Throwing the sticks into the pit, Lovisa knelt down and began attempting to start a fire by rubbing two of the sticks together. "Come on, you piece of shit..."

After a minute of no progress, the griffoness went back over to the forest and gathered more tinder material. She grabbed two rocks in the hopes those would work better than the sticks.

Using the rocks to produce sparks, a fire caught which she very carefully nurtured until it became self-sustaining. Sitting next to the fire, she curled up and looked between the leaves to the stars.

She readjusted herself to stare into the fledgling fire, closing her eyes for a few minutes as she listened to the forest around her. The griffoness sniffled, getting up and breaking up the fire.

With renewed determination, she took off into flight back towards civilization. No sense roughing it in the woods if you can get a warm bed with your name on it.

Somnia shook her head at the Pinkie Pie shenanigans unfolding before her. Today was going to be a great day. Mom and dad get some time to spend alone, she gets to trade for rare materials, and Shield gets his chance to... 'convince' Lovisa to join the Queen's Guard. Everypony wins, especially her.

"It's just a formality. I'm sure none of the other ponies will even notice I'm here." Twilight confidently stated just before they exited the tunnel to the fairgrounds and a huge cheer came from the assembled crowd, unfurling a banner with Twilight's likeness on it.

"Could be wrong, but I think they might've noticed." Applejack quipped to Twilight, getting a nervous laugh in return. The group pushed there way through the crowd, Dusty leading the way. A few ponies backed away when Scutellum glared at them, easily dispersing the crowd as the guard presence began spooking ponies.

Putting a hoof to her ear, Somnia whispered her orders. "Dusty, with me. Dawn, I want you to patrol the fairgrounds and make sure the other elements are safe. Scuttle, disguise yourself and keep an eye on mom and dad." She smiled to the passing ponies as the group continued. Scutellum officially got his nickname while they were riding on the train, and it gave her a chance to think of one for Lovisa when she inevitably joined.

The group finally got free of any gawkers, giving them a chance to actually take a look at the stalls they passed by. Fluttershy stopped to examine a trader's stall with assorted knickknacks and whistles while Rarity tried on some hats. "Oh my goodness!"

"You said it. The Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange is simply divine. You can get anything you want here!"

"If'n you got the goods to trade for it." Applejack added.

Somnia trotted ahead a bit to look for a certain somepony that was supposed to be here. "Somnia, where are you going?" Twilight's voice came over the earpiece.

"Finding your husband." Somnia answered, resuming her trot as she smiled at the thestral that was leaning against the stall Twilight was to be trading books at. She waved to her father, trotting up to greet him. "Hi, dad!"

He looked around confused. "Me?" He playfully pointed to himself getting a groan and eye-roll from his nephew.

Somnia playfully hit his leg, getting a fake 'oww' out of the stallion while she dealt with her partner. "Hey, Nightwind! What are you looking for while you're here?"

"Food." He joked getting a giggle out of the filly, Twilight running up to the booth with her friends following behind.

"But all I'm supposed to do is settle disagreements over whether a trade is fair or not. And since the rule is that a trade is fair as long as both ponies get what they want, there's never been a disagreement. So there's really no reason for anypony to treat me as anything special." Twilight set down the two boxes she had brought onto the table table then took a breath, finally turning to Duskwing. "Hi, Duskwing. It's good to see you were able to come!"

"Wouldn't miss a date with a princess." He winked at her, a groan coming from Twilight. "Looks like you got a fan." He pointed behind her, the princess turning to the waiting filly.

"Hi! Can I help you?" The young filly pulled out a photo at which Twilight could only sigh before pulling out a pen from her mane to sign. Her signature was a mess, having not had much practice writing with her mouth since magic kindergarten. She was certainly getting better, but she desperately anticipated getting back her magic.

"Why don't you two run off and start looking for what you want?" Duskwing suggested to the foals.

"The bits?" Nightwind raised a brow, reminding his uncle of the deal.

"Right." He grabbed a small pouch from his saddlebag to pass it over. "Don't spend it all in one place!"

Somnia threw the bag into her own saddlebags, wedging it between two of the devices she produced for the fair. "Don't worry, I'll make sure I spend most of it!" The filly giggled, trotting away with her colt.

