Saturday, December 20th, 908 AB (19 days later)

The big day was finally here and Cure couldn’t be more excited. Waking up snuggled between his mom and dam, he raises his head briefly to make sure his sire made it home the previous night. Given the festive season it’s likely last night was a big one, and despite everything going well Cure can’t completely stop worrying thanks to all of the losses Ed suffered for the last decade and a half of his life.

Sure enough, Deed is on Vines’ right side, on his back and, unfortunately, saluting to the almighty. Well, at least that phrase would have worked on Earth. If his sire would roll on his side so he’s facing vaguely west towards the Canterlot / Ponyville area then that may be more accurate, given the approximate location of the Tree.

Either way, Cure’s had quite enough of that view and happily lays his head back down. Vines is in the classic pony loaf position with her head resting against Deed’s right shoulder. Cure looks to his left and finds his mom facing the opposite direction, laying on her right side.

As far as Cure’s concerned, that right there is an invitation, so he happily turns around to face the same direction and crams his head right between her forelegs. Rolling onto his right side to match his mom while being mindful of the baby bump resting on his dock, he lets out a big yawn and nuzzles into the underside of her neck, content to lay there and be held in the soft, warm embrace of the pink mare.

It’ll only be about another month or so before she’ll be a dam, something he knows she’s super excited about. Cure’s pretty excited too. He’s been an only child for eight and a half years and now he’ll have one, then a few months later, two more little siblings to spoil and dote on.

He’s not sure where the blanket they started with ended up, but with the thicker winter coat and the enhancements he’s made to everypony in the family the cold is barely noticed even when they’re outside. Of course, being close to the coast the weather is fairly moderate even during the winter. There’s days when it gets down into the single digits and the weather team has kept the temperature below freezing for the last week in preparation for the upcoming snow, but for the most part this region only has to endure a hard freeze for a few days over the entire winter; typically just long enough to kill off some pests like mosquitos, ticks, and fleas.

The sun hasn’t started cresting the horizon yet, as far as Cure can tell. His parents’ room has windows facing north and west, so it wouldn’t be blasting in like it does in his room, but it still looks pitch black out.

Warm, comfortable, and gently held by his mom’s forelegs, Cure lets himself drift back to sleep; something that takes longer than usual for him because of his excitement for today’s plans.

A few hours later the family is awake and moving. After the normal morning routines the four are seated around the table enjoying their breakfast while discussing Cure’s plans for the day.

“I dunno, champ. Seems ta me yer goin a bit overboard with the whole thing.”

“I know, dad. I’m definitely not going to do this every year, but with everything going that’s happened over the last few months I just kind of want to do something special for everypony. Besides, I’m not sure where I’ll even be next year. So many things are up in the air it’s impossible to say for sure.”

“Speaking of up in the air, what time is your taxi supposed to get here?”

“About four, dam. And thanks, dad, for getting that taken care of for me. I don’t know how I could have arranged that… it’s not like there’s a bunch of taxi services here in Golden Hills, big surprise.”

“No problem, sport. I just wish I could go with ya ta see the expression on those fillies’ faces when they open the door and yer standin there with a big smile and a box on yer back.”

“HA! Yeah. I wish cameras were more widely available. Shame I only have a vague idea of how old fashioned photography worked. If my memories included a photography class in high school I could probably advance the friggin technology in that area by fifty years or more. All I know is the basics, though.”

“Like what, Cure? Sometimes your version of the basics is a bit beyond what we’ve heard.”

“Eh, that’s true sometimes. I doubt it is here. As I understand it, a camera is basically equivalent to an eyelid, kind of. It briefly lets light in through a shutter that opens for a second. I think there’s a mirror in there, but I’m not exactly sure what the purpose is. Probably to reflect light onto the film, but I’m just not sure. Also, there’s a lens that is focusing the image of whatever onto the mirror, I guess.

“So anyhow, the film is this light-sensitive slip of paper with a bunch of chemicals on it that has to be developed somehow. I think that involves soaking it in some other chemicals to remove the light sensitivity?”

Cure stops to idly scratch at his chin in thought for a moment. “Yeah, that must be why because I remember seeing movies where they develop the film in a dark room, then when they’re done with it all they can take the pictures out in normal light and not ruin them.”

“Is… that it?” Title asks. “You’re right… You usually seem to have more details than that.”

With a shrug he answers, “I know. Just because humans had cameras everywhere doesn’t mean I know how exactly they work. And the ones we carried towards the end of my memories were a completely different kind of technology that we’re easily a hundred years away from.” Pausing in consideration he adds, “That is, assuming nopony is born in the next few decades that has some kind of electronics or computer hardware mark.”

“That seems unlikely, sweetie. I think most ponies barely have an inkling what electronics are, and if it weren’t for your Illusion crystal none of us would have any idea what computers can do.”

“I know, dam. It’s really stifling development too. As far as I can tell, one of two things needs to happen for the country to really move forward. Either ponies need to be shown how to use their magic actively, or more mundane forms of energy distribution need to become widespread. Of course, I think the best option is both, but I’m not sure how the math plays out.

“I suspect a generator could be created that ran off of magical power. I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t. As best I can tell it would be clean and, unless it’s horribly made, generate plenty of electricity. It seems like metaphysical power is an order of magnitude more potent than physical energy.”

“Uhh… not sure I’m followin ya, sport. Whachya mean by more potent?”

“Well just think of it like this. Energy is energy, right?” At his sire’s nod he continues, “You have heat energy, light energy, and, of course, you have the energy that we all use which is a chemical energy from digesting food, right?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but I’m following you,” Title says encouragingly. Deed and Vines just nod along.

“Well somehow when we burn chemical energy, as in, our body uses sugar, whatever happens that converts that to magic seems to multiply how potent it is. Or, more accurately, in addition to that something happens on the metaphysical side that adds to it.”

“So… you’re getting more magic than you should?” Title asks.

“Yes! WAY more. Remember that first night I made my horn and I lifted dad up to see if he could break free?”

“Yeah…” Title nods along, “what you’re sayin is if you’d done that with muscles you would have been tired, right?”

“At least a little bit, yes. When I used the horn and whatever the heck magic is as a source I could have held him in the air for several minutes. That’s a colt easily lifting a far heavier stallion and holding him in the air for way longer than I could normally, and I did it using nothing but magic power. Think of how tired I would have been if I did that with only muscles, not even passive magic.”

“Huh… yeah, you shoulda been winded at least.”

“I ain’t that heavy,” Deed complains with a pout.

“You were like four times my weight! In fact, it was only a little less than the weight I did on the press machine at the gym and that was a month and a half after I made the horn the first time. And it still wasn’t easy with no magic.”

Vines reaches over and pats her husband’s hoof. “I think you’re just fine the way you are, honey.”

“Aww, thanks babe!” Turning his snout up and away from his son he adds, “At least somepony around here thinks so.”

Cure rolls his eyes at the dark stallion and turns back to his mom. “So anyhow, I’m betting with a high powered enchanted gem we could build a generator and get way more power out of it than we put in. I’m just not sure how big of a crystal would be necessary to, say… power a house with modern electronics for a day.

“It’s possible that, even if the crystal holds enough power, the scale may not be adequate. Of course, that’s completely ignoring all of the development that would be necessary to set up a power grid and everything else.”

“Yeah,” she agrees. “There’s… a lot of work to get from where we are to where that would be. Do you have any idea where they started?”

“No clue. A business, obviously. Maybe even one that was trying to sell electricity to the public. Either that or one where gas lighting was either inconvenient or unsafe. I just don’t know, though… that’s probably something that happened a hundred and fifty years before my earliest memories, give or take.”

“Ugh…” Title lets out an annoyed grunt, “I’m definitely seeing what you mean with the difference between pony and human technology.”

“Right. It’s weird how modern some stuff is given how far behind other things are. I can only assume it’s just a matter of different stressors. Military technology is, and I’m not exaggerating here, like four hundred years or more behind. This world is so much more peaceful than Earth, even with the occasional mix-up with dragons or griffons.”

“Right, right… I remember the fallout conversation,” Title reminds him with a grimace. “We don’t need to cover that again.”

“Sorry, mom. I know that stuff’s upsetting to you all. I try not to bring it up, but it is a valid comparison.”

“I know, honey. It’s okay. Ya know… you’re gonna be late if you don’t go get cleaned up soon. Somepony slept in later than normal today.”

“Right, right… No waltzin in fifteen minutes late. I know,” he says, shoveling the last few spoonfuls of oats in his mouth. “I didn’t see you hoppin outta bed either, ya know.”

“Why would I? Today is my day off. Well, sort of. You do have a few appointments before your deliveries,”

“Right, another deaging and a few manedo’s. Hopefully the clinic is chill today. I’m surprised they don’t have me flyin into Baltimare to fix somepony up before the holidays, though. Thanks for comin with me, ma.”

“You’re welcome honey. It would be silly not to; it’s not like I have a lot to do today.”

“They probably wanna give ya some time off around the holidays, champ. No sense overworkin an eight year old foal, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess. Thanks for making breakfast, dam. I’mma go hop in the shower since I didn’t last night.” Climbing down off his chair he gives her a quick nuzzle and starts heading for the stairs while grumbling, “I’ll tell ya, that’s one disadvantage of havin a coat. Human males can jump in the shower, scrub their pits, rear, and everything else, hop out, dry off, and be dressed and ready to go in half the time it takes just to get clean, never mind dryin off.”

Work was… work. A foal with an ear infection, a couple younger stallions that were badly hungover and probably dehydrated from the previous night’s partying, and an older mare with bad arthritis that he was able to fix up instead of giving her a steroid shot.

Cure couldn’t do much for the stallions. Nurse Gentle ended up giving them a lot of water and a couple of aspirin, then he gave them a general “get better” push with his magic. They both fell asleep in the lobby afterwards, and were still snoozing away when he ended his shift. Apparently they don’t normally call the paddy wagon in pony land, which is good to know.

