Winner

Chapters

He came from a Land Down Under
A Ruby in the Wine
Morning of Crusades
House of Doo (Unedited)
Rough Diamond (Unedited)

He came from a Land Down Under

It was a typical day for the colts and fillies of Ponyville as they busied themselves entering the quaint little classroom of the town’s only schoolhouse. Their little hooves clip-clopped across the wooden floorboards as their gossip and chatter filled the air with an ambient warmth that only came from the familiar and routine.

Everything from the Crusaders’ chatting animatedly about their ideas for new ways to find their Cutie Marks, to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gossiping about this and that with that air of superiority they always carried, and Snips yammering away to Snails about whatever was on his mind. Even that chubby colt with the fez hat that always read the newspaper was routine and normal to the foals.

Indeed, today was going to be just another great day to be a foal in Ponyville.

The first hint the foals had that the balance of their usual routine was to be shifted was the spring in their beloved teacher’s step as she practically pranced into the room with a large smile on her face. Granted, Cheerilee loved to teach and was always perky when she started classes for the day, but she was too practical to burn extra energy by prancing so early in the morning.

After she gave the class a cursory glance to ensure nopony was absent, all were present and accounted for, the purple mare grinned widely at her class of bright eyed and bushy tailed young minds. It was with a voice laced with excitement that she announced, “Good morning, class! I have wonderful news for all of you; today I get to introduce you all to a new classmate!”

And thus, routine left the building.

“Skywinder! That’s your cue, dear!” Cheerilee chimed animatedly as she gestured towards the door nearest her desk. After nearly a minute of silence and nopony entering through the door, the educator felt a small bead of sweat work its way down the back of her head. Her eyebrow descended into a miffed V shape even as she managed to maintain her grin before trotting over to the door and looking outside.

They hoped Routine had assassinated the interloper on the way out.

In the corridor Cheerilee quickly came face to face with a massive, rusty brown male gryphon with reddish brown hind-quarters, wearing a beat up old akubra hat on his head. Dangling from his mouth was a cheated looking colt with a mane the same colour as the gryphon’s plumage, only it appeared the colt disliked combs, judging by how messy it was, but with a coat as purple as the sky at dusk.

The adults exchanged a glance before the gryphon dropped the colt to the floor and looked the child in the eye, “I know you aren’t too happy about all this, mate, but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” he chided in his accented voice.

With a grunt, the colt just rolled his orange eyes while righting himself before replying with the same accent in his voice, “Don’t mean I have to like it.” He turned his gaze towards Cheerilee and sighed with defeat, “Alright, alright… let’s get this over with.”

Cheerilee glanced back at the gryphon before raising a questioning eyebrow. All she got in reply was the gryphon glancing at the colt and then at the exit and a few subtle motions of the male’s eyebrows telling her all she needed to know. The colt tried to make a run for it, and his father had been waiting just outside the front door, having known what his son was going to do.

She wondered if she would be able to do that when she had foals of her own.

“Alright then, come along now,” she chirped as she regained the spring in her step, and her wide smile returned. “Your new classmates are waiting.”

As she turned, the colt’s eyes fell over her mature form, tracing the line of her back to the lush curves of her flank and the smiling flower Cutie Mark emblazoned upon it. A primal part of the colt admired his new teacher’s firm thighs, which where obviously toned from years of chasing after energetic foals. Her tail seemed to sway mockingly, teasing at what lay hidden behind it yet never letting anypony lay eyes on its treasure.

The colt wondered why those thoughts had filtered into his mind as the two entered the classroom to be met by deafening silence as all chatter between its occupants ceased. All eyes turned to the colt as he trotted into the room before they all turned to his own flank.

His ever so blank flank.

He heard the snickering of two fillies in the middle row, both earth ponies. One was pink with a purple mane and a gaudy tiara on her head while her friend was grey with a white mane. Both looked to be irritatingly prissy and frou-frou in the eyes of the young colt.

Despite that, he couldn’t help but take in the way the pink one’s mane fell across her shoulder in such a way to promote how soft and well groomed it was, or the way her cheeks accentuated her snout and soft lips. Her eyes where slightly lidded, emphasising her baby blue irises while the line of her back disappeared from view behind her desk in an almost mocking curve.

The grey one’s mane barely brushed the blue rims of her glasses while her braid was gently draped across the curve of her shoulder. Her blue pearl necklace embraced her neck with a gentle touch of a lover, drawing attention to the smooth, delicate flesh of her throat.

Cheerilee coughed softly to draw the attention of her students before gesturing to the young colt beside her and announcing, “As I was saying, this is Skywinder, your new classmate!” The teacher had an unusual level of enthusiasm in the her voice as she continued. “He’s come a very long way to meet you all! All the way from the Great Southern Colony!”

Blank stares erupted across most of the class, save for the pink filly with a tiara, whose expression shifted to one of disdain. Skywinder could just barely make out her mumbling, “So he’s both a Blank Flank and a barbarian?”