"Sorry about that, Duskwing. How are you doing?" Twilight turned back to him to offer a tired smile.

"Quite good now that you're here. Y'know, I was waiting a solid five minutes for you." He joked, patting the boxes Twilight had brought. "What are these?"

"Old books from the library. Princess Celestia has been sending me more books to read than ever and the library's overflowing, so I figured while I'm here, I might as well trade away some books I don't need anymore."

"Huh, neat." He opened up the box and began looking through the books.

"Interested in trading?" Twilight joked, grabbing the books from the box to start arranging them on the table. The doctor had recommended that she postpone using her horn as long as possible to make sure it healed properly, so she kept a magic suppression ring on it to prevent magical flow. It was embarrassing, but she wasn't going to compromise her health by slipping up while in recovery.

"Not really. All I got is this heirloom." He took a small bag from his saddlebag, dumping it's contents onto the table: A modest necklace with a crescent moon on the end. "It's from the Lunar Civil War a thousand years ago. Been passed down from generation to generation. I hoped to give it to a daughter of mine, but..."

"But?" Twilight got closer to examine it further. It was unusually heavy for its size, and it also seemed to be in prime condition even after a thousand years.

"Never had a marefriend for longer than a few months." He chuckled. "Didn't think I'd ever have a daughter."

"There's Somnia. She would appreciate it." Twilight smiled up to him. "It looks like an antique."

"Yeah, but I don't know if she's the sort for necklaces." He leaned against the table. "Maybe somepony else would like the relic."

"Well, you can use my booth to display it." Twilight hung it from the corner of a book. "If somepony wants it, they can have a book too."

"Sounds like a good deal when you put it like that." He shook his head smiling.

Somnia scanned over the jewelry, examining each one. Common gemstones, nothing magical. "Blegh."

"Blegh?" Nightwind looked at the jewelry. "Looks like its good quality to me."

"But not what I'm looking for!" Somnia trotted off to the next stall, a vendor with assorted doodads. "I'm looking for rare metals and useful gemstones, not jewelry!"

"Do you even know what a useful gemstone looks like?"

I do, and those aren't it.

"Who's that?" Nightwind looked around confused.

"My friend Grar." Somnia stated indifferently, scanning her eyes over the various objects carefully. "He's helping me."

"Where is he?" Nightwind examined a small gnome-pony at the stall. "Are they your pet?"

"No." Somnia pawed his leg. "He's in me. Can't go anywhere without him, literally."

"Uhh... right?" The colt wasn't sure to make of this strange filly. First meeting, she wanted to... do adult stuff. Second meeting, she has a ghost friend. What next? A magical talking pet crow?

"Hmmm..." Somnia examined a particular pony statuette with gems in its eyes. She reached back and took out a small contraption made of assorted gears. "Would you like to trade for that statue?"

"Let me see." The mare took the small gear object. "What is it?"

"Turn the knob at the top until you can't anymore, then let go and watch." Somnia smiled as they did just that. The entire collection of gears began forming up into a pony-shape, dancing a bit, before reversing back into their original pile of unrecognizable gears. "Whadda say?"

"Deal!" They shook hooves, Somnia grabbing the small statuette and trotting towards the next booth.

"So what's so special about that statue?" Nightwind had to ask. "Looked like all the others."

The filly stopped, turning to face him, stepping forward keeping eye contact. "The eyes. Certain high-mana crystals are used by craftsponies that can't tell the difference. Often smaller producers, locals to areas with potential surface-level veins. These gemstones are often small, but incredibly useful in miniaturized magical devices."

"R-Right?" He breathed out as the filly backed off from the less-than-a-hoof distance she made between them. Examining the next stall, she shook her head and moved on to the next without comment.

"What's it going to be used for?" He asked as she looked over a few assorted clothing items.

"One of the eyes is of sufficient quality for a flashlight I'm going to be making." Somnia picked up a hat, trying it on. "The other I'll melt down and use for transmission in that flashlight."

"What's special about that hat?" He asked.

She pouted. "Doesn't it look cute on me?"

"Y-Yes?" He didn't know if that was the right answer as she put it back and trotted to the next stall.

"So what happened to your horn?" Duskwing asked the question burning through the roof of his mouth. "The kid didn't look too good either with those black eyes."