After a quick lunch at home, Title and Cure make their way to Lemon’s shop to meet his afternoon appointments. She had taken to accompanying Cure most days so she could hang out with Lemon and sample her wares, though his dam would occasionally fill in for her if he had appointments right after leaving the clinic.

The first appointment was with a middle aged mare scheduled for a deaging. The deaging didn’t truly make anypony younger, but the effect is essentially the same. She was on the younger side compared to his average deaging patient, but that just meant he wouldn’t burn himself out completely getting her taken care of.

Take a fifty year old pony, fix up all their aches and pains, smooth their skin, remove any blemishes, revitalize their colors, give them the usual dental and vision fixes, and for all intents and purposes they might as well be twenty five all over again. Just with more disposable income and, hopefully, better decision making skills.

Unfortunately the procedure typically eats through almost every bit of his magic, so he has to drag the treatment out over half an hour or more to let his magic refill enough to finish. Fortunately as time goes on and he continues using all his magic several times per day his capacity is growing quickly.

Compared to three months prior his capacity has nearly doubled, which is simultaneously fantastic and disappointing. It’s real, measurable progress, granted, but in a magical world where an average adult unicorn is a walking car battery he’s closer to a triple-A.

The three parents had each been using the garden, his trees, or the rack of spices to dump their magic twice per day. As best they can tell their magic reserves had gone up by around a quarter, which is decent for an adult well past puberty.

It irks Cure a little to see everypony gaining more with, seemingly, less effort, but he acknowledges that, given their life of little magic use, they technically have a lot more ground to make up than he does when compared to what an adult unicorn can put out.

The second appointment wasn’t too bad; the mare was asking for color enhancement (brightening and style) and a “fat redistribution” which, as usual, meant she wanted a plump, soft rear. As part of the package, Cure ensures that the area in question, while nice and fluffy, also has the contouring that is considered desirable by the patient and, presumably, whoever’s going to be grinding on it.

The illusion crystal is an absolute godsend to ensure he’s getting it right as it allows him to fine tune the result to exactly what the patient desires. Of course, it doesn’t escape him that he’s basically sitting there projecting a picture of the client’s own ass in her face so she can custom design it, but it works great and he can’t complain about the pay.

Over the course of an hour and a half his gross income is 3250 bits from the pair, and while each represents a good chunk of an average pony’s monthly income they’re both absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to get in and see him.

While not double his original price, as his grandsire had recommended, he did bump the deaging price up to 2500. Demand has not diminished at all, and so far every patient has been absolutely ecstatic with the results.

Heavy Lift, being the closest, is his first delivery for the day. With a skip in his step Cure makes his way to the gray colt’s house. After knocking on the front door, Cure eagerly waits for his friend to show up. Instead, Spring opens the door and gives Cure a warm greeting. “Heya Cure! Were you wantin to see if Heavy can come out and play?”

“Actually, Mrs. Showers, I was just stopping by real quick to deliver a present for him. I know foals don’t usually give each other gifts, but with my job doin really well I wanted to surprise everypony this year. Is he home?”

“Aww!” she coos, reaching over and pinching a cheek, “That’s so sweet! Yeah, he’s here. Come on in!” Turning, she immediately trots over to the steps, going up them and yelling for the gray colt.

As soon as Cure steps in the house and closes the door he feels a light weight settle on his withers. Before he can react, the little demon snatches Heavy’s present and takes off, shooting across the room and laughing. “HA HA! COULDN’T SMELL THAT, COULD YA FART WAVE?!”

Knowing he has no hope of catching the flier, at least not without destroying half the room, he simply sits on his haunches and waits. Being ignored is anathema to the filly, so it’s only a moment before she’s flying circles around him trying to get him to react. When Heavy trots down the stairs she turns to look at the new arrival, and Cure spots his chance to strike.

The second Fall Thunder looks in Heavy’s direction, Cure’s hoof shoots out and latches onto her side. The sudden, jolting stop causes the gift, a small box with a card inside it, to fly out of her hooves and directly in front of her confused brother.

“Mmm… looks like I caught me a stinky filly,” Cure growls, pulling her closer as she futilely tries to break away. “I wonder if she’ll smell better if we can clean up that belly!” he shouts, once again pinning the screaming filly to the floor and giving her raspberries all over her chest and belly, her laughing yells causing Spring to reappear at the stairs to see what’s going on.

“What’s this, Cure?” Heavy asks, lifting up the small box.

“Eh, it’s just a little thing for you and your sisters to share. I got everypony a small present since, ya know… the whole business thing is doin so well.”

“That’s for me?” Thunder asks from underneath him.

“Only good fillies get presents, Farty.”

“I’ll be good!”

“You promise?”

“Mmhmm!” she insists, nodding excitedly.

“Alright… you better,” he says, letting the girl up. She takes off and lands on top of Heavy’s withers and looks over his shoulder as he opens the present.

“A card from the ice cream place?”

“Read it, dude.”

“Wait… a full year of ice cream?”

“Yep, you should be able to get three sundaes every visit, but it’s only good once per week. I had to haggle a bit with the manager, so don’t lose that card. You can go get yourself something with your sisters whenever you want.”

Fall’s wings shoot out as she screams “ICE CREAM!” before she starts flying circles around the room.

Uncomfortable with a bunch of thanks, Cure waves and turns to the door, “I have a few other deliveries to make, so I gotta run! Have a Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve if I don’t see you before then, everypony!”

“Thanks dude! I really appreciate it!” Heavy calls from the door, waving as Cure trots home to fetch the next present.

Fortunately, the deliveries to Ferric Shine, Delta Coast, and Sapphire Sprint all went well enough.

Ferric was excited for her books and, as soon as she released Cure from a bone-crushing hug, he knew she would probably spend the rest of the day reading and getting ideas for things she could try at work.

Delta Coast was slightly hesitant to accept the gift at first. Cure can only assume she thought he was asking her to be his fillyfriend or something, because it wasn’t until he explained that he was giving everypony in the group a present that she breathed a sigh of relief and opened it. Apparently she had been eyeing a jeweled maneband at Midnight Gem’s store.

The band itself was a pink color, just a shade darker than her mane, while the band had small sapphire jewels decorating it. Cure had to keep reminding himself that “common” gems in this world, while typically used in jewelry just the same as Earth, have far less value due to how abundant they are.

Sapphire, being the more exuberant of the group, tackled Cure in a hug and nuzzled into his chest, planting kisses all up and down his chin after she opened her present. Cure was pretty sure her dam gave him a very generous discount because, in addition to the fancy jewelry box, she also got a lovely pair of sapphire earrings set in silver.

He had to consciously let her bowl him over, wary of flattening the girl like he had with Crosswind Drift after the sleepover, especially with her smiling sire standing behind her. Cure once again found himself beating a hasty retreat from the house when it took Midnight clearing her throat for Sapphire to finally release him so he could make his next stop. He’s pretty sure the parents weren’t upset with him at all, as they both seemed very amused when she first lunged at him.

Rising Pitch is somewhat surprised when she opens her door and finds Cure standing there. “Cure? Hey, how’s it goin?”

“Hey Rising, I’m makin the rounds giving everypony a small present for Hearth’s Warming Eve. Got a sec?”

“You got me a present?”

“I did get you something but I also had something a little different in mind for you, actually. Mind if we step inside and I’ll explain?”

“Umm… okay?” she warily agrees, opening the door and letting Cure in. He stops just inside the entrance and closes the door behind him.

“Well, you know how I’m doing cosmetic work and all, right? Err, not that I’m saying you need any cosmetic work,” he emphasizes, waving his hoof back and forth, “but there’s some things I’m not doing that I could be.”

Completely confused, Rising shrugs and says, “I don’t understand, Cure… what the hay are you talking about?”

“Arg… sorry, I should have planned this out better. You know how I can change my voice?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I was trying to think what I could get you, and back when we all went out for treats at Lemon’s that first time, Solar made a comment that made me realize what would be perfect for you.”

“Okay… I don’t remember what he said, though.”

“He suggested that maybe, when you do get your cutie mark, it will somehow be related to your name. Do you like to sing?”

“Yeah, I like music and singing.”

“Great! Well, here’s what I was thinkin. How about I help you out with that by giving you a special treatment that I’ve not told anypony else that I can do? You gotta promise to keep it a secret, though.”

“Really?”

“Yes, definitely. I don’t want ponies knowing I can do some stuff. Can you keep this one quiet?”

“Sure, I didn’t tell anypony about the healing thing… you know, before.”

“Rising, sweetie?” a voice calls from the kitchen, “Is somepony at the door?”

“It’s a friend of mine, dam!” she shouts over her withers. “I’ll be there in just a second!”

“Here, I’ll make this quick,” Cure explains, “I can enhance your hearing a fair amount. You’ll have an easier time picking out notes with that. I can also strengthen your vocal muscles a tiny bit and make your vocal folds, the things that make our voices, more resistant to wear and tear and improve your muscle control in the area.

“If you do end up being a singer, that’ll keep you in the game longer, and the hearing and better muscle control should make it easier for you to reproduce sounds or train yourself to hit specific notes. Is that something you’d like?”

“Absolutely! What do you need me to do?”

“Nothin, just take my hoof a second,” he says, holding out his right hoof. She quickly latches on and he begins his work. He doesn’t give her the full treatment like his parents, but does move her hearing acuity to about the same level as bat ponies.

As he explained, the vocal fold treatment is more about reinforcing what’s already there without changing the shape of the folds themselves. Obviously stallions can hit lower notes and mares can hit higher, on average, but the space where all that happens is small, and not a good thing to tinker with too much on a filly that hasn’t gone through puberty yet.

“There ya go. You’re all set. I may need to do this again as you grow, but I’m fine with that. You probably won’t feel any different, but I’m sure you’re already noticing the difference in my voice alone.”

