." They hugged, the firm dry exchange of familial affection. "I shoulda said something, like... but I was nervous, you know?"

"All the more reason to share," cautioned her father. "You know I'm on your side."

"Yeah..." Silver waved at Dry. "But look at him!"

So he looked at Dry. "His mane is kinda silly." He casually patted Dry's puffy mane.

"Right?!" Silver giggled with obvious agreement. "And he's nice, and he knows magic. He worships the same god I do and gets spells from her too."

The father flinched at that. "Oh... Is... did they go to that place?"

Dry's ears fell. He knew the sound of fear. "I'm actually from there, sir..."

"Oh..." His fear did not abate. "Are you going to... Do you want to take her back there?"

"N-no sir... Unless she wants to? She has strong opinions, sir, her and her friend." He smiled a bit helplessly. "I probably couldn't stop them if they wanted to go, sir."

He smiled in kind. "That's about the truest statement I heard all day." He swatted Dry on the back with a thump of his hoof. "You're alright. At least you see how it is... So, um... you like that princess? I like a princess. Celestia's pretty great, huh?"

Dry inclined his head. "I don't know that princess... Is she a god here? That's exciting! I would like to hear more." Surely Luminace would appreciate words of other gods being shared. "If there's a book, I can read that."

The father curled a hoof to his chin. "A book, huh... I'd ask Twilight. She's a princess too nowadays, but she has most of the local books, but she isn't shy about sharing them with anypony that asks nicely for 'em. She was Princess Celestia's student once! Bet she has a few books about her."

Dry smiled, fear replaced with joy. His target was within reach. "Twilight is a nice pony, and princess, and I will just ask her. We were just there last night, talking about magic."

The father perked up. "Oh, right. That club you mentioned." He nodded at Silver Spoon. "How did it go?"

"It went great, daddy." She adjusted her glasses. "And, after I learned things and made contacts, I got to kiss my boyfriend."

The poor stallion colored vividly. "Silver Spoon! Have some mercy on your father. I'm glad to hear that... went well." He let out a tense sigh. "You know... Diamond is an excellent guardian. If she didn't like you, she would have gotten rid of you already, no matter how much Silver said otherwise."

Silver growled but sagged at the truth behind those words. "She wouldn't..."

"Not if you found a good pony, which maybe you did... I'm just saying, I'll trust in your friend. You two are thick as thieves and know each other better than your ole dad ever could."

"Don't be like that." Silver nestled up to him, hugging from the side. "You're still my dad and I love you very much."

They met, clonking heads together with a shared smile.

Life was changing around them, but they were still close.

Which left Dry considering his place in the touching family moment. "Sir?" He had gained the stallion's attention. "Sir, I would like to get to know you better, sir. Do you... If you don't mind, can we spend some time... together?"

He smiled at that, reaching to set a hoof on Dry's shoulder. "I figured you'd be trying to get away from me." He laughed awkwardly, patting Dry. "But if you want to hang out with me, I don't see the harm in that. I'll show you how we do things around here!" He stood up proudly. "We don't show off as much as the Rich's, but we have plenty to our name. If you're going to be involved, you should know it too. Tomorrow! I'll have a tour ready for you." He walked off with a happy smile on his face.

Silver blinked dumbly. "Nice going... How did you know how to handle him?"

"I handled him?" Dry inclined his head. "I just thought it'd be polite for me to do that. He might become my father one day... It'd be sad to have a son you don't even know."

Silver nuzzled her clueless but thoughtful boyfriend. "I hope you two have fun."

Author's Note

Teen romance! And some parental chat. Silver's dad is nice, I say.

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40 - Downtime Complete

Dry had a dream. He had a lot of those, more than one a night, though he'd be lucky to remember even one of them. But he remembered this one.

He was in a forest, familiar in some way. It was hard to put a hoof on exactly what it was, but he was hiding. Hiding was a good idea often, so this didn't strike him as odd. Besides, dream logic being what it was, he wasn't questioning much of what was going on.

Something was walking past, large and maternal. How did he know? Who could say? But he knew, and he trembled, for he knew. He just knew it was a being that could destroy him with the barest effort. That was why good little colts hid.

"You can't hide forever." It wasn't calling as if to taunt him out, but a warning. "Your peace fractures now."

"What are you doing in my pony's dream?" demanded another maternal figure, descending from the sky on blue wings. "Begone!"

The first turned to the second. "This is your realm." And with those words, she was gone, allowing Luna to gently nose aside the brush that was concealing Dry.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a gentle tone. She was large, but did not give the impression of the infinite that the other one had.

"Um... hello." Dry sat up, blinking up at the large alicorn. "Thank you for assisting me..."

"You are quite welcome." She inclined her head at the little colt and his fluffy mane. "I do not recognize you."

"Um... I don't know you either, ma'am... You look important."

Luna smiled gently at those words. "Flattery? I am Luna, princess of the night and guardian of dreams."

Dry gasped with amazement. "I didn't know!" He threw himself prostrate. "I am being visited by a god! Please don't punish me..."

Luna blinked softly at the odd reaction. "Though... tempting... I am not what one would call a god. I breathe, sleep, eat, and drink as all ponies must. What manner of colt are you that you speak of gods?"

Dry peeked up from his submissive position. Not a god? "What are you then, ma'am... No offense."

"Child, you do not offend me." She slipped a hoof under his chin, guiding him to sit up instead of lay on his belly. "I am a princess. To be specific, I am a pony princess. I was a unicorn before that. You are an earth pony."

Dry smiled. He knew something she didn't! Not that he wasn't ready to share it. "I'm a ghost pony, ma'am."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "Ghosts are old mare's tales." But it clicked. "Then again... Tell me, curious colt, where are you from?"

Dry waved a hoof vaguely. "Another world of another world. The ether of Everglow is where I am from. Equestria has been very nice to me, ma'am." He worried his hooves together. "Are you here to throw me out?"

Luna recoiled at that, emerging from the bush. "Have you done something improper, colt?"

"Um... I..." He colored darkly, shuffling in place. "I kissed a filly."

Luna blinked slowly. "Did the filly know and accept you were going to kiss her?"

"She started it." Wait, no, that came out more like a squabble. "She kissed me, and I kissed her back, um, ma'am."

Luna gently smiled, composure returning. "That is not something wrong to admit to, colt. I hope you and this little lady get along well then. Why would I banish a colt for sharing a kiss with a filly?"

He emerged from the bushes. Luna seemed safe enough. "I'm not from here. You chased away that other thing... I think it was from my home."

Luna glanced in the direction it had been. "Concerning... Do you know if their gods are visiting more than this time?"

Dry trembled, suddenly right back in the spotlight of potential trouble. "Will you be angry, ma'am?"

Luna arched a brow, but reached with her hooves to gently cradle the scared colt's cheeks. "I simply desire the truth. I am not angry, nor concerned, about your presence. What is your name?"

"Dry Whisper." He tried to bow, but Luna's holding hooves made that impossible. "Nice to meet you, um, Your Royal Highness, Princess Luna."

Luna mussed his fluffy mane. "Too many words, but very formal... No, this is your dream. Here, you can just call me Luna. Now, please, share."

Dry glanced back, a feat he could do better than a human in the same position. Head held forward, he could still peek back over his shoulder. "I am a cleric, Luna."

"Cleric?" But it came to her swiftly. "A wielder of a god's might?"

"Yes, ma'am..." He swallowed thickly. "I worship a kind goddess of books, magic, and friendship, ma'am."

"That reminds me..." Her eyes went distant, horn glowing. "You are... in Ponyville?" He nodded faintly. "Do you know a Twilight Sparkle?" He nodded a little less shallowly. "Does she know of this?"

"Oh, um, yes, ma'am. She likes her too, the goddess, but does not worship her." Dry considered a moment. "You said you were princess of dreams and the night?"

"I am." Luna angled her ears forward and down at Dry. "Why?"

"What is Miss Twilight princess of, ma'am?" He shrunk back a few inches. "Sorry if that is a rude question!"

Luna set a hoof atop his head instead. "Do not fear me. I am here to protect you, Dry Whisper. I thought you were being attacked by a nightmare, and came to intercede... It is not often there is an actual presence in a nightmare. More frequently phantoms of the pony's struggles lurk." She released him entirely, sitting up with folded wings. "As for Twilight, she is the princess of friendship, which is why I thought of her."

Dry gaped a moment, silence between them.

"Is that bothersome?" she asked of the small colt.

"N-no! No... No wonder she is drawn to Princess Luminace... Why doesn't she worship Luminace?" Dry brought his hooves together. "They should get along very well. Miss Twilight seems to like books too... And magic..."

Luna raised one gauntleted hoof up. "I can't speak for her motivations, Dry Whisper. You would do better to ask her. Now, there are other dreams to patrol. You don't need me further, so I wish you a pleasant evening."

Dry waved as Luna took off on powerful wings, ascending into the sky. He didn't call out to her, that was how one drew trouble.

The rest of the night's dreams were forgotten, as most dreams are.

Dry hurried to Silver Spoon's, knocking on her door urgently. Her father answered. "Hey there, kiddo." He ruffled the top of Dry's head. Was his mane that pettable!? "Are you looking for Silver?"

"Yes, sir." He bobbed his head quickly. "Is she in?"

"She's off at school." He pointed the way. "Which you should be at too, hm?"

Oh shoot! "Right!" He twirled in place. "See you later, sir!" He took off in a sprint, long legs carrying him in eager darts across town to get where all foals were due at that time of day.

The stallion shook his head slowly. "Silly colt." But he had other things to do.

Dry zipped into the classroom to find many eyes were on him. The class had started. He was late. He shrank back, ready to flee.

"Dry Whisper," spoke Cheerilee firmly. "Take your seat, kindly." She watched him until he had settled. "Now, as I was saying..." The class went on despite his late entry.

A crumpled paper bounced off him. How had a paper reached him? Did someone drop it? How would they drop it on him? It wasn't like anyone was above him... His confusion only swelled by the-- Another paper came at him, tossed by Apple Bloom. He caught that one with a muffled squeak.

She made opening gestures like she were opening a book?

He was new to schooling in a proper setting, but he got that hint. He peeked inside the paper to find writing, which became all the more clear when he flattened it out to see.

Where were you? Everything alright?

--AB

A secret message! A way to hide one's communication. Smart... Perhaps the ponies of that world had some clue in how to hide oneself... He flipped the sheet over and quickly scrawled a reply.

I had a scary dream. I think I was visited by two dream guards. One had a warning! Talk at lunch?

--DW

He just had to get the note back to her without being seen. Not being seen was his specialty! He crumbled it up tight and waited for the opportunity, when Cheerilee was animatedly going over something for the class. Her back was towards them, but she was a pony. She had a wide field of view. That wasn't enough. He waited until she was directly looking away from where it was happening. The blindspot of any equine. With a toss, he sent the paper back to its original home.

Apple Bloom snatched it up and scooted it away instantly in that moment of opportunity. Cheerilee didn't see a thing. Perfect.

She nodded, not along with the lesson, but in response to the letter she got a peek at. The message was sent and recieved. Dry smiled in victory. It was time to pay attention to class and their talk about the founding of some local town. Why was that important? He wasn't sure, but it was the topic of the day, and being a bad student meant standing out, and he didn't want to do that.

When lunch came, he didn't find Apple Bloom. He found all the crusaders, and his girlfriend, and her friend. All the pintsized Everglow explorers! Diamond was at her table with her food spread out. "Have a seat and tell us why you were late."

Dry took her spot with the others. "It was a nightmare, or a dream? A vision! It was a warning..." He fidgeted in place, not eating. "I met a Princess Luna?"

The crusaders perked at that. Apple Bloom clopped the table between them. "Welcome to the club! Luna's a right nice watcher of the night."

"She's visited me before," admitted Sweetie Belle with a faint blush.

"I think she has for everypony, and now you too." Scootaloo pointed at Dry Whisper. "Another sign you're one of us."

Diamond scoffed at this decision. "It's up to Luna where she shows up. Was she the one warning you, and what about?"

"Not her..." He dared to take a nibble of something. Spicy! He hooved at his tongue a moment, red in the face. Hot hot, but it was calming. "Oh, sorry... Something else. It sounded like danger was coming. They were telling me about it. Luna came and talked to me afterwards."

Scootaloo inclined her head. "That isn't much of a hint, Dry. Danger could come any day."

Apple Bloom huffed. "I hate that yer right on that point. Danger could come any time."

"Any time!" blurted Dry, agreeing with that idea. "But if something that powerful comes to mention it, it can't be a small danger... It can't be! Why would they come and warn little me if it was a little danger?" He worried his hooves fretfully. "It has to be bigger than me... Much bigger than me. I'm not in danger... Everything's in danger! Something big at least... Something big is in danger... I wish I knew what it was... I could try to hide it..."

Silver Spoon threw an arm over her nervous boyfriend, hugging him from the side. "Relax... Relax. We're all here." She waved her other hoof at their friends. "Look at them. Really look at them. We're all here, together. We'll tell Twilight too. You don't have to fix this all on your own."

"Twilight!" he squeaked. "Yes... Yes that's a good idea... But they warned me... I must be involved, somehow... But how?"

Author's Note

Forgot that adventure tag, did you? The story hasn't forgotten.

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41 - Word of Trouble

"Did you hear?" They were having an interesting outing. Diamond and Silver had ambushed him. "The news."

Diamond glanced over at Silver. "I hear a lot of news. Can you narrow that down a little?" She didn't move her hooves, being worked on diligently by Aloe. "How are you holding up over there, Dry?"

Dry's mane was a mess of bubbles, Lotus working busily to get his mane clean and proper. "This is new... I heard of such things, but didn't think I'd ever afford such luxury."

Silver quirked an ear at her luxuriating boyfriend. "Take it as one more perk of being with me. But the news! They say a town got attacked."

Diamond rose a brow high. "Like a dragon or chimera or something?"

"Attacked attacked," emphasized Silver Spoon. "Details are kinda out there, but like they're still fighting, I think."

Dry's eyes widened. "The danger has arrived! We should stop... this." Not that he could sit up with his mane all full of soap, and a kind mare's hooves.

Diamond made a placating downward gesture with her free hoof. "Calm down there, colt. This is a Grown Up thing. We pay guards for a reason."

Dry wanted to shake his head, really he did, but that nice spa pony was still tending to him. "We could help them. I didn't get that warning for no reason... What kind of cleric am I if I don't pay attention when the gods go so far out of their way to speak to me?"

Silver clucked her tongue. "You have a point there. They may take away our library card if we're not paying attention. Tell you what, Dry. After this, we'll see if the train's running there. If it is, we'll hop on one."

"You have one of those?" He sounded impressed. "That would be good... thank you. Sorry. I know you're here to relax."

Silver melted back into her seat. "I'm being pampered with my colt. I'm relaxed."

With the matter settled, Dry tried to enjoy the rest of the session. His mane, at the end of it, was strangely... straight. Instead of fluffy and cloud like, it ran down his left in a sheet. "Hm." He hadn't thought too much about his mane before. It was just kinda there. "Hm..."

Silver came up behind him, draping over him from behind and hugging him gently. "You're looking great."

"Do you think so?" He considered his image a moment more before he turned, stealing a kiss from her on the way. "We should go."

"Where? You have something in mind?"

"The train. You said we could use it." He pointed to nowhere in particular. "We should."

"Ah, right..." Silver waved into the main room. "Diamond!"

Diamond came trotting up. "We heading out?"

Silver nodded softly. "To the train. But while we go check that, could you grab the crusaders?"

Diamond lifted an ear. "Them? I thought you'd want some quality time." She waggled her brows with meaning.

Silver shoved at Diamond. "Cut that out! If Dry is right, we'll want the backup. If not, then we just take a field trip, maybe some pictures and notes to make Cheerilee happy. Oh, be sure they ask their parents."

Diamond rolled her eyes. "I'll be checking with mine. I don't need that kind of trouble." She turned way with a flip of her tail. "Meet you at the train."

Silver waved her off, then nudged against Dry. "Get your things if you don't already have them" She tossed her head at Drys saddlebag, a hint that he was carrying something at least. "Meet you at--"

"--I don't know where that is," he cut in, coloring faintly. "Sorry."

"Alright, then we'll meet at your house." She offered a hoof.

He met it with a clop of unity and scampered off to home. He tucked away his prayer book and some supplies. "I'll be away for a little while, I think." He approached the larger, adult, pony. "If I don't come back for dinner, that's why."

Aunt Holiday considered the beanpole of a colt. "I'm not your mother, so I don't get to tell you what to do. That doesn't mean I won't worry about you. You going somewhere important?"

"I think so," Dry sighed out. "It may be dangerous... I want to hide... But I can't..." He tapped his hooves in bare-touches that made no sound. "I can help, but not if I'm hiding, this time..."

"Those are some very brave words you're saying." She reached to muss Dry's newly straightened hair. "Interesting look... You're handsome either way, just so you know."

Dry smiled at the chubby mare. "Thank you. I will try to be safe... But the safest thing to do would be not to do it at all..." He clearly worried the two opposing ideas in his hooves. "But I have to... Hiding won't fix it."

"Look at you." She opened the stove and reached inside with a one-fingered mitt, grabbing a cookie and bringing it over. "You deserve this."

For just a moment, he was a foal chewing a cookie, not a young adult about to march into battle. It was just him and the sweet crumbs he was nibbling on, in the presence of the kind mother figure that had provided it. "Thank you..." He sniffed softly. "I know... you're not my mom, but I needed--"

She hugged him gently from the side, and there was quiet, save for his little sniffles. He was far from too old to just enjoy having a motherly hug.

"I should go." He shook his hoof free of the last bits of the cookie. "I will try to be safe, promise."

"I'll be waiting here." She quirked an ear. "Hold on a moment. Are you going alone, or is Scootaloo going to run off after you?"

He went rigid. "Um..." How had he forgot that!

"That's answer enough." She leveled a hoof at his nose. "Which means you have to protect her too. Keep her safe. I can't keep up with her hijinks... so I'm glad there's another pony there that'll keep their eyes on making sure you all get home safely. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes'm!" he squeaked, just in time for Holiday's nose to boop him firmly on the snout. "Promise!"

"I know you do, Dry... That's why I gave it to you." She took the tray from the oven and set it out to rest. "It's your specialty, and I know you care for her. You two are friends." She sat at the table. "But you have someplace to be, and I bet she's already there... If she is, tell her that you told me, so we won't be worried, knowing you're there with her."

Trust was being given, and responsibility. "I will," he assured breathlessly. The option to hide had been removed entirely, well, unless he got Scootaloo to hide with him. It was, perhaps, not the time to hide... "Be safe."

"That's your job," she gently taunted. "Travel well."

He walked to the door and through it, closing it behind himself. He patted the building. "Be back soon." The building had no words of encouragement for him, but it felt like it needed to be said. He bolted, not hiding, just running. In a spirited gallop, he made it all of about 20 feet before it hit him. He sheepishly turned back to sit next to the door. "That wasn't too long, was it?"

It was there, waiting patiently, that Silver Spoon arrived. "All ready?"

"Ready," he assured, hopping back to his hooves. "Everyone else is there?"

"Should be." She waved him along and they headed off together for the train station. They raced through the town, past ponies going about their idle day's efforts. Some nodded or waved at them, pleased to see scampering foals about, but they had no idea what was up.

At the train station, the others sat on the platform close to the station. "There you are," called Diamond. "There's a train headed that way, but the pony made me sit and listen to this big disclaimer." She rolled her eyes. "Like I don't know what danger is."

The crusaders cheered in solidarity. Apple Bloom raised a bottle at the end of a hoof. "We're ready! It'll be nice gettin' into trouble with more backup."

Scootaloo suddenly winced. "I forgot to tell them!"

Dry's cue! He put a hoof on her chest. "I told her."

"You did?!" She shook him harder than required. "What'd she say? Which of them did you talk to?!"

"A-aunt Holiday," he got out, unable or unwilling to battle free of her grip. Equestrians could have mighty fine grips without fingers being involved. "She said they wouldn't worry."

Scootaloo released him, blinking. "She did? That's not... like her."

Dry pointed at himself. "She said she trusted me to make sure you got back safely."

"Aw!" Scootaloo burst into giggles. "Watch out, saying things like that. Your girl will get mad."

On prompt, Silver casually dragged Dry away with a yelp. "Just like that." Scootaloo didn't try to follow. Some things had to be worked out between a couple.

Silver Spoon plunked down bits to get a ticket, enough for them all. But when Sweetie got the ticket, she gazed at it with confusion. "This ticket has an odd appearance. Are you sure it's valid?"

Silver smiled brightly, pride showing through it. "Never saw a first class ticket?"

Diamond snickered at the confusion. "Really? Well, prepare for a treat! Anypony can get a coach ticket and wait with all the other ponies. We'll have a car to ourselves." She tapped at her own chest. "With accommodations if I know Silver right."

"You do," she agreed in a sing-song. "Just because we're traveling doesn't mean we can't be comfortable."

Dry looked to the tracks, at least no longer being grabbed or chastised. "The train will come there?"

Apple Bloom pointed to the same tracks. "That one right there. You hear ah trains afore?"

"Yes." Dry nodded firmly. "There's a big train in Everglow. Never saw it, but heard of it. The Lightning Rail. Is yours powered by lightning too?"

All the fillies there blinked at the idea. Scootaloo raised a hoof first. "No, but that sounds awesome and I want to try it."

They began to gossip about riding a train that was on a lightning bolt. It was, perhaps, for the best that a train came in to a smooth halt. It had no electricity on display, instead chugging smoke into the air. The conductor accepted their tickets one by one, point them down the hall of the train. "Your room's back there."

"Thank you." Silver rushed ahead, leading the others past the other ponies who were finding seats on benches. "Right here!" She threw open the door into the well-appointed room that had room enough for them all. It helped that they were small ponies. "Have a seat, grab a drink, or a snack. It's all included."

Dry sat next to the drink bar and poked at it curiously. "Hm..." He hefted one into view, but he didn't know what most of the words meant, specifying where that alcohol came from. "Hm." He turned it towards Silver Spoon. "Is this good?"

Silver raised a brow at it. "Hey, woah. My parents would flip their lids if they saw me drinking that." She gently swatted the bottle free of Dry's grip. "What are you thinking?"

Dry blinked softly, running headfirst into where he was an adult in one world, and a child in another. "Well, um... we are warriors. We may get hurt..."

"That won't help." She clapped his cheeks between her hooves. "So let's keep our heads on straight."

"Right! Yes, that's a good idea." His girlfriend was doing better at thinking of survival! The shame. "We should focus on getting this done without being hurt. Very good thought."

They were on their way. They just had to defeat whataver as causing all the trouble.

Author's Note

Onwards, to adventure!

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42 - Hide

They were enjoying themselves, chatting, snacking, and waiting for their arrival. Diamond, on the other hoof, was reading a newspaper held in her hooves. "They're already talking about it, and it doesn't sound good..." The others looked up to her. "What? You should all be checking this." She slapped the paper, making it flutter. "It's not a rift, like last time."

Apple Bloom hummed softly. "An' that's a good thin'... right?"

"No." Diamond slipped the paper around to show rows of what appeared to be Everglow soldiers of some kind. "Rifts are random and destructive. Bad, sure, but at least not actively trying to ruin your stuff. This is more like Everglow decided Equestria was a lot of free realestate."

Dry squeaked in horror. "I didn't do it!"

Silver hiked a brow. "I was pretty sure of that already. Why would you do that?"

"Um..." Dry worried his hooves. "I am an Everglow pony?"

Silver swatted at him. "Where you're born doesn't decide what you are. Last I checked, you are an Equestrian. You're dating an Equestrian and you like Equestria, don't you?"

"I do," he got out a bit weakly. "I do... I do a lot... Equestria is a good place."

"And you'll help us, right?" She hiked a brow at him.

"Of course!" He hopped up. "That's why I'm here... Them being Everglow doesn't change that. Um... I just thought it was less... sentient."

Scootaloo swatted him on the back. "Hello, fellow Equestrian!" The rest of the crusaders cheered in agreement.

Sweetie squinted at the picture. "Now I'm wondering if we shouldn't have brought the rest of the club we could get our hooves on. And Maud. She may not do magic, but she's faced Everglow threats before."

Diamond flipped the paper to lay flat on the ground in view of them all, freeing her to sit back. "Too late. We're already on the way. Think the guards learned any magic?"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Ah doubt it. They ain't got nopony to learn it from."

Silver squinted at Apple Bloom. "You didn't have anypony to learn it from."

Scootaloo scoffed. "We had Twilight's book. That was a big help!"

Dry smiled with some amazement. "That was still a very incredible act. I don't think most people, of either world, would learn magic just from a book without any instruction. It wasn't even a book about learning magic."

Sweetie giggled at that. "You haven't seen a Twilight book. She was learning it herself, so she wrote it instructionally. Each part she figured out, she wrote down how she figured it out. It was very methodical."

Apple Bloom waved that off. "Sometimes too methowhatever. But we figured through it."

Diamond hiked a brow at the three. "Three different ways through it." She pointed at each of them. "From the same book! That's either a good thing for Twilight's writing, or a bad thing, and I'm really not sure which it is."

Silver wrinkled her nose. "I'm jealous... At least when you went to Everglow, you already had magic sorted, and you went with an adult! That's practically a vacation compared to how we did it."

Apple Bloom raised a brow with the skill her sister would appreciate. "Yeah... Grass may look greener on the other side an' all, but it weren't no fun field trip. Only ponies I heard that basically had a vacation in Everglow are the flower mares."

Sweetie burst into soft giggles. "I still can't believe that! They spent the whole time just setting up a new life in one of their cities and having a nice time. No monsters, no dungeons, just maximum chill."

Diamond snorted softly. "No offense to them, but I can't imagine they're as trained in it as we are if they didn't have to rely on it to not be squashed flat."

Dry rubbed at his cheek. "The flower mares are wise in avoiding trouble... But..." He couldn't finish his thought, struggling vainly.

Silver grabbed her boyfriend with one arm. "But sometimes you have to fight," she continued. "And if you do, knowing how is helpful."

"Yes!" There, his thoughts. He hadn't said them, but they had been said. About as good. "Um... I don't have a lot of practice."

Silver Spoon bopped gently at Dry's head. "You fought that demon, don't forget. Besides, you're a cleric. You don't have to charge up and fight things to be a huge help to everypony else. Support, heal, make them better at fighting, and stay away."

"Stay away..." He liked the sound of that part. "I have to keep you all safe."

Silver curled a hoof under Dry's chin. "So pick spells that will help do that, and stay safe. Speaking of that." She looked to the others. "Time to get ready. Everypony think about what you're bringing into this." She clopped her forehooves together. "It's adventure time, and there isn't an easy way out, just like Everglow. Don't think being on Equestria's gonna make it easier."

Apple Bloom whistled in solidarity. "Ya got it!" She began to dig out all sorts of potion-making supplies. "Time to get ready!"