Twilight sighed. She didn't know how much she should tell him. He was technically Somnia's father, but he was also so much of a stranger at the same time. "She was foalnapped..."

"Foalnapped?! When?!" He stood straighter. "Do you know who did it? Have they been arrested?"

"Not exactly..." Twilight rearranged one of the books on the table to delay it just a bit further.

"Not exactly?!" He stepped up to her. "Princess, if I'm going to be a good father to her, I need to know if she's in danger!"

"I know." Twilight sighed. "It's just it ended so... violently."

He stepped back to give her space to explain, which she did. "The Queen's Guard was searching for her while I kept quiet about the foalnapping in Ponyville. Nopony except my friends and the princesses knew she was missing until a few days ago. We didn't want to cause a stir and potentially lose her. Then that magical burst occurred from the Crystal Mountains. She signaled where she was but... they did that to her."

"How bad is it?" He asked concerned.

"Bad." Twilight closed her eyes against the tears. A hoof grabbed hers and brought her close, a wing wrapping around her while they sat next to the booth. "Horn was carved up, her primary feathers had been ripped out, many cracked ribs and other bones, and..." She choked back on her tears. "Th-They..."

"Shhhh..." He pet her mane. "Is she alright with what happened? She seems to be in good spirits."

"I-I don't know. She's been wetting the bed almost every night and spending most of her time locked in the basement with her projects..."

"So she hasn't told you that she needs somepony's help?" Twilight gazed up into his eyes, nodding. "Sounds like she went through Tartarus just to get back. If she was willing to go through all of that, she's one tough filly." He kissed Twilight's forehead. "You've raised one tough daughter."

"S-She was like that before..." Twilight countered weakly.

"Remember what you told me? WE were her parents before. WE raised her to be like that." He rubbed Twilight's opposite wing, making sure to hit just enough spots to provide comfort without arousing her. "I know you feel horrible for what happened, how she suffered when you were supposed to be watching her, but it isn't your fault for what happened."

The princess sighed, leaning her head into his shoulder and closing her eyes. She knew he was right, but it didn't make her feel any less guilty about not listening to Somnia when she wanted to protect herself. The only thing that did make her feel better was the stallion currently comforting her, getting her to lightly smile as she sunk into his warm embrace. This is nice... Is this what Cadance and Shining Armor feel when together?

"You gonna keep sitting there, or are you going to say something?" Lovisa annoyedly glared at the guard outside her cage. "Come on! You've been here for three hours just staring at me!"

Shield slowly blinked. Letting it sink in for her one last time. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he ignited his horn and 'unlocked' the cage, surprising the 'prisoner'. Stepping up to it, he opened it wide and backed away. The griffoness slowly approached the open door, making sure it wasn't some sort of trick before bolting from it and up the stairs. Shield calmly trotted after her, spotting her tail just outside the open door to outside.

Closing the front door of the library and moving up next to her, he took in the fresh air of the outdoors, closing his eyes.

"W-Where am I?" She asked quietly, looking around at the nearby buildings.

"Ponyville. Canterlot is about a six hour train ride from here." He opened his eyes and pointed in the direction of the mountain city. "Damn near in the center of Equestria."

Lovisa turned to the sign in front of the giant tree, then back to the captain. "I was kept in a library?"

"You were tricked into staying in the library." He corrected. "The lock only needed to be tugged free."

"What the fuck is wrong you ponies?!" She got into his face, now pissed off, which amused Shield to no end. "I was kept prisoner in a basement for nearly a week, only seeing those two alicorn bitches, and I could have left at any point?!"

"At least the bed was comfy." He chuckled, turning to glare into her eyes with a deadly seriousness. "Look around you. Does this look as bad as Featherbil?"

She took another look around, a single pony watching curiously from the side. It was calm, peaceful. She could hear foals in the distance playing without a care in the world, and some laughter spring up just down the street. The captain continued: "Pony society hasn't failed them like griffon society has. Your religious reverence of a mistaken deity dragged you into a state of perpetual war over legitimacy. Here, there is only one truth, that harmony is supreme, and everypony is capable of being harmonious. We've done better than any other nation on Equus, hundreds of years of mostly peaceful existence.