“I am… it’s… not louder exactly, but more crisp.”

“Yep. I think you’ll have a lot easier time figuring out when you’re right on a note now. Oh! I almost forgot the actual thing I got ya!” he shouts, pulling the box out of his bag.

“Okay, so first off I had a little help picking this out. You know how I’m a big stinkin cheater,” he teases, passing her the wrapped box from Midnight Gem’s store. “Go ahead and open now if you want. I think Coast was afraid I was comin on to her when I dropped off hers, so don’t go freaking out on me, okay?”

Giggling at the image, Rising takes the small box with a quiet thanks and begins tearing off the wrapping. When she sees it’s a jewelry box she freezes for a second and glances up to Cure. He just rolls his eyes and gives her a “go ahead " wave.

Sat on her haunches, she lifts the lid and puts a hoof to her cheek, pinking up some while looking inside. She’d been eyeing a pretty gold and garnet fetlock band that apparently she really, really liked because pupils don’t normally get that big in well lit areas.

“Uhh… ya alright there, RP? Need help putting it on?”

Instead of answering verbally she quickly nods and passes the box back and holds out her left hoof daintily. Playing along, Cure gives another exaggerated eye roll and sighs in mock exasperation.

It takes a moment for Cure to figure out the clasp, but once he does he takes a step closer and sits on his haunches in front of her to put it on. Frustrated with her not holding her hoof still, he takes her foreleg and puts her hoof on his chest to keep it from moving, then gets back to the clasp.

Just like opening it, closing the clasp is a little tricky and, just as he feels it click shut he hears a loud gasp, causing him to freeze on the spot. Cure looks up while Rising looks over her withers to find a cream colored mare with her head poking out of the kitchen, staring wide-eyed at the pair.

Cure gets a big grin on his face, leans forwards and wraps Rising in a tight hug getting a yelp out of the girl while meeting her dam’s eyes. “She said yes!” he excitedly yells, then plants a big kiss on her cheek, sets her down and runs to the door. “I gotta go tell my parents! They’re gonna be so excited!”

Not giving Rising a chance to say anything, he pulls the door open loudly talking to himself, “Oh wow I need to get a suit and a florist and a baker. OH!” he yells as he steps out, “I wonder if Lemon does cakes! I’ll be in touch once I find a judge!” he finishes, pulling the door shut.

Once outside he breaks into a full-power gallop and disappears into the distance, ignoring the “CURE WAVE!” shout behind him and cackling the whole way home.

“Knock, Knock!” Cure calls as he knocks at the door to Dawn’s house. He figures it’s right around three fifteen, so he doesn’t have much time to hang out before heading home to catch his taxi.

He can hear some shuffling on the other side and, in just a moment, the door opens to a somewhat surprised Emerald Aura. “Good afternoon, Cure. Were you doing something with Dawn today? Solar is not home right now.”

“Howdy, Mrs. Aura! Nope! I just came by to make a quick delivery,” he says, tilting his head back to the box on his back. The box is as long as his back is and over three hooves tall, wrapped in blue paper with an orange ribbon crossing it and a large, crimson bow.

“A delivery?” she asks, eyeing the large box.

“Yep! I got a little special somethin for each of the fillies that I go runnin with. I know it’s a few days before Hearth’s Warming Eve, but ya never know when ponies will have plans or will be out of town that night, so I figured I’d stop by a lil early.”

“Oh, I see. Come on in.”

“Thankya!” he cheerily calls, walking in the house as she shuts the door behind him.

Emerald waves Cure to a couch and goes to the stairs to call for Dawn. Cure hops up and sets the box on his left side while he waits for the filly. Turning back and climbing a couch herself, Emerald catches Cure a little off guard. “Before she comes, I want to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yes. Solar is very excited about the tickets you gave him.”

“Oh. Yeah, I’m really glad Ms. Gale was able to help me with those. I hope he has a fun time,” Cure says, turning to smile at Dawn as she comes down the stairs.

“He also mentioned that you… encouraged him to introduce Starlight Shine to the family. I wanted to let you know I am grateful.”

“Eh, don’t mention it. Family’s everything, ya know? I think it’s well past time for everypony to accept that mistakes were made and to move on. Heya, Dawn. I got somethin for ya!”

“For me? You got me a present? It’s a few days early…”

“Ah, to be fair, I got everypony we run with a small present, but I splurged just a little more on yours, so don’t tell anypony,” he says with a wink as he taps the box.

“Can I open it now?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m giving everypony their stuff a little early so they can have it for the holiday.”

Dawn doesn’t hesitate to hop up on the couch with Cure and lay across his withers facing the box, despite her dam sitting just a couple meters away on another couch. Cure shifts slightly onto his right side so he is turned and can see her face and the gifts as they come out. With her horn lit, she quickly peels off the wrapping paper and opens the box, levitating out its contents.

The first item is a white winter coat. Cure had placed the order just after he started converting the siblings’ to the hybrid mitochondria cells, completely forgetting that they would no longer feel the cold. He went ahead and left the order as-is, though, since he still figured Dawn would need to at least pretend to be cold outside.

Now she’ll have a pretty coat to wear while out and about, and it will still help on the coldest days that would otherwise pierce the aura.

The coat, like most designed for a unicorn, has a hood with a sleeve for her horn to comfortably sit in and stay warm but still function. It’s a longer design that should go all the way down her back and over her rear to the top of her thighs. There are buttons on the sleeves so that it wraps around her forelegs for the first hoof or so and is long enough on the sides to completely enclose her barrel with buttons she can latch to completely cover her neck, chest, and belly.

“I know we have mild winters,” he says, shooting her another wink, “but I wanted to make sure you had something warm when you’re going out. We can’t have the cold weather scarin away the Sunrise after all. The coat’s mostly a treated, waterproof wool, but if you take a look at the inner liner I think you’ll be impressed with the material.”

Opening the coat, Dawn looks at the inside, not recognizing what it is. She gives a questioning look to Cure but it’s Emerald that recognizes the fabric. “Is that silk?”

“Yes ma’am. 100% pure dragline spider silk with embroidered enchantment lines so Dawn can add an enchantment crystal into the inner pocket there and have it either Warm her or do whatever else she’d like. Slow Fall could be fun,” he teases with a smile.

“Why do you keep trying to get me to jump off things?” she asks with a raised brow.

“So I can be there to catch you, my dear,” he melodramatically replies as best he can while being laid across. It gets a small smile from Emerald, so he counts it as a win. Any dam will be happy to see their daughter treated like a princess, after all.

“So corny…”

With his memories and advanced maturity, Cure gives the only response he can. He sticks his tongue out at the filly that’s pinned him down.

“Sweetie, that material is not cheap. You’ll want to treat it accordingly.”

“Eh, it’s a coat. Maybe don’t go playin hoofball in it, but the silk’s probably the toughest part of the whole thing. Not that I expect Dawn to get in any fights, but that stuff’ll turn away anything short of a ballista bolt. Seriously, it’s insanely tough material. Just maybe don’t stand in front of siege weapons, okay?”

“I’ll do my best…”

“I expect nothing less!” he declares, waving a hoof in the air. “You’re not quite done, though. I got you a couple other things in there. Since Velvet used wool for the outer part of the coat there was some extra material left over.”

Setting the coat aside, reluctantly, Dawn looks back in the box and sees another garment. Emerald’s curiosity gets the better of her, so she climbs off her couch and comes closer for a better look.

“Pajamas? Are these silk too? They feel like glass…” Dawn trails off as she slides a cheek across the material. Emerald’s looking a little jealous when she does the same thing, shock etched across her face at how smooth the material is. “Oh my stars… These are so cute! And the hat!” she yells in a squeal.

The pajamas are light blue like his coat with little suns peeking just over the horizon scattered about on them. They’re a near full-covering set with detachable stockings that fasten to the body of the outfit or can be removed for warmer weather wear. He even got the silly horn hat with a Celestia’s sun for the pom at the end of it, an extra touch that made him giggle when he saw it.

“Yep. Like I said, I gave the mare a bit too much material, so I figured if yer gonna be warm outside, why not inside too? Those’ll make ya feel like you’re sleepin on a cloud. I think there’s one more little thing there in the bottom corner, though.”

Tilting the box up so she can see down in the bottom, Dawn removes the crystal, eyes growing big as saucers. “CURE! This is a mid tier crystal! I was there! I know this cost you over six hundred bits!”

“A pittance for milady,” he scoffs, waving the cost away. “That one should be able to teleport you a hundred or so meters in an emergency, or if you put a shield spell in it, it really will stop a ballista. Please test that on a ponnequin though, I haven’t done the math to-”

He’s cut off mid-sentence when Dawn, cheating with her cheaty horn, rolls Cure on his back and wraps her legs around his chest, planting a big kiss on his cheek and snuggling into his chin. With Emerald right there, Cure quickly rolls his back legs to the side so he’s not left in the compromising position for more than a second, though he knows she absolutely got a front row seat to the show, brief as it was.

He still wraps his forelegs around the ecstatic filly and, were it not for Emerald’s presence and his need to get back home shortly, he’d happily take a nap right on the spot. “Mmm… nothin beats snuggles,” he happily sighs out, slowly rubbing his chin against hers.

“I must say, Cure… this material is beautiful. Is this from the boutique in town?”

“Yes ma’am, but the store doesn’t normally supply that stuff. This was all custom made. Shame you’ll outgrow it in a year or two, but hey… at least I know what to get ya for Hearth’s Warming in a few years, huh?”

“It’s beautiful, Cure. Thank you!” she cries, nuzzling further into his neck.

“Sure thing, babe. As comfy as this is, and I literally could fall asleep in like two seconds like this, I do unfortunately have to go.”

“Oh?” Emerald asks, “More deliveries?”

“You betchya. I got two more left and they’re the more problematic to get to.”

“Glacial and Drift?” Dawn asks.

