To Save our Legacy

“Hmmmm… How aboooout… here?”

Scratching my chin, I mulled over the perfect place to place the next packing peanut along the rim of the muzzle. I was hard at work at a commission from a graceful patron who’d become awestruck by my breathtaking, one-in-a-kind, one-hundred-percent unicycled Sculpture to Friendship I’d whipped out recently to honor the blooming relationships between the three tribes! And, who also offered to pay for the fine I got from displaying it on the Main Square without a permit.

The System limits my boundless creativity!! I have found my black hoof!!!

Whatever had been the case, I got a commission from her. She wanted a one-to-one scale sculpture of her beautiful wife made entirely out of packing peanuts… for some reason.

Heh, it was fun to work with. It helped pass the time and a couple more bits on my crafty sash never hurts a mare of many needs and talents such as moi.

I trotted around my absolute work of art, running my eyes in an analytical search for imperfections, searching for the single peanut out of place that could trump this beautiful product of my mind.

“Hmm, perhaps I should run a request to MOPA to get this exhibited. Ohohoho, that’d be a first for me!”

Taking one last glance at the reference photo my commissioner had lent me, I let my mind wander, conjuring the sight of some of my art exhibited at Maretime Bay’s very own Museum of Pony Art. Beats Alphabittle’s Crystal Tea Room, where most of my creations ended up being shown during my younger years in Bridlewood.

“Sorry, Alphy. It was sweet of you to buy my art for your place, even if it was out of pity, but this is the major leagues we’re talking about!” I pumped a hoof triumphantly.

Whatever it took to keep me busy, I would welcome it. Things had gone pretty quiet around our home base these last few days. The other ponies and I were engrossed with our daily stuff like any pony worth their salt, but the absence of our most distinguished teammate got us all a bit on edge.

And by a bit, I mean totally on edge.

The last message we got from Alex was yesterday, informing us he’d soon pass beyond the range of service available and would go silent ‘till his return. Although he warned us to keep an eye out to the west and look for the light shown from the ridiculously-proportioned flank-kicking he’d deliver to those meanie butts if they were not in a talkative mood.

It wasn’t funny, and the messages from our friends told him so. Sick with worry and angry at his rashness and stubbornness. We were all mad at him, but in truth, we harbored nothing but concern and wished nothing more than to be with him and have his back. One pony in particular more than any other…

“Mmmph, I better check on her. Again.”

While all of us were a jumble of nerves on edge, poor Sunny was simply in shambles. Something was seriously eating away at her, not only the fact his sweetheart was half a world away fighting some of Equestria's most dangerous villains while she sat on her rump and continued bringing cheer and unity to our fellow ponies, which was far from being nothing, all needs being said.

That mare was a mess. She’d barely left the room they now shared, much less the brighthouse. Her pal Freshy had to cover her on the stand, or else her cut from all the produce from our shared community garden would go to waste. All the pep and sparkle had gone through the door with the human, leaving her taciturn and simply too out of it to do anything productive beyond sulking and munching on some fruit every once in a while.

We were giving her space, although her slate piled up in our growing list of concerns. She had reassured us, weakly, that she'd be fine. She just needed to think and come to terms with it all. Sunny had confessed to me during one of the few moments I’d managed to get her to open up a bit that she hadn't felt so worried for a loved one since the day her father disappeared. She was on edge while Alex went exploring Ponyville’s old ruins in search of something useful, and in search of some closure too, perhaps. But we all knew where he was going then, and a pegasus carriage could take us there before the end of the day should anything bad happen.

Now…

‘Now he’s too far from us. All alone out there…’

Had it not been for my peppy disposition and general high spirits, I have no doubt I would’ve crushed like Sunny, if not worse. But I needed to be strong and trust in our human. For Sunny, for our friends. And for me.

Mulling over my thoughts, I detached myself from my latest creation and sought the sunny-side mare, taking a break from the hard work while feeling like having a talk with her. Perhaps take a chance to empty my head a bit, too. If there was a pony in Faust’s green Equestria who I would trust to share my deepest and most sacred thoughts with, it was her.

It didn't take me long to find my target. She’d been holed up in the same place for the last few days: her dad’s old room, now refurbished as their little love nest. Too close to our shared room to mask all the noises and bumps from their ‘fun’, despite Alex casting his bubble of silence.

I may or may not have put an ear to the wall, and I may or may not have… uh, how to say it… ‘wet’ my hooves listening in.

Don’t judge me. I was head over hooves for that human and counted the seconds until Sunny and I could tell him of our decision to share him, should his heart be big enough for two little mares to call him theirs.

If not, well, I could always unicycle a one-to-one full-body toy of him out of some easily washable, malleable material, if you follow. I had his measurements, after all.

All but one. Sunny was too good a girl to share that little quip with the Double X Council. Yeah, we’d adopted the name, even if we were still unsure of what it meant.

Halting my stride in front of the closed door, I pressed an ear to see if she was taking a nap or simply beating herself up in worry.

Sunny has the most adorable snoring, which I wasn't hearing over the door. I reasoned she was awake then, and if she wasn't, the moon already was peeking over beyond the blue horizon. Too late for a nap. Gets you staring at the roof all night without catching some proper shut-eye.

I grabbed the knocker and slowly pushed it open, hunching my pose, and slipping my head inside for a quick look. I’d forgotten I was still wearing my working glasses, which almost slipped from my muzzle and made a ruckus. Nearly indestructible or not, those things were expensive. And very fashionable, word of a unicorn.

I found my bestie resting on her side, facing away from the door. The blankets half covered her rear legs, stretched out lazily over their recently acquired king-sized bed since, apparently, Sunny had a tendency for space while deep asleep and had more than once kicked her cuddle-bear off the bed.

I allowed myself one quick look at her rump, which was facing me. Very quick, I swear!

The air was heavy and gloomy, far from fitting for those kinds of thoughts. The growing absence of sunlight was barely enough to draw her outline over the mess of sheets and pillows. Her side rose and fell slowly, her breaths almost imperceptible over the far-off rocking of the waves against the cliff our home stood over. She’d lost her tell-tale braid for the day, her now-loose mane slowly sneaking its way into the curly mess she would always wake up with.

Tip-hoofing the whole way inside, I waited for any reaction from the mare. Whether she hadn't noticed my coming, or she simply didn't have the strength to address me, I couldn't know. I took her continued silence as an invitation and trotted my way around the bed.

From my new vantage point, I got a better look at her. She was hunched over on her side, a mess of sheets and blankets doing nothing to cover her. She was silent as a tomb, muzzle hidden inside one of Alex’s shirts, one the few he hadn't taken with him. Even in its bundled-up state under the mare's droopy head, its simplistic design told me it was one of the ones I’d whipped up for him during his first clothing crisis. A more-than-fair accomplishment, if you ask me, considering clothing was far from my already rich repertoire of… things to come up with, I guess?

Sunny’s eyes were closed, her breathing deep and even, taking in long sips of Alex’s rich scent still clinging to the cloth, an aroma my sensitive snout began to pick up from the heavily charged atmosphere of a pony spending too much time in a room without airing it up. It shared the usual tangy, spice notes of a male’s natural odor, yet Alex’s was as unique as his human constitution. Different, but not in a bad way. Sunny was more than addicted to it, and I was the first to notice how he smelled kinda good during our first trip to Canterlot. One point for Izzy!