"Besides the rare foalnapping, Ponyville has been peaceful since I was transferred. There are more than a thousand other towns in Equestria with the same story as here. All of this was built because we had purpose. This is what we are offering you, if you choose to accept it. Bits may be able to buy you happiness, but they will never buy you fulfillment."

Lovisa shook her head and flew off without comment, getting a good look over Ponyville as she flew in the direction of the mountains. She had enough of this pony nonsense. What she needed was a map to get back to Griffonia then... what?

Where was she going to go? She was an independent operator who had just lost all her equipment. She had nothing. And there was nothing to go back to...

"Hmmmmmm..." Somnia scratched the bottom of the 'rusty' pan, eyeing it over. "And you're saying its the best pan for making pies quickly?"

"Quite right, little filly." The mare leaned on the counter. "Up to five seconds faster than any other!"

Taking out another one of her mechanical works, she looked over the pan a second time. Thermal dispersion properties from magically reinforced steel, discoloration mistaken as rust when in reality it was just the underlying tinting of siveria crystals.

"This is pretty neat, but what is it?" The vendor examined the small contraption.

"Pull it over your hoof." Somnia instructed, still thoroughly examining the crystal-metal alloy. It would be useful for the temperature regulation apparatus, cutting down the total cost by at least four thousand bits.

"Wooo, mama! This is sweet!" The mare flexed her hoof, causing the grip to close on the makeshift hand.

"Good for grabbing things where your hooves can't fit. You can adjust the finger length and spacing using the little knobs at the side." Somnia pointed at the knobs. "Got a deal?"

"Do ya!" The mare was absolutely fascinated by the device, so much so she didn't even look back to Somnia as she grabbed the pie tin and put it in her saddlebag. She was down to her last creation after four trades for assorted objects.

"It's a rusty, dented pie tin?" Nightwind looked at the item sticking from her saddlebags. "What's so interesting about that? Looking to cook pies quicker?" He rubbed against her. "Didn't take you for the baking type."

"It's not rust." She smiled back, catching his eye. "It's the resultant color of siveria crystals alloyed with steel. Its magical properties spread out the heat autonomously across the entire pan. This results in lower inconsistencies when baking, thus reducing the time needed."

"And how much would that have cost you normally?"

"Well, the thingie cost me thirty bits worth of materials, the pan is at least four thousand, so three-thousand-nine-hundred-and-seventy net-gain?"

He blinked in surprise. "Woah. That's a lot of bits."

"The last siveria mine in Equestria dried up a century ago after miscalculating the total yield of the vein. Mages and alchemist's need for thermally enhanced metal has shot the price up significantly, resulting in it only being afforded by the most prestigious of institutions."

"Don't you feel bad that they don't know what they actually have?" He stopped in front of her, grinding them to a halt. "Doesn't it bother you that they are sitting on a fortune and don't know it?"

Somnia giggled. "You're just like you were back when I knew you. Do you feel bad for the griffons that live on top of an untapped vein of pure copper? How about the ponies that live on prime fertile land for growing crops but chose to build a city of asphalt and concrete on it?"

"Huh?"

"Featherbil, griffon city within the Kingdom of Featherburg. Built on top of 'green rock' that was later discovered to be pure copper. Mining operations tried to happen, but the residents wouldn't abandon their homes. Resulted in a complete collapse of the local economy after all mining operations pulled out, leaving the working griffons behind. Poverty above sixty percent and rampant crime resulted.

"As for the fertile ground, Manehattan. Built over a drained swamp that just happen to be some of the most fertile soil in all of Equestria. I don't feel bad for them, I pity them for not understanding the worth of what they have." She turned back to the pie tin. "But the mare knew its worth. Five seconds faster and a superior bake is pretty good."

"Uhh..." He was completely dumbstruck. "How do you know all of this?"

"Reading, mostly. Mom gets a lot of books on a variety of topics, and I've ordered a few of my own." She winked. "Learning has its benefits, and it doesn't hurt to have a ghostly friend with even more knowledge."

"Still, I doesn't feel right for getting these things that are so valuable for next to nothing..."