“Yep. My sire was able to get a taxi and I got their addresses from Drift’s dam, Thunder Dance, when I went to the gym with your sire’s group last week. I told her I had something for the two of ‘em. Well, and a small thing for Wind. Apparently her husband will be there too, but it’s all good… he just wants to apologize in pony for that whole mess.”

Shockingly, it’s Emerald that voices some concern. “Umm… are you sure that’s wise, Cure?”

“What? Going up to the cloud house of the dude that got in a bunch of trouble when I can’t fly? I’m sure it’ll be all good.” Looking down to meet Dawn’s concerned face he simply explains, “I’ve made preparations. Trust me… I’ll be fine.”

Dawn’s seen firsthoof how tough Cure is, and she knows he’s quite a bit stronger than her sire. Unknown to everyone but her and Solar is the fact he can also reduce his mass like a pegasus, so even if Washout somehow tossed him off a cloud he’d probably be able to survive the fall. Never mind the fact that he could probably grow wings fast enough if he uses Slow Fall.

“Okay… just be careful. You are taking a Slow Fall, right?” she half asks, half commands.

“Two scrolls in a hidden pouch and a crystal each of Slow Fall and Cloud Walk. Nothing will happen. I’m delivering presents, after all. If he did something stupid Bulwark would skin him alive. Maybe literally. Your sire knows I’m going. They offered to have somepony accompany me, but there’s no need for all that. I still wouldn’t be surprised if Sgt. Song will have somepony tail us to keep an eye out.”

“Okay. Be careful, and good luck,” she says, planting another kiss on his cheek and climbing off of him.

When he rolls back onto his barrel he’s once again surprised when Emerald gives him a friendly nuzzle between his ears. “These are absolutely beautiful presents, Cure. I’ll be sure Dawn takes excellent care of them.”

“Thanks Mrs. Aura! It was nice seeing you.” Giving Dawn a quick nuzzle before turning for the door, he calls over his withers, “I’ll see you later for our run, Sunrise.”

While waiting for the taxi to arrive Cure gives his parents a brief rundown of the first six deliveries, and at the same time gears up just in case anything unexpected happens while he’s making the last two.

The taxi Deed had arranged for Cure was a single seater sized for an adult earth pony stallion. With Cure being just about a fifth or so of the volume, even if he’s relatively heavier, there’s room enough for him, the two potted flower sets, and the five boxes with the flight suits and brush sets.

Under the parents’ supervision the stallion pulling the taxi ensured Cure’s cloud walking is working before even letting him in the cab. He hadn’t yet activated the crystal, so his ability to stand on clouds just with his own aura is now confirmed.

Fortunately the stallion is used to wary earth ponies, so he gave Cure a few minutes to get used to the sensation. Once he had hooves on the clouds it felt to him like he would have to consciously want to fall in order to pass through, so the aura’s default state appears to be “on” unlike the mass reduction part of it.

With a quick nuzzle to the folks Cure hops in the cab and, faster than he’d expected, he finds himself shooting off into the sky.

Figuring he might as well get the awkward part over with first, Cure asks the driver… cabbie… whatever to take him to Drift’s house. Cure has seen the cloud housing from the ground, and he’s flown to Baltimare to heal disabled ponies. The climb up to the pegasus district is still asshole-puckering terrifying compared to what he expects.

Flying to Baltimare only takes about ten minutes, and while it’s certainly a little noisy, the transport that the hospital owns is enclosed, so he doesn’t have to see the ground shrinking under him or feel the sensation that he could tumble out. He also was snuggled against a pretty, soft, warm nurse mare’s tummy. This is an open air cab like a chariot, and while the wind is largely blocked by the driver’s aura or the enchantment, it is still present.

The worst part, however, is the view. It’s not unlike his memories of the taller roller coasters Edward had been on, but there is no five point harness or over-the-shoulder mechanism. There’s not even a seatbelt or a lap bar. It’s just a barely-adult-height wood and metal box with a glass panel at the front and a single forward-facing bench. He can’t even sit on the floor because he stashed the flower pots and presents there to keep them out of the wind.

It takes every ounce of willpower he has not to activate the Slow Fall crystal he has in a “pocket” of skin on his belly, but with the TK grip he has on the bench he’s confident he’s not going anywhere, at least unless it’s going with him. Annoyingly, the driver apparently gets his kicks in watching earth ponies almost soil themselves because Cure notices the dude occasionally turn just enough to look back and start snickering, far too quietly to normally be heard over the wind.

After a few minutes climbing they finally reach the half-kilometer high mark and level out, gliding towards the, basically, slightly larger residential block that houses nearly every pegasus that technically lives in Golden Hills, even if it is slightly to the northeast of the actual suburb.

Apparently when pegasi populate an area, their magic or their auras, Cure isn’t sure which and doesn’t trust other ponies’ opinions on the matter, saturate the clouds that make up their buildings, streets, and basically everything else to the point where most places can be stood upon safely, even without Cloud Walking.

The Cloud Walking enchantment or spell is still an important safety measure, and every pony without wings is required to show they’re covered before heading up. They are on their own as far as monitoring their spell’s duration, though. Opting to play it safe, Cure activates his crystal and, despite the spell and his innate ability, still prods at the ground carefully when they arrive.

It seems to be a tradition for the locals; whenever a ground pounder comes down in a taxi somepony starts taking bets as to how many times they’ll test the waters before they’ll jump in. It only takes a couple pokes before Cure dismounts and, even though he ignores the small, disappointed flock, he hopes the fuckers all lost some coin and never come to him to get their asshole wings reattached.

The actual area of the block is pretty small since most of the pegasi in the Baltimore region live closer to the city. Also, virtually everything is on the ground, so there’s no schools, parks, stores, or much of anything else but homes and condos.

“The house is that one right there, colt,” the cabbie says, pointing a wing at a three story house a bit wider and much taller than Cure’s. “Ya got me about forty five, so no rush. I’ll be here waitin.”

“Alright. Thanks, mister.” Cure grabs one of the large flower pots and balances it on his back. Stacking the three boxes with two brush sets and a flight suit held on his head, he makes his way to the front door and knocks. A few seconds later the door opens about a hoof and Drift’s little sister looks up at him with the sleepiest eyes he’s ever seen.

“Hello-” he starts before the door is shut in his face. “Huh…”

Cure had noticed that the inside of the house has actual flooring. It was some kind of tile or linoleum as best he could tell in the second or so he got a look. He can only assume that the inside of the house will probably be somewhat similar to a typical ground-based home. Maybe.

Just as he’s about to knock again the door is flung back open and Crosswind Drift’s scowling visage graces his presence. “Cure? What the fuck are you doing here? And what’s all this shit yer carrying?”

“Oh hey, Drift. I just thought I’d come warn you that word got out that you can make crops grow faster. There’ll be a few hundred earth ponies poking around your house any minute but I was hoping you could help me with these flowers before they get here.”

The reaction is everything Cure could hope for. It starts out concerned, then as she processes the words confusion reigns over her face, quickly followed by annoyance and the “I kinda want to punch you” look he has come to accept as her default setting.

“Cure is here?” he hears called out from inside the house.

“Is that Glacial?” he asks, face involuntarily lighting up.

“Yeah, stalker. You here huntin down yer Flame?” she asks challengingly.

“Sweet Celestia, Drift… I came here to bring you and your family some presents. Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

Scowl immediately disappearing, she only muster a soft “Oh” in response.

“Yeah… Feel like a jerk now?” he asks with a scowl.

“Kinda,” she admits, wincing.

“Good. It was a huge pain in the rear even getting up here. If Glacial is here I need to get the rest of the stuff out of the taxi. Can I set this shit down without it falling through? I don’t know how this cloud crap works.”

Glacial pops around the corner just as he finishes and, with a thoroughly confused look, asks, “Wait… you’re who Mrs. Dance said was coming?”

“Oh… she told you? Huh, good thing I didn’t go to your place first. We apparently have a failure to communicate here. Can I set this stuff down somewhere?”

“Drift, grab something,” she commands, taking the boxes off his head.

“The pot’s heavy. Use your aura on it.”

Drift nods, grabs the pot in her forelegs and, though she still subconsciously gives her wings a few little flaps, lightens it and lifts it off his back.

“I’m going to grab the rest. One sec,” he calls, trotting back to the cab and loading himself back up. “Hey dude, both fillies are here so this’ll probably be the last stop. If ya wanna take thirty or something, feel free.”

“Cool. Thanks, colt. Good luck in there,” he adds with a smirk and a wink.

Thunder Dance is waiting for him as he trots back to the door. “Hey Cure, I hope you don’t mind. I figured I’d save you a trip and have Crosswind bring Glacial and her dam over.” Pausing to look at the boxes and the pot on his back she asks, “Do you want me to take something?”

“That’s perfect! I appreciate it. Thanks Mrs. Dance. Umm, if you could get the boxes offa my head that’d be great. By the way, the planter,” he motions to his back with a hoof, “is kinda for all of ya. Well, one of ‘em is. Is Wind Shear here?”

“Yep. She’s waiting inside too,” she explains, setting the two boxes on her back. “Just so you know, my husband is home today. He wants to apologize if you’re still okay meeting with him.”

“Oh neat. Sure, I’m totally over that whole thing,” Cure assures her, waving away the concern.

“Wonderful. Come on in,” she says, stepping aside and waving a wing into the house.

Completely unsure what to expect, Cure trots in the house and finds himself in a foyer area. Off to the right is a short wall and, as best he can tell, a living room and it looks like a dining room, kitchen area is straight back and to the right. There is no stairwell, he notices. As he follows Thunder into the living room he gets a better feel for the house’s layout.

The living room takes up about a third of the ground level and goes straight up the entirety of the house and, again, there are no stairs. Each of the two floors above him have doorways leading off of the main room, but no doors.