Scootaloo dug out her spell book to join in the effort. "What about you?" She was looking at Diamond Tiara, who was still seated so calmly. "Don't you need to do something?"

Diamond tapped at the side of her head. "My weapon is right here. But... since you bring it up." She went to Scootaloo, eyes burning with a deep stare. "Let me help." She put a hoof on either of Scootaloo's shoulders. "Gonna help you move fast when you need it most."

"O-o-kay..." Scootaloo inclined her head at the intimidating approach, but it was over almost as quickly as it begin, Diamond looping about to return to her seat. "Is that it? What'd you do?!"

"Just a little trick." Diamond settled where she began. "You'll feel it if you need it. I actually hope you never do, but better to have and not need than the other way around, right?"

Apple Bloom pumped a hoof, the other working on concocting potions. "Right! Good attitude. Speakin' ah that! Ah'll be passin' out these." She waved one of her potions. "Best part ah bein' an alchemist. Once ah do the hard part, any ah y'all can finish it, just drink it!" She slapped a big label on one with a little drawing showing the effect. No reading required. "It'll be like Diamond's trick. Ah'll be there, givin' a hoof, even if we ain't next to each other."

Silver inclined her head at Apple Bloom. "Can I have some of those bombs? I heard you can make a pretty nice bang with them."

Apple Bloom flinched back. "Ah'd love to, but they're... kinda finicky. Ah don't want you hurtin' yerself!"

Silver folded her arms over her chest. "I am a warpriest. I know how to use a weapon or three," she assured with a little huff. "Don't treat me like a foal, Apple Bloom."

Apple Bloom laughed nervously at that. "We're all foals..." At least from some points of views. Little ponies, they were approaching adulthood, but hadn't quite crossed that line just yet. Still, Silver's words seemed to reach her and she put a few bombs in the pile that was going towards her. "The rest of you don't need it."

Scootaloo shook her head. "I can make my own explosions, but thanks for the thought!"

Dry swallowed nervously. "I don't need those." That he didn't want them would have been more truthful. "Use them to protect yourself." He sank to a lotus position, not entirely natural for a pony. "Princess Luminace, allow us to see what must be seen, to learn what must be learned, to have the wisdom to use that knowledge for ourselves and our friends, new and old. May our magic be enough, the lessons get us past this challenge, so more may be learned."

Silver joined him with a smile. "You became so, like, pious... I kinda like it." She fluttered her lashes at her unlooking boyfriend.

Diamond rolled her eyes and looked instead to Sweetie. "I don't see you doing much. You ready?"

Sweetie tapped her head. "I'm like you. My magic's up here. Reading or brewing isn't going to help me right now. I'm with Dry. We'll support everypony else so they can do better than their best, or give them a helping hoof if they get hurt."

Diamond shook her head. "Two healers. You know, you could get a job super easy. I bet the hospital would snap you two up the moment you offered."

Sweetie colored faintly, but didn't shrink away. "I'm a crusader first... That's my job. Um... I suppose this may sound selfish, and maybe it is, but I don't want to do that."

Diamond shrugged softly. "No no, I get that. Just because you can doesn't mean that's what you want to do." She looked back towards Silver and Dry. "Not sure what their excuse is."

Dry raised a hoof, eyes still closed. "I'm learning this world. There's so much to learn... Getting a job would not help. It would hurt... Um... I would be a poor physician, not knowing the life of a pony that came to me for help. No... No! I will learn this world first. Then after? Maybe."

Diamond blinked softly. "Wow. You actually thought through this... I'm impressed." She clucked her teeth and went to look outside. "Wonder how cl--" A great thump rocked the room. The train had stopped. Unfortunately, inertia carried all the ponies ahead at the rate they had been going. The walls screamed in agony, crumpling under the force of impact. Diamond slammed into the wall with the others, pained noises of surprise heard as the metal quieted. The damage had been done. "Ow..."

"The waft of a new book, invigorating the mind," urgently shouted Dry, his glowing hooves easing the agony of Silver Spoon. Her bleeding abated and her eyes fluttered open. "Are you alright?!"

"No." She stood up and shook herself out. "What, like, even happened?!"

Apple Bloom popped out a healing brew and chugged it down, banishing her own bruises. Perhaps a testament to earth ponies, but she showed little real injuries from the sharp impact. "How y'all doin'? That was some stop!"

Scootaloo shook herself, only to squawk. "Girls..." She tapped at the floor. "This isn't the floor." No, it was a wall. And that was the door to the next car. They were standing on the wall. They all scrambled away from the door, lest it give way beneath them. "This is bad!"

Sweetie drew a quick gasp of air. "The other riders!"

Apple Bloom nodded. "Alright. Ah got mah potions." She pointed to Sweetie, Dry, and Silver. "Y'all got magic. Let's see if we can't save some ponies!"

With a communal cry to action, they... went nowhere. The door refused to budge as Dry pulled and tugged at it. It was meant to slide to the side, normally, but the impact had damaged it, freezing in place.

Silver scowled at the obstruction. "Time to get a little, like, violent. Scootaloo, with me?"

"With you!" They raised their hooves together and slammed down on the door in one great clap, sending the door falling down several inches to knock against the next car.

Apple Bloom reached past and swatted the door to the side to get it out of the way. "Let's hope..." She pulled at the next door and, thank Celestia, it moved with only some rumbling and squeaking. "Anypony in there?!"

A chorus of distressed noises reached them. They were noises of pain, surprise, and dismay. None of the ponies involved had expected that. Apple Bloom hopped down, landing on the back of a seat. "We're on the way!"

Their adventure had begun before even reaching the station properly, but they were ready to lend a hoof to those in need of it.

Author's Note

Onwards, to adventure!

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43 - Sudden Stop

Apple Bloom landed on top of the back of a bench that had served as a fine sitting place not long before. "Oof." One pony hadn't been sent flying, but only because their leg got caught on the same bench. Apple Bloom was pretty sure they weren't supposed to bend quite like that. "Ah gotcha!"

The stallion was barely whimpering. Were they even awake? Apple Bloom couldn't be sure. She flipped out a healing potion into her mouth, but delayed in trying to administer it. "Needja back together." She grabbed the injured pony and, ignoring medical advice, tried her best to heave him back up onto the bench instead of wrapped around it. "Ain't gonna do you no good to heal like that."

Sweetie Belle was focusing on injured ponies not in such a precarious position. With melodic entreaties to the universe, she could banish the hurt from some of them, a few at least before her reserves ran dry. Bards were not specialized in the healing arts, and she never trained as a mundane healer. But she had to help. She just had to...

So she did what any good bard would do. She began to sing a new song. "Even when you're given a fright, your hooves will always move right..." She bolstered their skills, so that any ponies that did know how to help would be bolstered.

Silver Spoon landed with a heavy thud at the bottom of the car. A lot of other ponies had arrived there a lot faster and violently than Silver had just managed it. "Alright, like, who needs help?" Hooves went up, but some of them weren't just raised in pleas for themselves. Several were pointing at a specific pony. "Oooo.... Oh... wow." That pony... "I... don't think I can help them..." She could only heal the living. Not an expert, she felt pretty sure that pony was not that. Ponies needed all their various parts to be connected. "Um, you." She hurried towards a still living and hopeful pony.

With a loud squeal of metal against metal, the door leading to the next car was forced open, a prybar shoving up and wrenching to finish the job. A conductor poked his head up into the mess. "Is everypony alright?" Alas, for him, some bits of that pony fell on him. "Sweet Celestia!" He almost fell in surprise. "Everypony who can walk, follow me. We're getting ponies out of here."

Newly administered ponies, and those who had miraculously avoided busting anything up too bad to start, rushed to follow the conductor. A foal sobbed, passing the grisly scene, their mother trying so badly to shelter them with limited success.

"Wait!" Dry zoomed between that crowd and the conductor. "Just one moment." He brandished his holy symbol. "In the name of Princess Luminace, I banish these injuries, that these ponies may learn and make new friends!" A wave of positive energy exploded free of Dry in all directions, not as strong as any individual healing spell, but it washed over all the ponies in the area.

The ponies only sped up, their aches abated. Some got out quick thank you or a wave, but most were in a state of panic, rushing for the safety promised by the conductor's words. To their credit, none of them shoved Dry aside, just flowing around him towards escape.

Apple Bloom descended slowly from above, helping a stallion make the trip along with her. For having his leg bent in such a way moments before, he seemed in, relatively, good spirits, but that the leg was still giving him trouble was clear, and Apple Bloom was doing her best to lend a helping hoof along the way.

"Gotcha!" Scootaloo took up the stallion's other side to help Apple Bloom on the descent. "Sorry, don't have any fancy healing tricks."

"You're fancy enough on yer own," assured Apple Bloom, accepting the help gratefully. Together, they got the stallion to the bottom and let him stiffly walk towards the conductor. "That kinda hurt ain't gonna be fixed with no quick fix. He'll need some real time to heal, or way more powerful magic."

Dry raised a hoof, and Apple Bloom met it in a great clop. "You did good! Um... I wish we could have helped them all, but, um..."

Silver thumped against Dry, side to side. "We get it. We can only do so much. Like, imagine if we weren't here."

A sharp whistle got their attention. The conductor was watching them intently. "C'mon, foals! You're the last ones." At least the last ones that were in a state he could yell at them and expect much response.

Diamond shook her head, arriving last, but looking alright. Not like she had healing tricks, just a sharp eye. Not ideal for the situation. "What's the rest of the train look like? Any doctors on board? We may be your only help."

"You're foals. C'mon. We'll get you somewhere safe." The Conductor waved down into the next car. "Don't be scared."

Apple Bloom patted herself down. "Nope, still got potions. If there are hurt ponies, we wanna help." She lifted a potion to demonstrate it to the doubtful conductor.

"This ain't a place fer apple juice," he scoffed, climbing up into their car fully. "Now, let's move. All the other ponies already left, don't you want to go with them?"

A plea for herd instinct, but they had a herd already. The foals gathered closer together. Dry shook his head quickly. "We are not just foals. We have magic that can help ponies who are hurt. This is not a game."

The conductor squinted at the lot of them. "I saw you do something..." He turned away from them, hopping down through the floor, or the door that had become the floor. "Either way, gotta come this way."

With a shared look, the young adventurers followed after the conductor. The only thing behind, er, above them was the room they had started in, and there wasn't much there. The next car had ponies escaping out a jagged cut in the side of things, with some windows kicked out to make it wider and a little less hazardous as they popped free of the ruined train.

Dry hurried to the front, jumping from seat to seat to get to the ragged opening in the car, but not to escape. "Luminace, on this trying day, be our light of hope!" He held his holy symbol up, unleashing a new wave of healing energy over the ponies trying to escape.

Silver landed next to him with a thump. "Nice work. Us war priests have a harder time doing that fwoosh--" She spread her hooves in pantomime of the explosion of energy. "--thing."

Dry could do something better than Silver? That was a hard concept to accept. "But you can do it? You can help."

"I've, like, been helping." She gently bopped her boyfriend. "But good timing, getting so many ponies better." She leaned over the seat to get a better look below them. "Are there other cars down there, with other ponies?"

Dry looked instead to one of the conductors. "What did this? Is it still here?" Danger was not a thing to be ignored.

"We do not know, but we have to get everypony off this train. It's clearly not safe here." The conductor waved towards the exit. "Why don't you get in the line? You've done a lot already."

"Thank you." But he jumped down instead, springing from seat to seat towards the next car.

The others followed after him without a word of prompting. Apple Bloom landed next to him on a seat. "Lookin' fer others?"

"Yeah. They're focused on running. Um, I understand that." It was an excellent survival strategy! "But there could be ponies that need us."

"Let's do it!" The crusaders met with a triumphant clop of hooves, certain on their goal.

Diamond grunted, last in the crowd. "Not feeling super helpful right now..." But she followed anyway.

A conductor was trying to get a pony with a shattered leg moving with extremely limited success. They were trying their best, but there was only so much they could do. They didn't expect a cadre of foals to drop in. "W-what?"

Dry rubbed his hooves together, starting to glow. "We can't fix that entirely, but we can..." He tapped the injured pony, a spark of life rushing into them. "Get them up."

The injured mare squeaked in surprise, suddenly awake with clarity. "What happened?" She scrambled to her hooves, which could support her. "My... ow..." But her leg was still quite tender. The conductor leaned in and under her, supporting her towards the exit.

Silver hissed, finding a conductor seated with an entire leg missing. He was watching stoically, unmoving. "Are you... like... even awake?"

"Yes." One syllable, curt, through clenched teeth.

"This isn't a safe place to be..." Silver Spoon inclined her head. "Want some help?"

"You shouldn't... be here." He grunted, a wave of pain washing through his savaged form. "Please, go... up."

"Nuh uh." She pressed her hooves to the injured stallion. "Just, like, relax. It'll feel better." There was no prayer, her shoving her faith more directly in an application of battle healing. "How's that?"

He struggled to stand, doing so awkwardly with only three hooves to his name. "B-better... How'd you do that?"

"Not important. You get up there." Silver Spoon pointed up to where they had left the exit to the train. "Can you get up there?"

"Not easily..." It didn't stop him from trying, but three legged locomotion was not graceful, and he had to climb, making it a slow process at best.

"Diamond, Scoots!" Silver looked around to find the two. "Over here!" Soon she had the two non-healing fillies giving a helping hoof to the injured conductor. "This is, like, awful..." The sudden stop of the train had hurt a lot of ponies, some the final injury they'd ever have... Even the survivors, many had hurts that may never get better. "Awful..."

Dry pawed at his girlfriend. "Good job. Let's keep helping where we can."

"Yeah! Yeah..." She smooched him, perhaps more than required, but she needed a smooch just then, perhaps a reminder she was still alive and had things worth fighting for. "Back to it!" She was still a foal, despite her battle readiness.

There would be no next car, at least not one they could reach. The end of that car was literally crumpled and smashed, entirely impassable. "Anypony in there?" shouted Apple Bloom at the mangled metal. "Jus' shout if ya can hear me!"

Things became quiet, just the foals listening as hard as they could.

Scootaloo raised a hoof. "I heard something!" She pointed at the source. "I think somepony's in there!"

Sweetie put her hooves over her face. "That..." The way the metal was bent and warped, any pony in there had to be... badly hurt, or amazingly lucky... "How do we get them out?"

Apple Bloom pulled out a new potion. "Time fer the big guns." She slugged down the contents with rapid chugs, her form deforming as she redoubled her muscles with a grunting roar of steroid-like rage. "No metal's gonna stop me!" Having transitioned from Jekyll to Hyde, she hopped down and slammed a hoof against the deformed metal, creating a new screech as she slammed it aside. "Ah'm comin'!"

They found the source of the noise, closer with each powerful bang of Apple Bloom's furious kicks and punches.

Several other foals came into view, but they weren't rushing to escape. They were pinned under the form of a larger pony, the only reason they hadn't been crushed or sliced. The larger pony had. Their mother had given the ultimate sacrifice to protect them. The three were sobbing quietly, tears spilling from their eyes as they tried, poorly, to address their would-be saviors.

Diamond shoved to the front. "No time for sadness right now." She fixed them with a haunting stare. "Your mom wants you to be safe and off this train. Up!" She thrust a hoof upwards. "Now." Her mental power pierced through their sorrow and they took off like a monster was chasing after them. It wouldn't fix their trauma, but it was getting them towards more immediate safety.

Author's Note

Not every adventure is full of thrilling battles against monsters.

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44 - What we Can Do

Apple Bloom wiped her forehead clear of sweat. "We ain't gettin' any farther." She turned the same hoof upwards. "Time to get up an' outta here."

Diamond nodded slowly. "We've done all we can. All we could even try to do is... help ponies that won't ever know it." A subtle way to avoid saying dead. She was busy not looking at any of those ponies. "Whoever did this, we need to punch them, in the face."

Silver offered a hoof down from above. "Come on! Let's get out before we get hurt, too. This, like, entire train could fall apart."

They could hear the soft groans of tortured metal. It could become a squeal of collapsing metal at any moment. That threat was more than enough to get them moving, hurriedly climbing up towards the exit.

There was only one conductor waiting for them by the exit. He hurriedly rushed towards them as they climbed up. "Oh, thank Celestia! I thought you might have gotten hurt. Please, this way."

Dry scampered around the conductor, but stopped to wait for the others. "Um, thank you. We're fine... Some ponies are very not..."

Apple Bloom was back to her usual self. "Did all we could. Let's get out of here afore we join the hurt ponies..." She looked to the conductor. "Are there any other hurt ponies?"

Silver nodded firmly, throwing her head towards Scootaloo and Diamond following her. "We can help get them out of here."

"You did fine." The conductor pointed for the ragged exit. "More than fine, but it's time for all of us to get off this train. No more arguing."

Dry cocked an ear. "Be right there." He left the others to scurry up from seat to seat.

The conductor waved a hoof at him. "We gotta go. Everypony else, this way." He began shepherding the other foals off the train.

Dry popped up into the next car above. He could hear scared noises. He knew scared noises. That a pony was making them meant they were still a pony. A pony that could be saved. "I'm here..." For what good that was... "I'm here to help."

The noises led him to a stallion, huddled under a bench. Their eyes were closed tight and they weren't moving aside of shivering. "Sir?" Dry climbed up to be on top of the same bench the stallion was curled in. "Sir, can you walk? We have to go, sir."

"Nnmmo."

"No?" Dry leaned closer to the quivering stallion. "No you can't walk?"

The stallion lashed at Dry, hoof flying through the air. "I can walk. I can walk real good!" But he wasn't. He hadn't even stood up, still curled miserably.

"Sir?" Dry peeked back down where the others were. "We have to go... You could get hurt. You don't--"

"Of course I can get hurt." He sniffed loudly. "I just was. I will be again... It's not safe... They said it was safe..."

"It's not safe."

Those words seemed to startle the stallion. "W-what? You're... supposed to say it's safe."

"It's not safe," repeated Dry, just as certain. "It's very dangerous... We have to go... It's dangerous."

The stallion sat up slowly. "It's not safe," he joined in repeating. "Why should I go? It's just as dangerous..."

"Less dangerous." Dry pointed downwards. "Less. Not safe, but less dangerous."

"Less..." The idea seemed so enticing. Less dangerous... That was good. He stood up on shaking legs. "Where is less dangerous?"

Dry pointed down. "Away from the train. We need to escape."

"Escape! Yes. Yes... Of course. Escape. Less dangerous." He scrambled up next to Dry. "That way? That looks... dangerous?" He was looking down the sharp fall, with only other benches to break the fall. "Very dangerous."

"I'm here. I will make it less dangerous." Carefully, Dry stepped down to the next seat. "This way. No jumping."

He followed, slowly. His fear-numbed limbs only let him go so fast, but he was following. A loud screaching groan of metal brought him to a complete stop. "Danger!"

"Danger," agreed Dry, shivering with him. "We have to escape. This way." He pointed down urgently.

Dry didn't get a chance to hear the response. The squeal of compromised metal filled his ears as the train gave way. With a severe yank, the bench under them surged to the side, leaving them floating in the air, but even that was for the barest instant. They were falling, hurtling towards jagged metal and dissolving train.

He grabbed for the stallion and curled around him, praying feverishly to Luminace, that she might shield them in that moment of utter terror. It would be so sad to never get a chance to speak to his new friend...

Pain ran in a dull thud. They had landed, and they didn't split in half, or get impaled. "Move!" They weren't safe, that much Dry knew. "Run!" He detached from the stallion that was doing much the same. They took off running away from the train, wobbly from the painful impact of their fall. The train listed over and fell several feet off its tracks, giving up even managing that much.

Apple Bloom crashed into him, practically forcing him to the ground and putting a bottle to his lips. "Drink!"

So he drank. It was only then that he could feel pain. With the spike of the moment fading, the pain came on him. That fall hadn't been harmless, or painless, just delayed. As he chugged down the potion Apple Bloom offered, it all came back, reminding him of how badly he'd taken that fall. His manic run had done his legs no favors.

But he was alive, and being nursed with the restorative brew. He would see another day... "Sorry," he got out, spitting the bottle aside. "Sorry."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "You ain't owe me anythin'. Just glad yer alright." She fetched a fresh bottle. "Still hurt? Drink up."

"You must be running low." He didn't reach for the bottle. "How many do you have left?" Apple Bloom looked guilty, no answer coming. "Give it to him." Dry pointed to the collapsed form of the stallion he'd fallen with. "I'll be alright."

Silver suddenly hugged Dry, the power of her faith running through him in a powerful healing wave. "My hero! Never do that again... But, like, that was... really good." She smooched the top of his head, able to snuggle more as Apple Bloom went to help the stallion.

"Are you alright?" Dry sat up to look over his girlfriend/maybe fiance. "You look... alright."

"I'm, like, fine." She waved that off. "I wasn't the one climbing up a breaking train to rescue somepony. I thought you were a big scaredycat. Why'd you do that!?" She stomped a hoof down. "I thought you'd get hurt... or worse."

"I prayed... That was not a smart idea... I was dumb... But I lived." Dry sunk with self-defeat. "But it was dumb. I lived because I was lucky. That is not a good way to survive."

"Right?!" Silver swatted at him. "But you didn't say why."

"Why?" He considered back to that moment. "I could hear the sounds of fear... I know that sound... I... couldn't... I didn't want to abandon them."

"Aw." She hugged him firmly and close. "Today has been exhausting... and we're captured."

"Captured?"

As if prompted by his question, a loud bark of an order rippled over the dizzy crowd, "Everyone on your feet. If you can't stand, remain where you are for medical attention. You are now prisoners."

Silver inclined her head at the shout. "Our big rescue ended before we even got there... Oops?"

Dry fretted his hooves together. "What? But..." He glanced over the crowd. "We could run. We could hide."

Silver touched her nose to Dry's cheek. "That wouldn't help them, and could get them hurt, or worse. Let's hide in the crowd?" She let him go and stood up, marching to join those who were obeying.

"Hide." That was a concept he knew. Hiding in a crowd? Sure... He marched in the same direction, but not right next to Silver Spoon, lest they give away their connection. The others didn't pop up immediately. "Good." They were hiding in the crowd too, or so he hoped at least.

A pony approached on a great beast. A horse. Full sized compared to the ponies, it was like Celestia, but a lot less arcane, or comforting. "Is this everyone?" the pony demanded with a frown on his face.

"All but the wounded," assured a lanky pony. Dry's eyes widened. A ghost pony! Their deer-like proportions were a giveaway. "The wounded are being gathered, Sir."

"See that it's done quickly." He wheeled his horse on the crowd. "You will all follow me. We're going into town, as you planned." He smiled a cruel smile. "Just as you wanted."

Nervous whispers rose all around Dry.

"Where are they taking us?"

"Are we prisoners?"

"I want to go home."

"This is my home..."

Dry had forgotten that option, that some ponies might actually already live in the besieged town, trying desperately to get home. That was not the way they'd wanted it, Dry felt sure. He kept his mouth shut and walked.

He sidestepped, avoiding the heavy steps of that horse. The pony atop it glared down at Dry. "You."

"Me, sir?" He pointed to himself.

"Yes, you." The pony leaned in from his horse, quite a bit higher. "Native born, hm?"

Dry started. Right! He had become an Equestrian pony. There was little hint of his Everglow roots, unlike the Everglow invaders... "Not from this town, sir."

"Hm." He looked at Dry skeptically from above. "Deviants, letting such little foals wander on their own." He scowled at others near Dry. "Are any of you their caretaker?" They shook their heads quickly. "Figures... Stay in line." He urged his horse forward, away from Dry.

Dry let out an uneasy breath.

"We know." A mare walking beside him had spoken without turning her head. "You and the others worked so hard for us... We won't turn you over to them."

"Yeah," agreed a stallion on the other side. "We lost enough today..." Soft murmurs rose with it. The ponies seemed sure in not giving up Dry's actual purpose of being there, not that Dry had told them. Still, it meant he had found a good herd to hide among. He was just another foal, and the ponies around him were willing to play the part of his parent.

He could only hope the others had similar look.

The town they had set out to came into view, below them as they hiked. "You'll be given food and a place to rest, when we arrive and not a second sooner," came the shout. "Move!"

They walked at the rate their captors set, a brisk march down into the captured town. Maybe he could help? It felt unlikely, but Dry kept the shard of hope alive in his chest. Luminace didn't save him just for him to do nothing there...

He couldn't prove his patron had done anything to spare his life, but he was alive, and he would... He would try his best.

And he would survive. Those were the two things he felt confident promising himself he'd try to get done. It hit him.

As an Equestrian pony, he looked more like the foal the Everglow ponies treated him like.

Maybe that could come in handy.

Author's Note

Cutie Mark Prisoners, to action!

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45 - A Town Jailed

The town rose into view with their marching. It wasn't terribly far, the hills and trees having hid it from any appreciable distance. Apple Bloom edged closer to the mare that had adopted her suddenly. "So, any idea what it's like in there?"

"Nothing good." The mare sighed softly. "Why I was trying to hurry back. I didn't think it'd be this bad."

Bloom glanced to where she could see Scootaloo and Sweetie marching aside a different couple. They had scattered among the ponies, but the crowd had been quick to throw a protective arm over them. It was among the ponies they had tried so hard to save that they were safely escorted into the town.

"Alright." There was the horse rider, voice booming. It wasn't magic, just shouting firmly. "Those of you who already have a place of dwelling here." He directed a hoof at the ground. "Here." He moved along the crowd. "Those of you who do not, here. Quickly now. We're almost done."

The crowd split like a dividing amoeba. Apple Bloom's mare nudged her towards the 'live here' portion. The other crusaders were headed elsewhere. No words were shared between them. Apple Bloom just followed her 'mother' as if that had always been true. "Welcome home," barked a new pony, clearly Everglow in origin. "We are not idiots. We want the people who live here to function here. You will be returned to your place of living after a short interview. Provided you supply some use to the town, you will not be harmed."

Apple Bloom inclined her head and dared to raise a hoof.

The pony snarled at her. "Keep your foal in order," he demanded of her 'mother.' "This is not the time for questions, not from any of you at least."

Apple Bloom went quiet, lest she get her adoptive mother in trouble.

As he had promised, they had no questions for Apple Bloom at all. Those were all thrown at her 'mother.' "Name? Profession? Place of dwelling?" They went down a list, scribbling with mouth-held markers the answers they got. "One child?"

"One child." The mare gently drew Apple Bloom closer with one arm.

"Mmhmm." He took a quick scribble. "Are you practicing your profession currently?"

The mare perked up. "Of course. They expect me to--"

"Mmhmm," he casually cut her off, making a note. "Return to your home. A soldier will be by after the seventh bell to insure your food supplies are sufficient. You are permitted to visit the water tap twice a day. I suggest bringing a bucket."

"Um... thank you." She slipped around him, leading Apple Bloom away. "Doesn't he know?" she asked in a whisper. "We have pipes. I don't need to 'go' to any taps to get a drink."

