I remember, on that Monday Ambrosia and I put off leaving her tower until the last second - as usual now. They gave us a lot of work for that day anyway, as we had to help clean the gym of my old school. This also meant that we were moving in a fairly large area and that we had to work with a large group of strangers, so I would be happy if I could even briefly meet my friends. I considered a special treat if several of us were needed for a task at the same time, and at least we could be together until then, or even talk, if it did not require too much concentration from us.

Because there would have been something to discuss. Stella finally rejoined us and I must say she looked great. Although Lotus had already pointed out to us that the girl had actually only sustained very superficial injuries, to us, as layponies, that amount of blood seemed terrifyingly large. I think we all imagined a head-to-hoof bandaged Stella whenever the stallion was speaking about her, so when she came towards us on Lotus's side, not even limping, while we gathered in front of the school, I was quite surprised at the sight. Stella then showed off the scars on her legs, remarkably cheerfully compared to her usual self and the situation, and although she could not give a satisfactory explanation in that short time, she claimed that she was completely fine. In fact, I've never seen her smile so much in my life...

We weren't able to discuss the matter more thoroughly, but before we even started work, Lotus approached me with a mysterious grin and slipped a note into my pocket without any comment. As I observed, everypony else also got some, and even though I could barely contain my curiosity, by the time I could see it, our supervisor had already started assigning the tasks. After a good hour and a half, I could only spare time for the message, when I trotted towards the restroom as a half-excuse. "Come to the drug lab at eight in the evening! Don't have dinner before, but everypony should bring some refresher with them!" - was all it said on the paper. I smiled at that, since by Lotus's book "refresher" meant any sugary or otherwise sweetened drink, but not containing alcohol. So the stallion wants to celebrate his fillyfriend's recovery, but he will be exceptionally able to keep a measure... What can I say, I was curious what the guy could organize without one of his most important party accessories.

At the weekend, we agreed with Ambrosia that we would spend Monday evening quietly, alone, and if possible, not get out of bed - not that we had planned the last couple of days differently - but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet a little outside of work also with the class. Well, of course I also wanted to talk to Stella a bit. I really hoped she would tell me what happened to her while peeling vegetables. Because no matter how I thought about it, if it came to mind sometimes, I never got ahead. The most realistic explanation seemed to be what Scorch said about certain withdrawal symptoms and the like, but I tried to rule that out as much as possible.

Understandably, I both looked forward to the evening and I didn't. My curiosity would have led me forward, but as my fillyfriend and I cuddled under the blanket, her head resting on my shoulder and all four legs hugging me, I toyed with the idea that I would rather never move again in my life. She weighed almost nothing compared to me, yet she nailed me to the bed with incredible force, even if she didn't do it on purpose. She didn't squeeze me, she didn't hold me down, but her mane fell softly on my neck, and I didn't want to unravel from the hot, soft touch of her body, even when we should have really gotten started to get to the agreed place on time.

"Are you happy with me?" Ambrosia asked, just when I had made up my mind to finally get going.

"Of course!" I answered immediately, although I was surprised by the question. "Why do you ask? I don't look like it?"

"You do," said the girl, not moving her head, just running her hoof along my chest. "I was just curious."

"I found the most amazing mare in the world. I've never been so happy since I've been with you."

"I love you so much!" she hugged me even tighter.

"I love you, too."

I returned her gesture and gently pressed my chin to her head. I inhaled the scent of her mane, then sighed contentedly. Something was wrong. I felt that Ambrosia was quite a bit more tense than usual. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't already know her so well.

"Is something the matter?" I asked softly.

"Nothing."

"Oh, but it is," I sighed. "Could you tell me, please, what's wrong?"

"I just... I want to spend more time with you..." she whispered as if she was ashamed of what she was saying.

I seriously didn't understand. In practice, we haven't moved from each other's sides since Friday afternoon. Well, with the exception of our work today, where we really had to do without each other's company, but it would have been weird to hold me accountable for that. Even after that, we came here right away, and I didn't deal with anything else but her. Of course, it would be nice to get the punishment imposed by Princess Celestia off of our backs - which might have been a bit much for her, after all, she was not used to physical work - but that was not up to us.

"I don't know what..." I started, but she interrupted.