It looks like those lead to hallways going to bedrooms or perhaps a home office, but he has no way of confirming it. Almost all of the furniture is cloud-made with only a few exceptions. There are a couple bookcases as well as a display case with the couples’ military recognitions in it, as well as some trophies and Wonderbolts memorabilia.

There’s also an occasional free-floating cloud surface at different altitudes, likely acting as a couch or napping spot, judging from the tiny filly’s tail tip hanging off of one.

The living room has a lot of bodies in it, but it’s plenty large enough for the smaller pegasi, especially since they are not limited to two dimensions. On the ground level floor are Wind Shear, Drift, Glacial, and Glacial’s dam looking over the flowers curiously along with a trio of cloud couches in front of him, to his right, and immediately on Cure’s left against the wall.

Glacial’s dam, in Cure’s opinion, is absolutely gorgeous. An inch or so taller than average for a pegasus mare, she has a bit more “crystal” in her pure white coat with a cobalt blue sparkle to her, especially on the edges of her wings and near her hooves. Her mane and tail are an aqua color and she has a matching snowflake for a cutie mark. On her withers is another young napping filly with a coat matching his own, though she seems to lack the crystal pony glisten that Glacial inherited.

Tailwind is sitting on a couch in front of Cure on the back wall looking somewhat awkward and pitiful, so Cure decides to get that out of the way as soon as he sets down the flower pot.

He takes a few steps towards the off-white, red-maned stallion before it dawns on Cure that he’s not even completely sure what the dude’s name is. He’s pretty sure he remembers what Grandpa Brick called him, though. “It’s Tailwind Flare, right, sir?”

“That’s right, son,” not giving Cure a chance to say anything he continues, “Look, I’m terribly sorry about how I acted that day, Cure. I just saw my oldest being stood on and… well… I have no excuse, but I hope you understand that I just overreacted.”

“I do. I get it. I mean… I can see how you woulda been really ticked. I was pretty upset that day, I’m not gonna lie, but I do get it. It’s been like three months, so I’m totally over it. All is forgiven, just… please, look at the entire situation if something like that ever happens again.”

Sighing in relief, Tailwind nods in agreement and gives a small smile. “Right. Yeah. I appreciate it, colt. I understand you’ve been good to my daughters despite the way I acted and, I wanna tell ya, I really appreciate it.”

“Eh… I had nothin against them. I wasn’t even really mad at Wind once the whole thing was over,” he admits with a shrug. “It’s just foals bein foals. I kinda figured they would do something as soon as I walked away from them at the ice cream parlor, honestly. I just had hoped cooler heads would prevail, but, yeah…” he says, trailing off with another shrug.

“Yeah, like ya said. Foals will be foals. I just wish I’d acted like an adult, but… yeah.”

The two stand there awkwardly for a moment. “Does it ever feel like dudes suck at talking about crap like this?” Cure asks.

“Oh stars, yes. Can we please be done with this?” Tailwind asks, holding out a hoof.

“Sweet Celestia, please. Feelings are for mares,” Cure agrees, giving it a bump. “Next time let’s just beat our chests and yell at each other and grunt or something. It’ll be a lot less painful all around.”

“HAH! Sounds good to me, son. So you best get over there,” he waves a hoof at the mares, “before they start eatin all them flowers. Unless that’s what they’re there for, that is.”

“Yep, good talk dude.”

Tailwind grunts and slaps his chest with a fetlock in response as Cure chuckles and walks away. “Okay everypony, before anypony starts diggin in, I better explain.”

Drift jumps in before he can even get started. “What’s up with the flowers?”

“Umm, I’ll get to that, just don’t eat anything, please.” Turning to Glacial’s dam he introduces himself. “Hi. I’m certain if I’d met you I’d remember it. I’m Cure Wave. Nice ta meet ya!”

“Hello Cure. I’ve heard a lot about you,” she teases with a smile, quickly glancing to Glacial and back. “I’m Snowstorm Burst. It’s a pleasure. So,” she starts, looking back to the flowers, “how about you tell us what you’ve got here. They smell heavenly.”

“Yes ma’am,” he replies with a smile, getting an eye roll from Drift and Wind. “But first, lemme explain. I’m making a few early Hearth’s Warming Eve deliveries since I never know if anypony’s gonna travel or have other plans on the actual holiday.”

Sitting on his haunches and waving to the group with both forelegs he explains, “I’ve had a fantastic year; I have three siblings on the way and my business is doing very well, so I wanted to get everypony something to celebrate.” Nodding towards Drift and Glacial he continues, “If you two want, you can open the bigger boxes first. The smaller one is related to the plants. Just no tackling me, Drift!”

Cure feels a little guilty that he didn’t get Wind anything but the brush set, but she’s definitely fallen more into the “friend’s older sister” column than an actual direct friend. She’s either been unavailable or uninterested in any of the groups’ other activities since getting a coltfriend, even though she has regularly shown up to run, so he figures the flowers and brushes will be good enough, not to mention the free workouts themselves.

Wrapped in paper to match each filly’s colors, they quickly tear the large boxes open and simultaneously lift the flight suits out, squealing in excitement. Tailwind’s curiosity apparently is getting the better of him because he’s moved over to have a closer look.

Cure had shown the boutique mare the girls’ colors and asked that, to some degree, the suits mimic the Wonderbolt’s design, but in different colors.

Drift’s dark purple coat and blue mane and tail made it hard to come up with a good color that matches both, but they ended up settling on a lighter pink color similar to his mom’s coat. The lightning bolts are all in her royal blue color.

Glacial’s lovely platinum color and bright, icy blue mane and tail ironically look fantastic with purple, so despite her friend’s coat being a near match, if a little darker, they agreed that “pure” purple is the right color for her with the lightning bolts also matching her mane and tail.

Despite his request, he’s quickly surrounded on both sides by gushing pegasi fillies rubbing all over him while hugging him and flapping their wings all about. It’s… not a bad feeling, but a tad awkward, especially with three sets of parents’ eyes and one older sibling’s are pointed his way.

Sitting on his haunches he carefully wraps a foreleg around each, mindful of their wings, and gives them both a gentle squeeze and a nuzzle. “Okay, okay, you’re welcome. I know, I’m awesome, I tell everypony that all the time, but nopony seems to believe me.

“I still gotta tell you about the plants,” he insists. He still gets one last nuzzle and a peck on a cheek from Glacial and, shockingly, a smooch on the other side from Drift before they skip back to their dams to show off the suits.

Thunder takes one look at it and recognizes the material right away. “Are these silk?!”

“Yes ma’am. They’re pure dragline spider silk and that stuff’s as tough as it comes. They’re layered a couple times over too, I believe. You two need to be really careful in those suits because they’ll be Tartarus to cut off if that were ever necessary. Honestly, if you get hurt and you’re in that suit, you may want to fly to me, not the clinic, and leave the thing on. They’ll probably keep everything in about the right place while you’re hunting me down.

“Those also have embroidered enchantment lines on the inside layer. There’s a pocket on the inside near the top of the zipper where you can put a crystal. Right now each one has a shield crystal in it.”

“Those are mid-low’s, so they won’t take a very heavy hit, but if you crash you should be okay if you have your aura lightening ya up. Dawn can switch that out for other things like durability. Since I have an active-use special talent, I can recharge those, but please don’t test the shield if you can help it.”

“Wow,” Thunder gushes, “These must have cost you a fortune…”

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about that. Besides, it’s kind of thanks to Drift that business has been so good.”

“Damn right! You’re welcome,” she triumphantly yells, getting a wing smack and a light glare from her dam.

“What’s with the flowers?” Wind asks, waving at one of the pots.

“Okay, so… being an earth pony and having my special talent, I have a little more flexibility when working with plants than most do. I’d asked Glacial one time how hard it was to maintain feathers and she mentioned how expensive good, scented oil is. So… there ya go,” he says, waving at one of the stalks. “Anypony have a knife or somethin sharp?”

“One sec,” Thunder calls, trotting into the kitchen. She returns a moment later with a knife in her mouth.

“Cool. Just cut one of the little fruit things open. I think you’d normally want to do it over a jar or something, but it’s fine if it gets in the soil, so just maybe cut it over the pot, I guess. I’d suggest harvesting them as you need them, but they should grow back pretty quick even without an earth pony minding them.”

Nodding, she sits on her haunches, plucks a lavender bulb, and cuts a slit in the top of it. As soon as she does the floral scent is released and Cure can see everypony scenting the air. Jabbing the tip of the knife into the fruit, she pulls it out coated in a shiny, clear oil, then looks to Cure with an arched brow.

“So I made you all scented, hydrophobic, oil flowers. It should be every bit as good as a waterfowl’s oil, safe to eat, antifungal, antibacterial, and have a really nice shine to it. They should smell like jasmine, lavender, lilies,” he says, shooting a wink to a smiling Glacial, “and honeysuckle.

“Just be careful cause they don’t make seeds or anything. I didn’t want some invasive plant spreadin all over. If something happens to those I can replace them. Oh! I almost forgot, the leaves have some of the oil on them too, but they didn’t get as much of the scent as the pods did. Still if you just need a quick touch up or want to take some with you somewhere that may work better.”

Waving to the three boxes he tells them, “Go ahead and open the other box, ladies… I’m sure you’ve guessed what’s in there by now.

Happily tearing into the other box, the girls are ecstatic when they find the brush sets, though they manage to refrain from jumping on him this time. Thunder wipes a bit of the oil down a couple primaries, stares at it for a few seconds, nods, then takes the knife and the bulb back to the kitchen before coming back.

“I did have one other thing I was willing to do, but this’ll be up to the parents. And you are all included if you’re interested. Mrs. Dance already got this with the other pegasi and bat ponies under Sgt. Bulwark…”

“The eyelid things?” she asks.

“Yep. Nictitating membranes. I didn’t wrap those, thank goodness,” he jokes. “Mrs. Burst, are you familiar with them?”

“Yes, I am. I’m not sure about… changing my eyes, though,” she says, scrunching up her muzzle.