Her forelegs clung to the shirt, bringing it close to her, allowing her to lose herself in the fantasy that he was still with us. It may seem a bit melodramatic considering it’d been only a couple of days since he’d gone on his journey. Let me tell you, Sunny being all lovey-dovey over the human had nothing to do with it.

Okay, maybe a little, but we all were reeling from his absence. Having shared almost every day together for the past months made his absence a painful, very noticeable reminder of how he was sticking his neck out for us out there. It’s like waking up one day to see you’ve lost your mane! It doesn't take long for you to start missing it, and you simply can't get it out of your now-maneless head.

That hadn't been a funny prank at all.

My heart arched once again for my bestie, aching to see her aching. Even if I couldn't take her pain and worry away, I’d be a horned mud-frog if I was gonna let my beastie suffer through it alone!

With my mind set, I cast any lingering hesitation away and plopped myself onto the bed, the shaking of the fluffy couch bringing the disgruntled mare out of her dreamy stupor.

“Whah?...” She mumbled in a half-asleep slur. It seemed I‘d caught her on the brink of taking a way-too-late nap. “Oh. Hi, Izzy,” She greeted me while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, a muzzle-splitting yawn following right after.

“Hi there, sleepy head,” I greeted back in my best cheery self, hoping to rekindle a bit of sparkle in her. “Just taking a break from all that unicycling to check on my bestie, ‘s all. Being the most talented unicorn in all of Equestria can be veeeeery tiring,” I explained while melting over the mattress in an exaggerated manner.

I called it a victory when the tiniest of smiles adorned her muzzle with my silly humor.

“I’d take your word for it,” She joked back, running a fetlock over her crusty eyes one last time and blowing upward through her lips to nudge a rebellious strand of hair from her rainbow-patterned mane out of her eyes. Her sight remained on my plopped self for a little while before being dragged back to the dark red shirt tightly secured in her grasp. What little sparkle I’d summoned back was blown away in the blink of an eye, melancholy and longing dragging her down both physically and metaphorically back into her haunched state, her muzzle once again burying itself in the article of clothing.

I was losing my edge. I had to think fast!

Seeing as how my usual springy self was not gonna work with her this time, I felt the need to just be there for her and empty her mind from the heavy baggage she’d been collecting on her lonesome. I wiggled my body closer to hers and plopped my head over the free space of the shirt not claimed by the mare. Taking a not-so-little disguised whiff of the human’s scent, I couldn't help but tease.

“I told you he smelled nice.” I purred coyly.

Sucking in a deep breath of her own, Sunny hummed on the crumbled piece of wardrobe. “That you did, Izzy.” A few silent moments passed before she finally opened up a bit. “... I miss him so much.”

A hundred times she’d said that these last few days, and it hurt no less every time she repeated it, for we all shared the sentiment. “I know you do, Sunny girl,” I placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, eliciting the tiniest of peeks from under her left eyelid. “I miss him too.”

Sunny remained impassive to my comforting rubs. I wished I had the touch of Alex’s fingers. Those things were out of this world… literally. But I couldn’t wring the tiniest reaction from Sunny. She just continued mulling silently for a minute while I tried my best to ease her mind. Heavy bags weighed under her eyes, meaning any sleep she’d managed to muster hadn't been a fulfilling one. No sense staying up late to wait for another message from him since he’d warned us recently that he’d be crossing over the limit of service and would go silent for a while. Zipp and Pipp had put on a word with the twins, to see if they could bolster up the available range from the peaks, but there was nothing they could do in such a short amount of time. Even if we could send, Pipp’s old phone didn't have enough power to send anything back from such a distance.

As I strained my mind to come up with an appropriate cheer to lift Sunny’s spirits, she beat me to it by breaking the silence with a completely out-of-nowhere note.

“Do you think he still loves me?”

Open-muzzled and cotton-mouthed, her sudden inquiry rolled me over like a speeding train, leaving me sputtering half-chewed nonsense in a manner that’d make little Sparky proud.

Sunny must’ve found some semblance of an answer in my incoherent babbling and proceeded to rephrase her question.

“Do you think he loves me more than he loved Twilight?” Just as she fired the second load, she reached under her and extracted the pendant Alex had gifted her, resembling Twilight Sparkle’s own cutie mark. The pendant had never left her chest, save for only short occasions where Alex had taken it from her so she could practice her shield magic without the power boost the charm provided.

That mare wasn't thinking straight, not if she was sputtering such a load of horseapples having spent literally the most romantic month a stallion and a mare could share together, even if the stallion was two-legged and formed a far-away galaxy or something. I was beginning to get genuinely concerned.

“Um… okay. I’m starting to think you really, really need to get out of here and get some fresh air. Some water too, perhaps.”

I nudged the mare hard, urging her to get off her rear and leave her cave of sorrow, and clear her mind of muddled thoughts. But no force on Equus would pry Sunny from her bed and the clothing she was grasping as if her life depended on it.

“Stop!” She cried in anger after my incessant pushing managed to unstick her side from the sheets… literally. She’d been there that long.

The reason for her anger wasn’t my pestering, though, for a tint of shame quickly took over her words. “I’m sure he hates me now…” She mumbled from behind the protection of the garment, which she’d begun grasping tighter than ever against her muzzle, almost as if it would muffle her shame as it did her voice.

“Why?!” I demanded, my voice breaking a bit from exasperation. We’d been going back and forth like this since he’d left, with me reassuring her that everything was going to be fine and that Alex would return to us safe and sound, and her throwing blame and hooves at anything her aching mind would come up wasn’t helping.

Faust, she could be one stubborn mare. And I loved her for it, but come on!!

No, I was being insensitive. Had I been in her horseshoes, I would've lost it way sooner than her. I mean, we were all close to losing it, to just casting his warnings to Tartarus and tailing behind him as fast as our legs and wings could carry us. Heck, I’d even bring my unicycling cart (not a scooter) along if it’d bring us faster to him.

Sunny not only was our friend, but she was our pillar of strength, the spirit that pushed us along the ride, the inspiration that brought out the best in us. If the mare who, according to Alex, embodied Hope itself as her ‘element’ lost that very same hope for his safe return, then…

“I didn't tell him that I love him,” Sunny answered my demand, her brow furrowed as she mentally slapped herself. “He goes out there to risk his life for us, and all I do is give up and tell him to do whatever…”

That wasn't true. At least, not all of it, but her mind wasn't in the right state to give her a break.

“Sunny!” I cried, fumbling with my fetlocks as I searched for a counter, feeling myself walking on eggshells as I dealt with the mare’s delicate state of mind. “I-I mean… Look,” I grasped her shoulder more tightly this time, demanding her full attention. “It was a… complicated moment, alright? For ALL of us. You didn't tell him that you love him, just as he didn’t tell you the same, okay? All of us were speechless at the end. Want to hear my thoughts as to why I think he didn't tell you how much he loves you?”

Sunny didn't answer verbally, but her sad eyes pleaded for me to finish my train of thought.

“I think he didn't say it because the moment those three words came out that flat muzzle of his, what little resolve left he was still clinging onto would have shattered, and he’d have sent it all out the window and stayed with us. And you want to know more?!” I kept pushing, wiggling closer to the mare, getting her to reel back a bit from the suddenness of my approach.

“Um…”

“I think that applies to you as well!” My hoof came to jab her fluffy chest.

Now it was Sunny’s turn to be at a loss for words, blinking owlish like a foal being told Santa Hooves ain't an actual thing. No problem on my front, though. I was more than happy to get my point across that thick skull of hers.