Apple Bloom giggled at the silly mistake, but a thought came to her. "What if the pipes were damaged or somethin'?"

The mare paled a little. "I hope not! Let's find out." She cleared her throat against a hoof. "I understand you're not actually my foal, but you are very welcome to stay... or not. I can't tell you what to do."

Apple Bloom tipped the hat she wasn't wearing. "Aw shucks, ya hit me like a real nice mare. Um, since yer offerin', 'magine I'll be stickin' around until this mess is cleared up."

Walking through town, they could see hints that the conflict had washed over it. some of the buildings were damaged, a few were even brought down in fire and debris. Fortunately, the mare arrived with a sigh of relief in front of her one story cottage, unharmed. "Maybe I was lucky to not be at home when this... happened." She opened the door and waved inside. "After you."

Apple Bloom dashed inside, safe for the moment.

Diamond glared, standing next to Silver as they waited to be processed. "Let me do the talking."

Silver swallowed thickly. "Do you think the others are alright?"

"There are no others." Diamond took a step forward with the line. "It's just us. We've been here before. We're doing it again. Stay calm, let me take the first step. We'll make it."

Silver trembled, but kept glued to Diamond's side. "Alright... Glad you're here."

Diamond tapped her rump to her friend's. "Hey, chin up. We're together. We can do this. Everglow couldn't tear us apart the first time. They want a rematch? Fine. We're ready."

Silver brightened at those bold words, even daring a smile. "Yeah... Yeah. Alright. We got each other."

"Next!" demanded an Everglow pony mare. She watched two step up, and frowned. "Next, as in singular..." She looked between Silver and Diamond. "Do you... What is your relationship?"

Diamond threw an arm over Silver's withers, drawing her closer by the neck. "This is my sister. Some sort of mistake must have been made."

The mare raised a doubting brow. "What mistake do you imagine that is, foal?"

Diamond locked eyes with the mare, challenging her without word to a battle of wills. "We are the foals of powerful and rich ponies. We're way more valuable as prizes."

The mare shook her head, perhaps trying to jostle loose the new thoughts intruding on her. "You look..." Her eyes raised to Diamond's glittering tiara. "You, both of you. Are your parents aristocrats?"

Silver nodded quickly. "Oh, yes." She turned to display her cutie mark.

Diamond huffed, but did show hers as well. Two marks that clearly set them apart as wealthy little fillies. "They will pay handsomely if we're kept safe and comfortable."

"I need to consult with someone." The mare rose and strode away, leaving them.

Silver leaned in towards Diamond. "Did you just trick her... into thinking the truth?"

Diamond smirked at that. "It wasn't her truth. She wasn't ready for it, and would have easily looked past it. I just made it... more obvious."

Silver curled a hoof to her chin. "Huh... Glad you have that... thing... Luminace is way more, like, straight forward about it."

The mare returned with a stallion at her side. She pointed at the fillies. "Those two. They're children of some local aristocrat."

The stallion stopped in front of them with the jingle of his metal armor. "Hm." He looked from one to the next and their brands of destiny. "The Author was not subtle in your brands."

Silver colored. "H-hey..."

Diamond rolled her eyes. "There are layers. Anyway..."

"Anyway," echoed the stallion, deeper and less jovial. "You are our prisoner. You are not to leave the town or even think about it." He thrust a hoof at Diamond, then Silver. "Come with me." He led them away from the other orphan and lost foals that were being interviewed. "We have an orphanage assembled. Are you averse to the company of your peers?"

Silver flipped an ear back. "You say 'peers', but, like, I doubt you mean that. Still--"

"--We can handle other foals just fine," quickly assured Diamond. "We'll keep them from making noise."

The stallion perked subtly. "Ah. Good. Are your parents native to this town?" He arrived at what looked to be more of a warehouse than much anything else.

Silver peered skeptically. "No. They're from Ponyville."

The stallion tossed his head at the heavy closed sliding doors. "Go on then. But tell me who we should claim to have."

"Diamond Crown." Diamond pointed back at her tiara. "Not subtle."

"Not subtle," agreed the stallion. "Inside." He hooked a hoof in front of Silver. "Your name?"

"Oh, like..."

"You are taking a long time for that." He scowled at her. "The truth."

"This has been, like, a super stressful day!" Silver threw up her hooves with a huff. "Fancy Spoon." She pointed at her own cutie mark. "It's right there."

Diamond swatted her. "Silver Spoon. She's frazzled."

"Very," petulantly agreed Silver. "You--"

"--Enough, inside." He pointed all the more firmly. "Now." The two fillies rushed in, just pausing long enough to get the door to slide open with little grunts of effort, then vanishing into the dark before he closed it behind them. "Damn foals..."

Silver wheeled on Diamond the moment they were a few steps inside. "What was all that about?! You gave a secret fake name. I figured, like, I should too. Why'd you tell him the truth?"

Diamond winked. "Because one of us has a thing worked out with our dad, and the other does not. That name will tell him all he needs to know. If your dad was told 'Fancy Spoon' was in trouble, they'd just get confused, and maybe tell them they have no such daughter, and then our cover is blown wide open."

Silver crashed to her haunches. "Woah, really? Like... you two have a secret code... or more?"

Diamond shook her head slowly. "We've both been to Everglow. We learned things, and we both want each other safe. So, yes, we swapped a few codewords, just in case. Diamond Crown? I'm safe, but in a dangerous place. I've got things under control. Don't come running after me."

"Wow." She barely got that out when a bright light spilled over them, a mare approaching with a priestly habit and a bit of a confused expression, her steps loud on the metal floor. She was from Everglow at a sight.

"Children." She held out a hoof as she came in closer. "You don't want to linger here in the entry. All your friends are further inside. Come, with me."

Silver perked her ears, recognition growing by the moment. "Are you a priest?"

The religiously-dressed mare snorted, recoiling in surprise. "Oh! I'm used to you Equestrians not knowing much of that... I am." She inclined her head. "How do you know about that, little one?"

Silver's ears colored at the tips, realizing maybe she shouldn't have said that... "I heard another pony that visited Everglow, um, like, that's where you're from, right?"

The priest only seemed to relax. "Yes, little one. Now, come. You're not too late for dinner." She gently nudged them forward, to emerge from the gloom into a well lit room. There were about a dozen foals of varying ages from yearlings to about the same age as Silver and Diamond. "I hope you can make some friends. I know this is a hard time for you all."

Diamond waved at the priest, getting her to lean in, making eye contact easier, mind touching on mind. "Do you really care about them?"

The priestess recoiled at the question. "Of course! It would be against Lashtada's decree to see a scrap of harm done to the next generation. It is the most sacred task of this generation to create and safeguard the next generation, that they may do the same." She made some kind of holy gesture, looking devoutly in prayer a moment. "May All Lines Be One."

Silver clapped gently. "Oh! Lashtada! Praises unto her, ally of Luminace."

The priestess' eyes widen. "What bottomless pools of wisdom stand before me, garbed in such small bodies. You know of Princess Luminace, caretaker of books and guardian of friendships?"

Diamond waved to her partner in crime. "She loves Luminance. She could go on for hours."

"I, like, really could," admitted Silver without going into the fact that she was a warpriest. "I love her, but I heard Lashtada's pretty good too. If you're with her, you must be good."

"I am so gladdened to hear that." She gently rubbed the top of Silver's head with her Everglow hoof. "I know this is not ideal... But for a foal without a parent, the community must rise to the occasion. You are safe here, this I swear, or may Lashtada strip her bounty from me."

Diamond chuckled softly. "Well, you seem nice... So what's up with the grouches outside? The soldiers don't share your outlook."

The priestess sighed heavily. "No... No they don't. I'm sorry. Go on now." She shooed them away. "Make some friends. Community is what will last through the day."

Author's Note

Did you expect a Lashtada priest? Who better to run an orphanage?

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46 - Jailed, but not Subdued

Diamond led the way into the next room, brightly lit. Somepony had gathered all kinds of children-like mobiles and decorations and even arranged stuffed animals with innocently cheerful faces around. It was very clearly a space for young things to be comfortable in. A pity many of the foals there looked less than pleased about it.

But there was a happy one, charging straight for them.

Silver smiled brightly in kind and hurried to meet them, crashing into a hug. "Dry!"

"Silver!" He released her from the full hug, sliding to one arm. "I was determined to be an 'orphan', so they sent me here. I'm glad you're both alright."

Diamond nodded at their lanky peer. "Good to see you too. You don't look roughed up." She turned her gaze on the other foals there. "This is a clash..." The room, so brightly appointed, clearly treated with love by somepony that wanted to make happy children, but with so few merry children to use its accommodations.

Heavy hoof steps prompted her to wheel in place to see an adult Everglow pony approaching. She growled and backed away, but he didn't care, marching right up to her and snatching her tiara with a grab of his teeth. "This will work as proof." And off he went with her tiara.

Silver stared with wide eyes. It wasn't until he was gone that she regained her senses. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"I was very tempted." Diamond ran her hooves through her exposed mane, tending it. "But he isn't wrong. That tiara is good proof that we're really here. Blowing our cover over that... isn't worth it." She jumped as something touched her.

Dry was the toucher, gently patting her side. "You are very brave. I know that tiara is important to you."

Another foal began to cry, perhaps renewed to tears by the sight of the casual theft. The priestess hurried in with a low curse, "All lines come together, but perhaps his can wait." She bee lined to the crying foal and sank before her. "It's alright. It's alright." With all the care that the others did not have, she gently whispered and cradled the foal.

Silver watched the interaction with a hum. "She seems serious, about being good, I mean. Lashtada priests are usually nice."

"That is only half true," noted the priestess without turning from the foal. "We serve a force of nature. In order for ponies to be, they must make more ponies. They must see those ponies grow and make more ponies. Without this, there are no ponies. Is that good? Is that bad? Selfish? Selfless? Hm, I could debate the philosophies, but I doubt you little ones are up for that." She smooched the nose of the recovered filly. "Feeling better?" She rose, satisfied with her work. "Now, me." She turned towards Silver. "I like to think I am a good person. My matron doesn't care, but I do. I want each generation to be happier than the last, not just coming together, though that is also happening."

Diamond pinned an ear back. "Well, since you seem... legit... let me just out and ask." She waved over the other despondant foals. "Why are you here. By 'you', I mean all of you. Why is Everglow rolling over Equestria? Again!"

The priestess blinked with amazement. "You know of Everglow?"

"Aside the point." Diamond tapped the ground impatiently. "Why? Why are you here? Give us a reason."

The priestess looked over the many foals that had been drawn by the conversation. "You deserve an answer." She sank to her haunches, prompting many foals to come in closer. "This wasn't my idea... But those are words used often by cowards. I came with them because I knew pain would result, and I could tend to it. Whatever they were doing, I could at least try to make it less terrible..." She sighed gently. "A whole world, unguarded. Visitors from it have come with eager tales of how wonderful it is. Filled with ponies of another sort. They couldn't resist."

She spread her hooves across the foals in front of her. "Look at you! Adorable things... I would defend a foal without question, but to gaze on you? This world has the most endearing little ponies... Lashtada would lash me a thousand times if I even considered allowing harm on any of you." Several foals came in closer, deciding she was on their side. "I'm so very sorry... I know I am no replacement for the parents you are missing so badly... But I will do my best."

Diamond hmmed. "Well, if you had your choice, would you take them all and go home?" She pointed past the priestess, behind her.

"Would that be an option." She cocked a brow. "I would be tempted to stay. If one of these precious little children is in need of a guardian, the thought of leaving them... I have given my vow. Even those soldiers will not shake me of it. I am yours until I am no longer needed."

Diamond smirked, an expression far more wicked than her years should have allowed for. "The soldiers must hate you."

"They do not hate the healing I provide." The priestess lifted her nose. "They know I keep this place safe and secure. I have a job, and I perform it ardently. They will just have to learn to live with the rest."

One little colt poked at her. "Healing?"

"Oh, yes." She gathered the foal up to bring him up, so their noses were almost touching. "With Lashtada's blessings, I can chase away pains and injuries. She is life itself, ever in pursuit of life. To recover from injury is a basic part of life, is it not?"

Dry coughed into a hoof. "Ma'am." He gained her attention. "May I tell you a secret in confidence?"

Diamond swatted at him, but Silver moved in supportingly. Outvoted, Diamond grunted. "Fine."

The priestess looked from one foal to the next of that group of three. "You have shown knowledge none of the others have..." She frowned suddenly. "You're not adults, polymorphed into the form of children, are you?!" She recoiled at the very idea of it. "That is an act of supreme cowardice! You should be defending the young, not hiding behind them! Admit it! To protect the present at the cost of the future may leave you with neither."

Dry waved his hooves wildly. "N-no! Um, please stop looking at me like that." The penetrating look of Lashtadan judgement was an intimidating thing her priestess brought to bare upon him. "I'm from Everglow!"

Her affronted look melted into confusion. "The soldiers brought no foals with them. How did an Everglow foal join us? Where are you from?" She rose up, but didn't seem to do it to loom. "You poor thing, a world away from your parents."

Silver and Diamond closed in front of Dry defensively, but that only made the priestess smile. "You have made friends, a new community. How lovely." She set a hoof on both of the defending fillies. "How admirable you two are. Did he whisper all those things to you, tales of alien gods and strange ways?"

Diamond cocked a brow. "We've been to Everglow, since you're asking. We're the ones teaching him things."

"Have you?" She frowned softly. "Hm... Not impossible..." Her eyes darted to Dry, hooves falling from the fillies. "You do not look like an Everglow foal, why?"

Dry swallowed, but looked less nervous. He was being studied by a caring mother, rather than an angry one. There was a big difference. "All Everglow ponies, um, I think this happens." He pointed at himself. "All the Equestrian ones became Everglow ones after enough time in Everglow, and became Equestrian ones when they came home."

Silver raised a hoof. "Ugh, happened to us. That was... odd."

Another foal perked up, listening to the chat. "You've been where they came from?"

Diamond nodded. "We have, and he's from there." She threw an arm around Dry. "But he's on our side. Honorary Equestrian." She squeezed him for extra effect.

Dry wobbled in the squeeze, but chuckled nervously along the way. "I'm a ghost pony."

The priestess blinked in amazement. "Are you? A rare tribe of pony, come so far away, but... In that case, you aren't as lost as I imagined. Ghost ponies do leave their own at a young age, don't they?"

Dry recoiled an inch. "What?! I'm old enough."

"For a ghost pony," reminded the priestess. "They set their foals out early. I would chastise them for not better safeguarding the next generation, if there were ears my words would reach." She gruntsnorted, her complaints to little avail. "Still, that a ghost should turn up in a place so exotic... not impossible to consider. Has this world treated you well?"

"Very well," reported Dry with a big smile." He grabbed Silver, just to push her forward. "She is courting me." He grabbed for Diamond. "She is both of our dear friend. I have learned so much since I came here... Um... You will keep this a secret?"

"As if they would believe the foals began this." She shook her head. "My vow is made. Not a word will escape me. Now I have another reason. To stand in the way of a new union? I would sooner die."

Diamond huffed. "No need to go to that." She turned to the others there. "First, plans."

Apple Bloom was fed a tasty meal by her adoptive mother. The water was running, and her fridge had food. Though the food brought was accepted, to not irritate them, it wasn't strictly required. "I'm going to put this away," the mare had promised Apple Bloom. "The food in the fridge looks a little spotty with my time away, and who knows when we can go shopping again." So they ate the last of the good food in there, but starving didn't seem in their future at least. "They really don't seem to know."

Apple Bloom shook her head quickly. "Let's not remind 'em." That they had water was a luxury they weren't racing to be without. "They had pipes in their cities too. Wonder why they didn't think of it."

The mare paused in her steps. "You know them?"

"I've been there. I don't know them." She waved outside to the soldiers outside the house. "But I've been there, to their world an' whatnot. The big cities are jus' like ours in a lotta ways, but lackin' in other ways, but better in other ways. It's a mixed bag... They love magic."

The mare sank, hoof to her cheek. "A bunch of alien unicorns have invaded us with attitude problems. That isn't good."

"No it ain't." Apple Bloom pointed to the back. "There a back door? Ah really should get to scoutin' thin's out."

The mare held up her hooves. "I told you. You are welcome here, but I'm not holding you here. You're not my filly... I just want you safe, please."

Apple Bloom closed with her temporary caretaker and gave them a one armed hug. "You really are a good pony. Ah'll likely be back! Just wanna get a look around while there's some light to do it."

"Do it carefully." But she didn't stop Apple Bloom. "I'll be hoping for you!"

As if on cue, the moment Apple Bloom trotted out of sight energetically, a loud clopping bang came from her door. "Coming!" The mare hurried to the door and got it open to reveal the face of one of their soldiers, a pegasus from the look of it. "Can I help you?"

The pegasus worried his wings. "I'm told that ponies of this land expect regular weather duties. Is this correct?"

The mare blinked at the question. "Yes, every day. You--" But the soldier was already walking away despondantly. "Wait, please." The pegasus looked over his shoulder. "Did something happen?"

He paused, still a moment before a sigh came out. "We didn't bring any pegasi that well trained in the weather arts."

She dared a little smile. "If you let them, the local pegasi would eagerly get back to work."

The pegasus bonked the side of his head with his odd Everglow hoof. "I told the commander this!" He flinched. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you, ma'am. You did nothing wrong... I will do my best to convince him. Good day."

"Good day." She closed the door behind him, leaving her alone in the house. "This is a mess..."

Author's Note

Writing a serious Lashtadan priest? Super fun, just saying.

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48 - Mother Would Approve

"I had meant to ask." The Lashtadan priest got Dry alone a moment. "How old are you? Equestrian ponies have almost no concept of the notion, it seems, but you are an Everglow native, so I hope?"

"Sixteen, ma'am." He inclined his head up at her. "All grown up."

"That is a lie." She gently set her hoof on his nose. "You have so much more growing to do, both in body and in mind. But, for a ghost pony, that sounds like a young adult to me." Her eyes darted to Dry's little filly friends. "Are they young adults as well? From where I sit, they seem like larger children."

"I... am at times unsure."

"But still you would dance with her." She sat up with a hum. "So much growing to do. It is perhaps much to ask, for one so young." She leaned in, nose to his cheek. "I am happy for you."

"Y-you are? You sounded like you... were upset at first?" Getting a proper read on the priest was a challenge at times, and he hummed in thought of it. "Are you?"

"I am confused, but my patron smiles on you. Let All Lines be One. If she is inviting you to dance, I will not stand in the way of a new family, especially one with such obvious love and care between you two. Just... be careful. She is young in body. You don't want to harm her."

"N-no!" he squeaked out loudly enough to draw so many eyes. "I would never want to hurt her."

"Exactly the answer I hoped for." She rose to her hooves and stood up properly. "Just remember, that a foal with a foal, can lead to injury." She brought up her hooves to clop them gently together. "Even if lines should brush together, it will be for naught if she can't handle the trials placed before a mother."

"You can stop, like, bothering him." Silver had arrived, eyeing the priest suspiciously. "We're not doing anything. Like, sheesh, let a filly enjoy being a filly." She nipped at Dry's ear, tugging him just enough to face her. "Stop worrying about that. I'm not a hussy anyway. We're doing nothing until we're married."

The priest watched at Silver made her huffy exit. "I didn't expect she'd even know that word."

"Me neither," admitted the blushing Dry. "Um... That settles that, I guess." He burst into a brief fit of giggles. "She knows what's best for her. I'm glad she understands."

"I am happy." She nodded at Dry, waving him towards her. "I have taken enough of your time."

"Thank you." He nodded at her and scurried off to rejoin his two filly friends. "So, um, what's the plan?"

Diamond snickered, hoof over her mouth. "Before or after you get dating advice?"

Silver swatted at her friend. "Cut that out. Alright, Dry, it's time we got out there and started fixing things."

Dry inclined his head towards the priest, speaking to another foal. "She doesn't want us to go. Um, I don't think she's being mean about it. She's scared. I can understand that. She doesn't want any foals hurt, and we're foals, so..." Even if he wasn't a foal, technically!

Diamond rolled her eyes. "We're foals that know how to take care of ourseves. Hold on a moment." She trotted right up to the priest, drawing her attention in just the approach. "Hey."

"Hello." The priest smiled gently at Diamond. "You look like you have something important to say. What is it?"

"Glad you can see that." Diamond waved back at the others. "We're checking out the town. This is not a question. Be back later."

The priest was still a moment, save for nudging a foal back towards the others to play. "I can't protect you outside these walls." She huffed an exasperated noise. "I can barely protect you within them."

"Yep." Diamond turned from her. "We're in danger out there. We're in danger in here. Not much different, so we're taking our chances." She flicked her tail at the priest, walking back to the others. "That's settled."

"You didn't have to be that rude..." Dry could see Diamond's words had pierced the priest. "She isn't an enemy."

Silver pointed where they had come in. "Well, it's done. Let's get out of here without stirring up anymore commotion."

They fled, one by one, trying to be subtle about it with varying success. To their credit, only one colt followed them. "Where ya goin'?" asked the foal with a curious look. "We're supposed to stay inside."

Diamond pointed back towards the other children. "Head back inside. We came here to deal with this, so just trust us."

"You're not an adult," noted the colt, wielding their keen perception. "What're you gonna do?"

Dry cleared his throat a bit more loudly than he needed to. "We are trained adventurers." He clopped his hooves together with a few soft words, leaving them glowing with the power of his god. "Leave it to us."

"B-but... you..." Dry was not a unicorn. But he had cast a spell. The two conflicting facts wrestled in the foal's wide eyes. "Wow... Um... Good luck." He dashed back towards the others and away from the confusing magic-wielding earth pony.

Silver bumped against Dry. "Good job. Let's get out of here."

Diamond swatted at Dry's hooves. "And put those out. We don't need any more attention."

"Right." Dry emerged with the fillies into the dark evening of the town. Fortunately, the guards weren't paying too much attention to the orphanage, probably assuming the priest was doing her job. Surely she wouldn't let random foals stray away, right? "That way." Dry pointed off into the city.

"As good as any other." Diamond took point, leading them into the cover of alleys as they advanced. "Think the others are alright?"

Silver quirked an ear. "I, like, hope so! They're adventurers too. Let's have some faith."

"You got enough for both of us," laughed out Diamond. "What was that?" All three tensed, trying to hear the sound.

Steps, hurrying closer. "Hey!" It had a familiar face attached as Apple Bloom hurried towards them. "Found ya!"

"Did I hear Apple Bloom?" Emerging from another shadow came Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo right behind her. "And you found the others!"

All the foal warriors came in close to exchange hugs and smiles. It was a joyous moment. Dry clapped so quietly it was hard to hear. "I am very happy, but we must be careful, and hidden."

Silver snickered softly. "Well, that's your, like, specialty. Where's the best place to lay low a moment?"

Instead of looking at the buildings around them, Dry was focused on the other fillies. "Where were you?"

Apple Bloom pointed to herself. "A nice mare adopted me fer the moment. Stayin' wit' her."

Sweetie copied the motion. "Me and Scootaloo are--"

"--staying with a Rarity fanboy." She laughed at the mental image of the stallion. "I think he loves Rarity a lot."

Dry pointed at Apple Bloom. "Her mare sounds like a better option. She is acting as a mother, not a happy fan. She is less likely to become a problem for us."

Diamond sat up. "Alright, I'm impressed. That was, legit, some good thinking right there. So we head to the temporary Apple Farm. Let's go." She looked to Apple Bloom expectantly.

"Follow me." Getting the message, she fled with the others behind her, weaving through the city in starts and stops. The guards were looking around, most in strict patterns and formations. This made sneaking past them possible, if a nervous affair.

"Stop." They'd been spotted. A mare in chain armoring was trotting towards them. "Children, where is your parent?" Her eyes swept over the lot of them. "Not all the same parent, I would imagine."

Apple Bloom laughed nervously. "Ah, no. They're stayin' wit' me." She pointed to herself. "Ah was jus' seein' 'em back home."

"It's past curfew." The mare scowled at Apple Bloom in clear reprimand. "I will have to inform your parents. Go on." She became their escort, seeing them directly to their house. "Ma'am." She let the children filter inside, her attention on Apple Bloom's caretaker. "Don't let your foals out after curfew. It's for their safety as much as anything else. You don't want them to get hurt, do you?"

The mare nervously laughed. "Of course not! Thank you so much for bringing them home for me."

The guard nodded her head. "Keep a tighter leash on her, and see that her friends get to their homes in the morning. Do you have sufficient water for them all?"

"A-all good," assured the mare with a nervous smile. "I have a nice supply. No dry mouths in this house."

"Excellent." She turned to leave, but paused. "Do they have enough food?"

The mare started. "They should... Um, ma'am? Sorry, if this is a bad question... But why are you so curious?"

The guard snorted softly. "I may be a soldier, but I'm not heartless. I have a colt back home." She sighed with memory. "I pray each day he's alright, where I can't see him... Please, I know they can be trying, but keep your children close, and praise whatever gods you hold dear that you can."

"Of course!" The mare closed the door behing the guard and slumped against it. "That... was stressful. How did you go and... split? I was sure there was one of you before..." She looked over her expanded collection of six foals. "If you keep doing that, I'll drown in foals."

But she smiled. "It's good to see you all back together again." Clearly, She knew the rescuers from the train. "Did you get into any trouble, besides that guard?"

Apple Bloom closed in for a hug with the friendly mare. "Thanks 'gain fer being so gosh darn nice. We really 'ppreciate it. Ya know the others?" She waved back at the rest of her crew.

"I've heard stories." She nodded to each little pony in her house. "Each doing their best in a very... unfortunate time... trying to get us all to safety. I owe you more than you could ever owe me, I promise that. Now, I can pay back a little by getting on dinner. Wicked little foals, eating so late." But off she trotted to get that done.

Silver clapped lightly. "Good call. She puts out, some, like, serious mom energy. The good kind."

Diamond hopped up onto a soft couch. "We all good some intel today. Let's share, but also get down to things. This town can't stay in their control." She huffed. "And where are the adults?!"

"Cooking."

Diamond clopped a hoof to her face. "I don't mean the local ones. Where's Twilight? Where's her friends? Where's Celestia and her guard? This place should be a battlefield, not an awkward occupation. They have soldiers, sure, but not nearly enough to mount a serious battle with us, so where's the serious battle?"

Silver angled her head. "Are we upset that isn't, like, actually happening? That sounds like a mess..."

Apple Bloom waved a hoof in the air. "Ah got an idea." The others looked at her. "Right, well, they ain't monsters. Most of 'em seem alright even... Now, 'could be wrong an' all, but ah think they're waitin' to see what happens when they go native." She looked to Dry at that.

"Oh, um..." He rubbed his Equestrian cheek. "Will it happen to them quickly enough? It took a while for me..."

Apple Bloom took on quite the smug look. "It already happened to 'least one of 'em, their druid. Ah bet he tried to shapeshift and came out an Equestrian. Done heard that's how it happened wit' Tree Hugger."