“Eh, it’s not for everypony,” he agrees with a shrug, “but they are useful.”

“You should really consider them, Snowy. I’ve had them for a couple weeks and they’re great in the air, especially on bright days or when there’s a lot of clouds bouncing light around. I’m sure they’ll be very helpful when we have a fresh layer of snow.”

Wind waves a wing in the air yelling, “Do me!”

Cure waves the girl over and, after getting an approving nod from her dam, holds out a hoof. After giving her the enhancement and walking her through the opening and closing training he lets go. Drift is quick to follow and Glacial eventually manages to convince her mother to let her get them as well.

“Mr. Flare? You haven’t been at the station when I’ve been there on Fridays. Do you want a set?”

“If you don’t mind, sure,” he nods, holding out a hoof. Cure’s talent lights up when he activates it on the stallion. Cure feels his shoulders slump at the results. Tailwind has the same condition that Static Arc did, and is only producing female sperm. He still gives him the membrane and goes through the training motions, but he also asks for a word in private.

“Now that you’re all set there… Could I speak to you and Mrs. Dance in the kitchen for a moment, please?”

The suddenly concerned pair follow Cure to the kitchen under the worried looks of the other three in the room. Speaking in a low voice, Cure explains, “So… when I use my talent, for lack of a better analogy, I get a picture of the pony in my mind. If there’s something wrong it’s basically circled in red, okay?”

“Uhh… am I dying?”

Emphatically waving a hoof, Cure reassures him. “No, dude… you’re fine, mostly, I guess. Umm… this is kind of sensitive though, so please don’t punch me when I tell you, okay?”

“No promises,” he jokes, getting a wing smack and a glare from his wife on his right. “Jeez, I ain’t punchin anypony, certainly not a foal, c’mon…”

“So there’s no good way to say this, but there’s a reason you only have daughters.”

The pair pause completely while the words process. “What?” Thunder asks in shock.

“You mean my… uhh…” he trails off, motioning vaguely towards his back half.

“Yeah, dude. I’ve seen this before too. I can’t go into details, ya know, confidentiality and all, but I’m almost wondering if something’s going on. I can’t tell why this is happening, just that it is. I can fix it. But let me tell you… I do not care for either the implications or the steps needed to resolve the issue one bit,” he adds with a grimace.

Mulling the situation over in his mind while the two share a few words, Cure can only come to one conclusion. He will not be able to keep his anonymity for any longer than absolutely necessary. This could be a widespread pandemic of some kind. What’s worse is, he has seen no reason why it’s happening; unsurprising given he’s only had two instances he’s found so far.

“Umm, maybe you should go tell your daughters you’re not dying. They may have made the same assumption you did,” he suggests offhoofedly while thinking.

On the other hoof, this could have been going on for hundreds of years and nopony would have known. Nopony seems surprised by the fact that there’s a six to one gender imbalance, and at least going back a couple hundred years this has been the norm. The best solution for now is to wait and discuss this with his parents, then go from there.

Barely paying attention, Cure watches as Thunder goes back out to the living room to tell everypony something, then comes back in and looks to the young colt.

“Okay… I… ” Cure starts before trailing off, getting curious looks from the two. “I hope you both understand, but before I say anything, I’m going to ask you each for an oath to not repeat what I am about to tell you. In doing so, I promise you will not be jeopardizing anypony else’s life or anything like that.”

“We’re both oathbound guards, Cure,” Thunder explains. “Is what you’re going to tell us going against anything we already swore?”

“I… don’t think so? Probably not. I’m just going to tell you something I can do to help, so… no? Not unless the oaths you swore are really weird,” he answers with a shrug.

The two share a look and, after a moment, nod. The oath surprises Cure because it is almost, word for word, identical to the one that Solar recited. Apparently the older colt picked it up from his sire or something.

Thunder goes first. “I swear by the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars that, barring a direct order from Her Highness and except in situations of grave peril, I shall tell no soul of this conversation.” After Tailwind repeats the oath they both look at him expectantly.

“Okay. I haven’t told anypony but my parents this specifically because I don’t want to deal with it until I’m older. I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait six and a half years until I’m an adult, though, and I’d feel horrible not helping you two now while you’re still young enough.

“Right now your boys are set to female only, dude. I can flip that switch the other direction. Keeping that a secret isn’t against any other oaths is it?”

Thunder barks out a laugh and, with a chuckle, Tailwind shakes his head no and explains, “No, son… I think you’re good there. They don’t make us swear oaths to tell everypony what’s going on with our, uhh…” he trails off, scrunching his muzzle trying to think of a tactful way to say it.

“Balls? Gonads? Acorns? Family Jewels? Nads? Nutsack? Coin purse? I can keep going,” Cure offers, getting chuckles out of the two.

“I don’t think an eight year old should know that many different ways to say that,” Tailwind amusedly points out.

“Yeah, I don’t think an eight year old should have a special talent that, in a way, damn near crams them in his face either, but here we are,” he points out.

“Wow. That sounds awful,” Thunder sympathetically says. “If you could do that, Cure… I don’t even have the words. We’ve tried three times, as you may have noticed, not that we don’t love our fillies more than anything, but…”

“No, I get it. We have way too few colts in this country. It’s… like a major problem,” he agrees, getting nods from the pair. “Okay, so, that’s well and good, I can fix that issue, but there’s one more thing I can do come spring. I can cause your body to produce a second egg, so come see me when estrus starts, Mrs. Dance.”

“Twins?!” she asks, wide-eyed and wings lifted.

“Yep, my dam is carrying two right now. I’m begging you, just… don’t break your oaths, please. I will eventually tell ponies. I just don’t want to have to fly all over the country adjusting testicles and ovaries until I’m at least an adult, ya know?”

“I think we can do that, son. Now… what do we need to do here?”

“Well, step one is for you to turn so ya ain’t facin my direction. Last time I did this, even with the area numbed, there was a bit of a… well, reaction, let’s say.”

“Ah… horseapples. That’s… not okay.”

“I can’t help but agree, but them’s the breaks.”

“I’m not familiar with the expression, but I think I understand.”

“Ah… that’s the way the cookie crumbles?”

“That works.”

Tailwind turns right so his left side is to Cure and, instead he’s facing his wife. Cure turns so his back is to the patient and sits down. Reaching back with his right hoof, Tailwind grabs on with his left and Cure starts by numbing what he can, then begins the treatment.

“Oh… wow!” he calls out, wings popping up and eyebrows shooting into his mane. “Yeesh… damn, colt… you weren’t kidding. Gimme a second here,” he mumbles. Thunder has covered her face with a wing, apparently completely uncomfortable with the entire situation. Cure can sympathize; he’s not exactly thrilled with circumstances either.

“We’re only halfway there, sir. Get ready.”

Cure finishes the heal and, once he identifies the change that his “fix this” command adjusted, he sends his magic back in to make a similar change to the rest of the area, eliciting a small shuffle dance from the stallion. Once he’s done he un-numbs everything and lets go and continues looking away.

“Ya know… I’ve compared this talent to a golden ticket. In a way, it really is… I’m making more money at eight than most ponies ever do. On the other hoof, I get detailed scans of every pony I use my talent on crammed into my brain.”

He’s surprised when a pair of white wings and forelegs wrap around him from his right and Thunder plants a kiss on his forehead. “Just think of the good you’re doing, Cure. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for everything. Are you sure you’re okay helping with this come spring?”

“Yeah,” he says, leaning sideways into the hug, “It’s what’s right. I wouldn’t be a good pony if I didn’t use my talent to help.”

“Umm, I’m okay now,” Tailwind calls, “I feel weird saying thanks, but, uhh… I’m very grateful, Cure. Especially given… ya know.”

“Like I said sir, all is forgiven. Obviously.”

“HA! Yeah. You are a good pony, son, don’t doubt that. We should probably head back…”

“Yep. I’m sure they’re a little worried. Thanks, Mrs. Dance. Can’t get enough of them wing hugs.”

“I’ll give you one every time I see you, Cure,” she says, smirking down and giving him one last squeeze before letting go.

“Nice!” he cheers with a hoof pump.

The three rejoin the others in the living room. Both fillies have their suits on and show off for them when they walk in.

Thunder reacts first, letting out an impressed whistle. “Woah… very fancy, girls!”

“Wow, they look just like the real thing, babe. Very impressive, Cure.”

“Meh, credit where it’s due. The mare that runs the boutique, Velvet Stitch, does good work. You two will have to come by sometime and let me watch ya practice in those, okay?” he asks, getting vigorous nods from the two. “Great! So, how do they feel?”

“They’re amazing! It feels great on my coat!”

Drift agrees with an eager nod. “It does! This fabric is amazing! Do you think I could get a set of sheets made from this?”

Thunder barks out a laugh while shaking her head no. “Cross, baby, I think you’re underestimating how much that material costs.”

“Uhh… a lot?”

“Maybe if you’re really good all next year somepony will get you a set for Hearth’s Warming,” Cure teases.

Both freeze in place and, at the same time with the same wide-eyed look chorus, “You’d do that? Really?!”

Cure scrunches his muzzle, turns to Tailwind, and while waving a hoof at them asks, “Have you ever figured out how the hay mares do that?”

“No. Every time I ask they insist it’s a ‘mare thing’ as if that explains it.”

“It’s gotta be some kinda supernatural phenomenon. I wonder if anypony’s ever looked into it. Do mares have some kind… I dunno… limited hive mind connection or something?”

“Colt, if you figure it out they’ll build monuments in your honor for centuries.”

“No thanks,” he mumbles, turning back to the girls and nodding. “Yes, really. Probably. I’m not completely sure you have it in ya, Drift,” he accuses, watching as her brows furrow and wings start to lift. “Ya seem a tad on the aggressive side, ya know…”

“I’m not aggressive!” she insists, looking ready to pounce.

“Uh huh…” he slowly nods. “We’ll see, I suppose.”