I decided to lay it plain and simple. “Sunny… Are you angry at him for leaving us so out of the blue like that?”

“Wh… I-I mean… I, uh…”

“Of course you are!” An angry stomp tangled the sheets further around us. “I’M angry at him! I’m so pissed at him I could just…” I began choking the air in front of me, letting my acts speak for the train wreck that was my emotions. “A-And I just, ugh! And… aaagh! And that!! And…”

My karate-chopping the empty space before us sparked a little reaction from my target. Sunny scooted up a bit further, or else her snout would end up getting whooped, but offered nothing but a thin-lined muzzle as she waited for me to finish venting.

Faust, how refreshing it felt.

“Ahh… Ahh… Pheeeew! I’m a new mare now!” I announced to nobody, reinvigorated and considerably lighter on the ol’ thinker. Guessed Sunny wasn't the only one who needed some ‘aggressive therapy’.

I gotta patent that. Should give Doctor Izzy’s clinic for ‘Things of the Head’ a boost. Sure’d pay better than selling my art and trinkets.

“Um…” Sunny’s vocabulary seemed to have been reduced to little more than mumbles and hums. The perfect chance to finish delivering my message uninterrupted.

“Honey,” Now calmer, I lowered myself back into a… what did Alex call it… a ‘loaf’. Yes, whatever that was, I was comfortable like that. “You have every right to be mad at him. What he pulled wasn’t a nice thing to do, especially to his cupcake.” I brushed another strand of mane from her pearly eyes, firing a cheeky wink that worked a rosy tint into her tear-matted cheeks. “But you have such a pure heart of gold that you’re twisting it all around and branding yourself guilty!”

Sunny’s stubborn reluctance worked a feeble defense against my reasoning, clarity slowly crawling over her once again. With another big sneeze, she ran her fetlock over her snout and considered my point of view.

“... I don’t know,” She sent her attention sideways to the mess of crumpled sheets half-covering her lower frame. “I still feel like a bad pony.”

Biting my lower lip and shaking my head, I changed my approach a tint. “You understand why he left to confront Chrysalis,” I reached and nudged her head back to meet me once again. “Deep down, we all understand. We’d do the same for each other should our horseshoes be reversed. Right?”

“... I guess.” Sunny fumbled with the blankets.

“But that doesn’t mean we gotta like it.” I started loud and clear. It wasn’t that long ago that we had to go through a similar situation. “We didn't like it that he’d hurt himself keeping that… dark-abyss-of-magic-whatever-it-was open so you could rescue Posey and Windy.”

A grimace crooked Sunny muzzle, the memory still fresh even if it had been a while already since that fiasco.

“No. We didn’t.”

Kinda seemed a bit of an understatement to me, considering she and I had cried our eyeballs out in worry during the week he’d remained in a coma. Not liking it was like saying that Pipp doesn't overdo it with her streams.

“But what was he gonna do? Let you get trapped forever in that creepy abyss?”

Sunny didn't need to answer that rhetorical question. It was plainly obvious what had been the driving force between his dangerous choice, even if he’d reassured us over and over that it’d been a calculated risk.

“Well,” I continued with a shrug, running out of ways to make her see. “This is just more of the same. Only this time, the baddies are far away and he needs to deal with them by himself, for our sake.”

With a deep sigh, Sunny flopped over the mattress once again, almost coming out the same way I had found her. This time, however, a glimmer of that very same hope I had been striving for shined in her gorgeous eyes. Yes, they were gorgeous. Who am I going to lie to?

“Aaaand, I can one hundred and… uh, eighty-six percent assure you he loves you as much as the first day and is counting the minutes to get back to us!” I announced with utmost confidence, joining the earth pony in the nesting over the sheets, allowing myself some peace of mind with her and Alex’s combined scents traveling up my nostrils and sending ripples down my spine. “We gotta stay strong and trust him. That way, he won’t need to worry about us.”

I dragged a foreleg over the silky covers to grab Sunny’s left one, her half-smushed face against the wrinkled pillow speaking her appreciation for my care. We were a team of two when it came to that human. We’d made a promise of it, and would carry it to the end!

Now that the doom and gloom had dispersed a scooch (I love that word!), I saw the chance to entertain a worried and drained Sunny for a bit and lift up her spirits in the only way a mare can do for another.

Narrowing my eyelids and letting my muzzle stretch with a coy grin, I let the funny demon out.

“We also gotta stay strong for some much-deserved flank-whooping when he returns.”

Sunny's jerky recoil denoted her surprise, almost looking offended at such a proposition. “I'm not gonna hurt my coltfriend! That's the last thing he’d need.”

“Not that kind of flank-whooping…”

A naughty wink was fired, hitting dead on its mark, deep wounds painting my bestie's cheeks and ears the most adorable of rosy tints. Sputtering like a drunken pony, Sunny's mood did a complete one-eighty going from moody, to depressed, to lovestruck, and then to embarrassed. Behind all that tripping over her own words, I saw a glimmer of desire in her pretty eyes.

I could definitely work with that. Trust a mare of experience such as moi.

“I-I-I… u-um…”

“Soooo, what are you gonna do when he returns, hmmm?” I slurred on, slowly sliding my body over the mattress like a stalking snake, cornering the blushing mare against the rim of the bed. I loved teasing her and seeing her getting so riled up over her mate. So adorable. “You're gonna be a bad mare and punish him for keeping you unattended for such a long while?”

I inched my way closer, rejoicing in the fillyish squeaks coming from her quivering muzzle as her mind betrayed her and began conjuring heated scene after heated scene.

It was up to me to fan the flames. “You gonna get him to eat you up? Perhaps riding him on top ‘till his hips shatter? Oh!! You gonna ask him to do the hoof thing?!”

“WE DON’T DO THE HOOF THING!!”

Sunny’s sudden outburst and the way her hooves sailed to cover her big mouth sent me over the brink, summoning a belly laugh from the deepest pits and sending me on my back as the poor mare’s blush reached new heights.

“Wait!!” It took her a bit, but the inevitable double take arrived. “How do you know about the hoof thing?!!” Sunny embarrassingly demanded as I gasped for much-needed air.

“A mare doesn’t reveal her sourceeees~.” I quipped between cackles. I had overheard them talking about it one night in truth, but it was funnier to keep her guessing.

“Izzy!!” Sunny now went for the attack, looking to defend what little mare’s honor she still harbored by means of retaliating with nipping and half-hearted hoof strikes. I put on a brave defense where my incessant laughing let me. We toiled and bumped around like two fillies, her whines, and words of protest, soon giving way to innocent laughter as I attacked her ticklish sides, her beaming smile returning once again after long days of hiding under the pressure and fear for her soulmate’s wellbeing.

Sunny rose victorious in our short scuffle, claiming her point and dominance by half-draping herself over me, her head coming to rest right over my chest fluff. Her cocky leer met my playful one, her worries gone for the time being as we fooled around. However, her beautiful pearls soon warmed me with a thankful tint as she nuzzled her snout over my fur.

“Thank you,” She whispered in appreciation, giving me a taste of my own medicine as I felt my face quickly heat up. “I really needed that.”

This rambling unicorn might’ve been head-over-hooves for that human, but the mare currently sharing a cuddle with me could get my blood pumping just as easily.