"It would be better if you always stayed here during the day. Last time I waited for you for hours..."

"Last time?" I asked, but then recognition quickly dawned on me. "When I was at Wish's?" I continued more carefully.

"I missed you," she remarked in a perfectly neutral voice.

"I missed you, too," I replied almost automatically.

"You said, you'll just see what's up with her..."

"But I've already told you everything!" I tried to rub against her, but I didn't feel that she was so receptive to it, even though she was still clinging to me. "It took me so long because she noticed, and I obviously had to talk to her. And she needed my help."

"Your help, or just help in general?" she continued to inquire with this forced composure.

"She's been my best friend for a long time. Of course, it's not surprising if we count on each other, no matter what the problem is."

"I thought Jasper was your best friend..."

For the first time, she gave a little edge to her statement, and resting her hoof on my stomach, she stretched her neck back a little so that she could look into my eyes. She is jealous and wants an explanation from me, I concluded. I never thought we'd get here, especially with regards to Wish...

"You are splitting hairs, my dear," I said finally, forcing myself to reach the same calm state she appeared to be in. "If Jasper had tried to hide what was wrong with him, I would have looked into it in the same way, you can believe that. But he's not that type, you know exactly that. And you know as well how sensitive Wish is."

Ambrosia lowered her head and snuggled up to me again.

"What do you think I should have done?" I asked her the question, although since she didn't answer immediately, I continued to speak my mind. "Should I have left it at that? And if she really was hurt and nopony checks out? I love you more than anypony, and I think I'm with you enough. I hardly go home anymore. But you have to understand, there are others in my life, not just you! I didn't want to exclude you even then, it just would have been too difficult for me to carry the two of us. Even so, I thought about you a lot, and then I hurried back as best I could!"

I exaggerated a bit, because while I was talking to Wish, I didn't think of my fillyfriend very often, but I felt that I deserved so much bias. She would surely have been on my mind, if other, unusual factors had not kept me occupied. In the same way, I would not have been exceptionally happy if I had not been able to meet my friend face to face, and not only because of the slightly ambiguous situation. I was convinced that it really concerned only the two of us, even if I "reported" the situation to Ambrosia in broad terms afterwards.

"I don't have anypony else besides you," she sniffed softly, almost apologetically, as if she already regretted her former "outburst". "I feel so empty when you are not with me! Don't be mad at me, please!"

Yep, she managed to make me remember what she gave up so that we could stay together... But she said she didn't do it just for me. Sometimes it was hard to understand her, but I wasn't mad at her. On the other hoof, it would have been a rather unrealistic expectation of me to spend every second with her. I seriously didn't understand.

"I'm not mad at you!" I stroked her mane as far as I could reach with my hoof. "However, I would like to note that you can be friends with anypony. And you're still a member of our small team! If you really want to call Equestria your home, make connections with other ponies! I won't be jealous of you..."

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Now she raised her huge, willow-green eyes directly at me pleadingly. "I didn't mean to lay into you like that. I think I'm a little too sensitive. You know, mare stuff..."

That... did explain a lot. Although this sort of thing wasn't much of a topic between us, I was able to experience a couple of times how much girls can be influenced by their own biology. Let's just say that as much as I had an eye for this sort of thing before I got together with Ambrosia, I could only rarely tell about Wish when she was in heat. She didn't give many signs either, she was just more easily embarrassed than usual, so at first it seemed like a good joke to tease her together with Jasper with all kinds of nonsense at these times, once we found it out. However, we overshot the target a couple of times and managed to chase the girl away from us for half a day, so we got out of the habit of doing so pretty quickly. I didn't care much about Ambrosia at the time, and Stella probably only shared confidential information like this with Lotus. However, it is true, each of them had periods when, seemingly for no reason, they could hardly be spoken to for a few days. It seems that what the hormones bring out of them varies not only from individual to individual, but also within a pony.

"It's okay, come on!" I smiled. "It would be time for us to leave soon. Let's not make them wait!"

"Couldn't we stay at home instead, just this once?" she asked carefully, pressing herself close to me again. "We'll see them tomorrow anyway."

"It would be nice to get out sometimes," I replied, trying to avoid the appearance that I would blame her for the fact that we always hang out here. "If you want, I promise that I will be yours for the whole week after that, but even then I want to listen to what Stella has to say in a calm environment. And we're going there together anyway, aren't we? We don't have to be separated from each other for a moment."