“I’m not aggressive am I?” Glacial innocently asks, spreading her wings slightly and swaying back and forth.

Cure does a hard swallow and quickly shakes his head no.

“Does that mean I can get a set if I’m really good?” she asks, approaching and slowly nuzzling across his suddenly glowing cheek.

Speechless, he can only slowly nod in agreement, unaware of the rest of the room snickering at the enthralled colt.

Done being ignored, Drift leaps on Glacial and the adults start laughing at the spectacle. They only let it go one glorious moment, sadly, before separating the girls and snapping Cure out of his trance.

Glacial joins her dam on one cloud couch and Drift is stuck between her parents on the other, glaring. Wind hops up on her sire’s right, sandwiching him between his daughters, minus the snoozing foal above them.

“So,” Wind starts, “what was wrong with our sire?”

“I take confidentiality very seriously, so I won’t say anything.”

“It’s okay, Cure,” Tailwind volunteers, “he just found something wrong he was able to help me fix. It’s all good now.”

“Cure, dear,” Snowstorm calls, leaning to her right and patting the couch between her and Glacial, “how about you come join us and tell us how you learned about crystal ponies. I’ve found so little about the history I’m curious what you know.”

“Oh, sure.” Cure trots around the couch and hops up between the pair, barely fitting between them and rubbing sides with both. “Honestly I think I shared most of what I know with Glacial already. I just wish I could remember the book, but I read a lot over the summer.”

“The crystal ponies lived in the aptly named Crystal Empire up north of Equestria. Some artifact they had made the place hospitable but one of the ponies there had some kinda problem with the princess that ruled the place, Princess Amore.”

“He’s a unicorn and he somehow takes over with shadow magic and mind control. Princess Celestia went to help and somehow the whole place was banished away. Glacial said a crystal pony like your great granddam will just pop up occasionally with no idea how they escaped.”

She nods along with a sigh. “That’s what we know too. The unicorn was named Sombra, but that’s about the only detail you were missing.”

Looking up at the filly on her withers Cure asks, “Does the whole coat color thing show up later?”

“No, honey. It just doesn’t always pass onto foals.”

“Oh… do you want me to add it to her coat?”

“You could?”

“Absolutely.” Holding out a foreleg he modifies his coat to add a similar effect like Glacial has, just in his colors making his leg take on a metallic blue shine, with a slight hue of purple where the light is hitting it differently towards the sides. “I wouldn’t do that for anypony without crystal pony heritage, but I could.”

“I… I need to check with my husband.”

“Sure. Just let me know,” he casually says, changing his coat back to normal. “So, is anything exciting happening with the guard?”

“Not much we can talk about,” Thunder explains. “Really, other than the occasional bar fight in the city or drunk sleeping in the park there’s not much going on.”

“Yeah,” her husband nods, “I had to deal with a pony covered in… uhh… a mess she made when I found her sleeping outside the bakery’s door at six in the morning. They found her lying there under a blanket when they were trying to get started for the day. Ended up having to climb over her just to get in the door… then wash away the mess.”

“She peed all over herself,” Wind says with a snicker.

“She’s lucky she didn’t freeze,” her sire adds while nodding.

“How’s your work going, Cure?” Glacial asks.

“Busy. I started today off at the clinic; that was slow, but then I had two appointments after lunch. Both were pretty involved. A deaging and some body sculpting and color work. Profitable but exhausting.”

“De-aging?” Snowstorm asks. The other parents are clearly interested as well.

“Huh... Drift and Glacial were there the first time I did it. I can’t believe they didn’t tell you. Deaging is a bit of a misnomer, but I basically clear out the symptoms of aging. Arthritis, eyesight, dental, skin toning, color enhancing, etcetera. It’s a pretty extensive makeover and I usually do it over a longer session since it runs me dry. The other mare wanted a bigger butt.”

The girls all crack up and the parents chuckle as he clarifies. “Yeah, she paid me hundreds of bits for a big, soft, round plot. To be fair, that’s a very popular request. This job is weird, but at least it pays.”

“What’s the weirdest thing anypony has asked for?” Thunder asks.

“A four hoof long tongue,” he immediately answers. Glacial looks completely confused but everypony else turns beet red.

“Why would you want a tongue that long?” she asks, causing Wind to start giggling.

“Eh, I can’t say much due to confidentiality, but there’s only so many users for something like that, ya know,” he explains, managing to keep a straight face. “Eating ice cream, getting the last bit of your drink at the bottom of the cup. I guess she thought it was useful enough to justify the cost.”

“I guess so,” she agrees, looking curiously at a cackling Wind and everypony else’s glow.

“She could probably lick her own friggin ears with that thing,” he adds. “Her wife seemed pretty excited too.”

Wind is hysterical at this point, drawing questioning looks from Glacial while Drift looks about ready to burst into flames.

“You… uhh… did it?” Tailwind hesitantly asks as Thunder’s head snaps his direction.

Shrugging, Cure answers with a nod. “Sure, why not? She paid and all, so who cares? Seems silly to me but whatever. The hard part was finding room in the throat for all that extra tongue so she couldn’t possibly choke on it.”

“Just out of curiosity,” he starts, ignoring the heated glare from his wife, “how much did you charge for that?”

“Being the first one I charged her a premium rate for specialty work. Why? Do you want a longer tongue?”

Thunder and Snowstorm each bark out a laugh getting more confused looks from the platinum filly. Wind has rolled off the couch laughing uproariously and pounding a hoof on the floor and Drift has buried her head under her hooves.

“Naah,” he insists, waving a hoof dismissively and valiantly trying to play casual.

“Oh… okay. Well if you do just say so. I don’t get the appeal but I’ll give you one for free since yer a friend’s sire and all.”

“I think you should, honey,” Thunder suggests, snorting so hard she has to wipe her face. Snowstorm is literally vibrating beside Cure trying not to laugh out loud. Her wings are slowly rising and lowering, still folded, brushing up and down Cure’s side. It feels nice.

“My tongue is fine the way it is,” Tailwind insists defensively.

“Oh my stars, Cure,” Drift cries from under her forelegs, “I can’t believe you just offered to give daddy a four hoof tongue!”

“Why?” he innocently asks. “What’s wrong? Your dam seems to think it’s a good idea for some reason,” he points out, tilting his head curiously at the light mare. Looking back to his purple friend he asks, “What do you think, Drift?” He opens his mouth a little and sticks his tongue way, way out, then curls it up to look at it cross-eyed, causing the entire room to freeze on the spot.

Both Drift’s and Glacial’s jaws almost hit the couches as they stare wide-eyed at it. Cure wiggles the thing around some and has it do a few twisting loops just for show. Glacial’s dam is leaning slightly away in shock and Wind is rolling on the floor in tears. Tailwind is turned away, covering his eyes with a wing while Thunder just stares in awe at the flexibility.

Waving the long appendage back and forth he asks, “Do thoo thithk ith a keepah? Thith thin’k ith wewwy stronk thoo!” he adds. After he stares at it for a moment in thought he retracts it back into his mouth, then wrinkles his snout in thought. “Nah… I guess maybe if I had wings to preen or something,” he muses with a shrug, “but I don’t really see the appeal otherwise.”

Continuing with a straight face he adds, “I bet someday that mare’ll show up askin to change it back because she got it stuck in something or whatever.” Wind is in the fetal position on the floor, barely able to get enough air between laughs. “Other than that odd one most of what I do is colors, designs, fat loss or redistribution, and the aging thing. That’s gotten really popular now that word’s gotten out.”

“How,” Snowstorm starts before her voice cracks. Coughing to clear her throat she manages to ask, “How effective is it?”

“Very. As youthful and beautiful as you are, if your dam came and saw me, ponies would probably think you’re sisters, not dam and daughter. Of course,” he adds, looking between her and Glacial, “from the pattern I’m seeing I bet your dam is drop-dead gorgeous too. I’d be happy to give her a significant discount as well. The world could always use more beauty in it,” he adds with a smile.

“Look at you, you little charmer,” she says, giving him a beautiful smile. “I’ll talk to her about it next time I see her. I’m sure both of my parents will be interested.” Cure can’t hide his smile when Glacial leans more heavily into his side. Her right wing brushing against his barrel feels nice and he’d probably fall asleep on the spot if she put it over his back, but he suspects that may have some deeper meaning in pegasus culture.

“Great! The offer’s open to your parents as well,” he tells Thunder and Tailwind. “I consider it a friends and family deal. I’m just surprised more stallions don’t take advantage of my services. Then again, I am pretty booked up with mares, so I don’t really have a lot of open slots ever.”

“Yeah,” Tailwind agrees, “I wish I’d been around for the weight lifting thing. Static’s thrilled that he’s gone up over fifteen kilos on the wing row machine, not to mention all the leg, trunk, and neck muscle he’s put on. It won’t be long before my Dancer’s beatin me up,” he laments, reaching a wing over Drift to run down his wife’s back.

“Only when you deserve it, honey.”

“Eh… fair.”

“So, Mrs. Burst,” Cure asks, “what do you do for a living?”

“Oh my husband is the breadwinner in our family. I just take care of the girls. We’re hoping to grow our family next year.”

Cure can see when the same thought he has pops into Tailwind and Thunder’s minds. He needs to check on Glacial’s sire before the season starts just to make sure he’s not afflicted with the same issue. The pair are both looking at him waiting to see if he’ll say anything, so he simply mouths “later” to them and slowly shakes his head no.

“That’s great, Mrs. Burst! Who knows, maybe I’ll be there to help you when it comes time for delivery. I’ve already volunteered to help with the January births this year. I’m hoping they let me help my mom out when she goes into labor, but I know a lot of dams are coming in at once, so who knows.”

The suggestion seems to make the mare a little uncomfortable, so Cure clarifies. “I can make it so you don’t feel pain or anything and, I suspect, lend a hoof when a dam is in labor for real long. I don’t know, though, since this’ll be the first birthing season since getting my mark.”