Somnia sighed. "You're probably right, but they had their chance to understand what they had. Unicorns in Canterlot used to carry around green glowing rocks since they thought it looked prestigious. Turns out it was radioactive, but they only found out after several ponies died of 'mysterious causes'. It was renamed to 'rotrock' due to the effect of turning the flesh it laid against into a gangrenous mess."

"Okay, I can see how that didn't turn out well, but it still doesn't excuse--"

"Another example? How about the case of mistaken identity? A silvery metal was discovered in the Unicorn Range and excavation began. It was harder than silver, and far less numerous. To anypony with two brain cells, it wasn't silver, but they marketed it as 'regal silver', selling it off to the nobility and businessponies of Equestria for a higher price. That was trisium, the only known deposit ever discovered in Equestria. Each marble-sized chunk was worth over ten-thousand bits but the nobles got it for only a few hundred at most."

Nightwind shut his mouth, thinking about what she said. As he turned his attention back to Somnia, he could see her staring off distantly over his shoulder. Turning, he saw she was staring at a griffon sitting against a tree reading a book. Not knowing what was so interesting about that, he turned back to her to see her still staring absently in the creature. He waved hoof in front of her face, getting her to take a deep breath in before exhaling a few seconds later. "Thanks." She mumbled, blushing as she trotted off in pursuit of her next trade, the worried colt following behind.

The next stall she visited had a variety of jars with different types of dirt and sand in them. She took one good look over them before reaching for her final object, a clouded vial.

"Oh? Lookin' to trade?" The stallion behind the counter gave his best tradespony's smile. "What for?"

"The sand in that jar!" She proudly proclaimed nodding to the red one, having returned to her normal self. Although, Nightwind still did wonder what she was thinking about. "And the jar too, since I don't have anything to hold it."

He tapped the lid, his grin only getting wider. "What you got better be special, cause this here is worth more than that horn and wings."

"Saved the best for last." She placed the vial onto the table. "Within that vial is an elixir for a memory eraser. Drink it, and you'll be sent into your own mind to select areas of memory to erase permanently. It can also be used to read and erase the memories of somepony else next time you are both asleep if you add a single drop of your own blood before getting them to drink it."

The stallion squinted at her, eyeing her up. "Sounds extremely illegal to me."

"So is trading soulsand." She smirked back. "What do you say? Loyalty among thieves?"

The stallion bit his lip as he weighed the pros and cons. "And it works with anypony?"

"As long as they drink enough of it. There isn't a lot, so make sure they drink whatever you put it in."

He slid the jar over to her, which she grabbed without hesitation. She turned back to her colt friend after stuffing it into her saddlebag. "Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving!"

"Was that actually a memory eraser? Isn't that highly illegal?" Nightwind whispered to her.

"This much soulsand is worth a fortune, and it's highly lucrative this far away from Zebrica. It's a present for my mom." She admitted as they began trotting towards the concession booths. "I'm going to make her a healing elixir to heal her horn. I'll still have plenty for my projects, but it's a nice bonus."

"What's it even made of?" He tapped the top of the jar. "Looks... red?"

"It's made of a very rare substance normally created during chaotic purges. The only two places in the discovered world you can collect it are in Tartarus' lower levels, and the Biwandiso Mine in Zebrica, both of which are exceedingly dangerous places." She stopped to face him. "Do you know what this makes? Weapons capable of wiping out towns, and medicine capable of reversing death."

"And they just gave you it?" He asked concerned.

"Not everypony knows how to use it. It's also used as a wicked hallucinogen." She giggled. "Come on, let's get something to eat before the fair ends."

"No bites?" Duskwing asked as he returned with two hayburgers.

"It's like nopony has any respect for reading! These books helped make me who I am!" Twilight grabbed her hayburger and took a bite of it, chewing as Duskwing settled down next to her.

"Oh?" He pointed to a book. "What did this one do for you?"

Twilight put down her hayburger and picked it up, turning it over. "I was reading this book the night before I cast Starswirl's spell that made me an alicorn." She pointed to another. "This one I got the day I met my friends." She grabbed yet another book. "This is the one I was reading in bed before going outside to look over the edge of Rainbow Falls..."