"Alright..." she sighed resignedly, then let go, already reaching for her clothes with her magic.

* * *

The Herb Lab of the Department of Alchemy was located at the other end of the city, surrounded by a couple of large greenhouses, so we had to walk quite a bit. On the way there, we even had to pop into a small shop for some carbonated and sugary junk. Lotus had no other request, so it would have been indecent to show up emptyhooved, but earlier none of us had the will or strength to deal with shopping. So we visited the nearest store and didn't spend much time choosing. I wouldn't have been able to tell exactly what I took off the shelf after five minutes.

We were already running late, so we trotted on in the light of the setting sun. But no matter how much I wanted to hurry, in a large, wide square, some intangible feeling made me stop. I vaguely remembered that I had been there recently - which is not so surprising, since even walking at a comfortable pace, we could only be a quarter of an hour away from Ambrosia's tower. If my memory serves me correctly, everything looked the same on it. The row of arcades, the street stones, the leafy trees trimmed to shape, and the veiled statue in the middle of the square have not changed at all, yet somehow... they almost made the hair on my back stand on end. My eyes wandered uncertainly here and there, searching for any suspicious element, so I almost jumped at my fillyfriend's touch.

"What is it, dear?" Ambrosia asked gently.

"I have no idea," I answered, instinctively keeping my voice down. "I just... I don't know... I feel like I saw something..."

With my ears attentively flicking back and forth, I tried to survey the terrain as thoroughly as possible. Apart from us, there were only a few more ponies walking around the square, although not many of them crossed it: most of them were looking at the shop windows in the shadow of the arches. The shadows bothered me. I was perplexed by every little detail that fell out of sight. We didn't come here at the best time of day. When I had nothing to do, I liked these twilight hours, but now it was downright annoying. The combination of the slowly shrinking orange light and the dull gray semi-darkness broke the contours even more than the starry night. I'd say that without the street lights, even in the natural darkness, I would have seen more clearly than in this weather.

If somepony knew me well enough and wanted to ambush me in the open street when I least expected it, they would certainly do it in a situation like this...

I prepared thoroughly to crumble to dust at the slightest threat, and to take Ambrosia with me. Without a physical body, it would at least be much more difficult to harm us... But despite my attention to my surroundings, nothing happened. But the nagging feeling didn't go away either.

"Something is bothering my eyes," I muttered to myself so that Ambrosia could barely hear. "I can't say what it is, but it feels like I almost know. And that really irritates me..."

But no... we were not in danger. At least not directly. As soon as I tried to identify even a little bit, I already knew what kind of feeling came over me. My survival instincts had always been reliable - if not downright hypersensitive - but this had nothing to do with them. I could compare it to when I really want to recall a song, but I can't remember the title, or even some more characteristic details of it. The same, only somehow visually. It was as if I had seen something about which I had an idea, but I could neither say what it was that did not fully form in me, nor what I saw. It sounded so stupid the way I said it all to myself that I didn't even try to explain it to Ambrosia. I'll remember it later if I don't ponder on it.

And I'll keep my eyes open...

* * *

"New record!" Lotus told me, raising his eyebrows mischievously. "You have never been so late before!"

When we got to the laboratory, nopony greeted us, we only found the right door by following the light coming out. However, when we entered, the blue stallion appeared in front of us in a single moment. It seemed that they didn't even wait for us: everypony else had already started eating the food piled on one of the long tables. I must add that it was the only free space, along with a couple of chairs, as all the other furniture, including the cupboards, was thinly covered with some brownish floral debris, which was probably the reason for the concentrated, almost sickeningly sweet smell.

"Yeah, we came here because while this shit dries, we can't do any meaningful work anyway," explained Lotus, preempting my question. "It's cheap and cozy. And as we are already banned from all kinds of stuff, we don't have to worry about damaging anything here!"

"I see," I smiled. "And what is this dish party for, if I may ask?"

"Oh, of course!" the stallion touched his forehead with a hoof. "I almost forgot the most important thing! I want to introduce you somepony!"