“Oh… Aren’t you a little young to be working the births, though?”

“I think that just comes with the territory when you have a healing cutie mark, ma’am. I’m almost certainly going to be the youngest worker there, but I think I’ll be able to help out a lot if anything goes wrong.”

“I’m sure he can,” Thunder interjects. “You should see how helpful he is at the gym, Snowy. I just wish he’d been there when Wind was born. I was in labor forever with her!”

“That does sound awful,” Snowstorm hesitantly agrees. Extending a wing over Cure, she runs a primary down her daughter’s back. “Little Breeze took a while too. Oh sweetie, you were such a big, fat foal with chubby cheeks!”

Glacial blushes and turns away. “Daaam!” she whines.

“I can’t think of any reason I wouldn’t be able to help with that,” Cure explains. “I’m sure the clinic will have me with an experienced doctor or somepony that’s already delivered plenty of foals, but as long as I don’t run out of magic there’s not a whole lot I can’t help with. If I had more experience my mom would probably just have the foal at home.”

“Huh… I guess that’s fair, given your special talent. It comes with a lot of responsibility, doesn’t it?”

“Yep. It’s worth it if you ask me, though.” Pausing to look out a window, he turns back and says “Well, my taxi is probably waiting for me, I think it’s about time for me to head out.” As he climbs off the couch he adds, “I’m happy I got to share a little Hearth’s Warming with everypony. You all have a wonderful holiday! Mrs. Burst, it was nice to meet you… and your daughter, sort of. Please just stop by the house sometime if you change your mind about your eyes or decide on the coat thing.”

Everypony but the sleeping filly on the cloud joins Cure as he heads back outside. Thunder and the girls all give him a hug and thanks, Glacial and Drift each giving him another peck on the cheek and Wind wraps him in a warm wing hug as well.

When Tailwind approaches to give him a hoof bump he takes a half step forward and quickly whispers, “Get her and her husband to come get a check up,” before climbing into the cab and waving goodbye to everypony and getting thanks and wishes for a happy holiday.

Once he’s situated the driver takes off, climbing quickly and banking hard to get up and away from all the other houses and flyers. The two fly for a moment or two before the driver looks back and asks, “So, how’d it go, colt? Looks like ya got a couple smooches from the lil ladies there, eh?”

“It went pretty well, mister. Thanks for helpin out today.”

“Eh, sure thing, kid. Ya ever need me again just have ya sire send word, alright?”

“Sure thing.”

The cabbie drops Cure off at home and, after Cure passes the guy a tip, gives a jaunty wave and takes off. He was a little miffed at the dude getting a laugh out of his squeamishness, but Cure’s not sure how many cab companies there are in Baltimare and he’s unwilling to piss of one he may need again. Cure turns and finds all three parents poking their heads out the door, relieved to see him make it back in one piece and not at terminal velocity.

“Heya. Did I miss anything?” he asks, approaching the door. As soon as he steps inside he’s scooped up by his sire and gets squished in a standing pony pile. “Geez, I was just delivering presents,” he barely gets out between nuzzles and kisses from the three.

“We were worried, sweetie,” his dam insists, giving him one last kiss between his ears before backing away.

“Yeah, Cure,” Title adds, getting another nuzzle in before turning towards the kitchen. “We figured you’d be safe, but… ya know.”

“Eh, the mares were worried. I knew you’d be fine. Nothin much happened while you were gone, yer dam’s got dinner ready and waitin for ya though.” Deed sets his son down and musses up his mane before asking, “Ya look a lil worn, son. Somethin happen?”

“Yeah. I’mma go wash up, I’ll tell ya while we eat.”

“Alright champ,” he says, giving the colt a quick nuzzle and joining his wives at the table.

Cure hits the restroom and cleans up, then hops up on his chair with everypony else and the family starts digging in.

“So…” Title starts, “Tell us how it went.”

“It went really well. I finally met Glacial’s dam. Her sire wasn’t there, but she has a little sister I didn’t even know about. Come to think of it, it’s possible she has an older sibling too… I’ve never really sat down and talked about her family, though I do know her sire works on the weather team.”

“She a looker, champ?”

“Yep. She seemed a smidge taller than Thunder and her white coat was absolutely stunning. She basically sparkles. Snowstorm Burst is her name. Her younger daughter musta missed out on crystal pony gene, though, because she just had a normal coat. I told Snowstorm that if she and her husband agree I can give the filly a shine like she and Glacial have.”

“How did it go with Drift’s sire, honey? Did he give you any trouble?”

“Nah, dam. He was really cool, actually. He apologized right away when I got there and from there on acted just like normal. Who knows, maybe I just caught him at the end of a long day last time. I’m sure seeing me standing on his daughter didn’t help, even though he acted like a total plothole instead of using his brain.”

“Good,” his sire says with a firm nod. “With the way the guard reacted I figured he’d play nice, but ya can never be too safe. I knew you could take care ‘a yerself either way, son.”

“Right. I need to get these scrolls outta me when we’re done. It feels weird hiding them under my skin like that. Good idea, though, mom. The crystal worked perfectly and I could recharge it slowly after using it.”

“Oh? You weren’t able to walk on clouds without it?” she asks.

“I was, but once I got way up there I kinda got a little worried and figured I’d play it safe, so I used it anyhow. No reason not to,” he adds with a shrug.

“Good thinkin,” his sire agrees, “So why do ya look like ya just ran to Baltimare and back?”

Pausing between bites, Cure explains, “So, a few weeks back I encountered a stallion, right? Now keep in mind, I overwhelmingly deal with mares, so I’ve only scanned seventeen adult stallions ever. There’s you, obviously, Haze and Solar, Arcane Blast, the mugger in Baltimare, the one unicorn whose horn I fixed, Bulwark and a few of his troops, two drunks at the clinic this morning, then a few cosmetic patients and Grandpa.”

“Anyhow, this stallion had, and I’m sorry to bring this up at dinner dam, but he had a condition which meant he could only have fillies.”

“Something was wrong with his… uhh… equipment?” Title asks.

“Yes. Well, I expect this to remain confidential, obviously, but I encountered that a second time today.”

“Oh… that’s not good.”

“No it is not. I’m concerned that, in addition to our natural proclivity to have more females than males, there may also be something going on causing this. Both stallions have been pegasi, so I don’t know if that matters or it’s just coincidence, but if you look at the stallions I’ve scanned I only actually know five that have foals. You, Haze, Brick, a guard, and now Tailwind Flare. Three have sons and the other two had this condition.”

“Were you able to tell what’s causing it?” Vines asks.

“No… it was just there showing up as an issue when I scanned them. Just like dad’s shoulder was when I first got my mark. There was no obvious cause, so it could be anything.”

“Cure, honey, this isn’t a big deal,” Title insists. “We’ve gotten by for centuries like this, so don’t go stressing yourself out over something that you can worry about later.”

“Yeah,” he reluctantly agrees, “I guess so. That’s the same thought I had. I did offer to lend a hoof, though…”

Cure scoops up a big bite just as his sire speaks up. “Bold, son. Thunder seems like a nice enough lady, but I can’t imagine she was that smitten with ya,” he teases, smirking at his son’s choked cough and gets a whack and a “DEED!” from Vines.

He shoots his dad a glare while wiping the spittle off his face. “Har har, dad. I flipped the switch the other direction after talking to the two of ‘em. Tailwind’s producing only males now.”

Turning her scowl away from her husband, Vines says, “That was very kind of you honey, but I’m not sure you should have trusted them with knowing you could do that.”

“Yeah, Cure… that may not have been a good idea, given yer history and all.”

“It should be fine. Before I told them anything I asked for an oath to keep quiet about it. They both swore they wouldn’t share the conversation with anypony. Given what I’m doing to help them and how I’ve treated their daughters I’m pretty confident they won’t betray that. Plus I offered to do the same thing for Thunder that I did for you, dam.”

“Helping her have twins?”

“Yep. I told her to schedule a check up once her season starts. Glacial’s dam, Snowstorm Burst, said they’re going to try to have another foal come spring, so I asked Tailwind to encourage her and her husband to come get a checkup too. I don’t want to have to run around the country playing nut doctor,” he says, ignoring his mom and sire’s snort laugh, “but I can help friends at least.”

“Well… they’ll definitely stay quiet until spring, at least,” his mom agrees.

“Yep. I mean… I would probably do it even if they blabbed, but I would be pretty angry. And it would be the last time I ever helped ‘em. I think I mentioned before that loyalty is kind of a big thing for me, but I’m not willing to go back on my word on something like that.”

Author's Note

Okay, so that's two BIG chapters in a row. The next four are written and, I think, total about another 50k between them, getting us through most of January 909AB.

I may slow down my posting slightly if I start catching up too much. I had a five or six chapter buffer before I had to take a break in November and I added to that a little with a couple short chapters, but then I still posted the long chapters without any real delay, so those shorter ones ended up being basically bonuses.

That's fine and all, but I've noticed that when I start getting to where I only have a small buffer I seem to write less for some reason. I dunno, maybe it's just the time of year too; holidays are always stressful as fuck, after all. Well, we're almost through them!

There's a lot of things I want to do and, loathe as I am to do it, I absolutely have to stop moving so slow. We'll be skipping months at a time occasionally through 909 and 910 unless I come across a spot where something needs to happen, so for anyone that is hoping for another ~400k word year, no way! I would wager 100, maybe 150 tops, so mentally prepare yourself for that now. It's something I struggle with, in case the word count thus far (400 in 3.5 months of story time? wtf?) hasn't made it painfully obvious.

That aside, and I can not possibly say this enough, thank you, everyone for all the well wishes, comments, likes, and everything else. I appreciate them more than I can express. The next chapter will be coming out either Monday or Tuesday, so this right here is it for 2022. Everyone have a safe & wonderful New Years. Be careful out there, my friends, and I'll see y'all next year!