Sadly, our tender moment was rendered short the moment a furious tapping on the bedroom’s window brought us out of the tranquil atmosphere which I’d hoped would heal my bestie’s state of mind, at least for a while. Enough to get her mood up and bring up some spring in her stride again. We’d even received a couple of angry ponies demanding Sunny’s return to her smoothie stand. Freshy had been covering for her, but apparently, Sunny’s talents were irreplaceable.

Sharing a befuddled look, Sunny was first to react, extracting herself from my fur to my utmost reluctance, and hopping down the left side of the bed, trotting over the small window, the closed drapes covering it contributing to the gloomy ambiance by keeping the worst of the sun away.

Now, the darkening, star-filled night sky welcomed us from the unobstructed space at the end of the cliff where the brighthouse stood, as well as a very familiar alabaster pegasus going for another round of knocking the moment Sunny pulled the drapes away.

Furrowing our brows in unison, Sunny pressed her forehooves against the glass and gently slid the window open, with me following her hoofsteps and cocking my head aside at the sight of our now visible distressed winged friend.

“Zipp?” Sunny began with as much puzzlement as I was harboring. “Is everything alright?”

“Girls!” The pegasus flapped her wings harder to remain level to the window, urgency clear in her voice. “You need to come outside. Now!!”

“Wha-?” I followed Sunny’s lead but was interrupted by Zipp pumping her feathers and hovering away from the window to point at an unseen place in the night sky.

“The moon!” She wailed while frantically waving her foreleg. “It’s moving weirdly in the sky!”

Of all things that could’ve brought her to frantically bump on our window. I was beyond puzzled.

‘Uh? What does she mean by ‘moving weirdly in the sky?’

“Alex…” Sunny’s mind raced faster, beating me to it. Understanding followed closely behind her brief claim. Our human pal indeed could mess with the celestial bodies as he had demonstrated for us not that long ago.

Before I had the chance to muster any form of reply, Sunny’s alicorn assets had manifested, the powerful, vibrating magic of an alicorn pushing me back on unsteady hooves. She was out of the window in the blink of an eye, almost running… flying? Flying over Zipp, whose trained reflexes were the only thing that saved her from a nasty bump with the accelerating mare who’d already corrected her course and headed in the opposite side of the brighthouse where the endless horizon kissed the sea in search of the moon and the message it seemed to be carrying for us.

“Izzy!” Zipp demanded as I shook the dizziness away. “Hurry!”

Well excuuuuuuse me, princess, but it wasn't my fault I was lacking the necessary limbs to propel myself out of the window like a cheating stallion caught with his hooves in the flank jar!

The long way out of the dorm and down the ramp to headbutt the main doors open seemed way too long all of a sudden. In a knee-jerk reaction, I opted for the shortcut my flying friend was so graciously providing.

With a decisive snort, I followed the shimmering alicorn’s example and threw myself off the window, draping my limbs around the hovering pegasus and using her as a ready-made parachute

“Izzy!!” Caught by surprise, Zipp struggled with my added weight and brought us down for an unsteady, yet harmless landing. Tumbling a bit over the grass, we both landed safely. It wasn't that much of an impressive fall, but the last thing I needed was a twisted fetlock or a crooked horn.

Can a unicorn even get a crooked horn?

“Sorry.” I offered with an apologetic smile at the fuming pegasus, but time was of the essence. Shaking ourselves free of grass and debris, we galloped together around the perimeter of the brighthouse. Sunny’s hovering form welcomed us alongside Pipp’s, phone in hoof and recording the heavens.

“Have you made any sense of it?!” Sunny nervously pried the smaller of the sisters.

“I noticed it just a moment ago while I was taking some shots for my upcoming video clip!” Pipp replied, not diverting her attention from the screen for a second. “I thought the camera was playing a trick on me, but there’s no way that’s how the moon’s supposed to move!”

Pipp’s short retelling dragged my sights skywards to the aforementioned satellite. It was only when the bobbing of my head ceased once I’d caught up with the girls that I noticed the strange behavior of our old, round friend. It was subtle, almost imperceptible at first. But it became easier if you used nearby stars as reference points. The moon wasn't following her normal routine of a lazy arch over our sleeping heads to hide behind the mountains as the morning approached. It kinda jerked in place, following a slow, unsteady line on the firmament.

‘Is it moving straight?... No, no, that’s almost a semicircular path… Wait! Now it’s veering steeper and coming up again!’

“Ugh!” Pipp loudly lamented, drawing our attention from the celestial dome to her recording phone. “The color balance is way off. I can't get a clear picture!”

Zipp’s mind raced a mile a minute. Her detective side made quick work of our problem.“Sunny!” She launched herself into the air to meet with the still-hovering alicorn. “Your telescope! We can draw a path with a long-exposure picture!”

Sunny’s eyes widened in understanding. “Right!” She was off like an exhalation, climbing up to the brighthouse’s balcony to grab her trusty telescope which had found a permanent perch up there for the occasional nights we would share a nice, pre-bed moment stargazing together.

Zipp wasn't one to lose a second either. Reaching for her wing-holster, she extracted her phone and dialed the missing piece of our five-pony-and-one-human puzzle. Keeping her wings pumping and impatiently tapping her rear hooves together, she waited for her hubby to pick up the phone. Hitch was having a rough day at the office and still wasn't sure if he would be able to join us for dinner with little Sparky.

Convenient for him or not, some very big change of plans was heading towards him, carried by the speedy words of an even speedier pegasus.

“Hitch! Baby!” Zipp almost yelled at the speaker once the earth pony answered through the other side of the line. “Yes, yes! I’m doing fine, we’re all doing fine! I need you t- No, nonono, I know you’re up to your mane up in paperwork, it's not about that! Baby, I need you to head outside and look up at the sky!... Yes, yes. Look at the moon. It’s moving weirdly! We think Alex is shoving it around on purpose for some reason!”

I wouldn't have said ‘shoving it around’. More like wobbling it all over the starry canvas like a drunken duck finding its way through Bridlewood Spog. That one was fun to watch, and boy did it have some lustrous feathers when it came out afterward!

“Ugh, now it's going up again!” Pipp commented in frustration, having changed hooves holding her phone since the right one had surely fallen asleep. I confirmed her observation. The moon, continuing its unsteady path, seemingly had found whatever she’d lost down there and was now on an ascending path with a tilt to the side. Almost as if it was drawing an opposite semicircle of sorts.

‘... Is he drawing a butt in the sky? Heh, that’ll be fun to explain.’

Just as Sunny returned with her telescope’s case tightly clutched in her forelegs, Zipp continued to explain the situation to her stallion as best as a phone call allowed.

“Nonono, use the stars as a reference, it's now going over The Dragon constellation. Look at the tip of the tail… You see! It just ran past it! It’s not supposed to do that!”

“Mmng! He made it look so easy.” Sunny grunted as she fumbled with her newest acquisition, a matter of nerves throwing her hooves anywhere else but where they needed to be headed. So agitated was she that she’d forgotten she was sporting a shining horn with some very shining magic attached to it.

Not feeling like being rebranded as ‘Izzy, the Statue’, I dragged myself from my stupor and headed to lend a hoof… or a horn, to my bestie.

“You’re gonna lose it, Sunny!” Pipp ushered us to hurry and get the thing assembled and recording.

“Not helping, Pipp!!” Pressing my ears against my scalp, I reeled back from Sunny’s outburst, the poor mare on the brink of a panic attack. We’d finished with the telescope. While I pointed the lens at the night sky at the correct angle, Sunny fumbled with Alex's laptop to get the program running. “It could be a distress signal for all we know!”

