Chapter 7, The Other Side of Fear

Claire woke up on a couch. Rubbing her eyes she sat up. It was Sunday right? It was bright, where was the smell of bacon?

Yesterday's events came back to her and immediately she curled up into a ball, breaths coming rapidly. “I… I died.” She whispered.

“Oh, you're awake.” A voice said to her left. Looking up over the arm of the couch she saw a mint-colored unicorn descending a staircase, hair wrapped in a towel. “You… Do you want breakfast?” Lyra freaking Heartstrings asked Claire with a head motion indicating through the door in the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

“I think I'm dead,” Claire responded. Eyes seeing but brain not registering. The truck had hit her. She had felt the pain, and then… “Where am I?” her eyes focused on Lyra who had one eyebrow raised.

“Well, little ghost, you felt pretty alive to me last when you wouldn't let go of my leg. As to where you are, welcome to Ponyville. You missed the Summer Sun Celebration, though that didn't go to plan.” She slowly approached Claire. “And if you are a ghost, don't worry, you aren't the scariest thing here." she lowered her voice to conspiracy levels. “That award goes to Bonbon. Now come on and tell me what little ghosties eat.” A mint glow surrounded Claire, lifting her onto Lyra's back.

Lyra turned on the lights as she entered the kitchen. “Do you have coffee cake?” Claire asked after racking her brain. Asking for bacon probably wouldn't go over well.

“Sure!” Lyra replied, horn leaping into action, pans, bowls, and ingredients started flying about. “I'll give you the best pumpkin cream cheese surprise coffee cake you've ever tasted. And all I ask for in exchange is a story while I work. Tell me how a cute pegasus like you died and ended up in Ponyville as a solid, hungry ghost that sleeps on couches.”

Claire blushed, she wasn't cute darn it! She was, well, not that, something else. “First off, I'm not from here. I'm from Melbourne.”

“Melbourne? I’ve never heard of that place. Where is it?”

“I don't think it’s even in this universe.” Claire slowly replied. Fandom Lyra was always doing crazy things in her pursuit of humans, but this was probably canon Lyra, who didn't do much. Aside from crying about parasprites eating her cake and sitting weirdly.

“A multiverse traveling solid ghost pegasus?" Lyra laughed, then noticed the troubled look Claire had. “I'm teasing. I'm teasing. So you are a pegasus from Melbourne in a different universe, you died somehow and ended up here?” A small nod returned. “That sounds like something from a Neighpon Manega. Do you have a name?”

“Well my parents named me Claire, but everybody calls me Scoots, or Scootaloo, because of my scooter.”

“Well I don’t know about Claire, but Scootaloo has a nice ring to it.” Lyra finished pouring the glop she had made into a pan and put it in an oven. “There, it should be ready by the time Bonbon wakes up and gets ready. Do you want coffee? Who am I kidding, you're a pegasus, they all drink coffee.” she paused. “Except Rainbow Dash…” her eyes narrowed. Before taking on a mock scholar voice "Believe me young Scoot, you stand in the very epicenter of weirdness. The Everfree on the doorstep of this town is only the beginning, there are pegasi who don't drink coffee, earth ponies who teleport, and I believe that there is an infestation of bugs!”

Claire, now known to Lyra as Scootaloo tilted her head. She hadn't seen this coming. She half expected the unicorn to hold up both hands, no hooves, and exclaim ‘Aliens!’ That wouldn't be very far off, Scootaloo supposed, she herself was, after all, an alien.

“And now you add yourself to this fantastical world, join me and we will catalog every secret, unturn every stone! Eat every-”

“Lyra, calm down, you're scaring the poor thing with your conspiracy theories.” Bonbon stood in the doorway. “I don't open the sweetshop until noon today, so we have some time to discuss some things.” She looked at Scootaloo, “Like what we are going to do with you. And you!” She pointed a hoof at Lyra, “Get down from the counter!”

♢ ♢ ♢

Rarity opened her eyes. That had been the most unrestful night ever! She couldn't remember her dreams, but they hadn’t been fun. She wanted to flop over and go back to sleep, but she had to get up and ready for the boutique to open.

Groaning at the unfairness of it all, Rarity wiggled to the edge of the bed and got out, putting on her slippers and bathrobe, she made her way to the bathroom to start getting ready to face the day.

Tooth brush, check, curlers, check, eyeshadow- WHAT BY PRINCESS CELESTIA’S FLUFFY BEARD WAS THAT? Rarity dropped everything in shock and peered closer at the mirror. It couldn't be.