As he cast a glare at the pink filly, he realised Cheerilee had her hoof over his shoulders in a very friendly manner and a large, overly cheerful grin on her face. If nothing else, she lived up to her name. “Skywinder, would you please tell us all a little about yourself?”

The young pegasus blinked before looking at the class once more and inhaling deeply. “Well…” he began and immediately grimaced as every filly in the class, even the stuck up duo of Pinky and the Grey, leaned forward with a slight swoon at the sound of his accent. he needed some way to drive their attention elsewhere and fast! “I was raised by a tribe of Wedge-Tailed Gryphons called the Ninganarra Tribe!”

Surely, regular ponies would find such a revelation off-putting, right?

A chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs” rudely trampled all over that idea.

Immediately after, the room exploded with questions from every direction, ranging from what his tribe ate to the cruising speed of a Wedge-Tail. There were even some questions he wished he could unhear. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought one of the questions in the ‘cannot be unheared’ category had come from Cheerilee.

To his relief the Great Rainbow Serpent extended His blessings, and with His spectrum tail rang the bell that signalled the beginning of recess. The colt immediately used the distraction to make his getaway, darting out from under his new teacher’s grasp, sending her toppling to the floor, and dashed out the door in search of a place to hide.

Thankfully, at least in the colt’s mind, he managed to avoid any further questioning as he not only found a functional hiding place under a rock, but when class resumed Cheerilee started the lessons in earnest to make up for lost time. Skywinder found himself seated next to a grey pegasus colt with a dark mane named Rumble, in front of the orange pegasus filly with the purple mane and behind the silver earth pony filly.

From what he had gathered in the two minutes before Cheerilee started the lessons, Rumble was mostly disinterested about Skywinder and beyond being polite didn’t care about making friends with him. This suited him just fine as it allowed him to avoid getting caught up by anything, allowing him to focus on the lesson.

When the lunch bell rang, he disappeared to his hiding spot once more, and when class resumed, he dug into his school work with vigour to avoid conversation. There was, however, one thing he couldn’t avoid.

The infamous “final bell rush”.

The horde of tiny hooves thundered out the schoolhouse door as the myriad of colourful foals unleashed their savage battle cry, proclaiming all they had planned for the rest of the day to the unsuspecting town. A certain colt, however, attempted to use the excitement of the other foals to mask his escape, intent on simply getting home without getting intercepted and being forced to make friends.

Skywinder had nothing against the other ponies; his tribe taught him that feelings of hate and jealousy were useless and wasteful emotions that drain one more than what one would gain from acting on them. At least the abhorrence of violence made sense; in the tribe violence was only for hunting or protecting the tribe's lands from other tribes. Since no tribes had fought in generations, Skywinder himself had barely even had any training in fighting.

Granted, this was a gryphon's concept of “barely any training,” so by pony standards he was likely pretty tough.

What annoyed him the most about this town of Ponyville was all the green. His homeland was an arid, angry red desert with little vegetation, and rivers that would remain bone dry for generations only to flood entire plains after the rains came. The controlled weather systems of Equestria where an alien concept, even to someone who had taken naps on clouds before.

Casting his gaze around, he quickly darted between groups of foals as they dispersed out from the school grounds. He was almost at the point where he could take off at a gallop for home when a certain duo appeared in front of him with grins on their faces.

“Well, well, well! If it isn't the Blank Flank savage!” the pink earth pony crowed snobbishly while her eyes lingered across his lean form. She sneered as she and her partner circled him. “I guess you probably don't even know what a Cutie Mark is, being raised by some wild birds and all!”

Her grey partner snickered as she gave him a once over. “You're so right, Diamond Tiara! I'm surprised he can even read and write!” She gasped suddenly before grinning. “I bet he was just scribbling in his schoolbook!”

“How observant, Silver Spoon!” Diamond Tiara cooed darkly. “Why don't we take a look? We can't let the poor new pony be a Blank Flank and a bad student at the same time, right?”

As the two bullies moved in to grab his saddlebags, the colt mulled over his options. He was a male of the Ninganarra Tribe, so simply fleeing would be shameful, but attacking females was the act of a coward and would lead to him being shunned by the ancestors. However, letting them have their way was also against the Tribe's teachings as everyone must respect the rest of the Tribe.

As the two were almost upon him, he reached his conclusion and launched his counteraction against the instigator.

Diamond Tiara's eyes bulged as she felt a pair of lips meet her own with wild passion backing them. The colt's tongue grazed against her lips, and she instinctively parted them, allowing his tongue to dance and tease her own. She leaned back on her hind hooves as he pressed his advantage.

Hormones and chemicals reacted in her brain, sending neurons scrambling this way and that as the wild and unexpected kiss continued, confusing the startled filly even more. She felt like a passenger in her own body as she began to return the kiss while her heart began to flutter with excitement.

Then, all too soon, it was over, leaving her flushed and panting for breath. It took her over a minute to realise her best friend was staring at her in shock.