Ambrosia and I shared a confused look, but we followed the stallion anyway. I quickly looked around at the other participants - Wish nodded at me with her mouth full, but cheerfully squinting from beside Jasper - but I didn't see any unfamiliar face. I was even more surprised when Lotus stopped next to Stella, who was sipping from a huge glass with a straw.

"Look, Stella, here's Thread and Ambrosia!" He waited for the girl to turn towards us, then putting his hoof on her shoulder, he continued. "My dear friends! Let me introduce my bride!"

Needless to say, I was so surprised, I almost had to sit down on the floor. How to serve unexpected news simply? Just ask Lotus! And indeed, when I took a closer look at Stella, it really looked like she was dressed up for more than a simple party. Especially considering the golden pendant around her neck that I've never seen before. Would it be engagement jewelry? How strange that they didn't choose a ring despite being unicorns...

"I'm... speechless..." I said finally. "Huge congratulations to both of you! When...? How...?"

"Congratulations!" Ambrosia joined me, a little more quietly.

"I've been planning it for a while, so you can imagine," Lotus grinned. "Then, of course, the idea suddenly came. I originally wanted it as a surprise, but in the end, we even chose the necklace together. The important thing is that we both like it, right?"

"Even more important that we can be happy together," Stella snuggled up to the stallion with a smile. "And, I think none of us can complain!"

"That's why I was like, if we've been together for so long and we don't want to change that, why not make it official?" Lotus continued. "On Friday, after work, I went to the hospital for her, then on the way back, we sort of happened to stop by a jewelry store. After that, I couldn't keep what I wanted to myself."

"On the weekend, we even visited my parents, and he asked them for my hoof," the girl took over again. "I still can't believe I'm getting married!"

"But you're not having second thoughts, are you?" Lotus asked half-heartedly.

"Come on!" Stella giggled. "I have never felt better in my life!"

"Does that mean you've completely recovered?" I interrupted.

"Of course!" the mare shrugged. "We overreacted a bit, I think. The doctors only kept me in for so long as a precaution. After a few days, the bandages were removed, but after that I had to talk to a psychiatrist for a long time. Don't worry, they found nothing!"

"Do you remember what happened?" I tried to inquire.

"I must say, that part was too blurry..." Stella's face became a little uncertain, but apparently that didn't dampen her spirits. "I tried to recall it, but then I preferred to let it all go. Nothing dangerous happened, and Lotus promised to take care of me anyway. What's the worst that could happen?"

At the mare's words, the boy planted a huge kiss on her cheek.

"I certainly wouldn't leave it at that," I remarked. "If it all happened so unexpectedly and there is no explanation for it, what guarantees that it won't happen again?"

"Listen, if the doctors couldn't tell me anything, what am I supposed to play smart about?" Stella rolled her eyes. "Let's be glad that everything is fine now! Come and eat with us!"

Although she didn't manage to calm my nerves, it wasn't that difficult to talk me into dinner. I had purposely not eaten anything since noon, so the prepared delicacies seemed more and more enticing. I took a large portion of cake for myself, then we sat down at the section of the table left free for us and ate there. However, as I watched my companions while they were chatting, it became apparent that there were fewer of us than I expected. I quickly found who was missing.

"Hey, where is Scorch?" I turned to Jasper.

The boy was currently listening with interest as Cavern rather nervously explained something to Wish, so he barely paid me any attention while answering.

"Heck if I know. Don't tell me yer missin' him!"

"I'm just surprised that only he is missing."

"He said in advance that he had a program for the evening," Lotus spoke from a little further away.

"He must be playing with the little fags again," Cavern waved. "Who cares about that idiot? We don't need him to screw up this party as well! At least he leaves us alone..."

"At least?" I raised an eyebrow. "Who doesn't?"

"That stupid bitch Quicky is still followin' him,” Jasper sighed. "Seriously, how can somepony be such a jerk? Ya know how long they were together? Only one night!"

"Yeah, and even that was half a year ago!" Cavern huffed. "Up until now, we've been fine without each other, now she suddenly needs me? Seriously, I have to hide from her. It's like she's stalking me. Can you imagine how tired I am of it?

"She's following you?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, everywhere!" the stallion shook his head. "She is driving me crazy with this..."

For some reason, I felt that this whole story did not go on all fours.

"It may sound stupid, but can I ask... do you actually see her coming after you?"