No!

It had to be!

“Bags under my eyes! This is the worst possible thing! I'm HIIIIdeOOOuuuseee!”

“fool”

“Who said that?” Rarity whipped around. Was someone in the Boutique? Before it opened? “Hello?”

˚₊‧꒰ა ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

“Humans exist! Humans exist! Who was right? I was right!”

“Lyra! Get off the table! … And stop dancing!”

Ѽ Ѽ Ѽ

Applejack looked up from her letter at her older brother who was reading over her shoulder. “That seem ‘bout right?”

“Eeyup!” he replied.

“Alright then, I'll go post it town and see about talkin’ to Twi.”

He gave her a look that said, You better do that Applejack, you said you would, and on your honor as an Apple I hold you to that promise. I'm going to tend to the South Orchard and check on how they are coming. Apple Bucking season is right around the corner so they are almost ripe.

“Alright, Big Mac,” Applejack gulped with a little nervousness. Before setting out with a list of self-imposed torture to complete. Why couldn't I have just worried about this on the inside instead of panicking in front of Big Mac?

Ponyville was in a state of cleanup. The visitors had long since left, either out of fear when Nightmare Moon showed up, or the next day after the Princess had failed to show up. Banners were being taken down and ponies were trying to figure out what to do with them.

Applejack ignored it and entered the Ponyville Post office. The low-slung wooden building only had one room in the front. One wall was covered in post boxes, and the opposite one was covered in stands displaying cards, envelopes, boxes, and stamps.

Applejack ignored all of these as she approached the front counter, fortunately, Kevin was working the counter today, no chance of Ditzy messing up instructions again.

“I want to post a letter,” Applejack slid the envalope across the counter. “Out of town.”

“Applejack,” the black unicorn looked at the letter presented. “This letter lacks a stamp. Do you want to buy one?”

“It's prepaid, Apple to Apple priority mail,” Applejack responded by pointing at the special stamp set.

Kevin raised an eyebrow, “I don't know how you Apples managed to get this worked into the system.” He muttered as he stamped the letter. “Do you want the bill or?”

“No thanks, Kevin” Applejack turned away, she had another task to take care of…

The Ponyville Library was in a tree. Applejack never knew how to feel about it. On one hoof, it was imaginative and cool, on the other it probably hurt the tree in the start, and she wasn't sure how it was still alive with its center hallowed out. The fact that it was thick enough to house an entire library with modern amenities for living was weird enough. And it was here that Ponyville's newest resident had taken up living and working.

Giving a sigh, Applejack knocked on the door of the treehouse. It was a library, but it currently was somepony's house, and there was a closed sign on the door

“Just a moment!” a young voice called from the inside, “The Library is currently undergoing sorting and inventory takering.”

“Spike! That's not a word!” Twilight yelled from farther inside. “It's ‘taking inventory’ please learn proper grammar!”

The door opened as one whole despite originally having three pieces.“What can I help you with…” Spike trailed off a bit, “Apple…rack?”

“Applejack,” she responded, “I’m here to talk to Twilight and ask her a que-”

Spike turned around and yelled, “TWILIGHT! Applejack is here! She wants to talk to you about something!” The door closed in Applejack's face. Shortly thought she heard the sounds of hooves walking to the door and it opened to reveal Twilight.

“Yes, Applejack?” Twilight asked

“Ah need to talk with you about something. Uh, not here.” Applejack looked around. “Do you think you could come and keep me company while I take care of some things on the farm? It would be better to discuss it there.” She knew that she was only delaying the inevitable, but Applejack didn't want to be in Ponyville when talking about this.

“Sure, I can join you,” Twilight said stepping forward, “Spike has been asking for a break for half the morning. Spike! I'm going with Applejack to Sweet Apple Acres. I should be back by lunch!”

“Yes!” could be heard from inside.

The walk was fine enough, the weather team was keeping the sky clear for the morning while building up a large cloud bank to rain in the afternoon to water the crops that hadn't had water for a few days, and to draw down the warm summer heat. But for Applejack, it was a march to her doom, all the while wondering how Twilight would react to what she had to say. After all, she had just found out that her mentor, the Princess, had been keeping a very large secret from her for years and had used her almost like a pawn to reach a goal.

Almost too soon, they reached the farm.

“Where did everypony go?” Twilight looked around. “I thought you had a large family, Applejack.”