It took her another minute to realise Skywinder was gone.

Author's Note

Got myself a proofreader, he's a pretty awesome guy.

Proofreader: Letedwend

A Ruby in the Wine

Kiss-and-run had been an effective tactic this time, but if fillies were anything like young females in the Tribe, it wouldn't work for long and would only quickly make them angry. None the less, he had managed to escape while the two bullies were distracted, and was almost home.

His parents had managed to acquire a fairly large building near the back of the business district. The first floor and cellar had been refurbished for use as a winery and had recently been stocked with the finest wine from the Ninganarra Vineyards. The second floor had been made into the family of three’s home, though his parents’ room was little more than a nest and a few artefacts from the Tribe while his own room was done in a more Equestrian style. The winery and the remaining rooms where decorated in a combination of the two styles.

Personally, he would rather sleep in his parents’ nest, but they’d insisted he learn to live like a pony.

As he came within sight of the building, he noticed his mother landing in the front yard. She had a slender beak that tickled him every time she preened him, and her feathery crest was styled in a fashion similar to a mane. Her feathers shimmered slightly in the light, displaying the great amount of care she put into her hygiene. She wore a pair of large saddlebags as well as a sack draped across her back. No doubt they contained tonight’s dinner. As her amber eyes fell on him, he noticed her chest plumage puff out slightly as she smiled at him.

“How was your first day in school, Kitten?” his mother asked in the non-rhotic accent native to the Southern Continent.

The colt dashed up to her and gave her a hug, enjoying the feel of her soft chest plumage as he buried his snout into it before smiling up at her. “Eh, not bad,” he replied before stepping back to give his mother room. “Would have gone better if everyone wasn’t so intent on making friends.” The colt mimed gagging to illustrate just what he thought of that.

The gryphoness’ shoulders slumped at the sight and she sighed. “Oh, Skywinder, what am I going to do with you?” she wondered out loud. “We moved here so you could learn to live like your own kind. The whole Tribe agreed it was for the best… and you saw how much they hated to see us leave!”

“I know, Mum.” Skywinder looked down sadly. “I just… Ninganarra is my home.” He glanced up at his adoptive mother thoughtfully. “And you’re my mum, no matter what blood I have.”

His mother smiled broadly and hugged Skywinder close, tickling him slightly with her feathers. “And you will always be my little kitten.” She looked him in the eye and growled, “And as your mum, I want you to make friends!”

With a growl Skywinder twisted himself in her grip and kissed her on the cheek and replied, “I’ll try… but only when I’m ready.”

Skywinder’s mother pushed open the door to the store, and the two stepped inside. At the counter was his father, his trademark hat perched atop his head and a smile on his beak as he chatted with the only other life form in the store; a pink mare with a reddish-pink mane and grapes for a cutie mark. Clearly, she quite enjoyed her wine since the saddlebag on the floor next to her already had four bottles inside, and the one on the counter was half empty. A quick glance at the label confirmed the nearly empty bottle to be of some of the store’s best stock.

The large patriarch turned towards his family and smiled warmly. “Here they are now, Berry Punch; my wife Windancer and my son Skywinder.” He waltzed out from behind the counter and swept his wife up in an embrace before patting the little pegasus on the head.

Skywinder watched the mare twist on the bar stool to look at him and his mother with slightly unfocused eyes. After a moment she grinned and looked back at the colt’s father before remarking, “Well, he’s certainly grown to be a handsome colt.” She laughed. “At this rate he’s going to be the most eligible bachelor in Ponyville!”

The colt’s face immediately twisted into an expression of horror.

This went unnoticed as his parents began to chat with the inebriated mare. The colt took the moment to flee upstairs as the words bounced around in his skull. He understood what it meant; mares and fillies all wanting his attention, to spend time and play with him, and even try to be his life-partner.

He wanted nothing to do with being the centre of attention, everyone focusing on him, at all. All he wanted was to be left alone. He was so tired of standing out.

With a blink he realised he had somehow managed to lose two hours just stringing those thoughts together. He gazed around the living room, with its combination of cushions and decorative spears, and wondered just how in the Rainbow Serpent’s scaly snout that had happened.

“HI!” an excited, high-pitched voice announced from behind the colt, sending him into a fit of flailing legs and fluttering wings as he sprung to his hooves and spun around to face the intruder. “I’m Ruby Pinch!” declared the pink coated interloper with a two-toned light and dark pink mane.

“GAH!” He jumped in surprise, his small wings buzzed in fright, his legs flailed in the air as he sailed through the air and onto his back beside the cushion he had been seated on. His chest heaved as he tried to regain his breath while he cast his gaze at the intruding filly.

“You’re the new colt at school, right? You’re funny!” The filly chirped, the words flowing from her soft lips like the clear waters of a spring. She cast her delicate snout around as the adorable, shining jewels that served as her eyes observed the artefacts of his Tribe that served as decorations for the room and giggled sweetly.