“Sunny,” Having finished with my part, I returned to the hyperventilating mare who was trembling so hard she couldn't even get the correct keys for the password. “Sunny, please. You have to breathe.”

“I-I can’t, Izzy! I-I…” She was on the brink of tears, what progress we’d made during our little romp at her bedroom had all been but forgotten by now.

“It’s going to be fine, sweetie.” I softly reassured her, gently grabbing the laptop from her hooves and leaving it aside for a moment as I surrounded her in a full-body hug. Sunny reciprocated with visible need, pressing her running snout against my mane as I softly brushed her braided mane. “I’m sure he’s just saying ‘hi’.”

‘In the most unconventional way. The lengths a pony will go without signal…’

It’d taken him a while, but as I rocked the poor mare while using my telekinesis to finish loading the program and begin recording, my creative brain finally clicked and made the connection. It was bad and uneven, criminally so, but I finally pictured what he was trying to draw in the night sky.

“Actually,” I added while nudging Sunny back to meet her dripping eyes. “I think he’s dealing with some unfinished business.”

Lost in my playful hinting, Sunny dipped her head aside while sniffing hard and cleaning her running snout with a forehoof.

“H-Huh?”

“Ahhh… Ahhh… Su… Aaahhhh… Puta… Madre… Aaaghh.”

Equestria hadn't seen a human panting and wheezing in such a manner since I attempted the Running of the Leaves in the first year since my flashy arrival within its borders. At that time, it was easier to jump me than to go around me, if you catch my drift. Kinda a sad spectacle. But, an Equestrian diet and total absence of any motorized form of transport, aside from the train, and, you know, not breathing shit and eating crap every single day of your life had improved my physique considerably to the point I could barely recognize myself in front of a mirror.

Moving Celestial bodies in the sky cared little about your physical well-being, however. Nothing short of a seasoned alicorn could pull it off without barely skipping a breath. A lousy human lost in the middle of a bat pony-infested forest didn't put on that much of an impressive show. Seeing as the phone I carried was of little use without signal, although I made sure to keep it charged with some practiced magic and the charger which I’d forgotten to bring with me the last time we ventured into the wild, I had to resort to… less orthodox methods.

I’d apologized for any scare and ruckus I might’ve brought to the ponies after I’d returned. But I just needed to let them know I was doing fine and to say in a less than satisfying way what I hadn't had the guts to say before my departure.

However, since the canopy of trees remained unbreached even at the thestrals’ home of Hollow Shades, I couldn't be one hundred percent confident of the quality of the heart I’d tried to draw with the moon.

‘I hope they got the message, at least… aaagh… and you’d think having had TWO needy marefriends would’ve gotten you to build up some endurance…’

I dropped Binary against the wall and slid down the opposite side of the infirmary's window to a half-hunched pose, using my knees as leverage as I regained my breath.

After our little ‘misunderstanding’ had passed, and I was confident I’d dragged back the Nightmare into the proverbial closet I’d believed it would never escape from again, things with the ragged platoon of thestrals were smoothed over quickly, neither side wanting to rekindle our scuffle and risk more than hoofs and fists, so to say. I’d surrendered myself and asked to be escorted to their ancestral dwelling, submitting myself to their judgment for I was indeed a trespasser, but not before I’d the chance to meet with their Matriarch. If anythestral would know who I was, it would be her since, in their culture, Matriarchs were leaders as well as keepers in a sense, with them having actual Keepers as their ‘underlings’ of sorts. The highest educated of the female half of their population, either from sheer age, education, or hooves-on experience, albeit normally a mix of the three. You know, your typical ‘elder leader of the tribe’ kinda vibe. I cared little for whoever led this enclave of thestrals as long as they showed a bit more common sense than the soldiers they’d sent to protect their borders.

But that would have to wait until tomorrow. Unbeknownst to me, I’d actually managed to get VERY close to Hollow Shades, which might partially explain why they were so jumpy in the first place. Even if it had been my self-inflicted bleeding wound that had lured them to my position, it wouldn’t have been long ´till they found me anyway, and the outcome wouldn't have been that different.

The good news, however, was that it took us a little time to reach their forest town. My scrambled circadian clock hinted how, at sometime past midday, the first signs of their civilization welcomed me and the rugged platoon of aching bat ponies. I caught more than one poisonous leer and curse under their breaths as the poor bat-ponies limped and carried their still unconscious comrades towards the safety of their secluded home. I couldn’t blame them. In my frenzied state, I’d gone too far with them. We both agreed that we were at fault, their captain losing her aggressive, unreasonable front while I dropped the moronic attitude that had landed me here in the first place. When I mentioned to her the effects the forest was having on me, and all the utter shit I’d been through ‘till I’d reached them, her stance mellowed to a more compassionate one, albeit one that didn't still mean she wasn't gonna give me Tartarus for having trashed her and her mates all over the place. I smelled a case of hurt pride. I didn't give two shits about it.

During our brief walk, I’d learned her name was Crimson Rose, kinda unoriginal considering which race of ponies I was dealing with, but it was in my best interests to not piss her off further. The squad that had intercepted me happened to be the only form of military or security presence the thestral enclave harbored, their purpose centered around keeping potential targets away since things within their forest town remained mostly peaceful and rutinary.

The tour around the place had been short and strangely familiar, full of wide-eyed ponies lining the streets in what surely had been the weirdest, most exciting thing to happen to them in the last century or so. Curiosity, fear, and even disgust were the predominant emotions. Moma bats hid their heart-wrenchingly-adorable bat-pony foals under the protective care of their forelegs.

The fact that there were a bunch of trashed soldiers tailing me quickly let the already untrusting population know that my presence wasn't what you’d call a friendly one. Summing up with the fact I’d put their only means of immediate protection against the big and nasties of the forest dwellers to shame, the first impression was everything but working in my favor.

It still didn't give a breezie's ass about it.

What I did care about, though, were the noticeable changes I could glimpse from the old thestral home. I’d only visited twice, a long, loooong time ago, but there were indeed some significant absences since the last time, starting with the utter and complete lack of any natural light. Yeah, that was true for the entirety of the forest that shielded us, but not in Hollow Shades. Looking up, the only thing you could now discern was complete darkness with hints of green where the lower branches hung from the impenetrable canopy. Back in the day, open skies welcomed visitors who found their way into their village, since the thick canopy was constantly trimmed back to allow natural light and much-needed fresh air to rain over them. At least during the night. The threstral’s eyes were sensitive to direct sunlight. The solution? A masterfully crafted veil of silk and silver now covered the open space during the day, with tiny dots to let in the smallest amount of sunlight possible to pass in a way so that it resembled a starry sky while protecting their sensitive corneas.

During the night, the suitably named Moon Veil would be removed so the bat ponies could rejoice in the magnificent that was Luna’s moon, which they adored and revered as much as the Night Mistress herself.

Now, it was a permanent gloom twenty-six-seven, the darkness only breached by the gentle illumination of their tree-carved homes and the glowing lichens and mushrooms growing all over the place in their blueish and whitish hues. You could at least know where you were heading without tripping over every single root or stone on the way, so I wasn't going to complain. From a fresh human being’s point of view, it would be a breathtaking view. Surely, images from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ or your favorite fantasy elven landscape would be the first ones to come to mind.