"You know Tree Hugger?" came their host's voice from the kitchen. "Dear thing she is. A little spacey, but a real treat."

Scootaloo laughed at that. "Small world. Alright, so... they're waiting for them to mellow out a little maybe, then what?"

Author's Note

New Mom knows a few things! Who could have guessed?

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49 - All Lines Made One

With food secured and an evening of safe rest, the group settled to get their first proper sleep since arriving in that town. Adventurers or not, sleep was a part of a healthy way forward. Apple Bloom was the first awake. A farmer by blood and habit, she was ready to get right to work.

"Good morning." Oh, one other had also awakened, their caretaker. "I don't have any real breakfast supplies," she admitted with a sigh. "A little oatmeal good enough?"

Apple Bloom closed with the adult, patting her. "A little oatmeal sounds more than fine. Ain't tryin' to eat ya out of yer own supplies, and they ain't givin' ya anything fer the rest of 'em."

A drop splashed on the ground. The mare gently pulled Apple Bloom close. "A little foal shouldn't have to worry about that..."

Apple Bloom colored faintly in the embrace of the saddened mothering pony. "We're not just foals, ah--"

"I know that," she gently cut in. "Normal foals don't rescue a train full of injured adults. Normal foals... don't pull other foals away from ... I heard...I heard... You may not be 'normal' foals, but you're still a foal." She gently ruffled the top of Apple Bloom's mane. "And you still don't deserve this."

"We signed up fer this." Apple Bloom wriggled away gently. "We're here to help."

The mare walked towards her own kitchen, vanishing inside. "I'll have a little something ready for you all. You'll have a busy day ahead of you, I'm sure."

"Figures you'd be up." Diamond emerged from their room, Silver just behind. "What's up, besides you?"

Apple Bloom smiled at the two fillies joining her. "Hey. She's makin' up some oatmeal fer us. We're a bit short on supplies, so let's get thin's movin' so that can stop bein' a problem fer her."

Silver blinked softly. "Oat meal... alright, and...?" But there was no and, just an awkward Apple Bloom. "Oh... It's like being in Everglow again."

Diamond shoved her friend suddenly. "We made it once, we can make it again. I'll go wake up the others." She stormed off to rouse the other foals.

"Sorry." Apple Bloom shrugged. "Feel a little guilty. Ya made sure we had all kinda luxury food on the way here."

"Which means I can settle with a day or two without." Gathering herself with a deep breath, Silver Spoon stood up to her tallest. "For now, oatmeal."

And thus it was that they ate the oatmeal with the slenderest bit of butter, the last the house had. Refueled, they were ready to go. "Ah'll be back, hopefully with good news."

The mare patted Apple Bloom gently. "Just come back safe, and that'll be good news enough."

As they slipped out into town, Dry went aside the others. "You mentioned the Druid has changed. If they have, maybe others too?"

Apple Bloom made an unsure eh of a noise, ducking into cover. "Ah'da seen any others, 'least if they were guards. They're kinda obvious t' see an' all." The patrolling soldiers were quite obviously Everglow in build. Some wore helmets and some not, but none of them were full face, making the differences quite clear even if one ignored the rest.

"Form up!" shouted a female, marching back and forth in a restless pace before a line of a whole two ponies. One of them was the druid, the other not. Both were Equestrian in form. "They selected you." It was not immediately obvious who she was talking to. She did wear full armor, plated, and a full helmet. "You will be the first weather engineer up in the sky. It is by your performance that we decide if there should be more, or none. Do you understand?"

The pegasus saluted. "The weather corp takes this very seriously, ma'am!"

"Hm." The commanding female nodded shallowly. "Today we'll judge that." She turned clearly on the druid. "You will be the supervising superior on this project. If anything goes wrong, I need to be the next to know. Am I clear?"

"Entirely." He turned to the pegasus. "What matters of the weather do you mean to address today?"

"We're late on the rain." The pegasus lifted into the air. "I'll go grab some clouds and get that started. If you could, inform the ponies that rain is expected today. We're off schedule."

The druid nodded at the fleeing pegasus and turned instead to a guard standing stoically. "See that this is done. Warn everyone, ours and the residents."

The commanding female hummed. "Why are you warning the residents? The vast majority of them are indoors already. This will not impede their days, and you are diverting valuable horsepower."

The foals ducked low, listening curiously.

"It will raise their morale, to put it in your terms." The druid ran a hoof over his altered beard. "They expect the weather to be managed. Having a warning of rain, then rain, is a return to normality for them."

"Ah. Excellently thought." She turned from him. "Great. Keep an eye on that pegasus. If he flies off, it's your responsibility. And don't give me that 'I can't fly' speech, druid. You can fly when you want to."

Scootaloo leaned in towards the other. "One of these things does not belong."

Sweetie pointed at the druid. "He's an Equestrian. You mean him?"

Scootaloo shook her head vigorously. "Not him. Her." Scootaloo pointed at the withdrawing form of the commander. "She's the only one all covered up... like she's scared, of being attacked, or..."

Diamond leered at the vanishing armored flank of the commander. "Or she has something to hide. Good eye."

"Thank you." But it wasn't Scootaloo. The druid was looking down at them all. "You've found friends."

The foals recoiled, jumping away, at least except Apple Bloom, who was laughing nervously. "Hey there... Um." She looked around furtively. "Is it safe to talk here?"

"No, but there isn't a better place. Why are you spying on us?"

"Sir?" A female guard came in closer. "Are these foals bothering you? They shouldn't be here."

The druid waved the guard away. "They want to watch the process of weather engineering. I see no reason to deny them the educational opportunity."

"Oh." The guard turned to the others. "Commendable." She thought of it for a moment. "You're all bored, aren't you?"

Scootaloo spread her tiny wings. "I want to be a weather pro!"

The guard reached to pat Scootaloo on the head. "As a pegasus, it is your right to chase that dream. Follow him closely." She turned the hoof on the druid. "The rest of you, what's your excuse?"

"Ah might be a little bored." Apple Bloom looked to the others.

Sweetie shrugged. "My sister did some 'weather engineering' before. I wouldn't be opposed to learning more about it."

The druid waved them all along. "They're getting away from us. We won't learn here." And he led them all along like the eager little foals they were. "Now..." He glanced to be sure he wasn't being watched too carefully as he addressed the foals. "What is it you're really here for?"

Dry hurried to the druid's side. "Hello, sir... I never met a druid before. They have orders, right?"

The druid quirked an ear. "I did not expect any Equestrian child to bring that up."

Silver brushed Dry to the side, taking his place. "We've all been there, to your world." She glanced away and back. "We didn't try to take it over. That's, like, kinda rude, you know?"

"I do know." He arrived at a small hill where he could keep an eye on the busily working pegasus. "Poor thing... Clearly more fliers would make their job so much easier..."

Scootaloo followed the work with her eyes and head. "So... where's the rest of 'em? Ponyville woulda had a dozen pegasi up there." She made swooshing sounds, imagining the rush of the flight. "Take care of those clouds in no time."

"Ten seconds flat?" suggested Apple Bloom with a smirk.

"Five, with all of them." Scootaloo clapped her hooves with a big smile, missing the joke entirely.

The druid cut right between the foals and the flyer. "You didn't say what you were here for. I do want to know. I'd say your parents are worried about you, but I'm getting the feeling that isn't technically true."

"Wrong." Diamond smirked at him. "I'm pretty sure mine's freaking out, but we have an understanding. Bet he's talking to hers." She pointed to Silver Spoon, struck embarrassed. "Hers are alright." She pointed at Apple Bloom, then Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. "They were good little fillies and filled them in."

"I would hope any child of mine would at least tell me." He nodded to the well-behaved foals. "But I would not permit them such a... dangerous task. I ask once more, what are you here for, today?"

Dry hopped up to his hooves, a bounce in place. "Sir. I may be an Everglow pony, but I will defend this Equestrian town! They don't deserve this."

Silver slid in front of him protectively. "They, like, super don't. And what they did to the train? Were you involved in that?" She adjusted her glasses, glaring at the druid despite that.

"Train?" He inclined his head. "They have a train here?"

Sweetie snorted at that. "That's a firm 'no' if I ever heard one. We do have trains. They run on horsepower or coal. The one we were riding was derailed. Ponies were hurt."

"Ponies died," spoke Diamond Tiara, making that quite clear with no dancing around the topic. "The Everglow ponies killed Equestrian ponies for the 'crime' of trying to go home."

"Oh..." The druid sank to his haunches. "She promised..."

Apple Bloom patted the distraught druid gently. "Who promised?"

"The commander. You saw her." He pointed back where they had come from. "The one in full plate, barking orders. She's in charge, but I made her concede a few promises... which she has clearly broken." He thrust a hoof down with a heavy thump on the grass. "Witch... No... That's offensive to actual witches. Charming people, I have a friend of one back in Viljatown."

Several of them perked at the name of Viljatown, knowing it. Dry waved a hoof excitedly. "If she broke the promises, does that mean you don't owe her anything?"

"I already barely did." He thumped his own chest. "I'm a druid. We're not known for our military loyalty. We made a deal, and those promises were part of it. I was not coming to slaughter people who weren't fighting back. I have limits, and they are being crossed."

Diamond crossed her arms. "Put that away a moment. I have a more pressing question that may help everypony involved."

"Everypony?" The druid peered at the curious turn of phrase.

"Right. Everyone involved." She'd been on Everglow long enough to learn that. "Why does she dress like that?"

"What's she, like, hiding?" bit in Silver. "She can't be scared of being attacked by most of us. We're not good at it, not really a secret there."

A thought came to Scootaloo. "What happened to the guards that used to work here?"

The druid raised his hooves wardingly. "One question at a time. She only started dressing in full plate recently. I haven't seen her out of that suit of armor, so I couldn't tell you what prompted it."

Sweetie Belle giggled. "I bet you can! You have the same thing." She pointed at him. "It's not all bad, but I bet a super mean strict army leader'd think it's the worst."

The druid curled a hoof up to look at it, then back at himself. "Hm... She's... It's almost to laugh, imagining it." He leaned in closer to the foals. "The Equestrian body isn't entirely unworkable, just surprising. It does lack in intimidating prowess, which would bother her a great deal. What of it?"

Diamond clapped her hooves together with a scheming smile. "Then we have an angle..."

Author's Note

You knew that druid would come up again, right?

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50 - Stocking Up

"Before we go." Dry smiled up at their new ally, the druid. "Can we have your name, sir? And, um, do you know where to get some food? Only enough for her--" He pointed at Apple Bloom. "--and her caretaker are being provided."

"Before you ask," cut in Silver. "This isn't her being a jerk. This is us messing up her little perfect little dictatorship by not staying in the home they assigned us to."

The druid huffed gently. "I am at least partially mollified to hear that. Come." He led the way to a bush full of berries. He sang strange words as he reached for them, only for the foals to join in. It became a production about the wonders of the natural world and the bounties it would share, handled with respect.

The druid came to his senses, a pile of about a dozen berries in front of him. "What? These are far more berries than one casting of that spell should provide." He poked at them with his Equestrian hoof, as if they were suspects in the mystery. "What happened?"

Dry had that answer, waving excitedly. "That was a heart song, sir. When ponies sing in this world, sometimes other ponies join in, and the more join in, the more powerful the magic. It's, um, natural, for local ponies."

"Hm." He pointed to the pile. "Eat a few of those, and they will banish your hunger and thirst for a day. They also have a healing property. Don't hoard them, as they will go bad and decompose within a day if not already consumed." He turned to the gathering of foals. "Can you do that reliably? I could feed the community far more easily if I could have your help."

Sweetie shook her head. "The more you feel about it when you sing that spell, the more likely another pony will join in, and the more join in, the more likely more will join in. If you could get the whole town in on it, you'd bury yourself in berries." She giggled at the idea. "But, since they only last a day, probably don't want that."

"No, that would be a waste of berries." He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "Such a wondrous world. Not the nature I am accustomed to, but wondrous none the less. Now, I have met your needs, at least for today. What was the next topic? You sounded like you had a plan." He shook his head with a chuckle. "Here I am, colluding with foals. Share your idea."

Diamond tossed her head at where the commander had gone some time ago. "She's hiding, and has been hiding. She thinks that protects her, but it leaves her wide open. It means if we reveal her at the right time, she'll lose all credibility."

"Are you certain you are a foal?" The machinations of the filly were a bit much. "My first question is thus, how do you plan to do this? One does not simply peel a battle-ready pony free of their armor easily. It takes considerable effort to put on or take off."

Apple Bloom waved over herself. "She can't live in th' stuff! That'd get powerful stinky after a while, wouldn't it?"

Sweetie lifted her hooves in a grand shrug. "Unless she has magic. Does she have magic?"

The druid hummed. "Spellcasting is not her specialty. If she has tricks, she has not shared them with me, but she hardly owes me that information. Still, you asked." He turned to offer a profile. "I am Shaded Birch, druid of the plant order." He pointed back at his brand of destiny. "The gods were not subtle." There stood a birch tree on his rump, a long shadow cast out from it. "And I thank them. My purpose always felt clear."

Scootaloo applauded that. "Nice when that works out. We're the crusaders!" She got into formation with the other two crusaders, meeting with hooves. "Our cutie mark agrees."

Shaded inclined his head, noting their brands, er, cutie marks for the first time with purpose. "Matching marks. I had thrown it away as you being closely related. Are you not?"

Sweetie burst into fresh giggles. "We're practically sisters, but not literally, I assure." A thought pinged to life. "Oh. Ponies in this world get their marks when they realize their purpose. Everglow ponies start with theirs, right?"

Shaded nodded at that. "Yes. I spilled from my mother with the same brand you see today." He turned his back to show it off anew. "The gods had plans, and they shared it with us. They had no plans for you?"

Diamond waved that away. "Different world, different rules. We don't even have gods."

Silver grabbed Dry. "Not, like, all true. We worship Princess Luminace."

"I see." Shaded started after the small form of the weather pegasus. "I am obligated to keep him in sight, even if he seems to be doing fine on his own. Still... borrowing our gods is hardly the same as having your own... The service may become the same. Have you heard of the Author?"

All the foals, save one, looked clueless. Dry knew this one. "The one that made ponies, and the rest of the Everglow fae. She who plans. She who writes. Not, um... knowledge, but stories. Stories people live."

Shaded patted the eager little pony. "Very good. Were Her attention gained here, maybe your marks would come sooner, were she be the one to plan you. On the other hoof, perhaps it is a mercy she does not. Your stories are your own to make. Ah, listen to me prattle. I'm not even a religious sort. Nature is all the religion I require, and it has no specific face to praise or decry." He looked to Diamond, the plotter. "How do you plan to proceed?"

"Does she have any right hoof ponies?" Diamond waved a bit aimlessly. "The sort she trusts a lot?"

Shaded tapped his chin softly. "A good question. It is certainly not me. She barely tolerates me, and my patience for her has lowered.

Diamond clopped her hooves slowly. "If you have a pony in charge of more than about ten other ponies, you need more ponies to keep track of the ponies. She's in charge of a lot more than that. There has to be a #2 or she'd lose her head, and lose track of what's going on, and it'd all fall apart."

"Right, like..." Silver was watching the pegasus doing their best to tame the sky that'd been left to go a little wild. "But who? None of us know that."

Apple Bloom pointed back at town. "The guards'd know. They gotta know who they talk to. Some of 'em don't talk to her, not direct-like, so some of 'em report to a pony, who reports to her. Just gotta find 'em."

"We just have to figure that out." Diamond waved for the others to fall in with her. "So let's get to... Oh, grab those berries. Won't do us a lot of good sitting here."

Dry stuffed his saddle bags full of supercharged berries. "Got it. Thank you, sir. This'll keep us a few days. Um... if we run low again?"

"You return to me," concluded Shaded. "And we sing a new song."

Supplied and bouyed by a potential line of attack, the children rushed back into town. With an excuse for being there, they didn't try to hide, just walking right back to where they wanted to be. "You're back." Apple Bloom's temporary mom was there to greet them as they filled in. "And you look alright. I'll make some lunch."

Silver raised a hoof. "No thanks. We got food. Save that for yourself."

She flopped to her haunches with obvious amazement. "Where? You didn't... steal it, did you?"

Sweetie gasped with shock. "My sister would probably tan me if I shoplifted. We asked the druid, and he helped us."

Scootaloo reached into Dry's pouch, drawing out a berry on either hoof. "And he did some magic on these. A few of these is good for a whole day. Wonder if they're tasty too...?"

Dry went to a platter and filled it up with the berries, rather than keeping them in his saddlebag. "They probably taste like berries." That felt safe. "I'm not hungry yet."

Silver poked at him. "Skinny thing. You get hungry less than a lot of ponies, I bet."

He colored at this accusation. "I... never compared." He took a berry and offered it towards Silver. "You're, um... Um." How did he say she was less-thin without getting in huge trouble? "Would you like one?"

"Smooth." But she accepted the berry and chomped into it. "Mm... It's good." It soon vanished down her throat with a big gulp. "Not bad at all. Alright, Diamond, how do we find that pony?"

"I have to think up everything!" She grabbed a berry and ate it with a growing anger. "Fine. Let's keep an eye on her headquarters. Her #2 has to come and go from there to keep her up to date. The only trick is those could be messengers... We're going to have to stick our necks out."

With a few other berries vanishing into eager maws, they were ready to return to the street. They had less reason to be there, resuming their stealthy darting from cover to cover to arrive in some bushes. "This is a good hiding spot." Dry was busily reinforcing their hiding nook, making sure they had good spots to peer at their target and as little ways for those passing to see them.

Apple Bloom poked at the bush from the inside, testing its stability. "You really do specialize in this, don'tcha?"

"To not be seen is to survive," stated Dry as if this were simple common sense. "If they were better at hiding, we would have a harder time attacking them."

Diamond shrugged with a chuckle. "He's not wrong there. Let's hope they keep on being bad at hiding."

They looked out at the headquarters and the guards who stood at attention. Once in a while, they shuffled or scratched at itches. Standing there in silence was pretty obviously uncomfortable, but still they stood, as they had been ordered.

"Lunch." Another pony arrived with a tray balanced on their back. "For you and the commander. Yours are on the side."

"We know the drill." One of the guards stepped down to get their shares. "Thank Blaze you're here. I was ready to eat him in a moment."

The other guard paled. "Don't even joke about that."

"My humor's staying just as bad." With a toss of his neck, he sent a bag of food over to his co-soldier to have. "I'll take the commander's in to her." He set his own aside for later and took charge of the platter, then on his back. "Thank you."

"Of course." The chef/messenger saluted and started back off into the city.

Scootaloo inclined her head. "Think any of them are #2?"

Diamond swatted at Scootaloo. "I doubt it, now shh. We don't want to be heard."

The first guard emerged without the tray. He sat and started on his food, leaving the other, who had already eaten, to stand watch. "Not bad... Local food taste funny, but not bad."

The second inclined his head upward at the sky. "Think it'll actually rain?"

"No reason it shouldn't." The first pushed his bag away and stood up. "If our weather people said the same thing, we'd expect rain, right? Not looking forward to standing watch in the middle of it."

"Maybe our watch will end before it starts?"

"Pray it is so." The first took up his original spot, ready to observe with a mild scowl. "But if it isn't, we still do our job."

"Of course."

The conversation quieted as they did their quiet job in stoic silence.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "How long do we haveta watch?"

Diamond shrugged. "Until we see what we came for. Rain or not."

Author's Note

It's time to spy! 🕵️

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51 - Day Shower

They sat. They watched. The day dragged with not even a ticking clock to keep track of it. The munching of a fruit made their ears turn.

"What?" Scootaloo finished her berry. "Eat it or lose it, that's what he said. I took one with me."

Sweetie giggled, stuffing her berry in her face in a messy explosion of flavor. "They are pretty good..."

"Who is that?" A guard was approaching them, one of the Everglow soldiers. Dry waved at them for quiet, but said nothing. "Come out." The guard tapped at the bush with his right hoof. "I heard something..." Dry repeated the motion, tense, but silent.

Sweetie licked her snout clear of berry, as if that could help the situation.

"Hm." The guard circled around the bushes, just to pause mid-step. "Damn..." A single drop landed on his head, but it wasn't the last. Up above, a single overworked pegasus was packing clouds together as quickly as they could, starting a sprinkle over the town that slowly grew. "They did warn us." He turned to the two guards. "Are you going to stay there?"

"Until we're--"

"--You're too into this." The soldier turned from his peers. "I see why the commander picked you." He took off at a trot, perhaps to seek shelter. He abandoned searching the bushes entirely.

Dry thumped to his side in an almost silent motion. "Phew..." He scrambled up to his haunches. "You heard him."

Silver peered out of the bush. "It's raining."

Diamond snorted at that. "Dummy. He said the commander trusts those two." She pointed at the two guards stoically standing in the building rain. "They may not be #2, but... close enough for our work. If we make her look bad in front of them, it'll probably work."

She reached up, swatting at some idle bits of rain dripping from their bush cover. "But, for now, let's get out of here." There were no arguments, and the foals darted to their home, which wasn't all Apple Bloom's place.

"Be right back." Sweetie and Scootaloo darted off, only returning about half an hour later with new bags at their side. "Here you are." She presented them to Apple Bloom's caretaker. "Our 'dad' was getting extra food for us. You need it way more than he does."

The mare accepted the food with a smile. "How delightful. Tell him I said... Oh, who was it? They live here, I assume. I may know them."

Scootaloo pointed off. "About three blocks that way. Huge fan of Rarity?"

"Oh, him!" The mare nodded. "Does he still have that... shrine? A little overmuch, if you ask me, but a nice pony besides that." She looked to Sweetie with an additional consideration. "On the other hoof, I'm glad you've decided to stay here."

Sweetie inclined her head. "Why's that?"

Scootaloo patted Sweetie on the head. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"Hey!" This prompted a spirited wrestling match to prove neither were that mature.

The mare returned with a few towels and grabbed the fussing foals to get to drying them without a word beforehoof. "Now, as much as I appreciate that, you could have waited until the rain was done. It's so nice to see a rain, especially on schedule. Are they letting the weather pegasi back out?"

Diamond shook her head. "Yeah, not all at once. On the upside, with today's weather working right--"

"--They'll let out more tomorrow," finished Silver with a smile. "Things will, like, keep getting better. Wonder if we can get them to let other ponies back outside. You have to, like, be going a little crazy."

The mare offered a tired smile at that. "It is trying, being stuck in this house without a break... I'm just glad you're all--" She paused, being hugged by Apple Bloom. "You all make this worth the trouble." She returned the hug to the earth filly. "Your parents are so lucky to have you all. Let's be sure I can return you all to them, hm?" She jumped as something knocked on the door. "M-moment!" She hurried for the door as the foals scattered out of sight.

She reached the door and pulled it open. "Good--" She stuttered to a stop, seeing an Everglow soldier in armor. "Haven't I met you before?"

The soldier stepped in from the light rain. "Yes, ma'am. I returned your foals to you." She kicked the door behind herself, sealing out any further rain. "I've been watching them."

She flipped an ear back. "I only... have one foal, ma'am..."

The soldier waved a hoof at the foster mom. "I've been watching," she repeated firmly. "I don't know why your community has taken it upon itself to elect you as the neighborhood foalsitter, but I have noticed it. They appear to be sleeping and eating here."

The mare shrank back, caught. "I..."

"I'm not mad." The soldier shook herself, sending water flying a short distance. "But this isn't proper, or manageable. I saw two of them bringing food from their other homes here."

"They're no trouble at all!" she got out in an almost shrill squeak. "I... don't mind caring for them."

"All the more reason." She reached up to pat the shivering caretaker. "I will change the counts. Tell me, truthfully, how many foals are in your care and I'll see that food arrives to satisfy them. If they're here, it'd be easier to just count them, so I can move the numbers properly." She stressed that word, raising in volume so any foals nearby could hear her easily. "Nobody's in trouble."

"You sure?" Apple Bloom peeked up from behind the couch.

"I give my oath." The soldier made a strange gesture with her hooves. "May the sun forsake me and leave me in darkness, should I speak falsehoods. Now, if you're here, and hiding..." Her eyes darted across the seemingly empty room. "There are likely other small souls... I'm not here to harm you."

"I don't get it." Diamond strode into view from behind a flower pot. "Why is practically everypony except a few kinda nice?"

The solder inclined her head. "I like to think most people are nice, by default. We don't want trouble, as a rule. What makes you think this has changed? Had someone been troubling you, little girl?"

Diamond brushed some imagined dust off her shoulder. "You, at the moment. Since you're here, you can answer a few questions."

"I would see the rest." She waved about the room. "Come free. I'm not here to capture you."

Silver popped free, perhaps emboldened by Diamond's appearance. "It's easy to, like, say that."

Scootaloo and Sweetie emerged a moment later. Scootaloo scrunched at the soldier. "Don't you follow the orders of that 'commander' pony?"

The soldier smiled at each additional foal. The last, the thin colt, had her humming. "Look at you. You're shaped differently than the others."

Dry colored sharply. "I'm just a pony."

"You are a pony. Sorry, that was thoughtless of me. Nothing wrong being a little thin... Are you eating properly?"

The maternal mare stepped protectively between the soldier and Dry, her coat sleek against the morning light. "He is in fine health, I am happy to report. Are we finished giving the poor colt body image issues? Some ponies are large, some are small. Some are thin and some are wide. That is the nature of things."

"Y-yes, of course." The soldier shifted uncomfortably, her face hot with embarrassment. "Of course... Sorry. Are you all here?" She counted them quickly, getting nods. "Then I will adjust things to be sure you get the food you need. May I ask why you all live here, instead of at your homes? Your parents must worry, hm? Why trouble them?"

Dry shook his head. "We told them about this before we did it. They know where we are. Um, ma'am... Um..."

Silver took over. "Do you know about the train?"

"Train?" She frowned faintly. "The one they stopped? The one you were on?"
She wobbled a hoof among all the foals there. "If they had just allowed it to come into the station, it would have been much simpler than the alternative."

Apple Bloom crossed her arms. "The 'alternative' was getting a lot of ponies hurt and some of 'em even..." She swallowed thickly, the word stuck in her throat.

"Killed," volunteered Dry, shaking. "They didn't 'stop' it, ma'am. Um, not nicely. They crashed it. We almost died, but we are, um... clever."

Silver tapped her chest lightly with her hoof. "We're all adventurers, Miss. I know we, like, look like little foals that don't know a thing, but we've all adventured. A crashing train didn't take us out, but a lot of other ponies weren't so lucky..."

"W-what?" The soldier took an uncertain step back, hooves shuffling on the wood beneath her. "They said... they stopped it. I thought they... made it come to a stop." She brought her hooves together, shaking, but meeting in a gentle thunk. "Like it would at the station. Were there soldiers on the train?!"

Apple Bloom frowned at that. "Even if there were, would that make it alright?"

"No... No." She sank to her haunches. "No..." She snorted explosively, proving that Everglow ponies were pretty good at that when they wanted to be. "This is awful... And explains, a lot... I feel... Sun scorch me for my ignorance!"