“Mommy said she’ll be a while yet, and your mommy said I should come up and say hello!” she happily informed the befuddled colt. Her attention focused on a long, hollow tube decorated with wavy lines and dots of white and red., “”Ooh!” she exclaimed as she skipped over to the object. “What’s this? An instrument?” She reached a curious hoof towards the tube.

In a blur Skywinder was on his hooves and batted the filly’s hoof away from the instrument. “Don’t touch it! Those from outside the Tribe aren’t allowed to touch these; it will anger the Dream Spirits within and bring misfortune on the entire Tribe!” he warned darkly, glaring at the offending pink filly.

Pink ears flopped flat against the filly's head as she lowered her head sadly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she sniffled, “I'm sorry... please don't be mad at me!” She gazed at him with a tearful puppy dog stare.

With a grunt and a pair of rolled eyes, the colt's shoulders slumped and he muttered, “Fine, I forgive you.”

“YAY!” She squealed, barely restraining the urge to hug the colt. “It is an instrument, right.? Can you play a song for me? Please?” The filly grinned at him demurely, looking at him with her large eyes.

He heaved a heavy sigh and grumbled a bit. “Alright, just stop looking at me like that.” Setting himself on a cushion, he brought the instrument to his lips and inhaled through his nose, puffed his cheeks out and pressed the instrument to his snout so his nostrils peeked over the top and the beeswax around the rim of the instrument created a seal.

While he breathed in through his nostrils, he expelled air through his mouth while working his cheeks and tongue. A haunting drone emerged from the end of the tube that both enthralled and terrified the filly; it was punctuated by wails, shrieks and howls that seemed to be possessed of the very spirit of the Great South Land she had heard of so many times.

Her eyes remained transfixed on the colt as he continued to play for ten minutes without stopping, seemingly not needing to breath to hold the tune, but she knew that couldn't be the case; the scope of the amount of practice to learn whatever technique he was using to pull off his trick settled within her mind like a phoenix coming to roost - Seemingly unspectacular, yet astounding when brought into focus.

As Skywinder brought his performance to a close; his ears perked up at the sound of hooves beating on the wooden floor and the sharp cracks of clapping talons. A blush spread across his face as he noticed Berry Punch and his parents had apparently entered the room while he was playing and heard the whole thing.

“I don't know what that was, but it was amazing!” the inebriated mare declared, her filly smiling beside her.

His fathered beamed with pride, offering the colt a smile. “You have been improving greatly over the last few months.” The griffon had only taught the youth how to play the instrument a little over two years previously. Most cubs took at least another year to reach the level Skywinder had achieved.

To the colt’s relief Berry Punch chose that moment to glance at a nearby clock and jumped to her hooves with a start. “Oh dear! I should really be getting little Ruby home.” She glanced at Skywinder’s parents and grinned. “Thank you for letting us stay so late, Galestrider, Windancer. I really hope we haven’t imposed at all.”

“Not at all.” Windancer, Skywinder’s mother, replied merrily. “You’re our first guests here in Ponyville, and I’m sure we’d all be glad to count you and your daughter as our friends!”

Ruby Pinch pulled a mortified Skywinder into a hug and chirped happily, “Yay! I like making new friends!”

He had been hoping the strange sounding instrument would scare the girl away, not make her latch onto him like an angry Hoop Snake with its own tail while chasing some mischievous kangaroo. He really hoped she wasn’t going to be that way. Hoop Snakes could roll for hours like that. Mercifully, she released him from his torment and exited his home alongside her mother.

Shortly after, the family sat down to dinner, the gryphons enjoying some meat from animals the colt’s mother had caught in the Everfree forest while he dined on a roughly set out salad. Despite having raised the colt for years, his mother still struggled to make a good salad. He didn’t mind, though; it tasted good and filled his belly. He couldn’t ask for more then that.

After they had finished their meals and their discussions of their days, Windancer availed herself of the facilities to prepare for bed while Galestrider sat with his son with a cheerful but serious expression on his face. After a moment the older male said, “I’m not sure you noticed, my boy, but when you played the didgeridoo, the Dream Spirits Moved.”

That statement was enough to snap the colt’s attention to his father. “What?” he asked in shock. “But they only Move when the Rainbow Snake wills it… and He only does that when it’s really important, right?”

Gale nodded meaningfully. “Yes, not since The Uncreator tried to ravage the Southern Continent has the Rainbow Serpent made the Dream Spirits Move.” He paused before looking the colt in the eyes. ”Yet when we found you at the base of Uluru with the remains of Dust Dingoes all around, we knew the Rainbow Serpent had taken an interest in you.”

Skywinder gulped before looking his father in the eye. “Is something bad going to happen?”

The gryphon looked at his son for a long while before replying, “Perhaps. Or maybe not. the Rainbow Serpent has always been a mischievous sort. He and The Uncreator are supposed born of the same source, after all.”

The colt blinked and asked, “So… what did they do, anyway?”