The settlement had grown considerably since my last visit, at least double in size by my estimate. Old tree stumps could be discerned where trees had been cut down to clear more space, now repurposed for numerous purposes as well as the wood which came from them. Houses carved inside the trunks themselves or built hanging from their thick bark, countless bridges connecting the numerous levels of the town, yet flying remained the easiest way to carry oneself around.

I asked the captain about the absence of lumigrapes, their yellowish glow having contributed to the place’s illumination where they were cultivated, last time I’d checked. She explained how the forest predators, smart little bitches, had learned long ago that where the glow of lumigrapes was found, a tasty thestral or two wouldn't be too far off. They grew them now in more secluded areas, heavy with vegetation coverage to keep any unwelcome eyes away instead of growing them all over the place and in the surrounding areas. I felt a bit of the place’s charm being lost, but was more than happy to learn they still grew and ate them. Their condition would remain ‘tamed’ as long as they did so.

Not wishing to deal with the citizens' prying questions and wants, the captain motioned us all into the infirmary, one the the few buildings not built in or around one of the thick, imposing trees, but on the very ground itself. Too small to be called a proper hospital (or a horsepital. Get it? Horsepital!), but big enough to house all their winded troops as well as myself.

Crimson, not needing any form of serious treatment, spent her recovery time keeping a constant eye on me, sharing the same big room I’d been assigned alongside the other patients. The gesture however was secondary in nature. Crimson would’ve spent time at the infirmary with or without my arrival since there was a very important pony to her currently hospitalized at the moment.

“You… ahhhh… believe me now?” I wheezed to the bat pony mare resting on her belly on a nearby bed, a young thestral colt tucked in her forelegs and resting against her chest. I quickly learned that foal happened to be her own, and had been checked in for observation for a well-known issue all thestral younglings were doomed to pass through.

Crimson’s eyebrows shot up in bewilderment, but not for the reason I’d hoped. “Uh, yeah, I believe you know how to wiggle that monster of a sword you got around while muttering some weird words. Is it, like, a healing ritual dance kinda thing? It got you winded good.”

Yeah, I was gonna need the Matriarch to convince them that I happened to be a long-lost prince of a bygone era very capable of moving the Sun and Moon around the place. But with the trees acting like an iron dome over us, it's not like she could nudge her head out the window and have a look.

“Fuck you,” I grumbled at her reluctance to believe my word. Her previously bemused eyes quickly hardened at my colorful choice vocabulary, the mare dipping her head downwards to point at the colt with her chin.

“Huh, that’s a funny word.” The colt, whose name was Darkfall Crest, chuckled in his childish innocence. His attention went from the opened book in front of him to the frowning mare cuddling him. “What does it mean, Mom?”

Even if Crimson was unaware of the human version of the world, its striking resemblance with the pony version provided all the explanation needed.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with, sweetie,” Crimson deflected the question and nudged her foal towards the now-forgotten book still resting on his forelegs. “Why don’t we finish this chapter before lunchtime? We can both get a nice nap afterward. I for one could use one.” She sighed tiredly, wiggling her still-hurting wings at her sides while hugging the mini thestral a tad harder.

Lunchtime in the middle of the night? Duh, they were nocturnal. The day was snooze time for them and vice versa. Except for these soldiers and their captain who had to be ready and awake at any moment.

“Are you kidding? Neigh way!” The little colt was way too excited to care about the book with such an oddity as me to satisfy his boundless curiosity, to her mom’s visible dismay. “This weird… uh…”

“Human.” I finished for him, having left the wall to lay on my own bed, sending a bored look at the wooden-planked roof. Glowing lichen was the main source of lighting in the room, other than the resin lamps resting on each of the bedside tables. The remains of my dinner (breakfast) had yet to be collected by the nurse who’d attended us, a pretty young mare with too much pep in her stride for such a gloomy place and even gloomier people. A couple of painkillers and treated bandages to ease the worst of my injuries, some much-needed, proper food, and a couple of hours of rest had improved both my soreness as well as my mood. But now, I had a bat pony colt to entertain until either he passed out from boredom or I passed out from sheer fatigue.

“Huuuuman,” He rolled the word on his tongue for a moment before resuming his verbal inquisition. “Huh, weird. What were you doing with those swords? Were those glowing circles around them magical? Is that how magic’s supposed to look?!”

The little dude couldn't have been older than ten, yet he was already asking the big questions. How could the thestral know what magic looked like? It’s not like they could cast it in the same way a unicorn could. Yet, for what little I’d learned from the thestrals during my other brief stay at their home, it was pleasantly evident they weren’t that detached from the world outside their borders. They still knew about the important stuff, both what used to be and what currently was, which would no doubt help my cause enormously.

“Right on the nail, little dude,” I congratulated his intuition with a wink, earning a victory ‘yes!’ and a hoof pump from the young thestral. “Magic can be manifested in many ways, but those were indeed mana-based. I was just trying to send a message back home to my family.”

Alarms began to ring in the captain's head, her already slitted eyes narrowing even further. The little guy remained oblivious, with his curiosity only rising with each sentence that came out of my big mouth.

“A simple message telling them I’m fine and that I miss them and I love them very much.” I clarified for the panicking captain, already guessing what was twisting her tail in a knot. “Without any kind of clue, hint, or trace as to the location of this place.”

With her wings ceasing to twitch nervously at her sides and her mind once again at ease, the captain was reassured that their little hidden corner of Equestria would remain as such, although I could smell her intention of how a lucky guard or two was gonna be given double patrol around the outer perimeter for the time being, just in case I was full of shit.

Sorry, not sorry.

Darkfall was a bottomless pit of curiosity, a striking but welcome contrast with most of his peers since he was the only one to show the barest of interest regarding the outside world. Not only as far as how things were in general and if any threat or potential threat was inbound. He wanted to know about everything out there. I was more than happy to humor him, which kept me distracted while the medicine worked its magic and my gauntlets recharged for another dose of healing spells. The final one, I hoped.

When I tried to explain to him how I was trying to move the moon to paint a heart in the sky, he just laughed it up as if I was a madman and brushed it aside, claiming only the princesses of old could achieve such a feat. I didn’t miss the cocky smirk of his mother when the young colt called my bullshit right off the bat. I flipped her the bird which, needless to say, completely flew over her head. It made me feel better nonetheless.

Next, he wanted to know everything there was to know about my family. ‘Are they weird monkey-things like you?’ I had no choice but to burst his bubble a bit. While keeping the location of Maretime Bay and the two other settlements vague and inconclusive (two could play at that game of guesses), I retold some of the more… domestic adventures and shenanigans our pony friends are well known for getting into once or twice a week. He drank my storytelling with great interest, yet his young, cat-like eyes couldn't mask a hint of hesitation, especially around the part where I mentioned my family is a pony family.

Almost as if the fact they were ponies was something I shouldn't be talking about. I could already tell where the shots were coming from, but I needed to be one hundred percent sure. Future relationships could very well depend on the nuggets of info I squeezed from the reclusive thestrals in the short time I would spend with them. There was a changeling Queen no doubt growing more impatient with every day it took me to reach her.

“Hmm…” I rubbed my chin with the back of my hand, making myself look overly suspicious so his young brain could keep up. “I couldn't help but notice the face you made when I mentioned my family is of the equine kind.” Darkfall, ears up in surprise, sought counsel from his mom who’d also shown a similar reaction to the nature of my close ones.

“... Aside from the obvious, is there a problem with them being ponies?”

“Um…” His tiny fangs gently bit over his lower lip, lost for words to land him a smooth exit from the quickly souring topic.