Silver went up to the soldier, patting her left leg gently. "The sun bids you open your eyes, even if it hurts."

The soldier perked. "Y-yes... Yes she does." She smiled, a timid gesture. "That is exactly correct. How do you know such wise words?"

Dry waved at Silver, looking quite proud in motion and words. "She is a cleric of Luminace, as am I. Um, we've learned about religious things... even past her."

The soldier inclined her head. "I would call you both liars if you hadn't already thrust evidence in my face. Why are... I thought the ponies of this world had no gods. And yet, here are two claiming to have one, speaking with the wisdom of my world on their lips. How?"

The mother thrust a hoof out. "Enough. Since we all seem to be getting along, ma'am, I would invite you to either come inside and share a meal with us, with your guard's attire put away, or you return to your duties until that can be done. It is hard to do, but you are currently in the role of a guard, requesting that we take down our precautions right now."

The soldier rose to her hooves. "You're not wrong. I'm asking a lot, and giving a little. I am on duty, and I don't plan to desert that. I will change the numbers and secure your food. For now, just be safe, and don't cause trouble, kindly." She turned and grabbed the doorknob in her teeth, pulling it open and stepping out into the light rain. "This is a lot of rain, for one pony. I hope that changes." She fled out into the inclement weather.

Their caretaker gently closed the door. "Well, good. It looks like food will be handled, and you've made a new friend, but I won't trust it entirely until she makes good on her word, all of them."

Scootaloo twitched an ear at that. "All of them?"

"If she wishes to be our friend." The maternal one put her hooves to her chest, then spread out to all the foals. "She will come when she is not a guard. Then we can talk."

Dry pointed to the closed door. "She wasn't hiding when she came in. She was when she left. We made her change."

Silver threw an arm around her boyfriend, squeezing Dry gently. "What an interesting way to, like, look at that. Well, in the name of Princess Luminace, I say we rejoice at finding a new friend."

Dry smiled from within the grasp of his girlfriend. "Friendship will be the answer to our problems. I... trust her. She didn't know the train would be... attacked."

The crusaders grumbled and whispered. Surely more than one pony had to be involved in stopping the train.

Author's Note

Friends? Luminace approves of this effort. With a confidant of the commander in sight and a potential new friend, things are looking up, I say.

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52 - Reach Out

On the following day, they noticed that the number of pegasi flying in the sky had increased, with two pairs of fluttering wings now visible. "Well, that's good." Apple Bloom nodded to their darting forms. "A little bit ah thin's gettin' back to normal."

Scootaloo was so excited she couldn't help but buzz her wings. "I'd help... If I could." She frowned, her good mood punctured, but only for a moment. "Rainbow would have this handled in no time at all."

Sweetie Belle came crashing into Scootaloo with a loud thud. "Rainbow is sadly unable to launch fireballs at anything she doesn't like, or perform her signature scooter move, no matter how accurately she kicks."

"Maybe not." A bashful grin spread across Scootaloo's face as she heard the compliments. "We all have our talents."

"Here's to that." Apple Bloom proudly extended her hoof and the loud thunk of their hooves coming together was a powerful show of solidarity.

Diamond rolled her eyes, seated with Silver and Dry. "They're like that."

Silver shrugged her shoulders in response. "Is that bad? They are a powerful force of friendship, Luminace, like, be praised."

Dry reached out a hoof. "We are a group of friends, too. We could do that." He squeaked as Silver crashed her hoof against his all too quickly. "Like that," he agreed, recovering from the surprise. "Diamond?"

Diamond stood up and glared at their union. "Now I feel like I'm just copying them..."

Silver tossed her head at her hoof and Dry's. "Copying a good thing isn't, like, a bad thing. Come on!"

"Fine." She didn't put out her hoof though. "But we already have a way better way."

Silver blinked, parsing through that. "Oh! Right!" She hopped up, and they met in their dance. "Bump, bump, sugar lump rump," they sang together, ending with their rumps pressed together and giggling in shared joy.

Dry slowly inclined his head. "That was... interesting. You are good friends." However odd the dance had been, that they were solid and enduring friends seemed obvious. "Can I try?"

"Please." Diamond reached for one of his hooves. "I planned to show you anyway. So this... Then that." She led him through each step, waiting for him to catch up. "Then you turn around..." Silver was clapping as they went through, singing the song quietly in hums with each step they completed, to a joyous crescendo as they bumped rump to rump. "And there you have it." Diamond nodded firmly at Dry. "Got it?"

Sweetie perked. "Huh?" Her ears swiveled about as if trying to home in on a sound she wasn't sure of the source of. "Yeah? Fantastic!" The other crusaders looked at her curiously. "We were wondering." Sweetie twirled in place, not facing the girls, but the entire room. "We hear you, um, I hear you. I'll tell them." Sweetie coughed into a hoof. "That was Twilight. She used Everglow magic to send a message to me. That she's getting a reply at all tells her that I'm alive. And my reply wasn't me wailing in horror or something, so she knows I'm safe too."

Diamond raised one of her eyebrows in a questioning manner. "Why aren't we having a little chat if she can send messages?"

Sweetie turned up her hooves. "It was like it was a recording. She didn't hear anything I said until it was done, and then it was over. One message to me. One message to her. Maybe she'll cast it again later."

Silver thumped both hooves down, one on either of Sweetie's shoulders. "What did she say?!"

Sweetie fell backwards with a squeak under the assault. "Alright! Um... She said, 'Are you alright? Help is here. We need to know who the bad ponies are, prepare a list.'"

Dry let out an uncertain 'um' of a sound. "It didn't sound like you answered any of those questions. Did we miss that part?"

Sweetie tapped at the side of her head. "I answered in here. 'We're fine, the guards are about equal in alright ponies and ones I'm not sure about. Their commander is a real jerk.' She inclined her head. "I'm not sure the last word got through. It felt like it was cutting off. But this is great! Twilight knows what's going on, which means she and the girls are on the way!"

Upon hearing the news, Diamond's expression changed to a frown rather than a smile. "Great. She has no idea what's going on, and you didn't really tell her. In fact, you told her 'it's complicated.' That isn't helpful. At least she knows we're here, and we're alright. She'll tell our parents so they can calm down on the freaking out part of the show."

Sweetie worried her hooves as she shrank. "What would you have told her then?"

Diamond tapped her chin. "Since you asked. 'Here with Dry, Diamond, Silver, Crusaders. AOK. Enemy Leader is bad. Many guards alright. Druid is OK. Leader has gone native.'" She hmmed gently. "Yeah, that would be more useful."

Scootaloo marched for the door. "Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Too late for any of that. What are we going to do? We know what's up. We should--"

"--Sit down." Silver sat down in demonstration. "It's raining out there. Nopony's walking around unless they have to, and that should include us."

Diamond waved Sweetie closer. "If she reaches out, don't reply right away! Tell us what she said so we can figure out the response."

Sweetie danced nervously in place. "But it felt like I had to reply quickly! I don't know how long I get before the magic's all gone."

Diamond huffed softly. "Figures... I don't suppose any of you already have that spell?" Her eyes danced from one foal to the next, getting a lot of shaking heads. "Figures. Alright, planning time. We need to get that commander out in the open."

"Out of her armor," added Dry.

Diamond waved a hoof at him with a tut tut. "Not so fast. If the others don't see her as she is, first, they will just think this is an imposter. We have to get her to verify herself, without a shadow of doubt. Only then do we reveal what's become of her, poor thing." She snickered at the idea, imagining the dismayed commander. "The trick past that is... how. We can't just talk her into walking out without her armor."

Apple Bloom nodded in slow agreement. "Yeah... That's unlikely. Wait!" She twirled on Scootaloo with a big, perhaps malicious, smile. "You know a spell!"

"I know a lot of spells?" Scootaloo pulled out her book and slapped it down. "Gonna have to narrow that down a little."

Apple Bloom tapped at the book. "That's a thin' we have in common. We both got a book fulla our tricks. Ah'm talkin' 'bout the one that makes thin's real real hot. Metal thin's."

Scootaloo flipped to the page, labeled, simply, Heat Metal in big bold letters on the top. "This one. Why?"

"Well... It ain't nice... But if yer wearin' a big suit like that, and it gets hot..." Applebloom waggled her brows full of meaning. "'Magine she'll want to get that off real quick."

Scootaloo flinched at the same image. "Ow! Ow! AB! That'd make us the bad ponies! I don't want to cook her."

Diamond leaned forward, cheeks held up by her hooves. "No, I like where Apple Bloom's thinking. If her suit becomes... that uncomfortable, getting out of it will suddenly be priority number one. If the choice is cooking, or something else, that something else is going to win. Not like she doesn't have help to get her free before she gets hurt too badly." She fixed eyes with Sweetie. "I leave the last part to you. How do we get her to super confirm herself before that happens?"

Sweetie rocked her body gently back and forth, her eyes leisurely roving the room while she softly hummed a tune. "Well... She likes yelling and ordering ponies around. If she has a reason to yell at them, she will. If she yells, the ponies will be sure it's her. If she came out right after that--"

"--Genius. Love it." Diamond made some quick scrawls with a quill in her mouth. "We have a plan! We have dinner. Nothing's in our way. Oh. Let's finish those berries before they go bad."

They descended upon the hapless berries, agreeing that they lived up to the hype, at least qualifying as 'good' if not 'great' berries. When each of them had consumed their share, they looked... satiated. Apple Bloom rubbed at her belly, which wasn't any fuller in appearance then usual. "I feel like ah ate three squares. Huh, guess it really does settle ya fer a day."

Dry wiped at his snout with a napkin carefully. "If we had enough of those, there would be no problem. But the druid said you need actual berries, and a druid doing the magic. We can't do that for everyone."

Scootaloo shook her head vigorously. "That's a lot of berries to make up every day. Better we eat other things, like carrots and apples and things."

Sweetie licked her lips with a fond mmm. "Or some sweets, just to fancy things up." The foals had a lively discussion about which foods were the most delicious and which were over and under-rated.

Diamond leaned back from her writing. "I swear..."

"What's wrong?" Silver sat next to her. "You look, like, distracted or something. What's wrong?"

Diamond waved a hoof vaugely at her writing. "My magic is a subtle magic. I can't make balls of fire or hurt ponies suddenly better. But neither of those are gonna fix this. So, you need my touch, the subtle touch. The pressure... I have to put up or shut up."

"You can do it." Silver leaned in, touching her nose to Diamond's cheeks. "You already proved it to me. I beleive in you. Just tell me how I can help."

Diamond threw an arm over Silver's neck, drawing her in. "Silly filly." Not that she seemed to be complaining about it. "Alright... Get your boy. I think I may need the both of you."

Silver saluted and dashed off to fetch Dry and draw him back towards Diamond. "She has a plan!"

"What plan?" Dry walked towards Diamond curiously. "Is it dangerous?"

Diamond smirked at the cautious colt. "It always is."

Strangely, perhaps, Dry relaxed at the words. "I'm glad you understand that. What is your plan?"

"We need to spread the good word... The good word of fear." She leaned forward, a cruel smile on her face. "And I think you're about the most specialized pony we have for that job. Are you up for it? The guards are getting used to seeing us around, so they probably won't even care if they see us again. No more sneaking."

"But hiding..."

Diamond tapped Dry on the end of his snout. "Sometimes, you have to hide in plain sight. It's where they least expect you, Dry. Are you ready to take your hiding to the next level?"

"R-ready," he forced out, shivering with the dread he felt most of the time. "I need to warn someone?"

"Yes." Diamond turned to Silver. "You're going with them. Two little nice Luminace priests. They won't see it coming... Now, just to be clear, we won't hurt them. Just remind them of the... dangers. Sow a little fear. That'll get her marching out. She won't like it, mmm, not even a little. Once she does, we have her." Diamond clopped her hooves firmly together. "And we reveal her for the big faker she really is."

Silver pointed to Scootaloo. "Are you really going to cook her in her armor? That's... like... That's pretty--"

"--She killed how many ponies on that train? She made how many orphans?" Diamond glared at her softer friend. "She deserves a lesson, and we're not even... You two will be right there to keep her safe. She'll survive."

Author's Note

Diamond is ready to get real about this. What do you think of her plan?

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53 - The Good Word

Dry and Silver set off on their task under the bright light of the next morning. Two days of mild to moderate rain had been enough to satiate the plants of the area, returning some vibrancy as flowers brilliantly glistened with the drops left over from their watering.

The air had that 'just rained' smell of life reacting to the drink. There were a few ponies around, besides the guards. It wasn't a town at full speed by any measures, but a few ponies sat just in front of their doors, enjoying the sun and escaping the confines of their houses. The guards hadn't shooed them back inside yet.

Dry led the way back to their druidic friend. "Good morning."

"Good morning." He nodded at the two foals. Compared to the other options available in this town, this one is certainly better. He chose a few berries from a bush and delicately placed them in the basket, which was now full of the enchantment he had given to them. "The weather patrol is making steady progress towards getting back to its normal staff numbers. They aren't druids, but they know their craft. It's a curious thing, such specialization..."

"Look at 'em go." Silver joined in admiring their progress. "What are they up to today?"

"Clearing the clouds now. The rain's done, they said, so it's time for a sunny day. They're clearing them and keeping them away, so the sun can come without anything stopping it." He hummed softly with new thoughts. "The way they do it will require constant attention to get it right, but they seem willing to give that. Very curious... You." He was looking at Dry. "Explain this." He extended an arm, a berry attached to his hoof without anything holding the berry. "This is magic, isn't it? I certainly didn't cast it."

"That surprised me too, sir." Dry smiled at the berry caught by the hoof. "I remember that day... It's natural, to ponies of this world, and you are one of them now, sir. Um, me too..." He worried his Equestrian hooves together. "They don't stick together, unless you really want to?" He tried to grab a hoof with a hoof, getting them to lock together a moment before he stopped that.

"Remarkable." He set the basket aside. "Did you come for berries?"

"Nope!" sang out Silver. "We're good. A nice guard's gonna get us food. We wanted to talk with some of the guards actually."

"You've made a friend. Why not speak with them?" He inclined his head at the two foals. "I'm not a guard, as you know."

Dry considered that with a wiggle. "We want to address the guards, not one guard, sir."

The druid pointed out over Dry's head. "They're having morning talks over there, if you want to bother them."

There was a group of about six of them, chatting about something that couldn't be heard at that distance. Silver hopped in place, coming down facing them. "Thanks! You're, like, the best."

"Have a good day, sir." Dry pressed on, Silver at his side as they approached the guards directly. "This is dangerous..."

"This is our job," whispered Silver back. "Now put on a smile." She beamed at them as she closed in for a chat. "Good morning."

One of the guards perked an ear at her voice. "Hm? What's this?" He turned to bring Silver into the center of his vision. "A little girl. A wee filly. What're you doing out here?"

Another guard stepped up. "You should be at home."

"Don't be like that," laughed the first. "She wants to get outside like the rest of us."

Silver dipped in the pony equivalent of a curtsey. "Thanks for, like, looking out, but I'm fine. We're here to give the good word."

A third guard stepped up. "Good word?"

Dry hurried to be next to Silver. "The good word, of Luminace. Do you have any priests to give services?"

The first guard jumped at that. "You know Luminace? Um... No... The commander doesn't see much need for priests..."

The second elbowed at the first. "Well, we have a Luminace... Wait... Aren't you young for priests?" He looked over the three of them critically. "Big words for such little foals. Can you prove it?"

Dry colored. Why did young adult Equestrians have to be so darn cute and tiny?! Not that he minded the cute part, when it came to his girlfriend, but he was trying to put on a confident display, and it didn't mesh with that. "I wield her magic, but only in the name of friendship, magic, and knowledge. Are any of you hurt?"

The third guard stroked his stubbly chin, a feature of most ponies really. "Huh, sounds right. If you can do healing magic, then I know where you're needed more than here."

"Hmmph. That Lashtadan priest isn't any help. Is she even a cleric?"

The second shrugged at the first. "You can be a priest without being a cleric. The two aren't the same thing." He cracked a smile at Dry. "Which are you?"

Silver tapped herself on the chest. "I'm a warpriest. A cleric. I am Luminace's shield and weapon." She angled herself towards Dry. "And his. He's a pony of the cloth. I protect, like, him."

The first laughed, clapping his hooves on his snout. "Aw! That's... Don't get offended, little clerics, but you two are adorable! I've never met such young clerics before, but if you have the magic, this way." He waved them on and set off at a light trotting jog. "We have some injured that could use the mercy of the divine."

They followed him to a moderately sized building that looked like it was made to store things, rather than the miserable ponies it had. One of those sad souls, a mare not far from the door, flopped in her cot, weakly turned in a rolling over. "Silver," she called out weakly. "Good to see you."

"This is Shimmer Spark." He moved towards her, touching noses in a gentle exchange. "She's..."

"Sick," finished the mare. "I'll have this fought off... Just be..." She trailed off, coughing seizing her a moment. "W-what are the little ones doing here? Are you cheering me up with company? It's working." She didn't sit up though, too tired for that. "Come closer. Wait... I don't want you to get what I have."

Dry leaned over towards Silver. "I don't know any spells to fix that. Do you?"

"I do," she sang, approaching the mare with a smile. "Poor thing. We're, like, here to help. In the name of Luminace. Do you worship her?"

"In part," admitted the mare guiltily. "I'm a pony. I heed all the pony gods. She isn't my favorite, but I do like her... Has she sent a friend to me?"

"If you'll take me." Silver sat in front of the mare. "Let's start. You owe us nothing. Succeed or fail, this is, you know, an effort made in the name of friendship."

The mare shed a single tear. "They really are her's... I accept. Please... Please." But she didn't wave Silver closer, instead gesturing at a still lump across the way. "Treat him first. He's far worse off than I. I can wait a little longer."

Silver walked off towards that lump, but Dry stayed behind. "I can help, I think. Let me make it a little better, even if I can't fix it."

The mare struggled to sit up, but that was a failing gambit. "You're a sweet little thing... Why don't you--"

Dry set a hoof against her snout. "Please, ma'am. You are being very nice. Luminace would be sad to hear the nicest pony went last, because she was being nice. Let me help."

The mare managed a hard look at Dry, but that was effort too. "As you wish," she allowed. "Do your best."

"I will." He closed his eyes and spoke his soft prayers to Luminace, that a pony could reach for what mysteries lie before then, that they could dance among their friends and know that joy only livable with a body whole and working. He pressed his hooves to the mare, and did not chase away the root disease. But she did stir as the power flowed into her.

She sat up slowly, the muscles in her legs obeying her for a change. "I... don't feel as weak..."

The guard that had came in with them sniffled, doing a poor job of holding back his tears. "Are you feeling better?!"

"Much... But I'm still sick. I can..." She paused to cough into a hoof, her hacking not at all diminished. "I just feel... stronger a little. Less dizzy. Thank you, little one. Thank you."

"Thank you," eagerly joined the guard. "I am sorry I doubted you before. Luminace be praised! Sun shine warmly over us."

Elsewhere in the room, Silver pulled back the covering blanket to find a pony with three hooves already in the grave. Their tongue lolled and their eyes were closed. Drool dripping from them, but even that seemed unnatural. That pony was clearly preparing to finish the journey, barely a step away from their final, labored, breath. "Wow... Just in time." The combination of Everglow anatomy and severe illness made it especially unnerving, like all the attributes of being sick were turned up far too high. "Let's fix this..."

She called to Luminace, becoming a willing vessel for that alien goddess, that impurities could be chased away. "Disease, like, go away!" Whether or not the ailment could hear her, her magic pulsed brightly over herself and her patient. "Mmm... That felt right." But he still looked near death. The only difference was he was breathing with less of a rasp. "He'll get better... Dry, you have another one of those spells?"

"I only prayed for one today," admitted Dry as he came scurrying up next to her. "Is their disease gone?"

"I think it is, but, like, the damage is still there. That's okay, I have one." She clopped her hooves and spoke the restorative words, bringing some life back into the pony, though they remained quite asleep. "He should be safe now." She whirled on the guard, standing there awkwardly. "What are they getting sick from? Equestria isn't, like, that bad."

The guard rubbed behind his head. "Uh... couldn't say for sure... But if I had to blame something, it'd be the trash food on the way here. Bad food'll take the fight out of you, then the sick comes." As good as he could manage without knowledge of germ theory. "Anyway, if you can fix this, what about the others?" He waved around at the rest of the room, about eight ponies presiding within it, including the two they'd already seen.

Silver gave a short "Huh" in response and moved forward to the next pony without any further argument.

Dry watched her go, an ear on the guard. "I'm still practicing, sir... She's younger than me, I think... But she learned this sooner than I did..."

"Feeling jealous?" He ruffled the top of the little colt's head. "I can hear it. You're both doing good work. Can you help any other ponies? I'm sure she'd be grateful, and so would I."

Dry considered that. "Oh!" He moved to the center of the room. "I can do this." He called upon the power of Luminace, bursting in all directions like he exploded with light, washing over all the patients remotely near him. "Feel better?"

A soft chuckle reached them as a stallion sat up, one of his legs in a crude splint. "Better. Not fixed, but better. Thanks. You got a name?"

Dry twirled towards him. "Hello. I am Dry Whisper. Glad I could help. If you can be helped that way..." He came in closer to administer more focused healing. "Then I can help."

"Nice to... meet you, Dry." He relaxed as Dry put the worst of his pains to rest. "Well timed... Are you with the other one running around? A pair of angels, come to deliver us mercy. Gods be praised."

"Luminace, specifically, but they're all worthy of our praise." Dry dipped his head towards the recovering pony. "I should see where else I can help." He wandered away towards the other sick or injured ponies. They had impressions to make, and suffering to diminish.

54 - Fun Police

"What happened here?" demanded a stern male voice.

"Clerics." Another guard nodded to the newcomer. "They treated the sick, sang songs of Luminace, and went on their way. Snatched a few from death's door and didn't ask for a thing for it. Out of eight ill, we're only tending two, and they're improving."

"What clerics?" He raised a doubting brow. "We didn't bring any. And this godless land doesn't have any. Where does one find a cleric in that?"

The first shrugged. "Couldn't say, but they were speaking Luminace's words and wielding restorative magic. You can't argue what's in front of you."

"Suspicious..." Unwilling to accept a good thing as just a good thing, the other guard stormed away. "She must be informed."

He went directly to the headquarters, jogging past the guards in front, and headed inside to make his report. "Ma'am."

"Yes?" She was seated in her full plate, as intimidating and powerful as usual. "You have news?"

He pointed outside. "Luminace priests have tended the wounded and injured."

"We have no Luminace priests." She scowled, not that it could be seen, but felt. "If that is a poor attempt at humor..."

"I wasn't there, ma'am. That is the report they gave me. It didn't make sense to me either. That's why I hurried here, ma'am. They say they went from 8 in poor condition to 2 in recovery. Do you think the locals have their own gods, ma'am?"

She rose to her metal-clad hooves. "If they did, and those were them, why would they be helping their enemy instead of leading an attack? Is that logical? But... It's not logical that Luminace priests should appear out of nowhere. None of this makes much sense, and I don't favor it... Battling blind is a poor way to do it. Find more information." She stormed towards the soldier. "Are these clerics still here? I have questions for them."

"Ma'am!" He hurried off to see her will done.

She advanced on the door he had come in through. "Clerics don't just..." But then... "Planes walkers? Did they follow us?" She shook her head. "More questions..." She turned her eyes to a bust of the Night Mare. "In these dark times, I would rule evenly." The bust offered no words for her. For those who were not clerics, faith was the only reward for her pious motions. "Bah..."

Silver hopped up onto the couch. "Done and done! And I'm, like, beat."

Dry climbed up next to her. "I've never used so much magic all at once... It's tiring... but exciting. I feel... like Luminace is still all inside me. Like I'm half-made of her." He was, perhaps, a little overdramatic there. "It's odd..."

"You get used to that." She curled an arm around him and leaned against him. "Mostly, tired. That'll make a splash."

Diamond nodded at the two of them. "Good job. A splash is exactly what we wanted. That'll bring her out, or at least somepony she trusts. If we keep giving her guards something to talk about, she'll have to come out to shut them up." She stood up with a feral sneer. "And that's when we attack."

Apple Bloom rubbed at her cheek. "Do we gotta attack quite like that? Cookin' a pony 'livin' ain't exactly..."

Diamond glared at Apple Bloom. "You saw the dead ponies, Apple Bloom. She ordered that to happen. A little pain? Hardly amounts to breaking even... We climbed over a pile of reasons why she deserves every bit of discomfort we can toss at her."

Sweetie tapped her hooves, fidgeting in place. "We should at least try to talk to her before we do anything that extreme..."

"Is that before or after she cuts one of you in half?" Diamond marched towards the nearest window, huffing lightly. "They aren't playing around. We aren't killing her. We'll leave that on her hooves... But she can suffer a moment, alright?"

Dry flopped to his side on the couch, soon gaining a girlfriend to cuddle on the way. "I'm tapped... I'm going to relax and when her magic returns to me, I can try again?"

Scootaloo tapped the couch they were on. "You two earned it. Alright, I don't like it... but I don't hear better ideas coming... Diamond, you're leading this. What can we do?"

"You, I want to keep that heat spell ready." She turned to Sweetie Belle. "And you stay near her. We're not trying to kill her, and you can provide quick first aid, or help Scootaloo if they come after her." Her eyes went on to Apple Bloom. "Which goes for you. I know you can do both, and you three are practically a unit, so why split it up?"

Apple Bloom thumped her chest with a hoof. "We crusaders aren't splittin' up!" Her enthusiasm waned. "What're you doin'?"

"Watching, planning, organizing." She tapped her hooves with each count. "It's what my cutie mark is telling me, as the saying goes. Somepony has to be in charge, and I don't see any of you rushing to take the job?" None of them rushed at the chance she provided. "Right. Look, if it makes you feel better, some of them seem like nice ponies. I don't want to hurt them, especially the ones just stupidly doing what's ahead of them. If we show them a better way, they'll take it. They're the least of our problems."

The very next time Dry and Silver set out, some ponies found them easily. Word of the Filly Clerics had spread, and those who had hurts came to be tended.

It wasn't just guards, though only guards were officially permitted outside. "May I take you to a stallion in need of your help?" asked a mare soldier. "He's in his home. I will accompany you, if you agree."

Silver nodded quickly. "Of course. If he can't come to us, that means--"

"--He needs us extra hard," Dry finished. "Lead the way."

They followed her to a small house beside a field of corn. "Does he farm?" Silver looked on it as they walked past it. "Looks about ready to pick up..."

"You know how to farm?" Dry hurried to aside her. "They just look... I don't know."

"I don't know either," admitted Silver with a giggle. "Just guessing on that."

"I couldn't say." The soldier knocked gently on the door. "I've returned, with help." She pressed it open despite a lack of reply. "I'm coming in. Are you better?" She soon vanished into the house, with no answers.