“They’re spirits; none can truly understand them,” Gale replied with a shrug. “All I know is it involved that pretty young filly that seemed so taken with you.” A grin slowly worked its way onto his face, and he brushed a fake tear from his eye. “My little colt is growing up so fast.”

“DAAAAD!!!”

Author's Note

Has the plot thickened? Or am I being a douche and making you guess?

Or am I just world building?

Find out on the next installment of Winner! When I hopefully bring in the Crusaders!

UPDATE 1: To TheBigStallowski; That's the Yankee spelling. I'm Australian and use proper English.

UPDATE 2: Proofread by; Letedwend

UPDATE 3: Additional Proofreading by; Iron_Wofle

Morning of Crusades

The sun's rays sifted through the cracks in the blinds and graced the cheek of a pegasus colt with a gentle caress like that of a mother. The child groaned softly and rolled onto his back before yawning while absentmindedly scratching his groin. He cracked his eyes open and stared about his room absently as his brain slowly dragged itself into gear.

After a few minutes of blank staring the colt fell out of his bed, realising too late that he had converted the sheets into a nest like structure in his sleep. With a grunt he flailed his limbs to free himself and restoring his stance to a vertical position and trotted out of his room towards the kitchen.

His entrance was met by the energetic greetings of his parents who had no doubt been up for some time before he had. With the staggering gait of someone who had just risen from slumber and had yet to fully awake he approached the kitchen table and deposited himself in one of the chairs.

“What would you like for breakfast, Kitten?” Windancer's motherly trill drifted into the colt's ears. “Oatmeal? I hear it's a stable for growing colts.”

“Urmhugmarfrm.”

“Gale?”

“He said, 'Yeah, that sounds good.' Dear.” The male gryphon replied without lifting his head from a copy of the Foal Free Press.

The gryphoness looked between her husband and son with a deadpan expression before muttering something about males and turning to prepare the oatmeal for her child.

After placing the bowl in front of the child, who quickly began to shovel the food into his waiting internal black hole, the gryphoness wandered back into the kitchen and wondered aloud, “Now what to make for your lunch? Perhaps something nutritious to keep you attentive?”

“Fergmrmnhrm...”

“There is no school today dear, it's a weekend.”

Slowly the gryphoness turned towards her husband and child only to find the bowl that had been filled with oatmeal empty and spinning lazily on the table with the child nowhere to be seen. Her eyes narrowed and turned her gaze towards her husband before opening her beak to voice a question.

“He’s gone out to explore the town, Dear.” Gale cut off his wife before she could even start. The edge of his newspaper tilted down to allow him to look her in the eye before he added with a purr, “He knows I’m the only one who can do anything when you get like this.”

All Windancer could think to do in reply was to blush.

It didn’t take Skywinder long to be well out of earshot of his home as he mentally recorded every weave and turn he took around random buildings and corners. He was quickly forming a mental map of the area around his home if for no other use then good places to hide from his folks.

He didn’t really need to, but if they ever decided to play hide and seek he wanted to be ready.

As his journey spiralled outwards further and further from his starting point he noticed an odd noise coming from down the street that, if he remembered right, lead to the river with a windmill.

A serene voice rippled through the air, the sound of which was the most beautiful that he had ever heard. Tracing it to its source, he was faced with the prettiest young unicorn he had ever laid eyes on, not that he had met all that many. Her eyes were closed as she sang, breathing pure life into the air in her dulcet tones. Her two-toned pink and purple mane and tail were immaculately curled and brushed, and made a perfect contrast to her pristine white coat.

After a moment, she seemed to realise she was not alone, as she stopped singing and looked around, quickly catching sight of him. Her eyes were a striking emerald green, bright and full of life shinning out of her youthful face – a face whose cheeks were now tinted a rosy pink.

“Y-Y-You heard that?!” the filly squeaked before hiding her face behind her hooves. If not for nearly damaging his eardrums with her pitch the colt would have almost found her position cute.

“You where singing outdoors.” He deadpanned in reply while flapping his ears in a vain attempt to shake the ringing loose, “Kind of hard not to hear when you’re belting it out louder then a kookaburra on laughing gas.”

“How could you say that?!” she demanded indignantly, “I don’t even know what a kookaburra is and I find that offensive!”

Skywinder just shrugged with his wings, “A very loud bird from back home that could hold a tune.”

Sweetie’s retort caught in her throat as she looked at him and actually recognized him for the first time, “OH!” She squeaked, “You’re the new colt from yesterday!” She sniffed before nodding slightly, “I’ll forgive this once but don’t do it again, ok?!”

The colt sighed in exasperation, genuinely having no idea what he’d done wrong but replied in the affirmative anyway. If this filly was anything like his mother it was probably best if he just gave her what she wanted…

Surely she would leave him alone quicker…

He then realised her eyes had focused on his unmarked flank. This reminded him of how all the adult ponies he’d seen had adorned some sort of symbol on their rear ends for whatever reason. He assumed it was some sort of tribal tradition.