“I have a very large family, but they all live all across Equestria. They left yesterday to take care of their own farms and businesses." Applejack responded, leading Twilight to the barn and entering it. Shafts of light pierced the darkness and illuminated floating motes of dust. Applejack walked over to grab a basket while Twilight looked around.

“Your barn has a few holes in the roof,” Twilight noted, looking up at the source of a few shafts of light.

“Yes, it does, but that's not why we are here, Twi.” Applejack turned around. Twilight could see the strain of worry on Applejack's face. “We're here because I need to talk to you about something. Particularly the elements.”

“What about them?” Twilight asked, confused about where Applejack was going.

“Ah shouldn't be the Element of Honesty.” Applejack sat down, “Ah have a really large secret that Ah've kept my whole life. Ah don't like it, but I have too!” she exclaimed as Twilight’s face got more confused.

“Are… are you going to tell me what it is? Is that why we are here?”

“No, Twi, we're here because…” Applejack trailed off, “Ah’ can't tell yah what it is, and it hurts! But Ah’ can't legally or in good conscience ‘cause it affects more than me!” She looked on the edge of tears, Twilight realized.

She felt a little conflicted, she had thought that all the secrets were gone after yesterday, but it appeared that there were still some around, and this was one that she might never learn!

“How does this affect other ponies?” She asked cautiously. “Does it hurt anypony if it doesn't come out?”

“Only my sense of honor and ability to remain the Element of Honesty.” Applejack responded, her hat was now off and held in her hooves. “If it doesn't come out, everypony goes about their day happily, if it does… Equestria might just collapse.”

“This isn't some sort of Government conspiracy, is it? I mean, I'm technically a high-level government worker.” Twilight wanted to give her friend a hug and tell her it would be okay.

“Twi, sugarcube, Ah'm afraid that I can't respond to that answer, and I need your promise that you and the girls won't look into it. If y'all ask me a question that I can't answer without lying and I say I can’t answer, I want your promise that y'all don't press.” Applejack sniffled, and Twilight couldn't help herself, she gave Applejack the biggest hug she could.

“You have my promise I won't pry, I'll even help the other girls understand that this means a lot to you.”

“It would be a lot better if it was a Pinkie promise.”

“A what now?”

“You'll learn soon enough.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

“School? NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Lyra, calm down, it’s not you going, and besides, I would have to be the one to adopt her, you just rent here.”

“And provide the entertainment.”

“She will still have to go to school, she can join your ‘gallivanting’ for mysteries afterward.”

♢ ♢ ♢

Twilight walked in on a sobbing unicorn and a bewildered Spike.

“Oh hey, Twi, these came in for you while you were out,” he motioned at the table where a scroll bearing Celestia's seal rested, and at the now despondent Rarity. “One came by the usual means, and the other drug a couch through the door with no questions asked.”

“I'll read the scroll in a little bit.” Twilight passed the table that stood in the center of the room and approached Rarity. “Are you okay? Are you upset about yesterday?” she asked.

Rarity slowly looked at Twilight, “I'm going insane.” She whispered. “Last night I had the most horrible dreams that I can't remember. I woke up with bags under my eyes because of it. And this morning I heard a voice!” her voice got more frantic as she went on.

“Relax, Rarity,” Twilight patted the hooves that were gripping at her, “auditory and visual hallucinations are a common side effect from having a lack of sleep. It also didn't help that you have had a very stressful last few days including blunt force injury and we made you relive a very traumatic moment in your life.” Twilight looked at Spike. What is up with me having to comfort my friends today? First Applejack and now her. A head tilt indicated Rarity.

I don't know Twi, something in the water? Spike shrugged back from where he had gone back to sorting books in the proper manner.

She turned back to Rarity, “I can cast a low-level sleep spell on you to help you get some sleep, and I know some basic runes to keep bad dreams away. You wouldn't believe what taking care of a baby dragon will teach you.” Spike ignored the jab at his still relatively recent night terrors.

“Please,” Rarity looked at Twilight like she was Celestia telling her that The Carousel Boutique was now the only place that she would get her dresses from, “Please, Twilight.”

“You will want to lie down then,” Twilight grabbed a piece of chalk in her magic and started to draw some runes on the ground around the couch, “you should wake up in time for dinner. Sweet dreams, Rarity.” As soon as Rarity had lay down, Twilight dropped the chalk and hit her with a beam of magic and seamlessly grabbed the chalk again to finish the last few runes.