Silver led the way, only to stop the moment the stepped inside. The room smelt of disease and decay. "This is bad..." She picked her way over discarded plates, thick with the crust of long abandoned meals. "Really, like, completely bad."

"This is why I led you here." The soldier knocked on a new door, much thinner than the front. "Are you awake? We're here to help."

Dry nervously avoided the signs of degradation around them, as if they may attack him somehow. "I don't like this..."

"Me neither." Silver hurried ahead to just behind the soldier. "Is anypony even here?"

"He had been last I checked." She pressed the door open with her mouth on the handle and hoof pressing. "We're coming in. Sir?" But there was no reply as she pressed into the darkness. That darkness vanished with a few magic words behind her. "Ah, clerics." She smiled at the light to see by. "Thank you. Sir?" She advanced on a bed with a blanket thrown over it. "Please wake up, sir."

Silver hurried in past the soldier, peering at the bed. "We're here to, like, make you feel better. But I need to see you." She reached for the blanket, just to be swatted.

The soldier frowned. "This is still his home..." She, carefully, peeled the blanket up just enough for a peek, just to yelp and fall back over herself in an ungainly display.

Silver took the chance to draw the blanket away, and her shrill cry joined the soldier's yelp.

Dry could see what they were responding to, but he didn't scream. Loud noises were how one got eaten, or worse. "Oh..." He dipped his head. "Friend we never knew, I trust your path to those you have made. May you rest peacefully. We are sorry we could not rescue you..."

Silver retreated in a scamper back to his side. "How long has he been here?!"

The soldier recomposed herself, drawing the blanket back over the deceased. "I last checked..." She frowned with the thought. "I don't remember... Things have been busy... He wasn't feeling well, but I didn't think it was that dire... I would have... I should have moved him to the infirmary. He insisted it was a little thing. A trifling, at his own words." She turned fully to the clerics. "I... am so sorry... You are too young to ask this of, but can you give him his final rites? I may have failed him alive, but at least I can see him handled properly now." She swallowed thickly. "If you can..."

Dry looked between the two females, both shaken. He was the only one seemingly whole. "I will take this task..." He felt, in that moment, like the oldest one in the room. A pity it wasn't a good feeling. To be a foal again, too young to think of such things... "But I am small. It will take a long time for me to bury him."

"Of course!" That seemed to rouse some vigor back in her steps. "I'll bring him out and prepare the hole. All you need to is perform final rites. Blessings on you, and Luminace. I know she isn't... specialized in this..."

Dry held up a hoof. "If one values friendship, one must know that, often, it has an ending. Sometimes mundane, sometimes violent. In all cases, the end of that friendship must be faced." He swallowed, facing those emotions he was holding back. "It is my job to help. Luminace watch over us... our new friendships, the old, and the passed..."

"Of course..." She ushered them from the room. "You don't need to see this." She closed the door on them to commence the task.

Silver and Dry emerged from the house of death. She flopped against him. "How are you not, like..." She trailed off, seeing another soldier approaching them swiftly. "Hello?"

"You two," he barked firmly. "You claim to be clerics of Princess Luminace, is that correct?"

Dry nodded at the newcomer. "We are those. Do you need help? I'm a little busy, but she's available." He tossed his head towards Silver Spoon.

"This should take a moment." He reached for them, patting them down for something. "No..." But he didn't find whatever it was. "A simple test." He drew his sword free in his mouth. "Undo this." He brought the sword down, not on them, but his own leg, leaving a jagged bleeding wound. "Prove your ability where you can't be ready for it."

Silver's eyes widened, taking a step back from the bleeding pony. "What are you doing?!"

Dry was already saying the words, beseeching Luminace to bring relief to the weak in physical form. The limb mended quickly under his care, and he could hear a faint crackling noise as it knit back together. "Please don't do that again. You could hurt yourself seriously. I cannot cure death, sir."

The guard raised a brow, but both came down as one. "I see." He turned in place and marched off, as if that had been an entirely normal way to conduct business.

Dry shook his head. "You look tired. Go home." He pointed the way towards their resting place. "I can handle this."

"I don't know how you can..." She looked away and back at him. "It's alright... to feel bad." She smooched his cheek. "And it's alright to be weak. It's like hiding."

"Hiding?" Dry inclined his head. "I'm hiding right now."

Author's Note

How one approaches emotional stressors can be different, from pony to pony.

Dry is a perfect little pony. Surely nothing bad will happen to or around him. What author would ever do such a thing? Stop getting ideas!

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55 - Final Harvest

Dry gathered ponies. Most of them weren't soldiers, which confused them, and the soldiers. One of those soldiers reached to tap the small cleric on the back. "What do you need this gathering for? It's against the rules, you know."

"Just once." Dry waved at the field they were next to. "A pony has passed..." He drew out a photograph of the deceased, recovered from the house, and set it in a prominent place. "This is the last time his work can be harvested. A friend of the... town... I don't think he'd want this last gift to go to waste. Let us all respect his fading wish, and gather it."

The energy shifted as the weight of the news fell on them. One mare stepped forward from the others. "What... happened? Will we have a... funeral?" The way she said it, it wasn't a common thing for Equestrians to think of."

A stallion frowned at that. "Doubt it... As if they'd let us."

Dry clopped as commandingly as he could, in his colt-form. "He is dead, that can't be changed. Let's respect this, his last gift. His last warm token of friendship. Let us think of him, the friendship we knew with him. Plan to share this gift with friends, new and old. This is a somber time, but it is not an end, just a start." He shivered softly, feeling too old for the moment. But he was an adult. It was time to act it. "I asked that ponies skilled in farming be gathered. If you can't or won't help, please, go home in peace. The rest, let's begin."

A few hesitated, but none fled. As others advanced to collect the harvest, it inspired others to join in, and they sang. It wasn't a cheerful melody, as most heartsongs were. They sung of loss and pain, but of collective strength and unity. They were hurting, together, and doing the right thing, together. It has taken their friend from them, but they were doing what they could, and they sang in somber celebration of that fact.

One of the soldiers, a stallion, watched the scene with naked amazement. "Who taught them that song? They don't seem... the sort that'd have it ready."

"They didn't." Dry watched it, that ritual of sorrowful friendship. "Ponies of this world sing what their heart feels. If you stay, you may become part of it... They..." He trailed off, sinking to his haunches. "They deserve a witness. I won't sing." It wasn't that he didn't feel the urge to join, but it wasn't his song. The loss, not his loss. He hadn't been their friend, just a passing priest...

Operating in heartsong, the harvest was done smoothly and without accident, at least no accident that wasn't smoothly intercepted by the next singer, catching the falling pony before they could hit the ground and flowing smoothly to the next part of the song. They were one creature, locked in song, and that field was stripped bare of any edible plant.

One mare slammed a sign down on the final note of the song. The sign had the picture of the pony, posted on the top, making it quite clear who the field belonged to. The song was over. She wheeled on the soldiers, armed or not. "Can we... Will you let us have our funeral? This food's... obviously meant for that. Just forgetting where it came from is too sad."

Another mare pointed at the sign. "Let us. What are you scared of?"

An elderly stallion moved ahead of the mares, his eyes on the soldiers all around them. "We have lost so many... This one, at least, we can greet with some amount of dignity. So many were lost, already gone. The town needs this. If you have a heart in your chest, you will allow us."

The soldiers shuffled in place, out of their element. One near Dry looked to him as if he should have the answer. Dry wished he could just go to school, in that moment... "It's not up to me. If it were, I wouldn't stand in the way. A final meal for a lost friend? How would I say no to that...?"

"Yes, how would you say no to that," barked the fiery mare, glaring at the soldiers. "Then it's settled. We're having our party." She stomped off, declaring the matter closed.

The group dispersed, heading home and taking the food with them. The soldiers were a bit of a disorganized mess, grumbling in argument and conflicted emotions on the whole thing.

"Hm." A mare, not a townie nor a soldier, advanced on Dry as the others dispersed. "No wonder you fled."

Dry looked up with surprise, recognizing the Lashtadan priest. "Oh, hello."

"Hello." She sat next to him. "Heavy is the burden you accepted today."

Dry swallowed thickly. "I... had to."

"That is a lie." She inclined her head at the foal, at least in her eyes. "No pony must do anything. You decided to..." She glanced towards that final sign left to rest in the empty field. "But I do think you did a good thing. All lines become one... in time. But that is a dream of our god, and we are not creatures of... that long sight. This line has ended." She flicked an ear back. "Perhaps? Mm, maybe they have children. It doesn't matter, not to you, or to me, right now. It's not fair."

"It's not fair," he echoed, voice wavering.

"It's not fair." She gathered him against herself and held him close.

To shed tears felt like the only thing he could do, in the mare's grasp. "I don't even know him."

"Nor I." She rocked with Dry slowly, providing comfort in her presence. "But it is a sadness we understand." She inclined an ear at him. "I confess, little one... It amazes me. You look so young, but you... It's not fair... You should be kept safe."

"It is never safe." He wriggled away to his own hooves. "Life is not safe. We survive..." He turned on the other priest. "We guide. Um... I don't want to do... ends like that."

"Nor I... But, should it come up again..." She placed a hoof on his head. "Please, find me. You don't deserve this. I will take care of the next. Neither of us wishes it... but I will accept it."

A thought came to Dry, ears pricking. "Can't you heal them?"

She recoiled, ears folding. "I am a priest... not a cleric. I speak her words, but I do not wield her power... Lashtada's will is mine, but not her abilities... Blessed colt, I would be jealous if I were not so sad. You should not have to... Find me, should this come up again." She touched her nose just between his eyes. "I will help as I can."

She took a step away. "I should return to the other foals. My duty does not pause. But... find me. For that, I will come." She hurried off back to the orphanage, with no supernatural powers, just a sincere will to do her part to bring her god's glory to the world around her.

Dry brought his hooves together. "A true friend. May her steps be blessed with knowledge and kinship." His prayer had no direct power, but he could hope Luminace would act, in some way. A pity he didn't have such a direct spell. Yet? Perhaps he could learn it, in time. "I think your own god already smiles on you." He headed for home with a little smile. He knew so little of Lashtada, but he couldn't imagine that obscure goddess would be anything but pleased at the work of her priestess.

"What is it?" The captain glowered, unseen behind her helmet, at the pony that strode in.

"The priest." He pointed off. "I have news."

"Continue." She sank to her haunches. "I would hear that."

"They have healing magic. I was unable to locate healing artifacts that would explain it. They are clerics or other users of healing magic." There were a number of magical specialties that might let someone perform a healing ritual. "It was not of mental nature."

"Not a soothing spell, good... That's something." She rolled an armored hoof. "What else?"

"He organized a... calling it a funeral feels wrong. A passing ritual?" He shrugged helplessly. "He gathered the locals to harvest the last field of wheat and corn that deceased had grown. There were no incidents during that."

She took a firm step forward. "What?! I gave no permission for any assemblies."

"No... The soldiers in charge decided, on their own, it would be a good idea."

"Fools." She stomped past him. "I should have been consulted. You give them one inch, they demand a mile. That's the nature of it. Has that demand already come?"

"It has, Sir. They intend to hold a funeral, using the food they gathered." He tapped the ground just ahead of himself. "I came as soon as I heard, Sir. I thought you should know."

"I should know. I should have known when it happened." She took a slow breath. "Get me a list of every soldier who should have used their rank to stop this madness. It is time they had a reminder of the proper order of things."

"Of course, Sir!" He saluted sharply and pivoted in place. "I will see it done." A mild nod was enough to be sure he was dismissed, and he strode off to get that done.

"This appointment will be the end of me." She went to the outside. The soldier that had just been there was still visible, striding purposefully. Her attention was on her loyal door guards. "You!" They perked and turned to her quickly. "Find those priests. I want them available whenever I decide it." She considered the two and pointed to the one on the left. "You. Stay here. This door still needs guarding."

She stormed inside, leaving the guards with her order. The one not commanded to stay took a step down the stairs. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"See that you are." Without the other, it meant no breaks for him. "Good luck."

Their adopted mother jumped when knocking reached her from the door. "Who is it?" She hurried for it and opened it to find a soldier, but a familiar one. "Oh, hello there."

The female soldier that had promised food came in with her sides burdened with that food. "Good evening. I'm off duty." She said that last with emphasis, to be clear on that. She was not wearing armor to add to that. "I volunteered to get this over on my way out." She went to the dining table and stood there. Foals gathered around her to grab food and help them get away. "Such good little things."

The mother closed the door gently and joined in the effort of getting things away properly. "Thank you. This means so much... Have things improved?"

The soldier sighed and shrank a little. "No... There are some grumbling that the food taken from that field should be used to help everyone survive, soldier or citizen. To waste it on a funeral? We don't have that luxury..."

Dry stormed on her, glaring as best he could, which wasn't a very good glare in his adorable colt form. "They are hurting and need this. Tell your commander to let the ponies take care of themselves and they'll stop starving. Just..." He staggered back, eyes darting as if searching for somewhere to hide. "Just..."

Silver Spoon grabbed him, one arm around him and clutching him tightly, letting him shiver against her. "It's alright," she whispered, rocking him.

The soldier sank to her haunches, bags emptied of the supplies she brought. "I know... I know. But what can I do? I'm not that commander."

Diamond rolled a hoof from the plush chair she was seated in. "But you know where she is and can talk to her, so talk to her. If you can convince her to stop messing this up..."

Author's Note

There is a lot of weight here...

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56 - Emerging

"So glad you could make it." The commander sneered, not that they could see her expression, but they could hear it in her words. "A blessed commander knows their orders are being followed. I was a fool to assume I was that fortunate..."

The soldiers shuffled nervously, but remained in place, for the most part. "Ma'am?" She glared daggers at the soldier that had spoken up. "Sir! We... did what looked... We did the best we could, Sir."

Scootaloo rubbed her hooves together from in cover, skulking in a bush Dry had pointed out as an ideal vantage point. "Now?"

Apple Bloom waved for Scootaloo to wait a little longer.

"This is why you are not the commander of this mission," she boomed at them. "I am! Why didn't you get my order? Failing that, why did you not follow the one I already gave? Nothing about this was pressing. Nothing about this couldn't have waited. And now... Now we suffer, because of your actions." She took a weary sigh. "Are you satisfied with yourself, knowing that food is being wasted?"

Apple Bloom gave a firm wave forward and drew a potion in the same motion, ready for her part.

Scootaloo intoned the strange words of power, bending the laws of the universe in precise ways, agitating the metal of the commander's armor. The commander let out an angry yelp, jumping in place to avoid the heat, and the magic she couldn't see. The heat abated rapidly, the spell avoided, at least the worst of it. "Bring them to me!" She pointed in the direction the spell-casting had come from. "Dead or alive."

Apple Bloom hesitated at the edge of the bush, glancing nervously at Sweetie Belle as if they were about to run away, but Scootaloo fearlessly cast another spell. As she repeated the spell, she became aware that her phrasing could use some improvement to avoid any mishaps. With all the anger and frustration she could muster, she glared at the commander, desperately willing her plan to work as the soldiers closed in on their position.

Sweetie Belle burst from the bushes, but didn't move far, singing a song of terror and loss that clung like oil to the hides and spirits of those who opposed her. It would be impossible to know if this tilted things, or if Scootaloo got her spell better, or if the commander failed in her dodge, or it was all a matter of luck. If the gods knew, they weren't sharing. But all could see her armor become a cherry red and her screams filled the air as she cooked, caught inside the thick plate armor that couldn't be easily thrown free.

The soldiers came up short, confused. One of them swung his sword down to direct at Sweetie. "Don't move. No more magic. If you want to survive the day, you'll get down on your belly."

Sweetie squeaked fearfully and flopped to the ground. "Don't hurt me!" A few other soldiers moved in to keep hold of the enemy bard, at least one enemy neutralized.

With great urgency, a number of soldiers hastened to the commander's side, endeavoring to rescue her from the fiery armor. Even though they suffered burns in return, they didn't stop tearing and pulling at it with all their might. They stripped away the armor from her in a hurry, causing significant damage to the protective gear as they freed her from it and let her fall to the ground.

This only brought more confusion. Their imposing boss of a mare was a little equestrian mare, hurt, smoking, burned, and not at all imposing.

Apple Bloom emerged, walking towards the downed commander. "I can heal her!" She waved a position she clutched in her teeth. "Ah got potions. It'll help!" The soldiers were glaring at her like she could be an enemy, but they didn't stop her from coming in. "Drink this." She offered a bottle to the commander.

The commander sat up, even if the motions made some of her wounds seep blood, her skin cracked in places, smoldered in others. She was in great pain, but refused to bow to it. She was still their commander. "How convenient, for you to be right here when I might need you... Have you captured the one that did this?!"

Apple Bloom pressed the bottle against the injured pony. "Convenient or not, yer hurt real bad! Drink."

"You just want me to show weakness," hissed the commander, forcing herself to her hooves, even if she shook in the process.

"We don't have to." Diamond leaned back in the rocking chair she had taken for her grand entrance. "You're doing a grand job all on your own. Little pony, you're hurt. You should accept the kindness of other little ponies."

The commander suddenly grabbed the bottle with a vicious snatch. "Only a fool doesn't use the tools made available." She chugged it down, her wounds undoing themselves visibly as she imbibed the elixir. "Better." The threw the glass aside. "Now, where are they?!"

Two soldiers came on either side of Scootaloo, keeping her hedged in despite any amount of scowling she could do about it. "We have her right here... sir?"

Diamond pressed her hooves together. "Let me guess. She told you the 'little ponies' couldn't possible make adult decisions. Why... just look at them... so weak and helpless. It's a surprise they've even survived this long."

The commander ignored Diamond for the moment, striding up to Scootaloo with a scowl. "This little thing? You delivered that...? It's hard to beleive, but a fine lesson. The size of your enemy can be deceiving." She brought up a hoof and swung it across Scootaloo's face with a slap. Ponies did not have flat palms covered in soft flesh.

Scootaloo flew to the ground with a pained cry as the hoof sent her flying. "Your punishment has hardly even begun, but you deserved that personal retribution." She twirled towards Apple Bloom. "You. Are you allied with that one?"

"Y-yeah..." Abandoning her friend discarded as even an idea. "Stop hurtin' her!"

"Loyal." The commander stomped towards Apple Bloom, proving she could still put out the aura of command despite her small frame. "I appreciate that." She brought up a hoof just under Apple Bloom's chin. "But you are a tool in the wrong hooves." She paused, glancing at Diamond. "Or are the hooves right there? She barks like she's in charge."

With spears and swords pointed at her, Diamond put up her hooves and surrendered without any dramatic battle. "But might makes right. Without might, that is all you have, little barks. It's a waste of time to pay mind to the little yaps of angry dogs." The commander turned to her guards. "That one, and that one." She pointed to Diamond and Scootaloo. "We're making an example of them."

A soldier swallowed thickly. "Sir... I... I must advise against that."

She glared at him. "What nerve... Why? This had better be an especially good reason."

He cleared his throat. "Ma'am, they're children. The locals will become upset if they see us hurt them."

The commander scowled at the soldier with a new intensity. "And you're scared of them? These little ponies?"

The soldier pointed at Scootaloo. "She surrendered, Sir." His hoof turned to Diamond. "As did she. As our prisoners, without bloodshed, we owe them decency."

"A fine and tender sentiment... That we do not have time for. I will have my pound of flesh. Who is it that dares to stop me?"

"Me."

All heads turned as one as an enormous figure descended from the sky, crowned in the sun's glow as the immense shape of Celestia touched the ground. "I will stop you."

The commander scrambled back a step. "Who are you?! Capture her!" The soldiers weren't that fast to move against Celestia, looking with uncertainty.

Celestia shook her head. "You have done enough harm. I will not allow my ponies to suffer a moment longer." She stomped the ground. "I am Celestia, ruler of these lands." Her wings spread wide. "Controller of the sun, and wielder of ancient magic. And... I did not come alone."

The moment she spoke, it was as if her words had triggered a signal and with amazing speed, guards that were golden-plated emerged from behind every building in the surrounding area. In a swift and coordinated manner, they quickly moved into position either to brandish their spears menacingly at the soldiers. Others went to stand protectively by Celestia's side, poised to defend her if necessary.

While the Equestrian ponies were... Despite their cuteness, they were armed with various weapons and there were numerous of them. A vast majority of the soldiers decided to surrender their weapons instead of testing them out. Seeing their peers dropping their arms, more and more soldiers were encouraged to do the same, resulting in a battle that appeared to be won without even a single actual stroke being made.

The commander was not one of them, though she had no weapon, hers still attached to her bent armor. She glared at Celestia and the many guards that had come from seemingly nowhere. "If you are half as ancient and powerful as you claim, why did it take so long for you to arrive, 'Celestia'?"

Celestia gestured for her guards to gather the soldiers together, but no ponies, Equestrian or Everglow, were being harmed. "As a ruler of a nation, it takes time to put things in order. It is with shame that it took me this long, but that is now behind us, for I am here now. Everglow intruder, we have made peace with some of your people, but you..." She glared at the commander with a lack of sympathy. "You were ready to hurt our foals."

Diamond walked to Celestia's side with nothing to stop her. "That's not even the start of things, Celly."

Celestia cocked a brow. "Diamond Tiara, child of Filthy Rich. I was told you were in the area... But not what you were up to. Your father was quite tight-lipped about that." She cracked a little smile. "Does even he know?"

"He doesn't." She turned to the commander, increasingly isolated and alone. "This pony ordered the death of dozens. She had a train stopped in the most immediate way possible. The train had nothing but civilians trying to get home. Many of her guards seem to be good ponies, but if there's a good bone in their commander's body, I haven't found it." Her expression was cooly calculating, speaking her words quite pointedly in the most unflattering portrayal of the commander she could consider. "As the forced ruler of this town, she ruled with fear and intimidation. They did not permit ponies much, let alone even take care of their own needs."

"I see..." Her simmering aura flared into cool flames that made the air shimmer above her. "You..." The flames flickered out. "I am better than that. You will face justice at the hooves of others. Take her in." Her guards saluted and moved in to capture her.

She kicked and punched at them as they came for her, but there were many more of them than the one of her. They tackled her to the ground, kicking and screaming. "Release me!" They did not release her, instead hoofcuffing her legs together and forcing her upright to shuffle awkwardly with them.

Scootaloo rubbed at her sore cheek as she went in next to Diamond. "So... I didn't have to do that? The Princess was coming anyway?"

Diamond shook her head, leaning in closer. "Shh... No, how she reacted was important. You did exactly the right thing. Don't let anypony say otherwise... Also, you will probably be asked about that. Just tell the truth."

Scootaloo swallowed nervously, but didn't argue.

Celestia was speaking to the foreign soldiers. She had more kindness to show them, asking them questions, but waiting for the answers rather than showing any anger towards them. Her duty for the town had hardly begun.

Author's Note

The commander gets her comeuppance pie served steaming hot by the princess of the sun. Now there's this mess that has to be cleaned up...

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57 - Denouement

"I commend you." She tapped her long horn to each shoulder of the stunned mare. "You acted in the best interest of Equestria, and ponies who needed your help, at your own personal risk. Thank you."

"Of course!" squeaked the mare, bowing to Celestia. "How could I not? Poor little things..."

Celestia smiled at the mothering pony. "I am blessed to have ponies like you in my nation. Please, live well and long. If you have need, send a missive to me. I will read it."

Celestia had several brave locals to visit, but the one that sheltered the foal warriors seemed a fine start. The entire community seemed to have a positive opinion of them.

But there were others.

"I am informed you are, were rather, an agent of hers?" Celestia looked over the druid, having only heard of him from others.

The Equestrian pony nodded at her, not bowing. "Was. Blasted fool got what was coming to her. She ignored the truths of nature and this is the result. Sorry, Your Highness. You're the ruler, are you not?"

"I am." Celestia smiled at the foreign pony. "I am not your ruler. You have to decide. If you stay, then I will be, and you will follow our laws. Otherwise, I will send you to a pony I know has the talent to get you home. Which would you prefer?"

He considered her in kind a quiet moment. "You don't mind either way? The services of such a talented spellcaster doesn't come free."

She smiled gently at him, like the rising of a sun. "This one will do it if I ask, for she wants ponies to be happy, and you are one, local or not. I would like that as well. Consider, decide, and tell me. All I ask is that you be decent while you are here until your decision is made."

"One would hope that is the default." He snorted softly. "But I'm not that naive. I won't cause you trouble, ma'am. Expect my answer shortly." His eyes wandered her anew. "I'm told you are a local god. Is this true?"

She shrank back a step. "I... No. Equestria has no gods."

"That isn't true, Your Highness. Even your foals showed piety. They weren't Equestrian gods, but they were gods, and they are here." He sat. "You know that, right?"

"I am... becoming aware." She raised a hoof, just for it to fall. "Do you pay heed to them?"

"Yes, and no. My magic doesn't come from them. I do say my prayers. I'm a pony." He seemed to realize his words could be taken worng. "Everglow ponies have gods. A pantheon of them. Not respecting them? That would be odd for any one of us. The cats have their own. So, I have a god, several, but they don't stand directly behind me. Does that make sense?"

"No." She leaned in at the strange pony. "But I appreciate being informed. This mystery will not be abated today... You are found innocent of any crimes. Go with peace."

"Ma'am." The priestess bowed low before Celestia, eyes squeezed shut. The foals arrayed behind her watched Celestia curiously.

Celestia set a hoof on the pony's back. "Rise. The foals watch you intently. Have you earned their trust?"

"Yes," shouted the room almost as one, young voices rising in support of the mare they had decided they favored quite a bit.

Celestia smiled at the display. "It is difficult to imagine many ponies with this much favor of foals can have done anything wrong."

"They flatter me." She dipped her head at Celestia, but was sitting up. "I am a priest, ma'am, of Lashtada, goddess of families, of life that begets life. To oversee a child and see them grow into ready adulthood is my purpose, so that more foals can happen."

Celestia lifted an ear at the priest. "Do you command magic?"

"No..." She shrank back, "I'm a priest, ma'am, not a cleric. I speak her words, and serve loyally her edicts, but she grants me no blessings for it. I do it for faith. I do it because I agree with her. Is it... not why people here folllow your orders, ma'am?"

"It is." Celestia relaxed into a gentle expression. "I'm glad to hear some Everglow ponies do the same. This... unfortunate event has produced no few orphans." Her eyes wandered over the many foals. "So, I extend an offer. If you wish, stay. You will be paid by the crown." She pointed up to her tiara. "We will construct a proper orphanage, and you will be at its head. See these ponies are cared for properly, with love and diligence. Will you do that?"

A tear escaped the priestess. "You may as well command an animal breathe, ma'am... It would be a great pleasure. It would be harder to convince me to abandon them. One thing, ma'am... Will I become like the ponies here?"

"I am told." Celestia inclined her head. "We are not too unsightly, I hope?"