“Oh hey, you’re a Blank Flank too?” the filly asked, excitement suddenly filling her voice. She raised a hoof to her chest and chirped, “I’m Sweetie Belle! It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance!”

She wasn’t going away was she?

“I’m Skywinder.” He replied with another wing-shrug. After a pause he asked, “What’s the big deal about being a ‘Blank Flank’ anyway? First those two fillies who gave me a hard time called me that and now you’re using it…”

The unicorn filly looked at him with a confused stare before answering, “It means you haven’t gotten your Cutie Mark yet. Everypony knows that!”

He shook his head and looked her in the eyes, “Well, I have no idea what this ‘Cutie Mark’ or whatever is.” Was it some kind of tribal tattoo foals of this culture get for completing some kind of coming-of-age ritual?

In that moment you could have heard a pin drop as Sweetie Belle’s face twisted into uncomprehending confusion and shock. For a brief moment the colt wondered if he’d said something unspeakably offensive.

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A CUTIE MARK IS?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked with enough force to blow the surprised colt clean off his hooves and shift the nearby houses off centre. She inhaled a few breaths to try and calm down before continuing with an obviously distressed, cracking voice, “How is that even possible? It-it… where have you been living all this time?! The Moon?!”

The colt flipped himself back onto his hooves in a single swift motion, catching the filly’s eye, before giving another casual wing-shrug, “The Southern Continent, Terra Serpantis. I told you and the other…” He paused to find the right word, “Foals? I think that’s the word, anyway I told you all that yesterday.”

Sweetie had the decency to blush in embarrassment before clearing her throat and explaining, “Well a Cutie Mark is something every colt and filly gets when they find their special talent. It tells us who we are and how we should live our lives to be as fulfilling as possible.”

“So you find your talent and the adults give you a Cutie Mark.” Skywinder nodded, “Kinda like my tribes coming of age ceremony.”

“What? Nononono.” Sweetie shook her head vigorously, “Nopony ‘gives’ you a Cutie Mark, it just appears on your flank and that’s that.” She smiled at the colt hoping he understood now.

His incredulous expression told her otherwise.

“Um… ANYWAY!” She skipped up to the colt and grinned, “Since you don’t have a Cutie Mark either you should meet my friends Apple Bloom, she’s an Earth Pony with a red mane and yellow coat, and Scootaloo, a Pegasus with purple mane and orange coat, and if they like you could become…” She paused for dramatic effect, “A CUTIE MARK CRUSADER!!”

This is a horrible nightmare, it has to be. Skywinder’s eyebrows creased into an upwards V while his jaw hung open in horror. To make matters worse the filly was now looking at him with a huge grin and sparkling eyes. How could he have angered the Rainbow Serpent to visit such horrors upon him? “I’ll… consider it…?” He replied nervously, eyes darting too and fro for an escape route.

Salvation came in the form of a pink unicorn with purple mane who poked her head out of a nearby house and called out, “Sweetie Belle, could you be a dear and give your old mother a hand?”

The filly jumped slight and looked towards the older unicorn, “I’ll be there in a second, Mum!” She looked back at Skywinder with a sheepish grin before apologizing, “Guess I got to go, see you later Skywinder.” She then galloped off into the house.

After a moment Skywinder blinked and muttered, “I can only hope we won’t…” before he turned on his heels and trotted off in a random direction.

Within five minutes he was positive he knew where he was.

And that was at an apple farm. The problem was he had absolutely no idea where the farm was in relation to his house. Farmers where often very hospitable folk so he figured he could ask for directions and be on his way back home.

Surely he could manage that without getting sidetracked by another nuisance, right?

…Why did it suddenly feel like the Dream Spirits where grinning at him?

As his eyes roved around the area, taking in the sight of row after row of apple trees lining the grounds, a distinctly accented voice caught his attention from nearby. “Howdy y'all!” it said, “Welcome tuh Sweet Apple Acres!”

He turned to see a young filly who couldn't have been any older than himself happily working away on fixing the fence that ran through the orchard. She had a rust-red mane and tail, both of which were kept in a rather loose flowing style, with a large pink bow tied in her mane. Her coat was a similar yellow to the flesh of the farm's main produce, complemented by the amber hue of her large and expressive eyes. This had to be Apple Bloom, another of the Cutie Mark Crusaders the crazy unicorn had mentioned.

“Ain't yuh gonna interduce yerself?” she asked with a friendly smile.

The colt silently wondered to himself exactly how much the filly had between her ears. So far, she struck him as being a pretty face and not much else.

“Skywinder.” The pegasus replied with a deadpan. He had introduced himself to just about every foal in this town the day before, how was it they’d all forgotten already?

“Well Ah’m Apple Bloom!” The filly declared as she suddenly appeared in front of the colt and started shaking his hoof so violently he was lifted off the ground, all with her eyes closed. As she let him go, placing him back on his hooves as she did so, she opened her eyes and chirped, “It’s muh pleasure to make yuh acquaintance!”