"This one..." Duskwing pointed to an old fiction novel. "Or the same novel, at least, I had bought for my brother the day he died. It was supposed to be a birthday present in a couple of days." He pointed to a book that was off to the side. "The night before I left Hollow Shades to meet with the princess, I was reading that book. It's about two lovers lost to the sands of time."

Twilight grabbed the book in question and playfully glared at him. "This is a physics textbook."

"You know the idea of virtual particles?" He stepped closer. "One gets trapped in a magic field while the other shoots off away from it. They are the opposites of each other, only whole together."

"Don't they annihilate?" She playfully pawed at him. "Did you actually read the whole thing?"

He chuckled. "No, but there was somewhere I was headed with that."

The two shared a laugh, enjoying the dorky joke. "You don't need to impress me, you know?"

"I want to show you I care. I've been leading the Hollow Shades militia and hunting team ten years, and not once have I ever actually read about hunting. You saw the state of our library. Do you think there's anything in there about hunting?" He raised a brow playfully, returning to slightly more somber mood. "I helped my community because it was fulfilling. It gives me a rush of excitement to know that I'm serving ponies I care about."

"I've read a lot of books in my life..." Twilight picked back up the novel she was reading before talking to him that night. It was a romance, one of the less saucy ones from the library with at most detailed descriptions of aggressive cuddling and kissing. Two lovers united after the mare is sent to quell the prince's rebellion. They spent time together for nearly a year, learning of each other's experiences and struggles, growing together for the better, and understanding what it truly meant to love another. It ended at a fair where the two married each other, solidifying their devotion to one another and vowing to never let their love fade...

"Hey, it's okay." Duskwing wiped Twilight's cheek with a hoof, hugging her. "I'm here."

She sniffled, laughing a bit with the tears before facing him. "Duskwing, do you believe in fate?"

"I've learned to accept what comes. For good or ill." He smiled back, moving his face a bit closer.

Twilight closed her eyes, letting the moment happen. His breath was so close to her lips...

"TWILIGHT!" She was pushed to the ground from the side. "I need you to say a trade wasn't fair! Fast!"

Somnia looked back through her five acquired items as the trial proceeded. One magically enhanced pan, a small statuette with useful gemstones, an odd lamp with a few pieces of mana-rich glass, a broach with another magical gemstone, and a jar of demon sand. A pretty good haul considering she was using hoofcrafted mechanisms to trade for most of them. Shame about trading the memory eraser away, but sacrifices were needed for the greater good.

"I can't believe she traded her friend's freedom for a book." Nightwind whispered to her.

"You still have slavery in Equestria?" She looked back up, getting a nasty look from the mare beside her.

"It's 'indentured servitude' or 'forced employment'." He clarified with air-quotes. "Slavery in all but name."

"Shh!" The mare shushed them, getting their attention back to the proceedings.

"I've heard what you both have to say, and I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but my hooves are tied. You said it was a fair trade." Twilight stated simply from the princess' seat.

"Yeah, I said it, but I was wrong! I did want that book, a lot. I said I wanted it more than anything in all of Equestria. But there's no thing that's worth as much to me as a friend. I might have forgotten that for a little bit, but it's true. Which means there's no way this trade can be fair!" Rainbow declared.

"Oh, come on, that's... the sweetest thing I've ever heard." The opposing mare smiled over to Rainbow. "Okay, the trade's off!"

They each returned their items and Rainbow Dash tackled Fluttershy into a hug followed by the orthos while the crowd cheered for the happy resolution.

"And with that, I declare this trial, and this year's Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange, over!" Twilight banged the gavel two times as a definitive end to what was a successful day.

The assembled ponies began to disperse back into the main area, finishing a few 'unofficial' trades of things that they might not otherwise had been able to. The foals reunited with their guardians at the stage while everypony else finished up their trading and packing.

"Looks like you got quite a lot of stuff." Twilight commented as they returned to her booth.

Somnia hummed absently. "Just what a could. Clockwork stuff seems to be pretty popular around here."

"It good to hear you got what you wanted." Twilight cast a quick glance at Duskwing, communicating a short message.

"Y'know, there's still some time before we leave..." Duskwing added as they arrived at the booth and the foals began packing the boxes with books, Somnia prodding her cousin to go along with it.