“Ok, that's taken care of,” she walked over to the table, “I guess I better see what Celestia wants.” Carefully she broke the seal and unrolled the scroll. Two golden tickets fluttered to the tabletop.

“Oh,” Spike swept them up, “It's our yearly Galloping Gala tickets. I'm not sure that I want to go this year.”

“Too many nobles?”

“Too many nobles.”

“Want me to find someone who wants to go instead?”

“Sure, who would want to go to that boring event?”

“Excuse me for wanting to catch up with Cadence and others in the castle.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Lyra turned to Scootaloo as Bonbon closed the door. “Alright, while she is off talking with the mayor to check and make sure that you aren't a runaway and then see about adoption or guardianship, we are going to go on a tour of the town.”

Scootaloo found herself encased in a mint glow and placed on Lyra's back, a lyre floated up to her. “Here, can you hold this for me?” Lyra asked as she opened the door. “I have to be in the park by two to play some music after the rain.”

“Why?” Scootaloo asked as she grabbed onto the lyre with one hoof, somehow able to hold onto it with just her frog, just like magic.

“Well, it's currently my only constant job. The town pays me bits to provide mood music in the park. It's great for pony-watching, and why I know that there are a lot of fishy things going on here.”

Scootaloo squinted her eyes at the bright sunshine as they left the building, letting her get her first good look at the town of Ponyville. The street they were on was made of cobbles though the streets that lead off it seemed to be packed dirt. at one end of the street, she recognized the town hall, its unique gigantic gazebo shape poking into the sky.

“This is Main Street!” Lyra gestured at the spread. “Most of the shops and businesses are here, such as Bonbon's Sweet Shop, Sofas and Quills, and Sugar Cube Corner. We'll drop by at some point as I'm sure somepony would love to meet you.”

Scootaloo had a good idea of who that pony would be, but she had a different question in mind that she wanted answered. “So where does Rainbow Dash work?”

Lyra turned her eyes narrowed. “I thought you were supposed to be from a different universe, how do you know about the members of our weather team?” Scootaloo looked a bit sheepish, this was going to be the hardest thing to explain.

“Well… It's like this… In my universe, this universe is fictional.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow still walking down the street. “Like a book or comic?”

“A TV show about certain ponies who live here.”

“TV?”

“Television, a box that displays moving images with sound, humans use it to share news and fictional stories.”

“I thought humans didn't have magic.”

“It’s not magic.”

“Then how does it work?” Lyra was getting excited.

“I don't know!” Scootaloo was getting frustrated at the sidetrack, “It just works and somebody made a TV show about ponies that gained a lot of fans including me, I died and now I'm in a world that was fictional, maybe this is a dream and I'm going crazy!” She threw her hooves wide in frustration before realizing that some ponies were looking at them.

“Woah there,” Lyra stopped, “calm down there filly. I don't think you are in a dream, At least I hope not.” She levitated Scootaloo in front of her and looked her in the eye. “You have too much conviction to be making anything up, Bonbon will find out if you even exist, she's really good at finding stuff out. So,” she placed Scootaloo back on her back and continued on as ponies turned away to continue what they were doing, “if you don't legally exist, I don't see a reason to not accept your excuse.”

“You are weirdly accepting of the weird," Scootaloo noted.

“A thousand-year-old myth showed up yesterday, a lot of weird things happen here.”

♢ ♢ ♢

Rarity opened her eyes. She was laying on a soft green hillock with warm sun shining down from a clear blue sky. Taking a deep breath she relaxed and felt the warmth from the sun on her fur. Her worries and fears long forgotten, Rarity drank in the peacefulness of the landscape, butterflies flittering by and vibrant colors of gemlike flowers dotted the green of the rolling hills.

Slowly getting up Rarity looked around, it must be time for her to get back to the Boutique. Somehow she couldn't see where Ponyville was, though the landscape felt familiar to her. Starting off in one direction the hills flattened out and led into a broad valley, against one slope was a tall castle built into the side of a large mountain so that the moat only surrounded the front and sides.

Something in the castle called to Rarity and she started off towards the castle. As she got nearer she saw that there were banners flying, but there was no movement on the walls. The closer she got the more she saw that there was damage, burn marks scorched the walls and a few parapets were crumbling, and holes dotted the roof of the keep. There were however no bodies in sight and the sun shone bright as ever.