“Yeah… a pleasure.” Came the muddled response from the stunned colt. He felt like he’d been used for hunting practice by-

“So wutcha doin’ around these here parts?” The filly cut off his line of thought, “Ya’ll got business at the farm? Wanna buy some apples?” She asked before bringing a hoof to her chin as she thought for a moment, “Hmm… Big Macintosh should still be at the market though…”

“I’m not here to buy any apples.” Skywinder replied while shaking the cobwebs from his mind, “I don’t even know what they taste like anyway…” He muttered under his breath before continuing, “I just need some directions because I got a little lost, new town and all that.”

“YA’LL DON’T KNOW WUT AN APPLE TASTES LIKE?!”

So… loud…

As the colt opened his mouth to explain why he had never tasted an apple before he found it stuffed with an imperfectly spherical fruit muffling his retort. Glaring at the filly he began to chew, the apples juices squirting from the pulverised fruit and flowing about in his mouth. After a few moments the colt spat out the core and seeds before swallowing.

Apple Bloom stood before him with a massive expectant grin on her childish muzzle.

After several moments of just staring at her with half-lidded eyes Skywinder wing-shrugged, “It was alright I suppose.”

“Yuh suppose?!” Apple Bloom glared at him, blatantly offended, “Ah’ll have yuh know that Sweet Apple Acres is THE producer of THE finest Apples in all of Equestria!!”

The colt looked her in the eye for a moment with a tilted head, “I’ll take your word for it.” He wing-shrugged as her glare deepened, “I can barely tell the difference in taste between lettuce and celery.”

Apple Bloom blinked in surprise, both lettuce and celery had distinctly different flavours. Lettuce tended to be more mild while celery was more defined with a slightly tangy and a little bit of bitterness defining its flavour. And that’s not even delving into the texture.

Yet this colt couldn’t tell the difference? No wonder he had no idea how good Sweet Apple Acre Apples where… and he was adopted too…

Why, no wonder he was acting so miserable!

Skywinder blood ran cold as he noticed Apple Bloom’s face melt into an expression of pity. He hated that look. The few ponies he’d met during the move from Terra Serpantis to Equestria that had learned of his parentage had looked at him in much the same way and had tried to coddle him.

They had treated him like some kind of delicate flower that would die the moment the slightest amount of stress was applied to it. He was a male of the Ninganarra and prided himself on the strength that came with that upbringing.

He noticed the filly slightly shift her weight and reacted by springing away right as she reared up to try and embrace him in a hug. Being surprised and off balance Apple Bloom finds herself face down on the ground. As the shock wore off she pulled herself to her feet in time to see the colt dashing off in the direction of the town.

Apple Bloom only knew a little Kung Fu, having been taught some by Rainbow Dash, though that little was enough to recognize a fighter when she saw one move. She could tell the pegasus colt had done a fair bit of training, enough that it was so ingrained he hadn’t even thought about it.

This just puzzled her more, why was a pony her age doing with that much fighting ability?

Looking down at her hoof she remembered the way his has felt; hard and rough with a strong, firm grip. Perhaps she already had all the information she needed to answer her own question.

Yet it only made her want to learn more.

A blush crept across her cheeks as she remembered one last detail about his hoof. It had been warm and inviting, so very, very warm.

Some distance away Skywinder’s hooves slowed to a trot as he glanced around the various buildings that surrounded him. Breathing deeply in through his nostrils and exhaling through his mouth he quickly regained what breath he had lost in his rush to escape the crazy Earth Pony filly.

He was also able to confirm that he was still lost.

Only this time he was within earshot of the markets where he could likely ask for directions. Hopefully this time he could do it without getting sidetracked by some crazy filly.

He sighed and pulled his expression into that of exasperation, So maybe that was a little harsh…

Looking back the two fillies hadn’t really been that ba-

“Hey, watch out!” a slightly rough-sounding voice yelled. He looked round a little too late: there was only a brief glimpse of orange, purple and red, before the scooter that had been bearing down on him knocked him flat. He heard a crash and a muffled “Ow!” as the pegasus that had yelled at him tumbled off the vehicle.

“Jeez... can't you watch where you're going!?” she complained. He shook his head to clear it of stars and sat up, blinking, as his vision focused on the indignant pegasus approaching him. He had to hold in a gasp – Scootaloo, as he'd worked out from the description he'd heard from her friend, was by no means as outright beautiful as her unicorn friend, but there was something about her.

Something rough, something untamed... it was reflected by the fact that her dark magenta mane and tail both were rather rough around the edges, and he got the general impression that she didn't care much how she looked and wanted everyone to know she was above that girly nonsense.

“Hey, are you alright?” she questioned, a suspicious look in her amethyst eyes. “You're kinda just... staring. Look, sorry for running you over. I didn't see ya there in time. You really should be more careful crossing the street, though.”

The colt’s eye twitched.