Apparently, I managed to confuse him. Just as I suspected. I don't know where this all came from, but for some reason I thought it was relevant to clarify this.

"She came to me a couple of times," he said, although he still didn't seem confident. "We even talked at first, but even though I clarified things with her, she has been following me ever since. I just don't understand what she wants from me? What kind of mare is so stupid as to think she's fine with me in a long-term relationship?"

"Asking the real question, here..." Ambrosia remarked quietly.

"Aren't you a little paranoid?" I asked him.

"I'm slowly becoming that!" Cavern snapped. "Do you know how bad it is when you walk down the street, look back, and she's right behind you? I even wake up at night to see if she's watching through the window, seriously..."

"Well, I'll still say it is best if you try not to worry about it," said Wish. "If you've already discussed it, but she can't get over it, act as if you don't notice! She has to understand that sooner or later."

"You say that because not a single stallion is dogging you," the boy continued to rant. "You can't even imagine how unsettling it can be!"

"And... what if you just give her another chance?" Stella also tried to join the brainstorming session.

"Because I don't want anything from her? It would make a heck of a lot of sense to waste each other's time. She's easy on the eye, but I don't care about her otherwise. I'm more of a fan of flexible relationships."

"I agree. If it doesn't work, you shouldn't force it," said Ambrosia, mostly addressing Stella. "If that's how he feels about it, there's not much to do..."

"Not everypony wants to commit so early," Cavern nodded. "The only thing that should be resolved is that Quicky finally understands this as well."

"Well, let's not talk about such things now!" Lotus clapped his hooves. "It's no wonder you are so annoyed if you can't forget her even when she's not around. Let's relax a little to enjoy this special occasion! Get ready, because I have brought you such a delicacy, you will lick your hooves afterwards! I know, I told you to bring a soft drink with you, but you can fit something else, I think. The only problem was that it was quite difficult to get it off-season, so I didn't get much of it. I don't even dare to tell you the price!"

While speaking, he also turned his back to us, rummaging through a basket, and waving a green, almost completely opaque bottle in front of him. After placing it on the table, he picked from one of the cupboards just as many vials as would be enough for everypony present, and, making room for them, collected them on a tray. He pulled the cork out of the bottle with a loud pop, then filled each vial to the top with some yellowish, cloudy liquid.

I found it very suspicious, and it probably showed, as the stallion hoofed me the first portion with an encouraging smile. "Don't worry Thread, there's nothing in it that would make us steal trains! It's just plain must, but it's insanely delicious. So it is not a sin in any sense to toast with this."

I took the vial a little warily and sniffed it curiously. The pure, concentrated aroma of grapes almost washed over my nose after the sweet, herbal scent that filled everything up until now, to which I had gotten so used to for a few minutes that I almost forgot about it. However, I really didn't smell any alcohol, so I didn't make any comments. Everypony else got a vial as well, then Lotus stopped in front of us and held up his own.

"As I look at you, I see special ponies, a special team," began the stallion in a voice as if he wanted to make a proper speech. "We started as one class and finished as one class, but not just as teammates, but as friends. As much as we came together by chance, we have stayed together steadfastly over the years, and I think that is a rarity in our year, or even in the entire Academy. We are connected by shared adventures, shared memories, everyday experiences and time spent together outside of school. A couple of ponies who wouldn't have anything to do with each other anyway... but even now you've all come! After passing our last exam together, we could have split up, like most ponies do, but we stayed together, and I think that's amazing!"

"During these years, however, not only friendships were born! Four of us found love within the class, which I think is also a pretty good ratio. You are also very lucky, Thread, with Ambrosia, and we wish you much happiness!" He waited for us to smile and nod to thank him for the good wishes, then he continued. "Stella and I are now connecting our lives. When I joined you, I could never have imagined that I would find not only such great friends, but also my future wife. Thank you for always being by my side, by our side, and for being here with us now, on this important day, and sharing our joy! Cheers, my friends!"

The stallion raised his vial, then clinked with each of ours in turn. We also went around each other so that nopony missed out, and then simultaneously raised the strange glasses to our mouths. Lotus certainly wasn't lying, the must was something sublime. In taste, it even beat the finest wines I've ever tasted, so the stallion really found a special quality for this occasion. The only thing missing was alcohol, but maybe it was possible to survive without it, sometimes. As much as my friends meant to me, I really believed that we can have a good party while being sober for once.