Entering the castle the destruction got a little worse, forcing her to go around portions of collapsed walls. Still, something called to her and she continued into the keep. Now she took a left from the entrance hall and found herself walking up a spiral staircase. As she climbed the stairs started to look older and older, some crumbling beneath her hooves, though she found herself unfazed and continued on.

She eventually emerged onto the top of a tower high above the castle and keep that were now a heap of crumpled ruins, beyond the slumped walls the moat had drained and a forest of saplings had sprung up in a field of grass and shrubs that choked the land. Rarity gasped with recognition, this was the Castle of the Two Sisters!

“What am I doing here?” she asked peering off the edge of the tower at the ground far below.

“Answering my call” a voice came from all directions in response. The tower was beset by a sudden gust of wind that turned into a howling torrent, shaking the tower. Rarity crouched low and clung at the wood beneath her hooves.

Around her the wind ripped away the scenery as if it were a gauze veil, leaving the tower Rarity was on in a dark violet-tinted void. Beyond a shadow moved as if a shark circling a shipwreck in those sappy adventure romance novels that she loved reading before diving at her with no prior warning. Rarity's scream echoed in the void.

“Hi, Pinkie!” Twilight called entering Sugar Cube Corner, she looked around at the interior of the shop. Outside it looked like a giant gingerbread cottage, but inside it smelled like the Celestial Planes. The scent of baked bread wafted around the warm smell of hot chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, the cool mint of sundaes and icecreams, the spicy cinnamon rolls in the kitchen and pink. That was odd.

“Hiya Twilight!” Pinkie greeted Twilight from where she was handing a blond and grey pegasus a muffin. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! I'll be with you in a minute.” The pegasus placed a few bits on the counter which Pinky deftly scooped into a bit register. “Enjoy your muffin, Ditzy!” she waved at the pegasus.

Twilight approached the counter eyeing the display goods, it would be lunch soon and sorting books made her hungry.

“So,” Pinkie leaned over the counter and gave her a wide grin. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I was going to come and ask for friendship advice, because you seem to have a good handle on the whole thing,” Twilight responded. “But now I am wondering if you have any lunch items here.”

“Weeeell,” Pinky leaned back comically far to check the displays from behind. “We have fresh bread loaves, muffins, scones and pies. I'm afraid that's the closest we have when it comes to lunch items. We tend to serve desserts, breakfasts, treats, and snacks here. As for your friendship problem, tell me all about it and I can try to help.”

“A slice of apple pie please,” Twilight began, mentally counting the bits and needed change. “As for the problem…” Twilight trailed off trying to figure out the best way to approach the subject as she accepted the slice of pie. “Celestia always gives Spike and I two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. Spike doesn't want to go this year as the Nobles always give him a hard time. So I have a ticket to give to somepony, but I don't know who to give it to. I don't know if Applejack or Rainbow Dash would care, but Rarity would, Fluttershy would hate the crowd but might like the gardens, and I have no idea what you would… think…”

Pinkie was vibrating behind the counter, bouncing up and down like a hypercharged spodumene crystal about to explode, a high-pitched ‘eeeeeeeee’ emanating from her.

“Pinkie?” Twilight tried to get her attention. “PINKIE!”

“Oh? Yes, Twilight?”

“I haven’t decided yet, I need your advice.”

Pinkie stopped vibrating and started to droop. “Oh,” she stood still for a few minutes. “I would love to go, but so would everypony else and if one pony goes, everypony else feels left out and is sad.” Twilight could almost swear she saw Pinkie's color getting more grey and desaturated. A timer went off in the back room causing Pinkie to jump. “Thatsthebreadberightback!” she called and disappeared into the backroom.

“Mr. Narrator! Mr. Narrator!” she whispered as she took the bread that was baking out of the oven. “I need your help!”

What is it now Pinkie?

“I don't know what to tell Twilight!”

You got to stop, Pinkie. Stop using me to be a Deus Ex Machina.

“What's that?”

Not important, Pinkie, what is important is that ponies need to learn and grow by making mistakes. If you keep using me to resolve every problem, no one learns and the story is boring.

“But this is important! You come here, I am not letting you go until you tell me how to help Twilight!”