“Don't take it the wrong way.” Mama bat to the rescue. “Our story with our… cousins is, well, let's just say that ‘convoluted’ falls way too far from the tree to even call it that.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of the scrapes and bumps between the lot of you,” I lost my reclined position and sat on the rim of the bed, hands coming to rest on my lap as I cleared any lingering mental cobwebs away. “A thestral such as you would be entitled to harbor some nasty words for the occasional shithead that would call her a monster or freak.”

Crimson didn't approve of my use of language, quickly covering her foal’s fuzzy ears while sending yet another disapproving leer at me.

“Hey!” Darkfall protested, shaking his head to free himself from her mom's protectiveness.

“My apologies,” I dipped my head in apology and made a mental note to check my dirty tongue around the young one. “What I don’t get though, is why a young thestral such as you son,” I nudged my chin in his direction, sending Crimson’s attention down to the little guy. “Should act so hesitantly around the topic of a pony when it's been more than seven centuries since you guys mingled in any form or manner.” I narrowed my stare suspiciously. “Or, is there something I’m missing?”

A tense silence fell over the infirmary room. I seemed to have touched a nerve, nothing out of the ordinary back in the day, but I felt there was something different this time, and not for the better.

“Mom?” Darkfall looked up to meet with his mom’s concern, the thestral mare debating whether to spill her guts or not. Her little foal’s concerned orbs did the trick. With a heavy sigh and a loving nuzzle of the young one's head, Crimson finally revealed to me the truth behind their jumpiness during our initial encounter, weird looks and asshat attitude aside.

“...Okay” She wetted her lips and, with a healthy dose of hesitation, began to explain. “Sooooo, congrats, I guess. You’re right on the seven centuries of dry spell between us and, well, mostly everycreature else. How did you know it’s been that long?” Now it was her turn to act all suspicious and edgy… again.

“Crimson, please.” I gently urged her to continue and leave the interrogation for a later time.

“Okay, okay, fine.” She raised her forelegs in defense, lowering them back down around her foal, pressing the little guy against her chest while resting her head over his short, spiky mane. “It’s all now written in the books and scrolls the Matriarch and her Keepers safekeep at the House. When Equestria fell and the dream of friendship and unity shattered, everypony turned on everypony. A unicorn couldn’t bear to look at an earth pony without spitting on the ground. An earth pony foal would lose sleep over nightmares of pegasi snatching them away and dropping them off a cliff, or worse. And a pegasus wouldn't hesitate to threaten a unicorn with sending a tornado or two on their way should they try any of their nasty magic.”

‘Just like the stories Sunny told me of her days before the gang’s adventure. Just like the crap I would hear everyday on the streets.’ I lamented under my breath. It was all bark and no bite back then…

Until it ceased to be. These guys were caught right in the middle of what ended up as a massive blood feud.

“We were caught in the crossfire,” Miss Mind Reader continued with her storytelling. “Just like everycreature else,” With another sad whiny, Crimson cuddled her son tighter, to the point the poor sap was beginning to look a bit uncomfortable. “If a pony couldn't look at another pony without wanting to bite their ears off, how do you think things turned out for us?! They chased us back into our forest! They wanted to burn it down! They wanted us gone!! GONE!!”

Her angry stomping echoed through the wooden walls of the infirmary. Darkfall reeled back at her mom’s animated gestures, the poor guy not liking seeing the thestral mare so riled up. He offered reassurance in the way a foal always excels: nuzzling her chest fluff with all the love and warmth a foal can muster up for its mom.

Crimson answered in kind, her heartbeat leveling off with the tender caress of her little foal. However, a flame still burned in her core.

“Call me paranoid or whatever you want,” She continued, her tone lowering to an aggressive, protective note. “Even if it’s been centuries of silence, if there is the slightest chance there’s still somepony out there looking to burn this place, and my son with it, you can bet your fangs I’m gonna slice up any trespasser snooping around with bad intentions.”

“... I understand.”

“Like Tartarus you do!” Crimson fired back furiously. “How could you possibly know how…?”

“I. Understand. Crimson.” I raised my hand in peace, trying to make it clear that all she was telling me, all that rage dripping from every word and I were old friends.

A dismissive snort spoke of her reluctance. “Humph. Our Night Mistress left us, went chasing the accursed Sun Goddess Faust knows where, and left us to die. The ‘Princess of Friendship’ sent it all to Tartarus with her ‘oh so fantastic vision of a unified Equus’, where everycreature was friends with everycreature and lalala.” Crimson bared her fangs and flagged her wings halfway. “And if you really are who you claim to be, you have a lot to answer for yourself.”

I’m sure she was expecting some words of apology or an abashed look far from her scowling features as I swallowed my remorse. The amused chuckle that left my lips was the last thing she was expecting.

“You’re gonna tell me about it, sister.” I got up from my sitting posture and reclined back into the mattress, closing my eyes and crossing my arms behind my head as if I were simply enjoying a nice afternoon at the beach. “Answering for myself is the first and utmost reason why I’m here currently talking to you. Yep, I got to sleep through all the music and woke up to find all my problems had been fixed for me.”

The flummoxed thestrals regarded me as if I’d lost it, the younger one showing it with the universal ‘Has he gone mad?’ twirl of his forehooves on his temples to his mom. The poor mare, having lost her burning front with my seemingly careless front, couldn’t do little more than shrug.

“Now, ponies are friends once again and everything's looking up. Just gotta find an old friend out here and have some nice words with them and hopefully clear out our differences and I’ll be back to celebrate autumn with my family.” I opened a single eye to peek at the pair. “But first, some R&R and words with your Matriarch. Hmm, perhaps she can knock some sense into you.”

“YOU-”

“Captain Crimson.”

Before the mare could take a chunk out of my neck, another thestral mare, wearing some kind of ceremonial dress, called to her from the room’s entrance. If I had to take a guess, she was one of the Keepers. An easy, milky silk dress hugged her frame, barren of any flashy features of any kind. Her mane and tail had been carefully trimmed to match her ceremonial wardrobe. She stood tall and proud and spoke in the same manner.

“The Mother has awakened and wishes to hear your report.” Her expressionless look went past the captain to search mine. “She will reconvene with the creature afterward. She awaits at the Moon Garden.”

Without the need to explain herself further, the Keeper left with as much coldness and pride as she’d addressed us with. The captain was visibly conflicted, torn between following orders or leaving her precious colt with a freak of nature such as me.

“You can take the swords with you if it’ll ease your mind.” I pointed a thumb towards the resting blades, still where I left them just below the window. “But ain't no way I'm putting a finger on this young fella. He’s too charming.”

Following my playful banter, the little dude allowed himself some well-deserved chest puffing and cocky smirking. His mom, a big eye-rolling for good measure, decided to play it safe and grabbed Binary in her forehooves, resting it awkwardly against her back.

“Uff.” She grunted at the effort needed once the weight of the payload had landed home. “This thing is heavy! How did you get to twirl around like that before? Geeze;”

“Magic.” I answered in short, earning a huff from the captain for my lack of cooperation. “Show it to your Matriarch once you meet her. If there's anypony here who'll recognize it, it'll be her.”

“... Whatever.” With one final grunt, the captain left the room to follow the Keeper towards where the Matriarch awaited, but not before delivering the mandatory ‘be good, don't cause a ruckus’ motherly warning to her foal.