"No! No... Sorry." She cleared her throat. "I wasn't trying to be rude, ma'am... It's just something to get used to... But if it means I can tend to these new little lines, that they can grow strong and bright? I would gladly do that." She trembled softly. "All Lines Made One... This is another line. It is not to be feared. All Lines Made One." It was like she was reciting a mantra to herself, tense and hurried.

Celestia reached but hesitated. "This is... a trying time for you. Do not feel hurried. Take your time. Children." They looked to her. "I know she has watched over you faithfully, but if you could return the favor. She could use a friend, and a watching eye." The room erupted into cheers and volunteers.

The priest smiled, even if her snout felt quite wet. "They are so very precious... I will not let them down, ma'am."

"I imagine you will not... But if you feel harried, reach for others. We are together."

The priest's expression brightened. "Yes! Together. All Lines Made One. We are stronger together, and can only make the future... together." She grabbed a passing foal and hugged them gently. "I will not let them down, or myself."

"I imagine you will not." Celestia departed the mare, confident that Equestria had gained a lovely new parent.

"You two." Celestia looked between the two. "You've been quite busy. I've been informed you are wielders of Everglow god magic?"

Silver Spoon nodded. "We both follow Princess Luminace, um, ma'am."

"And if she told you to do something I wouldn't allow?"

Silver's brows went up together. "Like... what would that be? She's nice, and you're nice..."

"Tell me more about her." She sat to listen. "I would hear more of this pony that has claimed your fealty."

Dry waved a hoof wildly. "Ma'am! It's not like that. She isn't our, um, king. That's you, ma'am."

Celestia weighed an imaginary thing between her hooves. "And is we disagreed, who would you listen to?"

Dry considered with a little hum. "I would try to find out why, ma'am. You two should get along very well. Um... No offense."

"None taken." She pat the nervous colt on the head gently. "It sounds, to me, I still need to know. Tell me of this Luminace. What she likes. What she hates. What she asks a pony to do."

"You got it." Silver starting setting up for a tutoring lesson. "You're the second pony I taught this too, and I bet Dry wants to help."

"I do?!" He took a slow breath. "I do... Are you ready, ma'am?"

"Ready." She smiled at the two foals. "Educate me."

So they did just that, explaining the ins and outs of Princess Luminace.

"Diamond!" They ran at each other, embracing with shared warmth. "You had me so worried..."

"You know I had it, dad..." She nestled with him despite her petulant words. She spotted her mother, watching. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Spoiled took a slow breath. "I heard about what you did, Diamond."

Diamond clenched her teeth, ready to be chewed out.

"I'm... proud."

Diamond blinked. Those were not the words she expected. "You're proud?!"

"You took charge in a tense situation." Spoiled tapped her hooves. "You prioritized, minimized, and saw it through to completion." She set her hooves down and sat up tall. "I am proud."

Filthy nuzzled the top of his daughter's head. "We're both so very proud of you! My little wonder pony. Our little hero." He hugged her firmly anew. "Never do that again."

"Never." Spoiled nodded at Diamond. "However, I do look forward to your future business ventures." She smiled thinly. "You seem ready for the cuthroat world of business." She took a slow breathe. "Welcome back."

"It's good to... be back." She hiked a brow at her mother. "So... you going to share what happened in Everglow now?"

"Certainly not." She turned away. "Come along. You have much schoolwork to catch up on."

Diamond paled, trailing after her. "You're going to make me do it all?!"

"Every single sentance." There was no mercy there.

"Twilight." Cheerilee gazed on her evenly. "This is not alright."

"I didn't plan this." She flared her wings out a moment. "They did this on their own..."

"Foals shouldn't be doing this on their own..." Cheerilee shook her head firmly. "I know they're getting on the older edge of things, but they're still foals. Dry has so much to learn it's almost embarassing. He should be in school for years more! I don't care how--"

Twilight held up a hoof. "He is an adult."

Cheerilee raised a brow. "You say that very confidently."

"Because he is..." She wobbled her hooves over one another. "He's just at the edge. As an Everglow pony, he is a young adult. He didn't become a child, coming here. He's an adult that needs care and education, but he is not a foal."

Cheerilee sighed tiredly. "That doesn't explain the rest. Diamond is a foal. Silver Spoon is a foal. The crusaders are foals. Older foals, one can argue, but foals. They should not be fighting for their lives. They should not be grappling with life or death decisions as a normal state..."

"They should not... but they did." Twilight closed her eyes. "They did and they shined through it... I'm very proud of all of them, and I'd rather they never face something like that ever again."

"What will you do about it? This other world, it's dangerous. Our own is dangerous enough!" She clopped a hoof down. "We don't need two worlds of danger."

Twilight kept quiet about the third world she knew, full of its own dangers. "We do not... but I can't undo that. It's done. They know we're here. We know they're here. We are connected." She brought her hooves together. "All we can do, as adults, is better prepare to protect those foals."

"Easy for you to say." Cheerilee turned to wave over her classroom, empty but for the two of them. "If something like... that. If it came here, what would I do? I don't have magic. I don't--" She glared, spotting words forming. "If you suggest I start boxing..." Twilight had the sense to blush and be quiet. "What do we do, Twilight?"

Twilight rose to her hooves. "I know."

Cheerilee blinked. "You do? You have an idea."

"Not an idea, an answer." She started for the door. "We can't close this door, but we can make it... more specific."

Cheerilee hurried to catch up with her. "You can't say that and not explain it, Twilight. Out with it."

Twilight twirled on her. "If every Everglow visitor always ended up in the same, safe, place, then..."

Cheerilee pondered the idea. "Then... we'd be safe. Can you do that?"

"It's not a choice." Twilight snorted softly. "I will do that. I will protect Equestria."

But that would have to wait for another story.

Author's Note

That feels like a Fin to me. Thoughts?

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1 - Well Howdy There

Apple Bloom trotted down the darkly lit passage. She thought back to an earlier time, a simpler time. She would have been nervous about galivanting around the Everfree, all by herself. Not that she hadn't done it! She snickered, thinking of how she'd first met Zecora. That had turned out alright, in the end.

Still, she wasn't scared of that forest, or the monsters in it. She wasn't just a filly anymore! Well, technically, she was still a filly. She leaned her head to the left, jostling a bandoleer of potions that hung from her, ready for use. Not that she had as much need to use them as she had during... those times.

That didn't stop her from keeping them ready! "Makes me a super hero," she spoke to herself with a hop and a skip, clopping her hooves together before she hit the ground. She had the power of life in those vials, and other things beside, but she mostly told ponies about the healing potions. They were nice and simple and not a pony objected to her having them. She just had to not mention what the other potions could do...

Ah, the melodic screech of a cockatrice. Apple Bloom inclined her head, straining to pick out the direction and distance. She should be safe... Being turned to stone would be hard to get rid of with a potion. Statues were just awful at drinking things! Maybe one of her friends could break the right potion over her if that happened? Probably better to just avoid those little murder birds.

She slid down an embankment towards a smaller trail, trotting along towards Zecora's house on a shortcut she knew. Their relationship had... changed. Apple Bloom's thoughts on that came to a halt as she heard a new sound. It wasn't the call of a monster, she thought? More of a little noise; a hiss? Not a snake. Oh, there it was again.

She looked towards it and saw a pair of eyes peering out from the bushes. They weren't super large. They weren't scowling. They were a bit lacking in pupils, the whole thing light in color. "Uh, hi?"

"Are you a monster?" asked the little voice, sounding like a colt in tone.

"Nah." She pointed at herself. "Just an earth pony."

"An earth pony! I heard of that." The small form emerged into the light, revealing a pony... of a sorts. Their mane and tail wafted in the air as if they were barely made of anything but the vaugest of whisps, fluttering like a ghost behind them. Their legs were all just... long? They were spindly, but smiling. "Earth-bound. You know how to be safe."

"Reckon ah do." She nodded at the strange little pony. They were both foals, in the end, but she felt more... adult... than the foal before her. "Are you feeling unsafe?"

"I am unsafe," he assured, glancing over both shoulders as if a monster were about to pounce on him. "This world is full of danger."

"Yer kiddin'." Apple Bloom threw a hoof wide, waving away that idea. "This world's pretty safe compared to the other one ah been to."

That got him to stop, gazing at her with... wonder? "You've walked between worlds? You are a foal, like me." He pointed at himself with an emphatic pumping of a hoof. "And already you walk between worlds?!"

"Did it twice s'far." She shrank a little, surprised at the attention. "Look, if yer scared, why don't you come with me? Where yer folks at?" Apple Bloom couldn't see any other ponies in the area, just that lost colt.

"They wait for me to learn to... walk." He rubbed one leg with the end of the other, nervously shuffling. "It's been scary, so scary... You must... You went to worse places? You are... very brave." He bobbed his head and dared a step closer. "I am Dry Whisper."

She noticed something. On the foal's bottom, he had a cutie mark! He had struck her as maybe too young to have one, but there it was. She circled him to get a better look at it. "Ah'm Apple Bloom, nice to meetcha. Stop." She set out a hoof on his shoulder to stop him from turning. "Just getting a look at yer mark."

"Oh, my brand." He then twisted to display it, not embarrassed of it. It seemed like a cloud, with a pair of eyes peeping out of it. "I'm good at hiding."

"How long ya been hidin'?" She continued past him. "C'mon. Gonna see a friend."

"You have a friend?" He quickly twirled and caught up with her, as if he could hide in her shadow if he did it right. "Are they also an earth-bound?"

"Nah, they ain't even a pony." She shook her head, imagining Zecora. "She's a zebra, right nice one too."

The foal looked confused at that. "Zebras are ponies."

"Ah... don't think they are?" It was Apple Bloom's turn to be confused. Zecora was shaped like a pony, and acted mostly like a pony, and... Huh... Were they the same thing? Were Zebras like pegasi to earth ponies, different, but ponies? "Huh..."

Dry burst into airy giggles. "Now I taught you something." Despite being so long-limbed, he practically flowed under Apple Bloom, scooting under her from left to right. "I want to see the zebra. Are they... nice?"

"Super nice!" She bobbed her head in easy agreement. "She taught me the first steps at how ah got good at makin' potions."

His eyes went to her potions, as difficult as it was to be entirely certain where he was looking. "You made those?"

"Every single one of 'em!" Apple Bloom danced as she walked, hopping to pedal her hooves. "Make more every day to keep a fresh supply. No good reachin' fer a spoiled potion."

"A world walker who can make potions..." He sounded like he was struck dumb in awe at the idea. "And you like me?"

She inclined her head at that, her dancing fading away. "Huh? As a friend, sure?" She lifted her shoulders. "As a coltfriend, lesso, sorry. We just barely met!"

His cheeks darkened, proving his pale form could have some color in it. "Not like that! The first one... You'll protect me?" He leaned in against her a little. "If something attacks us."

Her smile softened. "Ah never had a little... Hey, ya never said where your parents are off ta. Shouldn't they be protectin' ya?"

"Not here." He shied away half a step. "I said, they're waiting for me."

"Waiting for you... but not here?" When he nodded, Apple Bloom sighed. "Not what I'd expect from..." She swallowed her words. Not the first friend she had that she wanted to throttle the parents of! "Well yer safe now. Won't let nothin' happen to you." And she suddenly had a colt pressed up against her side with the biggest grin. A smile she soon returned. It was kinda nice being needed.

She pointed ahead as they rounded a corner. "And there's her house, er, hut, still her home."

Dry Whisper separated from her, peering at the house with undisguised wonder. "You know this one? I've seen this hut before, but strange smells and sounds came from it. I was too scared."

Apple Bloom trotted past Dry. "C'mon. She's super nice, and she loves little foals."

"She does?!" He trailed right along after her. "Now I feel silly, but it is better to be too cautious instead of not cautious enough." He rubbed at his cheek with the flat of a hoof. "I am glad I met you."

"Are those small voices I hear?" The door to Zecora's house opened, revealing the zebra stepping free with a small cauldron's handle in her mouth. "What little foals draw near?"

"Heya, Zecora!" Apple Bloom waved excitedly, then turned that hoof on Dry Whisper. "This here's Dry Whisper. His parents done left him in the Everfree Forest of all places, can ya believe it?"

Zecora set down her cauldron on her fire pit and let go of the handle, running her tongue over her lips before she considered both foals. "This forest is full of danger, Full of beasts both grand and stranger."

Dry pointed at Zecora accusingly. "See, she knows! This world is full of danger. This is why I hid. I hid really well." He looked proud of his ability to remain out of sight. "Hello."

Zecora smiled a little at the strange colt. "Hello there, little colt. There is wisdom in knowing when to hide or bolt." She went back inside, emerging with a bucket full of water. "But around you I feel, something that isn't quite real."

Dry inclined his head left and right sharply before he flopped to his haunches. "You really are a zebra." He clopped his hooves with clear delight. "Do you speak more tongues than I have hairs?"

Zecora inclined her head. "Of the many talents I can claim, that is not a part of my fame." She dumped the water into the cauldron and began adding ingredients to the still cool water, no fire started yet. "Is that a thing you expect? One of the first things you checked."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Zecora is an alchemist, like me. She makes super great potions!" She threw her hooves wide in either direction. "And she knows the answer to... almost everything. And she's mah teacher!" She bounced ahead and began springing around Zecora, proudly taking claim for having found such a great tutor.

Dry was quit happy enough to clap along. "You found a good teacher. Miss Zecora, hello. I am not an alchemist."

She nodded at that admission, lowering to start the fire beneath the cauldron with strikes of flint and steel strapped to her hooves for the task. With a rush of heat, the fire flared into life. "There we are. Do you know Everglow, distant star?"

Dry's eyes widened. "Zebra really do know everything," he gusted out as if knocked breathless with wonder. He inclined his head, confusion growing. "Aren't we on Everglow?"

Apple Bloom blinked at her new friend, ceasing her bouncing to walk over towards him. "Been to Everglow before, this ain't it. Were ya supposed to be on Everglow?"

He brought up both hooves to press to both cheeks with a startled expression. "Oh no! My mother put me on the wrong world. She won't ever find me! Oh no..." He flopped to the side, his long legs kicking as tears brimmed in his pale eyes. "I'm lost. I'm lost!"

Apple Bloom glanced back at Zecora, but the zebra was working on her brew as if nothing was happening. "Right, on me." Apple Bloom forced a smile back on her face. "It's gonna be okay. Yer not alone." She sat down next to the flopped over colt. "Ya got two friends right here."

"Two friends..." He blinked the tears away and slowly rolled upright. "You're my first friend." He reached out to set a hoof on her chest. "And you'll protect me." His smile was scared, so scared, but hopeful that the filly before him would put things right.

If only Apple bloom knew how. But, still. "Yeah! I won't let no monsters bother you none." She bobbed her head. "Besides, I weren't lyin'. Compared to Everglow, Equestria's darn nice. Mostly filled with ponies that are nice 'nough."

So he was on a new world, the wrong one, and that was bad... But it was nicer... that was... good? "Is it that nice?"

"Super nice," she assured, thumping her chest. "C'mon. I'll show you Ponyville, there's where ah live!" She trotted on past him back onto the trail. "See you later, Zecora! I wanna go over some stuff soon."

They left the wise zebra, weaving their way along the main path that connected Zecora's home to Ponyville. "Maybe this isn't so bad," he whispered with timid uncertainty.

The response did not encourage faith, a great roar washing over them both loud enough to rattle their bones.

Author's Note

Welcome to Equestria, little ghost pony. Now roll for initiative.

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6 - Take Only Pictures

"Let's play a fun little game."

Dry inclined his head. "What kind of game?" Were it up to Scootaloo, a game would be terrifying. But this was Fluttershy. It couldn't be so bad, or she would avoid it too, right?

"A simple one. A fun one." She nosed into a collection of things and came free with an odd device. "You're going to take some pictures."

"Pictures?" Not a word he'd heard before. "What is that?" He was curious. Maybe just a little alarmed, but it was still Fluttershy. She was a safe pony.

"Let me show you." She threw a strap over her own neck, allowing the thing to dangle from her. There her mouth was freed up to operate it, holding its sides with her hooves to keep it in place as she peered into it.

Dry had no idea what she was doing, but then it got really bright! He squeaked, blinking against the spots that filled his vision.

"Sorry about that," gently apologized Fluttershy. She drew a paper from the strange machine and offered it towards him. "But, here, take a look."

He shook his head, trying to clear his vision, but did succeed at biting the offered paper, bringing it closer for a peering at. Oh, it was... himself. Him, in the room he was in. It was like someone had painted a portrait, instantly. The accuracy was uncanny, like a mirror. Like a frozen mirror he could hold! "Wow." There were no other words. "I thought you couldn't do magic."

"It is a bit like magic," she admitted. "But it isn't a spell I cast." She tapped at the odd box of a thing. "This does it, and I will lend it to you." She wriggled the strap free and offered it up towards Dry. "What I want you to do is fine a good hiding spot, I know you can do that, and get some pictures of what goes past. For this time, It doesn't matter what it is. If it looks interesting to you, go ahead and take a picture of it."

Dry accepted the magic artifact, the first he'd ever been trusted with. Did that mean he was growing up? His parents had not let him have the magic items they promised would come later. And there was Fluttershy, just handing him one. Sure, it couldn't get him into the ether, but it was magic, quite clearly. He looped the band around his neck as she had done, allowing it to flop against his chest.

"That's backwards." She fiddled with it, getting it facing the other way. "This is the, um, like the 'eye'. What it sees is what the picture will be." She pointed at the lens. "One important thing is that you have to hold it still."

"Won't that bright light give me away?" Dry inclined his head, trying to imagine being hidden but also flashing brightly. The two were hard to have together.

"You're not wrong." She chomped the metal ring of some part of the machine and popped it right off. "There, now it won't do that. Since you'll be outside, it'll be light enough on its own."

Dry gasped with alarm. "You didn't have to hurt your treasure for me!"

Fluttershy was quiet a moment. Confused? "Oh, sorry. This can go right back in." She displayed how the part could click in and out of the device. "So it can flash when we want it to. Nothing is broken, promise."

Dry let out a relieved gust of breath. "Thank the moon."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "You like Luna?"

"Luna?" He was fiddling with the device, not really sure how to do much with it, or any real idea how it worked.

"Nevermind." She pointed past him, to the door. "Go outside and watch the world. I'll come by in an hour to see how you're doing and we can go over the pictures you took."

"Okay!" He was... excited, and not scared. "I will find a good hiding spot." That was his specialty. And off he scurried, closing the door gently after himself before his clip-clops could be heard receding away.

Fluttershy inclined her head at the door. "What a nice little colt." She looked forward to seeing what he managed as she got to straightening things up, and putting away the flash bulb she had removed from the camera.

Outside, Dry hurried to find a nice dense bush to plunge into, vanishing from view. He twisted about with a little smile, feeling confidently hidden from the world. He had his, uh, whatever it was, and he was prepared to do a good job, uh, whatever it was that he was actually doing. Capturing images of things, yes, that. He wasn't sure why someone would want to do that, specifically. It was pretty interesting, but what was the use?

Too late! He had been given the job. And disappointing Flutershy felt like a terrible thing to do. She had been so nice and gentle to him so far. He put his head against the box and could see what it saw. Another magic! Wait, no... It was a spyglass! He knew what those were. Useful, even in the ether, when one wanted to see really far.

This one didn't let him see far, just let him see through the mirror image taker. That was still further than normal when his face was hidden behind something. Still counted, right? He turned slowly left and right. He didn't bother turning all the way around, since that way was the bush he was hiding in, and he wasn't supposed to take pictures of the plant he was hiding in, right?

A chirp! He looked up sharply to see a bird landing on a branch, bouncing in an odd not-quite-walk to another bird. They joined each other in a straw... something? A bed, a bird bed. They were sitting in it, looking comfortable. He clicked the button, and a paper slid free. He had done it, captured an instant, and... a fine instant, he figured.

"Lyra!"

He turned towards the voice to see a two-colored maned earth pony glaring at something he couldn't see. "When I get my hooves on you!"

Click. He captured a picture of the incensed Bon Bon, not that he knew her. Bon Bon hurried away with a battlecry of sorts. Dry was happy that he had not been seen. Being hidden really was the best option! Maybe this was an agreeable profession, if being hidden was seen as a positive trait to have.

A new noise. Now, Dry had no idea what a dog was, but there was one, its tail wagging energetically, tongue lolling. That noise. It was making it. It was looking around alertly, nose twitching.

Click.

The dog looked right at him! Oh no. It was coming closer, sniffling, ears pricked. Oh no...

The dog jumped at him. He squealed, pressing the button in that instant as he was bowled over. The dog was not attacking him though, licking his face and chest with happy noises instead of devouring him. Just as suddenly, the dog burst free of the bushes and ran off to find something else that interested it.

Dry sat up, unsure what just happened. At least some animals were nice, like the big thing that was Fluttershy's friend. He had much to learn, to discern which animals were likely to attack him or not. Still, even if it didn't attack him, it did make a mess of his hiding spot in its eagerness.

It also had sharp ears and a sharp nose. It was not easy to hide from. He carefully got his hiding place back in order. While he did that, he nudged his pictures into a nice pile for Fluttershy to see later. Oh. He had snapped a picture when he was pounced. There was a picture, an extreme zoom on the strange beast, its tongue occupying most of the frame. Would that be considered a good picture or a bad one? Only Fluttershy knew...

He was supposed to be good at hiding, but there was clearly more for him to learn. If anything with a good nose could find him so easily, was he really hidden? He'd have to figure out how to hide from creatures like that. Not the the dog had attacked him, but another creature with a good nose might!

He was just a colt, sure... He had so much to learn... That was part of why he had been tossed into the living world, away from the others, into danger. He had to learn. He turned his attention back to the world beyond his bush. Don't take pictures of things close enough to hear the contraption. A lesson learned. That creature was especially alert, but he had been close enough that perhaps even a pony would have heard it.

Did they make quieter ones? He'd have to ask Fluttershy later... A splash! A fish was leaping out of the water of a small stream. Click. The fish didn't notice, or didn't care. What could it do? It fell back in the water and was gone from sight. It could not walk, he was fairly sure. So it could not chase him.

A squirrel, proudly stashing a nut of some kind? Click. The squirrel dashed away. Had it heard him? Possibly... Hm...

There were unexpected complexities to the task set before him, and he found his heart accelerating, but it wasn't fear, which took him a moment to parse. No, not fear. Excitement? Excitement was... very close to fear. But he wasn't scared of anything. He was... He... wanted what was ahead. "Yes." He covered his mouth, glancing around to make sure nothing had reacted to his outburst.

Oh! A ruminant? A ruminant in Equestria?! He clicked a picture of the non-sapient deer, not grasping the difference. The animal had not noticed him, and seemed content to just wander away. Why was a ruminant there, and why was it... acting like that? So many questions...

He looked away from the mystery. The ruminant were mysterious creatures, and if it had business, it was not Dry's job to get involved, and to interrupt it would just be rude. Oh, what was that? He could see some strange creature peeking out from the ground. He had no idea what it was. Click. Perhaps, with the captured image of it, he could learn what it was.

It was then that it hit him. That was why you did that. You captured images to learn. The image would let him ask questions about it. It would let him read and look for drawings of it. The image was a key to a great many doors. His respect for the strange device he was using swelled.

He clicked a photo of a pony walking by in the distance. He didn't know that pony. Just a random pony, an earth-bound. The pony looked like they were going somewhere. Not in any specific hurry. They were not scared. Were all the ponies of that world without fear? Well, besides Fluttershy, small island of sanity in an otherwise strange world.

A great wooping cheer sounded. He knew that sound, burned into his mind with dread. There was Scootaloo, racing down another hill, wings fluttering wildly. She was coming towards a ramp. Would she be hurt? Was this intentional? He didn't know, but he clicked a shot, and another, capturing as quickly as he could as she struck the ramp and became airborne. For a pegasus, she did not fly much, but she sailed through the air confidently despite that, striking the ground, click, and coming to a skidding halt with a fresh cheer of victory.

He had quite a collection of pictures after that stunt, and a new light had come on the box. He tried to click it, but the button was stuck. Had he broke it?

Fluttershy would be disappointed.

Author's Note

In this chapter, we take pictures. God, Dry is adorable and worthy of love and protection. Is it just me?

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21 - Write a Book

The next day was greeted not by a quiet reflection of things or a timid peek to make sure all was safe. No, it was a day for screaming, at least to start. Dry Whisper danced with wide panicked eyes, yelping with newfound horror.

"What is it?!" The door slammed open, revealing Apple Bloom with a worried expression. "Ya hurt?"

"Yes!" Dry rushed up to her with a mincing step. "But this, um... This is not a filly thing."

"Not a filly thing." She raised a brow, unsure what counted as 'not a filly' in nature. "You... wanna talk to mah brother? He ain't no filly."

Brother! "Yes, please! Sorry..." He shrank on himself, though his posture was odd, like he was avoiding some hurting thing on his lower belly with tears welling in his eyes. Whatever was happening, it had driven him quite to distraction and sorrow.

Was he hurting? Apple Bloom couldn't be sure. "Ya need anythin' aside that? Ah'm here for ya." She looked him over again. "Ya didn't change again." Just a floofy mane! The rest of him was Everglow-made, so far she could see. That he broke into fresh sobs implied that maybe she was wrong? "I'll... go fetch him." And she slipped out, leaving the colt to his sorrow.

"Big Mac!" she hollered as she dashed through the apple trees. He wasn't hard to find, being as big and red as he was against the browns of the bark of the trees he was in the middle of. "There ya are."

"Hm?" He turned towards her. "Ayup."

Apple Bloom grinned up at her brother of few words. "Ya remember Dry Whisper?" She pointed towards the club house frantically.

"Ayup?" He inclined his head at the clubhouse, looking back to Apple Bloom.

"He's got a 'not filly' problem, whatever that means. Can ya talk to him, stallion to stallion? He's real upset, whatever it is." Apple Bloom shrugged mightily, not understand what even could be wrong.

"Huh." And off Big Mac went to deal with the problem with his heavy and sure steps. Apple Bloom didn't follow him, which was just as well if it was something that needed to be talked about stallion to stallion. He ascended the ramp and knocked on the little door. It was made for colts, which he wasn't one of.

A little sniffle could be heard from inside, but the door cracked open. A little Everglow pony eye peeked up at him. "Oh, thank you." He backed up quickly.

Big Mac nosed his way in, slipping inside the small space and nudging the door shut behind himself with a raised hind hoof. "Ayup."

"It's awful!" He turned to show off his smooth lower belly. There was nothing there to be worried about at a glance. Just pony. "Look!"

Big Mac inclined his head real slow-like. There was nothing wrong... that he could see, oh. Oh! Oh. It hit him. Everglow stallions were a bit more showy than Equestrian ones. He gathered the colt in closer. "It's alright." Explaining the birds and the bees to a colt wasn't what he imagined the day being, but... "Ah'll help." It meant he'd have to talk more than usual, but he wasn't going to leave Dry Whisper a mess like that.

Apple Bloom hurried towards Big Mac when he descended the ramp. "Is he alright?!"