“Put me back, Pinkie! I’m the one keeping the ̴̧͇̦̝͕͇͓͌̀̊͊͒̈́̌͌͊͋̍͘s̸̟̥̦͇̟͈̰̯͇̰̪̰̖̖͑͑t̶̹͛̌o̶͔͕̣̗͖̥͈̟̖̤̮̊̀́͠ͅr̵̡̡̫̪̝̱̟͋̊́̓͘ỷ̷̧̺̾̔̿́̃̒̈͑͐̽̅̒́͗͠f̶̹̖̮͈̘̈́̀̅̒̃͋̈́́ṙ̸̟̬̹̜̺̼̅͑̈͊̅͐o̵̹̬͉͔̻̗͚̅̋́̅̑͒͜͝͠m̵̢͈̩̜̹̝̩̦͇̣̻̓͊̈̂͌̽͗͝ ̵̢̛͕̪͓̞͕͓̼̰͖̥̭̊̈́͊̏̑̓̋̉̑̈́͘̚͘̚f̶̡̘̼͚͍̳̤̍͊͐͋͐͝a̵̢͔̘̪̋͑̇́̅̄͌͋̇́̂͛͌̒͝͝l̷̡̨̼̰̥̲̞̩͈̻͚͙͐̅͂̋̂̂̎͌̕͝l̶̡̛̪̺̬̩̻͎̜̃́̒̅͆͂̾̑̌̑̊͝i̷̧̢̨̫̙̤͕̼̭̖̦̦̥͛̋̈́͜n̴͕̝̬̗̜̿̈́̀̔͐̋̽̈́̀̔g̸̮̭̗̪͈̯̠̟̒̽̾̍͛̊͊̇̄̓̒ͅ ̸͍̥̭̩̦̳̥̻̙̐̀̒̌͌̊a̴̛̬̖̹͇̥͙̝͉̹͍̤̜̗̭̰͂̔͐̐͊̚̕͝ͅp̵͓͎̍̀̇̍͌̎̑̿̇̔̑̄̈́̑̚a̷̻̝̼̠̤̜̬̲̣͎̬̮̣͍͂̈̇̀̓́̕r̶͉͓̠̜̯̖̰͚̯̞̝̯͌̓́ͅt̷̮͔͚̘͇̠̞͚̰͔̪͎͖̳̒ͅ.̶̡̜͓̰͈̱͇̝̥̜̌͗̍̒̑͘ ̸̧̫̻̭͉͇̲̰̳͇̬̟͌̌͆̋͊́̄͋ ̶̧̛̞͎̱̝͓̥̼͎͎͎̖͎̱̞̥͉̳̻̗͖̭̱̻̤̬̝̺̬̲͕̖͙͔͇͇̭̯̃͛̓́̌̊̑̅̆͊͋́̾̔̉͑̓͑͒̈́́́͛̀̍̆͌̿͒͑͊́̈́̎̓̍̀̒̐̐̄̊́̈́̂̄̆̄̒̓̓͊̎̈́͂͗̕̕̕͘͝͝͝͝͝ͅṔ̸̢̡̨̧̛̦̲͙̥͖̩̱̦̫͎̝̩̝̣̠̖͉͚̘͖̳̰̦͔͇̳̮͔̟̠̲̱̦̬͎͚͍̱͚͍͙͇̀̏̓́͆̐̽͛͂́͆̽̓̓̅̓̐̽͊̿̓͑̂̽̓͐͐͑̈͂͒̌̾̏̽̉̈́̋͌͐̽̓̾̒̌͗͐̾̇͛̆̽̃̍͑̍͌̊͆̄͑́̋͛͆̉̇̍̈́͆̈́̕͝͝͠ͅͅȗ̴̢͓̱̳͔̫͚͉̜̹͖̟͇̙͖̜̗̑͒̌̈̔͋̀͂̈́͆̄̾̈̀̋͂̅̅̒̓̓͑͐̄̾͛̿̔̕̚͜͠͝͝ṱ̵̨̛͖̱̳̳̪̱̖͓̺̯͙̯̠͔̲͖͇̩͆͋͂̔̇̾͆̔̇͌̔͛͂͊̀̀̎̋͊̓͗̂͐̋̈́̅̈́̑̃͂̃͌͆̀̾͂͋͛̊͊̾̃̍̓͋̇̎̍̄̓̇̔̂̈̑̈́̌̅̐́͑̅͛̀̀͂̅̉̀̈͘͘͘̕͘͘͜͝͝͝ͅ ̷̢̨̢̢̛̜͍̲͚͎̖͕̥̫̝̣̻̟̙̳̮̠̳̦̮̱̫̱͚͕̙̬̰͎̝̟̰̯̝̋͋̆̿̍̈͆̃̽̌̈́͒̾́͒͛̄̔͌͐̌̔̓̿́́̂͗͊͑̌̈͆̔̐͐̉͗̐̽͐͋͋͗̃͗́͘̕͘̚͘͜͠͠͠m̷̨̡̨̢̢̨͙̗̳̜̻͖͔̪̹̰̮̩͙̲͍̹̺̼̝͙̠̹̰̰̰̦͚̝͈͎͔͍͖̮̗̖͇̘̻̙̮͇͈̱̗̙͖̝͉͍̣͖͓̭͓̩͈̰̠͈͎̭̠̖̖̝̺̍͒͐̽̈́̄̅̄̔̌̀̿͋͐͗͘̚͝͝è̵̡̨̡̡̢̯̞̩̦̼̟̼̙̗̣̤͈̼͖̰̺̝̱̠͚̹͚̜͉̱̙̘̙̱͉̻̼̲̼̻̝̗͗̒͑͌̈́̍̅̍̈́͛̑̀̿͐̋͌͜͜͜͜͠ͅ ̷̨̧̛̛͔̬̗̰̟͇͙̗̯̻̙̭͈̥̙̺̟͔͕̩̼̳̩̥͌͛̏̓̆̔̂̒̅͋̌̀̑̈́̅̽̀͗͑̆̄͒͋̀̾̏͛̉̈́̅̈́͂̀̂̔̃̓͒͒͛͘͜͜͜͠͠͝͝b̴̧̡̡̛̹̝̞͇͕̼̬̗̭̝̦͇̦̰̜̲̖̻̤̲̅̂̄̃̏̀̐̊̎̓͗͊̋̿̏̔̈́̑͌͌̉̌͊͒̍̆̌̍̒̍͘̚̚͜͝à̶̢̛͍̖͍̊͒̀̏̀̅͗͌̈́͑̌̈́͋̓̐̎͗̔̋̅̐̀̆̔̀̈́͂̇̀̎̔͆̔̀͛̋̏͊̈́͗̊͂͗͑͐͗͐̇͘͘̚͜͠͝͝͝c̸̨̧̢̛̛͚̹̮̙̟͙̟̙̞̖͖̤̫̩̟̥͖̘͉̖̩̻͉̦̦̜͚̰̟̥͈̖̪̲̹͍̞͍̠̠̯̻̥̻̙͖͚̬̼̣͈̔̾̈́̾̒̾̐͑̍͗̐̈̆̔̒̃̋̆͂̏͌̓̕͜͜͠͝͝k̵̨̟͓̫͔̩͚̱̹̜̪̺͔̙͚͙͉̺͎̘̭̱̞̰̞͓̬̺̥̳̙̰̖̑̉̿̆͑͐̔̀͆̓̅͋̒̔̊̈́̀̎̓͛̂̓̂̊͛̈́͌́͌̅͛́̈̒̓͘̕̕̚͜͝͠͝,̴̨̧͓̱̝̤̝͙̞͔̹̞̞̜̥͙͔͔̦̟͈̜̞̮̳͖̖͈̺͔̫̪̗̜̻̯̤̫̹̝̠̥̺̫̖̟͉͖̣̟̖̣͍͙͛̓͜͜͜͠ͅͅ ̵̧̨̧̧̛̮̗̠͓͈͕̰̯̖̭̠͚͉͙̭̰̲̝̹̞̖̮̲̩̯̺̲̜̯̰̻͚̱͍̬̪̹͓͇̦̮̟̮̹͉̞͉̬̺̻͍̤͕̥̖͙̩̝͍̜̖̯̟̦̗͑̑͐̎͛͗͋̈́̐̂̂̃͛̉̓̅̂̔͛̾̓̂̀͌̀͌̈̅̉̋̄͑̔̀͆̄̋̈́̆̀̀͋̈̀̄̏̆̓̿̾̒͛͑̾̈́̐̐̂̽̇̔̓̎͐̓́͌̋̽̇̄͛͘̚̚͘̕̚̚͘̕̚̕̕͜͜͝͝͝P̴̧̢̧̢̨̧̧̛͍̩̠̣͙̹̺̩̯̺̖͚̮̥͖̫̭̘̙̜̝̯̬̺̭͉͙͈͕̯̯͉͕̙̱͓̟̲͓̗̯͕̟̲̰̪͈̱̠̼̗̖̲̑͗͂̓͛̄̉̊͆̏͐̀̾͋͌̀̂̔̍̏̂͌͗̈́̾̐̐̂̿̈́̓̈́̏̽͛͐̀̎̈́͌̍͗̽̌̎̾͛̽̒͆͑͛̈́̿̀̃͌̽́͑̾̂͑̈̊̆͒̽͌̚̚̚̚͜͜͠͠͝͝͠͠͝͠͝͝ͅͅͅͅͅį̶̡̨̨̟̺̟͉͎̤̱̠̞̲̱̗͇̤͓̦̟̳͚̖̗̹͈͇̳͙͔̞̥̩̹̝̹̗̤̩̤̼̳̳̞̭̪̯̪͔̬̞̫̯̳̰̳̞̬̬͙̱͎̘͕̜̠̹̯̑̊́̆̆̈͋́̓͂̈́͆̀̓̉́̀͊͊̔̅̓̆͗̔̐̃́̈̂͋͂̈́͋̆́̀̈́̎́͒͘̕̚͠ǹ̴̢̨̨̢̢̬͇̣̫̞̣̮̩̲͍͍̖͖͓̩̲͓̬̻̙̹̞̭͚̬̠͕̳̼͖̩̳̖͚͉̻͕̠͓̹̱̺̯̱͙̳̤͎̼̥̩͈͙̭̬͇̲̐͛̀̐͐̍́̐̇̓̉̒̚͜ͅͅͅͅķ̶̛̺̠̗͈͕͇̬̱̩̬͉̮̫̪̞̞̟̰̩̩̦̹̗̳̲̰̹͕̱̪̀̉̎͌̒͊̀̂͆̇̐̉̓̆̈́̐̈́́͊̋̀̀̕͠͝͝į̷̢̨̧̧̙̗̰̠̲͎̮̦̫̦̞̺̩̱̣͔̪͎̮̫̣̪͍̦͈͎̠̪͉̟͕̦̱̲̥̭̳͖̙͔̺̪̜̮̣̜̤͙͎̥̗̗̲̞̮̝̪͚̣̜̩͔͉͉̝͖̠̱̞̼̯̦̟͉̟͙̙̙̜̙͔̅̿͒́͌̅̌̈́̇́͌͛̎̀̾̍̉̓͗̽̈͛͆̀̃̍̏͌̋̑̇͑́͋̈́̓̒̀̽͐̿͐̄̽͐́̋̄̒̓̊̑̕̚͘̚̚̚͜͜͜͠ͅͅȩ̵̢̨̢̤̫̲̬̮̪̖̠͓̳̮̘͔̥̘̳͎̗̱̮̮̠͓̺̬̣͎̹̟̱̯̗͇̳̗͔̲̯̫͎̮̯̖̪͉̪͍̰̖̦̹͔͇͖̪̩̬͙̟̤̬̯͒̍̌̎̋̈͋̍̂͌̏͐̎͛͒̎̍̃̆̏̑͂̽͘͘͜͠͝͠͠͠͝ͅ!̵͇̪̞́̐̋̈͑͛̔̃̎̑̌̕͜.