"Of course, those not present are the exception," Cavern noted glumly. "Only the hard core is left here from the class."

We left it to that. Scorch has always tried to be a bit of an outsider, so it was his loss if he stayed out of everything. Dulcimer left us a long time ago. Everypony who matters has come. The night was still young, so none of us wanted to complain about something like that. It really was a miracle that we stuck together.

* * *

We stayed up for a long time. Lotus even played music for us from a phonograph, so we could even dance as much as space allowed. The only problem - if we considered it a problem - was that there were only three mares for four stallions, and the couples were quite attached to each other. I obviously stuck to Ambrosia as much as possible, and Lotus wouldn't have replaced Stella with anypony, even temporarily, so Wish had to be shared by two. Of course, it was completely clear to me that she would prefer Jasper, but she let Cavern ask her out for a while. They rocked quietly through a slow song - it was impossible to do anything else in the cramped space anyway - but after that the stallion left us apologizing profusely, saying that he still wanted to rest before tomorrow's work. I guessed that he was only bothered by the fact that he didn't have a partner.

I can't even tell you how long we stayed. Sure enough, the final push to go was when Wish dropped her plate to the floor with a loud clatter. Afterwards, she said she just picked some snacks for herself and wanted to put it on the table, but somehow miscalculated the distance. Of course, this was just the excuse; I could see in her wide-eyed thousand-mile stare that she was so sleepy, she could barely stand on all fours. She stared at the shards in such a horrified and confused way, as if at first, she did not comprehend what had happened.

She's really been a bit clumsier lately, although I've put it down to her being in love. Ever since she told me how she felt about Jasper, I could see it in every move they made towards each other. It didn't take any special explanation that the boy - after he also found that Wish could be very sleepy - immediately offered to walk her home. And Wish, of course, immediately agreed. I didn't have much desire to stay either, and Ambrosia also seemed to prefer to spend the rest of the night leaning against my side and sleeping peacefully in a soft bed. I didn't want to miss the opportunity either, to walk in the dark with my friends as long as possible.

Everything was fine until we crossed the same square on the way back, where I had to stop for some reason. The exact same feeling returned. And this time it would have been harder for me to attribute it to the play of light and shadow. The streetlights shone almost without flinching. Yet...

"Something isn't right..." I said my thoughts in a low voice.

"What's wrong Thread?" asked Wish with almost alarming concern, now completely awake.

"I have no idea!" I grimaced. "Don't you feel something... strange? Like I'm seeing something that... that I shouldn't..."

"I dunno whaccha mean, pal," Jasper looked around with narrowed eyes. "But it ain't no fun hangin' around here. Let's trot! If ya see somethin', tell us right away!"

I was about to do as he said, but before I started, I noticed that Wish was standing with her eyes closed and muttering something to herself. But just before I could address her, she looked up again, turned around, and then slightly shook her head.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Me?" she looked at me, almost surprised. "I didn't do anything! Let's go!"

I had no intention of arguing. I wanted nothing more than to finally be home and get rid of all these stupid feelings. And I vowed that I would avoid this strange place as much as possible...

* * *

The next day we all felt the recoil from staying up so long. In the morning I could barely open my eyes, but afterwards I just laughed at my own stupidity, what I could have imagined about that damn square. In the first place, a place shouldn't have made me so terrified. Especially after I re-identified the feeling in myself afterwards. It was nothing like the time when I went inside a crypt with my parents when I was still a foal. It was more of a shudder, like when somepony takes a book off my shelf and arranges the rest so that there are no holes in between. I can see the deficiency, but I wouldn't be able to tell what's wrong...

I talked to Ambrosia a little more about this after waking up, but when we got to our meeting place in front of the school, it was no longer a topic. There, Jasper and Wish and I just laughed - since it seems only we were early enough - that Lotus and Stella must have had a very eventful night, that's why they came so late. And indeed, even Scorch appeared before them, though he had a habit of sleeping the longest.

"Ya missed yesterday's amazin' party," Jasper rubbed under the nose of the red stallion as soon as he arrived.

"Couldn't care less..." Scorch snorted, then covered his mouth to hide a yawn.

"But you shouldn't be feeling left out all the time; we always welcome you," Wish remarked.

"Yeah, damn right!" the stallion continued to grumble. Apparently, we didn't find him in the best mood. "You always drag me into some dumb shit, and then I have to wake up early to suck some recreational dick with you."

"Lotus and Stella got engaged, just so you know," she continued.

"Terrific," Scorch rolled his eyes wearily.

"You look tired," I remarked. "Did you sleep badly?"

"None of your business..."

I wasn't used to him talking to me in such a tone, but if he was so grumpy, I didn't want to pester him anymore. I rather hugged Ambrosia, even though before I closed my eyes, I caught the mischievous glances that Jasper and Wish were exchanging with each other. They'd seemed very cheerful since we'd met this morning anyway, so it even crossed my mind that something else might have happened last night after Jasper walked Wish home. It would have been a great relief if they finally told each other their feelings. And in such a situation, especially after Lotus explained so abundantly how good it is to find the love of our life, it was quite easy to bring it up as a topic.

"Good morning, younglings!" we were greeted by a strong-looking stallion wearing a gardener's outfit, whom I recognized as the school's custodian. "I know it's expected to be very hot today, but your tasks will be outside. A few flower beds should be weeded a little, because the goosegrass has already spread a lot in them. So, sorry boys and girls, by the end of the day you're going to hate me because it's going to get stuck in your fur in places where you'd think it's impossible! Let's get down to it, don't waste time!"

"One moment, sir!" called Wish in a thin voice. "Sorry, but not everypony is here yet! Three are missing..."

I didn't even notice it until now, but it's true: not only Lotus and Stella were late, Cavern didn't get here in time either. Strange...

"Nopony said anything about that to me," the stallion shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter, we'll start, and then when they come, I'll tell them what to do as well."

Everything happened as the custodian said. Canterlot probably set a new heat record that day; the sweat just poured off us, forming an unpleasant, muddy mixture with the flower soil, and this, supplemented by the sticky leaves, together provided a truly unrivalled experience. It would have been terribly easy if we could have just used our horns to eradicate the weed, but it was hidden so well among the plants we wanted to keep that we had to climb over head and ears in the plantation, just to be able to separate the useful from the harmful. Even so I had fewer available hooves than was necessary, and it turned out to be a serious dilemma to decide whether I should wipe my forehead or scratch where the sticky crap stuck to my fur.

What was not right, however, was that our numbers did not seem to increase. There were five of us at the start, and there were still five of us at the lunch break. There was no news of our friends, which I found extremely disturbing. When our supervisor announced the break, I crumbled to dust and tried to shake off all the extraneous matter - although I was not successful in the least, because unlike clean water, with integrity recreation, I could not separate the half-dried mud or the pieces of plants from me, even based on the actual state of matter -, then I hurried straight to the stallion.

"Sir, our three companions still haven't arrived," I began. "Could you possibly find out where they might be? Or will there be any consequence to this? They have to make up for it or something...?"

"This is not my competence, but of course I will report their absence," answered the custodian with an easygoing smile. "And if you're that interested, just ask around!"

"I will..." I muttered under my breath, turning away from the pony.

My companions had already unpacked their lunch on one of the nearby wooden tables. When I walked over, Ambrosia smiled and pushed a large sandwich into my hoof - obviously it wouldn't have made sense to pack something that needed to be heated - and then patted the bench next to her cheerfully. I sat down next to her, and although it didn't escape my attention when Jasper hoofed Wish his own, richly stuffed baguette for her to bite into - which she did, by the way, blushing a little - I kept my eyes on Scorch while eating. True to his habit, the red stallion positioned himself as far away from us as possible at the table, but he only poked around in his own lunchbox.

"When did Lotus get back to the dorm yesterday?" I tried to ask him, but he apparently did not pay attention to my words at all. "Hey, Scorch! I'm talking to you."

At last he was willing to look me in the eye, although as sullenly as he did, I would almost prefer it if he hadn't.

"What now?"

"I asked what time did Lotus get back to your room?" I repeated myself.

"How should I know? I was sleeping..."

I didn't like how he avoided my gaze again. It was like he was trying to hide something...