"Ayup." He nodded gently at his little sister, plodding past her back to work. That was it, the whole of the explanation given to her.

Fortunately, she was used to him, and happy. If he said everything was fine, then it was. She scampered up to gather the hopefully recovered colt and get him off to school.

Getting him to school was surprisingly easy. "All better?"

He was walking alongside her, saddlebags jingling with their contents. "I think so... Sorry for shouting at you."

"Ya weren't shouting at me," assured Apple Bloom with a smile. "Ya were just shouting, an' ah just happened to be in the area. Not hurt, ah hope?"

"Not hurt." His voice was a bit small when he said that. "Just surprised... Your brother is very nice. Tell him I said thank you." He rubbed behind his head through his fluffy mane. "I was too upset to say it properly..."

"Ah'll do that." She hopped ahead of him, tail wagging eagerly. "Just glad yer feelin' alright!"

At school, he was quick to hurry inside, or try to. Silver Spoon cut him off. "Hey there!"

"Hi..." He backed up a step. "I... have a lot on my mind. I wanted to write it down."

Silver blinked at that. "Oh... Well, Luminace wouldn't want me to get in the way of a friend writing things." She waved the way. "But if you want any help, I'm right here." She smiled until he was vanished out of sight. "Darn it..."

Diamond snickered softly. "Just because he likes your book god doesn't mean he's all yours, Silver."

Inside, he had a new notebook, and he was busily scratching in it even if the teacher was not giving a lesson. Class wasn't in session, but he had a lot to write about anyway. "Forgot to your homework?" Sweetie belle slid into the seat neat to him, watching him work a moment. "Did we have homework yesterday." She looked lost in thought a moment, it it clicked. "Nope! I try to get that done." A big smile, though she could see he was still very distracted. "You alright? This is quite unusual for you."

Apple Bloom hopped up next to Sweetie. "He had some kinda 'not filly' problem."

"Oh." One could almost see the gears turning in her head. What was a problem that, specifically, did not involve fillies. "So... a colt problem?"

"Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" Scootaloo hopped up on the other side of Dry, but was happy to speak loudly to her friends. "Wow, look at him go!" She was watching him write so intently. "Did I forget an assignment?"

"Nope!" chimed Sweetie, looking pleased with herself. "But he really is distracted today..."

The teacher sat behind her desk. "Class is about to start," she warned in a friendly tone.

That was enough. Dry put his notebook away and got out his school book instead, as if whatever he had been working on could wait. He sat at attention, as if whatever Cheerilee was about to say was the most important thing.

Not that Cheerilee was complaining about an attentive student. The bell called those not yet inside to get inside. "Today, we're going over bird migrations! They don't just go away, or go randomly, when the seasons are changed. It's important that the pegasi help them get to where they need to be." And she began explaining the art of figuring out where each bird had to be at each time of year.

Sure, it was mostly a pegasus class, but they had some of those, and Cheerilee was ready to teach it.

And there was a raised hoof. "Dry?" Cheerilee was looking at their newest student. "You have a question?"

"What do the birds do where are no pegasi to tell them where to go?" He was twirlling and half-chewing on the pencil in his mouth. "They aren't everywhere, right?"

"No they are not." Cheerilee nodded. "What I am explaining assumes one is around, but you are entirely correct." She flipped her blackboard to review new figures. "When a pegasus isn't around to lend a wing, birds have to figure it out on their own. Many are very very good at it. Watching their migrations is one of the best hints to figure out what assistance to lend when we arrive in an area."

A lanky pegasus colt waved a hoof excitedly. "Miss Cheerilee! Bird watching is a very popular pegasus sport."

"And for good reason." Cheerilee nodded as she drew a pegasus with binoculars up for all to see. "In the old days, only by watching could they learn where each bird wanted to be. It became something of a competition to spot the most birds going and doing various things. In fact, it was so popular other kinds of ponies picked up on it." She drew two other kinds of ponies, one with a horn, one lacking horns or a wing, each in a bush with binoculars. "And they share the sightings and information they make, so we can help our bird friends the best."

Feather Weight clopped his hooves, looking quite proud of his question.

"You do that?" Dry was looking at Feather Weight with obvious fascination.

Cheerilee coughed, interrupting Dry's question. "You can ask about that after class. Now then..." The lesson would continue, with no room allowed for off topic wanderings.

The moment class was over though, Dry zipped in front of Feather Weight. "Hello! Do you watch birds?"

"I take pictures of them sometimes." Feather drew his camera free of the school locker. "With this."

"You have one too!" Dry was clopping with joy. "Fluttershy lets me borrow hers, and I like it a lot."

Feather's guarded expression eased with the news. "Oh, a fellow photographer? What do you like taking pictures of?"

"My favorite is ponies." He pointed to Silver. He hadn't meant to, but she was coming closer, quickly. "Oh, there's one..."

Silver thumped him on the chest. "I hear you were super distracted today. What's wrong, and why didn't you tell me? Like, that's what friends are for."

Feather shied around the two. "I'll see you later!" And he was gone, lest he be involved in the scorn of a filly.

"It's a... It's hard to explain." He backed away from his irate friend. "I didn't want to hurt you. I just had to write it down."

"Can I, like, read it then?" She leaned in, smiling in a way that did little to calm Dry. "Writing is for reading, isn't it?"

"I guess..." He squirmed at the thought of it. "This is... more of a colt thing than a filly thing. No offense!"

Silver rolled her eyes dramatically. "What can-- Ow!" She was grabbed by the ear in Diamond's mouth, being pulled away. "Leggo!"

Diamond dragged her friend free of the school building. "You're making yourself look super awkward."

"Me?!" Silver backed away from Diamond as soon as her ear was released. "He's the one avoiding the subject. I'd share what I wrote with him."

Diamond leaned in close. "Not if it involved your--" She whispered something in her stinging ear, replacing that sting with a bright blush.

"Oh..."

"Yeah, oh." Diamond rolled her eyes as she turned away. "Want to go home before you finish burying yourself?"

"Okay," she mumbled, following after Diamond with a mortified look.

Dry didn't get to ask about the holy symbol at all that day. Probably just as well, as he wasn't in the mood just that second. But Feather Weight had fled before he could be interrogated. "Aw..."

"You alright?" Sweetie was back with a bright smile. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah." Apple Bloom was there too, as was Scootaloo. "Pretty sure Diamond will set her straight. Ya don't have to tell us nothin'. Ya talked ta my brother, and ah'm sure ya got it all sorted."

"I'm still curious." Scootaloo pointed to herself. "But you dont have to say anything. Pfft, what kind of friend would that be?" She laughed perhaps not entirely convincingly. "You heading back to the club house?"

Apple Bloom hiked a brow at Scootaloo. "Where else would he go? Unless we get a house for him, that's the only place... the only option he has!"

Scootaloo raised a hoof in an eager wag. "My house has an empty room." All of them looked to her. "What? My aunts only use one room, and I use one room." She counted with her hooves as she counted. "Whole other bedroom just being used for storage! I'll ask them!" She was bouncing with readiness. "If you want?"

Eye turned off Scootaloo to Dry Whisper.

Author's Note

Dry has colt issues, but the Scootaloo!

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34 - In Good Faith

Dry clasped his hooves together. "Knower of the unknown, seeker of the mysteries," he whispered to himself. "Your eyes are open. Your ears are pricked. Your hooves reach into the darkness, knowing no fear." He swallowed at that. He wasn't sure he would ever have that property, but what were gods if not something to aspire to? "Good friend to any that accept you. Blessed wielder of the tomes, Princess Luminace. I humbly prostrate before you and ask for a peek into your infinite volumes."

His intentions were pure, and he could feel it, an unlocking. As close as most mortals got, he was given a peek into those many shelves with untold books. He closed his eyes with a silly smile, wandering those stacks in wonder. There was more information there than he could hope if he spent a century reading.

What little, tiny, inconsequential things he learned would be added there, to be shared with others who visited. That he was a part of that vast collection, even a tiny bit, made his heart swell with pride and awe. There. He found his way to the books that seemed to call to him, filled with basic prayers. He could choose which books to study and take with him, each a sliver of her power, to be drawn upon when he cast a spell. He had to be careful which he selected. They were a gods power. They were not his. He was but a vessel, a channel through which Luminace's might flowed.

"To know more. To share." He placed his hooves on the books and began to study, dedicating the magic he would have that day.

Dry shook himself free. His prayers were done, the magic buzzing within him. But he wasn't alone! He started, jumping away from Scootaloo who was reading just next to him. "When did you get here?"

"I came in and you were all... busy, so I figured I'd do my reading while you were busy." She flipped to the next page. "Almost done. I didn't interrupt you, I hope?"

"N-no... I didn't even know you were here." Dry peeked past Scootaloo to the book she was reading, but he could comprehend none of it. Magic, but of a different sort than the kind given to him by his kind god. "If you get hurt..."

Scootaloo swiveled an ear back. "I hope I don't, but if?"

"Then I can help." Dry waved his faintly glowing hooves in the air. "Like Apple Bloom's potions. If she isn't there, I can help too."

Scootaloo grinned as she turned on. "That's really nice. I can't do that. My magic is really awesome, but it's no good at that. Did you prepare helping spells? I bet you want more, uh, interesting stuff."

"I learned," gusted out Dry, sitting next to Scootaloo. "My goddess is warm, and so am I. I can take any spell I prepared of hers and turn it into that warmth, to help someone who needs it."

Scootaloo snapped her book shut. "Get out! That's awesome... Is it fast? I have to take a while to swap out things like that."

"N-no, right away... I cast it, and let it come out as warmth." He rubbed behind his head. "I think it's... a cleric thing."

"Awesome." Scootaloo folded her book under an arm and hopped to the floor. "Gonna put my book away. We're both ready for an exciting day!"

Dry's eyes widened briefly. "I hope it is not too exciting."

"Speak for yourself." Scootaloo dashed off and returned without her book. "Got some tricks I wanna practice. Have fun!"

Right. He had a whole day ahead of himself. "Be careful."

"I don't look it, but I am." Scootaloo grabbed a helmet and popped it on her head. "I can't be awesome if I get all busted up, even if I have two great ponies that wouldn't let me stay banged up for long." She took off into the hallway, jumping on her scooter on the way. "See you later!"

Dry waved as she powered away, leaving the door open behind her. He was more polite in making sure it was closed when he walked out. "I should... That way." And he headed towards another pony he wanted to visit.

He found Silver Spoon not at her house, at least not inside. She was out front, sitting beside a pool and sipping from a fancy glass, a book resting on a hoof. He waved and hurried towards her. "Hello, Silver!"

"Dry!" She dropped the book casually in favor of rolling free and meeting him in a hug. "I didn't know you were visiting today."

"We are courting," he reminded. "Shouldn't we see each other often?"

Silver Spoon's face darkened. "Oh! Right, yes..." She flopped onto her haunches. "Gonna be honest... You're the first colt I officially courted... I'm not used to the rules."

Dry perked up. Did he know something Silver didn't? "I'll go over the basics. You haven't bothered me so far, I assure." He smiled, cheeks warming gently. "I quite enjoy being courted... If you asked right now, I... might agree."

"Agree to what?" Silver reached back for her book. "What am I asking?"

Dry blinked with new confusion. "The question. You are courting to, hopefully, secure marriage."

"Oh!" Silver's blush was only growing worse by the moment. "We're too young for that... I just want to... We can keep courting, right?"

"Of course." Dry danced in place. "I'm enjoying it... a lot... Are you?"

"A lot." She leaned in, touching her nose to his cheek. "I like having a boyfriend... What's the rush? Let's just... enjoy where we are, alright?"

"I am enjoying it. Oh! I think I've figured out praying... I can visit her library each morning and learn." Dry tapped at his head. "The spells are here, waiting to be called. The feeling... It's wonderful! To hold a little slice of her power and knowledge. I am humbled, barely worthy of it."

"Do you doubt her?" Silver asked with a little smirk. "She trusted you with it. She'd know better than you, hm?"

The logic... "You're... right. She did trust me..." Proof that he was worthy of it... "Wow. Thank you, again, for showing this to me. Oh! Oh oh!"

"Oh? You look like you remembered something." She put a hoof under his chin. "Take a breath."

Dry sat back, joining her in seated position. "Right, of course... The crusaders made a club, and we're invited." He waved between himself and Silver Spoon. "Fresh Casters, it's called. For Equestrian ponies who use Everglow magic."

Silver squinted at Dry. "You're not technically an Equestrian pony."

Dry was struck dumb. How had he not noticed that?! "Um..."

Silver set a hoof on his nose. "Relax... They already invited you, so it doesn't bother them, and it doesn't bother me. A club to talk about magic stuff? Who else is gonna be there?"

"They invited Pinkie and Twilight." He pointed to the great tower that held one of those ponies. "And they agreed you and Diamond Tiara qualified. Since I was visiting anyway, I thought I'd invite you."

"Invitation received," joyfully reported Silver. "And accepted. Now, how about we go tell Diamond the news? Not sure if she'll be super into it or not, but only one way to know." She climbed to her hooves and started for the gate. "Let's go!"

Dry scampered after her. "Is it alright to visit her?"

"We are besties," huffed out Silver. "She better be used to me showing up." She rolled her eyes as she adjusted her glasses. "And you're with me."

They advanced together towards one of the few other fancy houses in Ponyville. Silver threw open the gate without a pause, as if it were her house too. "Diamond!" she called as she came up on the gate. "You home?"

"Ma'am?" There was Randolph, her butler. "She's in her room. Is this urgent?"

Silver hiked a brow. "Like it usually is, Randy. Is she busy?"

"She's doing her homework."

Dry curled his hoof to his chin. "I never got homework..."

Silver smirked a bit viciously. "Because we don't usually get homework. Randy, you can do better than that."

Randy coughed softly into a hoof. "She is occupied, ma'am. Would you care to wait for her, or come back later?"

Silver grumbled softly. "If you insist... We'll wait." She followed Randy, leading Dry behind her to a sitting room where she hopped up onto a seat without prompting. "A drink for us both, kindly."

Randy nodded. "Right away." And off he went.

Dry sprang up to join Silver in the next chair over. "You two must be good friends?"

"Friends? What makes you say that? He's a nice enough pony, I suppose..."

"You knew what he meant, and he understands you." Dry pantomimed in the air. "It seemed you two were very familiar. It was nice. Are you not friends?"

Silver flashed a smile. "For being a faithful of Princess Luminace, maybe my eyes were closed. Good catch... Yes, yes we are friends."

"Ma'am." Randy had entered in the quiet way butlers had, placing two bottles of soda in front of them. "I'm honored, ma'am."

Silver burst into little giggles. "If we're friends, you don't have to call me 'ma'am'. Silver will work, or Silver Spoon if you want to be formal."

Randy looked uncertain on that, "I'm accustomed to ma'am... ma'am... My apologies." He looked to Dry. "Do you require anything, sir?"

"N-no! Thank you." He grabbed the bottle with his hooves, which was still kind of a new thing, but he was able to cradle the bottle without trouble and nursed on it, getting a blast of some tropical fruit blend. "Wow."

"Wow?" Silver took a soft sip. "It tastes pretty normal."

Normal for her, perhaps. He took another little sip. "Hopefully Diamond is done soon."

They had to wait for some time, but no clock was there to measure it exactly. "Silver." There she was, walking in with a little smile. "And Dry. A two for one." She swatted the colt. "What brings you two around here?"

Silver inclined her head towards Dry. "He heard the crusaders made a club for magic ponies, like us. We're invited to join. Us, the crusaders, Twilight, Pinkie, all the ponies with Everglow magic."

Diamond stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Aren't there a few others out there? Like Fluttershy's friend... What's her name... Tree something? She does Everglow magic."

Silver clopped a hoof on her forehead. "How silly of me, and the flower sisters. I think they're all nature wizards."

"Druids," corrected Dry. "Nature... Um... probably. Most nature spellcasters are druids."

Diamond shook her head. "One point for having an Everglow native around. You know about this stuff. Druids then, whatever. They cast Everglow spells, so they qualify too."

Silver huffed. "That's nice, but are you joining or not?"

"As if I'd skip." Diamond Tiara raised both brows together. "You two are joining. Think I'll sit out? Ha... Somepony has to keep an eye on you two before you do something inappropriate." That got a coloring of both her friends. "I'm joking! You two are way too innocent to do anything like that." This did not abate their coloring. "Eesh... Anyway, we'll go bother the flower sisters tomorrow. How's that?"

Dry nodded firmly. "Have I met them?"

Silver hummed. "I don't... remember you meeting them. They're nice, if a little easy to startle. Like you in a way, but you're brave afterwards. They pass out."

Dry blinked softly. "That isn't very safe." Being scared was logical, but passing out? That wasn't a very safe way to react to it! "Hide, flee, or... fight if you have to."

Silver laughed at her skittish boyfriend. "They're not experts at hiding like you are, or as super brave as you. But they do know magic, more than you. They've been practicing longer."

"Maybe..." Dry considered the situation. "But if they are bad at hiding and bad at fighting, what does it count for?"

Author's Note

Dry is judging the flower sisters. JUDGING!

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47 - Visiting Officers

Apple Bloom was a ninja, at least in her mind. She slunk from cover to cover, watching the Everglow agents going about their business. There were no Equestrians in sight, aside from herself.

Except that one. There was an equestrian pony talking with several guards with authority in his voice. "No more excuses," grunted the Equestrian. "If we're low on food, I'll address that, part of why I'm here, but it's taxing and my talents could be better served doing almost anything else, and you know that."

One of the guards, a pegasus mare, saluted with her wing. "Of course, Sir. Thank you for coming with us."

Another, a unicorn stallion, shook his head. "Why did you? Your kind isn't known for trusting military operations, let alone taking part in them."

'Your kind'? Equestrian? Well... Apple Bloom mulled over that. Most Equestrians probably wouldn't, but also how were they fixing the food situation?

Fortunately, the one being asked wasn't shy. "An army can be an intense weight on the local flora and fauna. It can destroy ecosystems without even noticing it's started." He turned an equestrian hoof up. "Being able to blunt that force is a fine task for a druid to take."

Apple Bloom dipped below her crate. Druid? That was... Oh. "An Equestrian?" she quietly whispered to herself. "Shoot..."

She'd heard of the other way. Tree Hugger became a druid, and shapeshifting sped along the change, and she became an Everglow pony just like that. An Everglow pony had suffered the same fate, falling in line with the local nature of things. That made some kinda sense... "Still..." It was awkward. It meant they couldn't identify everyone by sight anymore. That had been a very helpful shortcut.

"Sir." Another pony, an Everglow pegasus was trotting up. "Sir. The locals expect regular weather support and protection."

The druid cocked a brow. "Expect it? That can be costly... Do they understand the situation they're in?" He curled a hoof up. "Not to mention the effects..."

The pegasus shook his head. "Sir. They have trained pegasi that are used to performing the task, sir."

The druid blinked dumbly a moment. "They do? They have... I was told these ponies were ignorant in the way of things, but they can control such powerful primal magic without disaster?"

The pegasus nodded quickly. "Yes, um, sir. They were handling it before we got here, sir."

"Nature finds a way." The druid turned away, pacing with a scowl. "It finds a way..."

"It does that." Apple Bloom emerged from her hiding place, approaching the druid in the rare moment he was alone with his thoughts. "This ain't yer nature anymore."

The druid wheeled on the little Equestian filly. "What? You shouldn't be here..."

"Neither should you." Apple Bloom nodded at him. "But ah thin' you know that already.

He grunted softly. "Sun above... Where are your parents, small child?"

"A lon' way off. Ah'm here 'cause ah wanna be." She waved over the druid. "How's the Equestria form workin' fer ya?"

"Unsettling." The druid looked back over himself. "Like a child drew what they imagined a pony should be, instead of what one is."

"It is one, around here." Apple Bloom lifted each hoof in turn. "That's our nature."

"Your nature." The druid sank to his haunches."Yours... Hm. I suppose, visiting the plane of fire and complaining of the heat is ignoring the reality of that nature."

"Yeah, ain't gonna get you far." She spotted a guard approaching. "I should go."

"Hold a moment." The druid moved between apple Bloom and the guard, speaking with them briefly and sending them on their way. "I would speak with you further."

"Yeah?" Apple Bloom dared a little smile. Was progress being made. "I heard about the weather. If you let the pegasi do their thin', they'll get it all straightened out."

"Hm. Not up to me." The druid turned to Apple Bloom. "But not nonsense. That would be the easiest solution. The commander fears they will take flight, figuratively, if allowed to spread their wings."

Apple Bloom snorted at that. "Ya know how nature works, so ya know that's dumb."

The druid inclined his head. "Explain."

"You have their friends and family right here." She waved over the city as a whole. "Their homes and lives. They ain't gonna run away from that 'less you give them a real powerful reason to..."

"From the mouth of a foal." The druid smiled thinly. "Wisdom is wisdom. Still, it really isn't my decision. Were it, I would have released them some time ago. I am not a pegasus." He pointed back at his lack of wings. He was an earth pony, like Apple Bloom. "Let the pegasi handle the weather. This is true of Everglow and Equestria, is it not? I am only confused that the reports seem to imply this is... an everyday occurrence."

"'Cause it is. Weather ponies go up there and they move clouds 'bout every day. They watch for storms and keep the right amount ah rain comin'." She turned to point out of town. "Now, if ya go in the wilderness, then thin's get funny. Less weather ponies, so thin's just happen. Makes ponies nervous."

"Nervous? To let nature do as it will?" He paused though, humming. "Nature is terrifying... You are right to fear its touch, but it cannot be denied, and to do so invites other calamities... Hm. Ah." He rose to his hooves. "I will speak to these weather engineers. Perhaps a discussion will make it clear."

"I can only hope." Apple Bloom tipped the hat she wasn't wearing. "Now, if it ain't no big deal, mind not tellin' on me?"

The druid considered the filly. "You don't carry yourself like the others. The others, like frightened deer. You, a little puma, possibly with fangs and claws to match." He directed a hoof at her bandoleer of potions. "Tell me, are those for show?"

Apple Bloom tensed at the druid's discovery. "Um."

"Answer enough." He shook his head slowly. "What a foal is doing with that, I couldn't say... Do you plan to visit harm?"

"N-no! Um..." Apple Bloom took an unsure step back. "If we could just convince y'all to head home, or even just stop bein' mean, that'd be great."

"Truly?" The druid chuckled softly. "I have heard what the others did. They have killed. They have destroyed. Do you not feel any ember of desire to lash out at them?"

"W-well... Maybe a little... Wouldn't help none!" Apple Bloom turned from him. "Ah really should go. Please don't tell nopony!" She scurried off, lost between crates and off into the city away from the druid and their troublesome questions.

The druid sighed slowly. "First, the commander..." He went off in a new direction, towards what had once been the town hall, redecorated and repurposed to become the commander's office. Two guards stood outside in strict attention. Fortunately, they didn't bother him. They knew him. "Sir," both crisply welcomed, allowing him to walk inside.

The interior of the hall was decorated with the visaged of a goddess. Blaze's burning gaze looked down from every wall where she wasn't mid-battle with some great enemy. The loyalty of the commander was easy to see. At least until he got close to the center, where the art shifted to cooler hues of the Night Mare. "Commander."

An Everglow mare sat up on a pillow she had been lounging on. "Green Bark," she greeted. "Do you carry news? Dispense it." She was wearing a full plate, helmet and all, as if a fight might break out at any moment and she was prepared for that eventuality. A longsword rested at her side, not to be drawn. She slid it into a weapon rack, already prepared to cut when called upon.

Green dipped his head at the commander. "It's about the local ponies."

"Ugh." She grunted with obvious frustration. "They are difficult to deal with... Are they getting in the way of your work? Tell me which and I'll have them disciplined."

Green laughed nervously. "No, it is more that we..." His eyes drifted up towards the Night Mare iconography. Perhaps that'd work? "We aren't making full use of their skills."

"No?" She rose to her hooves in a smooth motion. "Then tell me. We have them, they are ours to make full use of. How can this be done?" She waved a hoof. "Without them fleeing in every direction."

"They are... animals, as we all are. They will not quickly leave their dens, and even fewer wish to abandon their herds." Green Bark paced around the room in a slow circle. "I propose we allow half of the local weather professionals free each day in rotating shifts to attend to the local needs. This will please them all, and allow us to make better use of them, and free up other resources."

"Other resources?" She faced him, but her expression was hard to see with the helmet in the way. "We have enough soldiers to monitor them."

"Soldiers that could be doing other things." Green turned a hoof on himself. "And you didn't bring a druid to provide food and nothing else. My powers are being wasted, and I know you have bolder ambitions."

"Hm." She swung in place, her blade coming within half an inch of Green's throat. "You aren't wrong." She drew the blade away. Unseen, one could almost feel her smirk. "That is a waste. Very well, since you are at least familiar with the magic involved, let's start small and work up. Tomorrow, you may select one weather controller. If that works, the next day, another, until we arrive at half their force, assuming nothing goes wrong."

Green dipped his head at her. "Sir." Sure, she was a mare, but she was a Sir, and getting that wrong could be painful. "Do you--"

"--Yes," she cut in. "Keep me fully updated. For that matter, as soon as the pressure is relieved, I want you to focus on the local creatures. figure out what can be used, and how."

Green considered that with a grumble. "Permission to consult with the locals?"

"You seem to like them." She pointed past Green, the way he came. "Go, and stop asking that."

"Sir!" He hurried away, lest she change her mind.

The commander sank to her haunches heavily with fatigue and a low sigh. "Mistress... forgive me. Though I am not in... I will struggle to be a tool you find pleasing." She dipped her head at each picture of the Night Mare, as if each were her goddess, watching and judging her, equally valid and worthy of praise.

"I can't even, like, even believe it," repeated the stallion, dancing in place with a big grin at Sweetie Belle. "I hope she likes it."

Sweetie inclined her head. "That you're helping her little sister and her friend, I bet she will." She put an arm around Scootaloo, drawing them close. "Any ideas what we can do now?"

"Oh... no?" The stallion deflated, his good mood popped so easily. "I don't know. I'd normally be tending to manes." He snipped a pair of sheers that fit on his hoof. "But they won't let me do that. Poor ponies, their manes just going entirely out of control."

Scootaloo hummed softly. "Yeah, poor ponies." She didn't sound as convinced about it. Her mane was tamed... enough. "So, you know why we're here, right?"

"To save the day!" The stallion danced in place, his mood rebounding. "Like your sisters."

Scootaloo hiked a brow. "Like our sisters." She had an honorary sister, and she liked saving the day... so... "Yeah, exactly like them. We'll head out tomorrow to see what we can do. You just--"

"--get you dinner." the stallion trotted away to get that underway. "I'm on it!"

Sweetie giggled. "He's nice. Glad it worked out. Alright, so, tomorrow we go."

"Tomorrow." She met hooves with Sweetie in a firm clop of agreement. "Hope the others are alright."

Author's Note

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