Author's Note

SpikeSmolder fan Asked: “Fluttershy, Now that you met Spike will your fear against dragons be curbed down a bit?”

Fluttershy peared over the back of the giant white wolf, eyes wide searching the room. “W-w-who said that?”

Ask characters questions in the comments bellow, they might get answered!

After a week of classes ramping up, I have found the time when my writing muse is satisfied. Bad news, it only happens 3 times a week and for an hour each time. Yeah, chapters are going to be slower. Also If I remembered, I edited chapter 6 because School isn’t in. It's the summer, School won’t be in for a little bit. That's when The Cutie Mark Crusaders fun starts.

Last thing: controversial I know, but Lyra and Bonbon aren’t dating. For several reasons, one being that I don’t feel comfortable writing romance (refer to previous Sparity statement), the other being I don’t want this story to turn into a dating gaming show like other stories have, like Twilight gets a Puppy or Hazy School Days. Did you know that according to Equestrapedia, Bonbon has an interest in Geology? This is because she is a member of the Equestria Geological and Gemological Society (E.G.G.S.) in the comics.

That said, feel free to throw shade in the comments while I fix reality and get the story back on track. Am I rambling? I feel like I’m rambling. How is your day going? Should I change the chapter numbers to the Chapter names or just add the names to the title in the main index?