"I guess we could, but the moment was ruined..." Twilight complained, rubbing his chest while giving a playful pout. She couldn't even describe what her heart was doing, it felt so natural, like some distant memory surfacing with her emotions running wild. She couldn't help but smile, although she did her best to maintain her pout by biting her lip.

"I'm sure nopony will mind now. Moments come and go, but memories remain."

"And what kind of memory do you want this to be?" She raised her head so their snouts were barely a hoof apart.

He grabbed her, dipping her toward the ground, snout-to-snout. "One to remember." Before deeply kissing her in full view of all the ponies walking by, receiving several shocked gasps from nearby ponies.

"Nice." Somnia quietly whispered to her cousin.

"Eck."

They kept holding for several seconds before two lovers broke off, Twilight with a goofy grin on her face as Duskwing righted her back into a sitting position.

"*Ahem*"

Twilight slowly turned to see four of her friends and Spike standing there widely smiling at her. "Care to introduce us, darling?"

Sitting back in her seat, Twilight sighed out a breath of satisfaction. Today had been a great day. Duskwing was in a different compartment of the train, but she knew that she would have some explaining to do for her friends. Part her wanted him to stay so badly, to spend a few more hours with him, but she knew that they had to go back to their separate towns. They did agree to meet up sometime during the Equestria Games, a meeting she was more than looking forward to.

"Duskwing, eh?" Rainbow prodded her shoulder. "Didn't know you were the bad-colt type."

"He's not a bad-colt! He's... a little rough around the edges, but soft just beneath the surface." She lightly defended, unable to stop the blush coming to her cheeks.

"Doesn't he have a criminal record?" Applejack chuckled. "And you accused him of tryin' to hurt Somnia in Rainbow Falls?"

"Leave her be. We should be happy that she found somepony who accepts her for who she is, flaws and all." Rarity nodded with conviction. "Not like you've made any moves on your little crush, Applejack."

"H-Hey! I'm workin' up to it!" She folded her forelegs.

"Tell us when you do. It'll be a AJ-Got-Together-With-Her-Crush party!" Pinkie squee'd before grabbing Twilight's face and bringing her eye-to-eye. "Twilight, we need to have him in Ponyville for the Twilight-Has-A-Coltfriend party!"

"He's moving to Ponyville after the Equestria Games." Twilight pushed her back, quickly adding as her friends devilishly smiled at her. "A place of his own! N-Not with me!"

"We'll see." Somnia snickered, receiving a glare from her mother as her blush only grew.

"I have something for you, AJ." Rarity reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a rusted pie tin. "I know it's not the pie tin you were after, but I hope you like it. It's the rustiest piece of junk I could get."

"Well, I took my half of our stash and got you this!" She took out a small pin with a purple diamond on it.

"Ooh!" Rarity cooed, taking it into her hooves to examine.

"And I know you're gonna love it, 'cause you already have a bunch of ones that look exactly the same sittin' in the drawer doin' nothin'. So that should settle it once and for all which of us is the better friend." She nodded affirmatively.

"Oh, come on! You both gave up what you wanted to get something for each other! That's the coolest thing a friend can do. Trust me, I know." Rainbow not-so-humbly affirmed.

"Somnia, did you get what you wanted?" Twilight turned down to her saddlebags.

"Mm-hm!" She took out the small statuette. "The eyes are magical crystals that I can use for a flashlight."

"OOoo, sparkly!" Pinkie touched the eyes that shimmered in the light.

Somnia then took out the odd lamp that got a groan from Rainbow and a giggle from Fluttershy. "This lamp has pieces of mana-rich glass in it. I'm going to break it apart when we get home to sort through the pieces and pick out the proper ones."

Next was the pie tin--

"Hey! That's the pie tin I wanted!" Applejack called out. "How'd you get that?"

"I traded one of my clockwork thingies for it. Cool looking and functional." Somnia coyly smiled, reaching in for the broach--

"And that's what I wanted!" Rarity pouted. "It's no fair!"

"Did you even try talking to them?" The filly asked with a raised brow, getting only nervous chuckles. "Yeah, thought so."

Finally, she took out the jar and showed it to the group who looked at it somewhat confused. Except for Twilight. She was mad.

"YOU TRADED FOR DRUGS?!"

Author's Note

I feel dirty after writing that cockblock. Eck!