"And were any of them there in the morning? Lotus or Stella?"

"I wasn't paying attention."

I have never heard more obvious equivocation in my life. However, until I found out why he was lying to me, I didn't push any further.

"Maybe they spent the night at Stella's?" Jasper asked.

"Of course, it's possible," I answered calmly. "When we can go home, let's go to the dormitory first and ask him what the heck that was! And if they're not there, we could check over to Stella. Are you with me?"

"Of course!" Jasper replied immediately, and the two mares just nodded.

"You coming too, Scorch?" I asked innocently.

"Got better things to do..." he shrugged.

"It's okay, we have enough ponies anyway," I agreed.

I didn't talk much at lunch after this, I just took turns watching Jasper and Wish entertain each other, and I kept an eye on Scorch. I couldn't wait until we were finally done with our task for the day and I could finally look into this whole thing.

* * *

We have never gotten so tired from work as we did that day. Even Jasper, who was the toughest among us, admitted that it was a bit much for him too. The whole procedure was more complicated than it seemed at first. Uprooting entire plants without damaging nearby flowers required a surprisingly high level of concentration from us. Wish made it through, but for my part, towards the end, I considered using Jasper's tactic of pulling the weeds with my teeth instead. I also felt a strong temptation several times to cut down the entire flower bed in my dust-form with one decisive swipe, solving the whole weed problem in a flash, but of course, I quickly discarded the idea.

When we finished, we had to pay a visit to one of the school's washrooms with showers, we were so dirty and sweaty. I, for my part, would have been satisfied with a garden hose, and after taking a bath, I didn't even towel off, but instead took on my clothes fully wet. The thought behind it was, at least it keeps me cool for a while, and as it turned out, I was right, because by the time we reached the dormitory, I was almost completely dry.

Even though Scorch shared a room with Lotus, true to his promise, he really didn't come with us, even though he refused to explain where he was going. However, we did not find the blue stallion and his fillyfriend - more precisely now his fiancée - in the building, and no matter how much we asked Lotus's roommates or the other residents, nopony knew anything. So we followed my plan and all four of us headed towards Stella's house. Good thing she wasn't as secretive as Wish, so we all knew exactly where she lived. We visited her twice as a group, at a pajama party similar to the one I organized the first time, so we even knew her parents quite well. Oddly enough, they weren't as weird as their daughter, but it's true that sometimes they too had quite a peculiar way of thinking.

We soon reached the house with the big garden. A few ponies were lounging around in the street, but we saw no movement from inside. We didn't mess around much: while we were watching, Jasper energetically shook the small brass bell hung above the gate. We waited for a minute or so, but no answer came. The boy tried again but nothing happened.

"Are they working?" asked Ambrosia timidly.

"Whether they are or aren't, I want to know where those two birds have flown," I answered, pressing a kiss to the mare's nose.

"What should we do?" Wish asked worriedly.

"Buck me, I'll go in and look around!" I said after some thought.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Ambrosia grabbed my shoulder as if to hold me back.

"If anypony knows better, I welcome any suggestions!"

My friends just looked at me uncertainly, so I put my plan in motion. Slipping out of my fillyfriend's embrace, I dispersed into a fine cloud of dust and floated through the fence, aiming straight for the door. It's a pity that I already had enough practice in this sort of thing, but at least I was able to squeeze myself through the keyhole without hindrance.

There was silence inside. Only the ticking of a pendulum clock echoed through the walls, which I remembered how annoying it had been during our last visit. But nothing else, not even a buzz a fly.

I floated around everything carefully, paying attention to every detail. All the rooms looked pretty much the same as the last time I visited. It was a bit more orderly than it was then, they replaced the dilapidated lamp shade in the living room, but otherwise I didn't find anything special. In Stella's room, there was no clear indication of where the occupants might be. Gently prodding the walls, I tried to search for hidden rooms, but I found nothing. Nothing at all.

It just wouldn't let me rest, what in Tartarus could have happened. I didn't want to give up the search, but I felt completely hopeless. I flew out of the house and rejoined my friends. I just shook my head at their questioning looks.

"And now?" Wish asked.

"I won't leave it at that!" I answered with determination. "You go home, and I'll find the only pony who must know the answers!"

Author's Note

Must=young wine