“Yes, mom, I'll be good.” Darkfall answered with as much exasperation and boredom as a foal can show after number ten thousand of the same deal.

Once the clip-clop of hooves ceased to bounce beyond the corridor, a calm silence filled the room. I reckoned I'd get some more rest for my bones before facing the all-loving Mother of this thestral enclave who, no doubt, would have some ‘colorful’ words to share with me once she learned about recent events.

I could feel the little bat’s curious eyes analyzing my resting form even with my eyes closed.

“What?”

“You're so weird.”

Leave it to a foal’s brutal honesty to clear any shadow of doubt. I didn't fight the amused smirk that grew on my lips.

“I guess I am, aren't I?”

“Is the outside world as dangerous as mom always says?” His youthful innocence hungered for more knowledge about the world beyond their forest. “You painted it pretty nice, ponies or no ponies living there.”

I was the Prince of that very same thing, so I was obliged to answer.

“Eh, there's still a lot I need to check for myself. Your mom is right when she says things have gotten pretty bad out there for a while, and you guys are smart keeping yourself hidden for the time being.” Rubbing the stitched cut in the palm of my hand, I too pondered about the state of Equestria as a whole. “I won't lie to you, kid. There's something bad out there, something storming that my pals and I will have to eventually face. But that's our problem to deal with. I'll buy some peace and quiet out there while we rebuild. It's gonna take a long while, and things are too delicate for too much music.”

“Well,” The little thestral fumbled on his bed, laying sideways over the mattress in search of a comfier position, his developing wings hanging lazily at his sides. “Things are kinda boring around here. Mom always says any boring is a good kind of thing with all those monsters out there creeping over the forest. In a sense, as long as we leave them alone and keep our distance, they keep us safe from any creature who would find us. Well,” Darkfall sent a lidded look at me. “Everycreature except you.”

With a chuckle rumbling in my chest, I conceded his point. “I used to do shhhhh- uf, stuff like this more often. I had another family… a long time ago.” Longing pangs and icy daggers threatened to pierce my chest. “We… uh, we used to get in a lot of trouble, saving Equestria from this monster or the other, and all in all teaching ponies the ‘magic of friendship’.” I put on my best Twilight voice. I needed to hear her voice again. That video Pipp recorded of her message would never be enough. “Yeah… crazy times. Faaaaar from boring.”

I turned my head to take a peek at the litter dude, but found he wasn't paying attention anymore, for another bad case of the cramps was assaulting his tummy, making him coil around himself as his hooves went to hug his aching midsection.

I felt a pang of sympathy for the poor bat since I happened to be responsible for the crap he was going through.

Tisking, I rose from my mattress and took a seat at the hurting thestral’s side, sneaking a hand under his protective hug and running my fingers through the leach fuzz of his belly, both for some healing tummy rubs as well as look for any hard spots that might indicate a complication.

“Nnnngg.” Darkfall moaned as another crump got him to curl even tighter around himself. “This sucks soooo much…”

“I know it does, little fella,” Finding nothing out of the ordinary, I climbed up to his left side and leathery wing, brushing over the bony rim of his growing appendage. There was no easy way around it, he'd had to soldier through it until his intestinal flora had reassembled itself and the body accepted the new symbiosis. “I'm sorry it has to be like this, but it'll help you grow big and strong without needing to drink blood. Just like your mom.”

“She said it sucked for her too,” The young bat squeezed out after another groan. “All my friends have already gone through it and they’re all now fine. But noooooo, I just gotta get the cramps late and be stuck here all wee-auch!”

“It’s different for everybat, bud,” I squeezed his left foreleg in sympathy, a small, albeit bothersome price to pay for that complete integration his kind had been striving for since their condition had manifested in the first place so many centuries ago. Something told me they couldn't care less about integration and seeing eye to eye with the ponies now, but it was too late to step back otherwise. “It takes longer for some… although.”

A passing thought sent my attention to my crumpled bed, resting at the foot of the bed. I remembered how, amongst all the leftovers and non-perishable foods I’d managed to squeeze in, I’d grabbed a half-eaten pack of Izzy’s favorite cookies. I’d have to buy her two or three packs as both a thank you and compensation. However, remembering the days when the team at Canterlot and I presented the very same solution that was ruining this poor little bat’s week, I remembered a temporary solution for his cramps.

Reaching it with my levitation, to Darkfall’s utter fascination, I rummaged around the mess of crumpled-up clothes and half-eaten meals until I found my target.

“Aha!” Extracting the aforementioned cookies, I took one from the cylindrical package and offered it to the mesmerized thestral.

“Uuuuh…” The irony wasn’t lost on the little dude. “Are you giving me sweets to treat a tummy ache?”

“Ironic, right?” I grinned at the foal’s bemused grimace. “There’s a looong scientific explanation behind it but I’m gonna be good and not bore you to tears with it. Just know that it works. In small doses, that is.” I quirked my eyebrow, already expecting what his little mind would be plotting. “Else you’ll end up with another kind of tummy ache.”

Rolling his eyes and huffing, I had revealed Darkfall’s evil plot. Still, he accepted the treat and wolfed it down in a foalish fashion. Smacking his lips against his fanged gums and enjoying the taste, he returned his fuzzy head down, this time resting it over my leg.

With my heart warmed at the adorable sight, I allowed the young fella some rest while petting over his fuzzy ears and messy mane, using the time to come up with a reasonable and believable argument to convince the thestrals’ leader that I wasn't a threat and that I could use a little help. Or at least convince them to not attack me on sight on my way back or at any other time I happened to come ‘round.

And the hardest of all, to convince her that, while it was still a work in progress, the three tribes had made amends and rejoined together in harmony, at least along the three previously hidden settlements. I couldn't and wouldn’t speak for other pony settlements outside Equestria, but if there was one place for new relationships between their kind and ponykind, it was with my pony family and the ponies of Maretime Bay.

Plans for a very far-off future. But any help was welcome. There was an entire kingdom out there to be recolonized, tons of relationships, treaties, borders, and amends to fix and reset. Foal steps would see it done.

“Human.”

A voice called once again from the door. I’d lost myself in my mental debating, so I wasn't sure how much time had passed. It had been enough for Darkfall to fall asleep on my leg, though, but the call from the very same Keeper that had beckoned Crimson before was enough to rouse him from his short nap.

“Welp,” I commented to the young bat in a low voice. “It’s better than ‘weird creature’, eh?” I quipped with a playful wink, earning a tiny giggle from him.

Sensing how she had my attention, the Keeper proceeded with her summons. “The Mother has convened with the Captain, and has declared that you are not a threat, and are to be treated as an honored guest…”

‘Finally, some progress.’

“However, she wishes to speak with you at this time. She believes there is a lot to be discussed with you, your Highness.”

With a respectful bow, the Keeper retreated back and patiently waited outside the door. Happy to see some progress, I left the young bat’s side, giving my legs a nice stretch and leaving the bag in its previous place.

Needless to say, Darkfall was beyond himself in surprise.

“You ARE a Prince?!!”

“Me?” I pointed a finger at my chest with as much surprise as he was exuding. “Nah, they must've mistaken me for somebody else.”

With a parting wink and a good ruffle of his mane, I left the room to meet up with the Keeper, nodding to the pair of guards, two of the few who’d left our previous scuffle mostly unscathed. I didn't miss the last words of the little guy before leaving the building.

“A Prince just gave me a cookie…. Ohohoho, just wait ‘till Misty Gale hears this!”