Three for three…

There was no way this could all be coincidence. The Dream Spirits had to be setting this up somehow. All the old legends said nothing about them interfering with the lives of the Tribes and yet he found himself with them seemingly throwing fillies at him.

As soon as he became an Elder he was going to scold the shit out of every last one of them.

“Skywinder? Helloo?” The orange filly poked the colt curiously as his silence continued. Her violet eyes slowly examined his purple form, her eyes lingering on his wings slightly longer then the rest of him, before finally settling on his flank before returning to his eyes.

“Huh?” Skywinder suddenly snapped out of his daze and looked Scootaloo in the eye, “Hey, you remembered my name!”

The filly rolled her eyes and shrugged, “Duh, of course I did! You know how few pegasi live in Ponyville?” She watched his expression shift, turning puzzled before sighing, “Right, different country. Anyway; there is only like six of us and most of them are only here because their parents are part of the weather team.”

Skywinder grunted and shook his head, “The idea of manually changing the weather still weirds me out.” Gryphons may have been able to stand on clouds but they couldn’t move them or manipulate them like how pegasi could. In all his experience with manual weather systems consisted of an overnight stay in a hotel back on Terra Serpantis and two days getting settled into his new home.

Other then that Watering Hole Incident, but that didn’t count since that definitely never happened.

“So your home was kind of like the Everfree Forest?” Scootaloo asked while shivering slightly, the mere thought of that forest gave her the creeps. “I guess I can understand what you mean.”

The colt grunted an indistinct response while rubbing his head where the filly’s scooter had impacted it. This brought his mind to a question of his own, “So why where you charging this way faster then an angry Emu?”

“OH!” Scootaloo perked up excitedly, the glimmer of passion entered the filly’s eyes and drew the attention of the colt, “I was trying to follow the most stupendously amazingly awesomest pony among awesome ponies, THE one and only Rainbow Dash, of course!”

“Who?” He asked and immediately regretted that single word more then any other he had ever spoken.

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHO RAINBOW DASH IS?!”

Three… for… three…

“How can you not know who Rainbow Dash is?!” Scootaloo cried in indignation. The very idea that her idol could be unheard of by anypony simply didn’t sit well with the filly.

“Only been in Equestria for two days you know.” Skywinder replied indignantly.

A crazed look entered Scootaloo’s eyes as she placed her hooves on the colt’s shoulders and declared, “Well, we’ll just have to fix that and induct you into the Rainbow Dash fan club! All young pegasi should look up to Rainbow Dash!”

NopeNopeNopeNopeNope.

The young colt knew exactly where this was going to go. If he went with the filly he would end up with some ridiculous headwear, possibly tied to the ceiling and surrounded by strange fillies. He had been naïve during his family’s one day stay in Sydneigh and he was not about to let that happen again.

Like a bolt of lightning his fore hooves shot up between Scootaloo’s and pushed outwards, breaking him from her grip. His hind legs sprung into action and threw him away from the filly, into a flip from which he landed on all fours.

Surprise was clearly written all over the filly’s face as the colt wasted no time capitalizing on the opening it created. His wings buzzed to life like little motors as he sprinted away, his feathered appendages granting him greater speed then pure galloping would allow.

The roar of beating juvenile wings behind him told the colt the crazed filly had snapped out of it in time to give chase. A quick glance behind himself revealed that she was riding a blue scooter, her wings beating furiously as she raced after him.

Normally in the outback there was little in the way of obstacles to be avoided or used to ones advantage to get away so everything used either powerful venoms to stop its foes or pure speed to get away. Only the Wedged-Tailed Gryphons could afford to rely on raw strength.

Skywinder lacked the natural strength of his Tribesmen and had thus needed to develop a way to out run anything that tried to attack him. A combination of strong legs, strong wings and an innate understanding of aerodynamics allowed him to find a way to combine the pure speed his wings and hooves could generate when combined with angled beats to create down force, granting and overall greater top speed then even an angry kangaroo.

Ponyville was full of obstacles of all shapes and descriptions. A gentle rainbow shimmer played across the colt’s eyes as they darted to and fro absorbing all the information they could about the area directly ahead of the colt. With a mental map formed in his mind in less than a second the colt planned his route to freedom and continued his boosted gallop.

Moving with precision born of years of martial training the colt dodged and weaved between adult hooves eliciting gasps and indignant shouts from those whose paths he crossed. With fluid grace he altered the course of his momentum by using a crate as spring board onto the shade cloth of a vendor which he in turn used to launch himself high into the air where he performed a forward flip before landing on the roof of a nearby building.

Hot on his tail Scootaloo spotted a plank of wood laying against a barrel of oranges and angled her scooter towards it, using it as a ramp to launch herself into the air. As she sailed through the air she lifted her rear hooves from the scooter and spun the deck in a tail whip before landing on a beam connecting several vendors and racing along the narrow surface, occasionally glancing down at the colt as she chased him.

As Skywinder bounced into the air Scootaloo had no option but to hop off the beam and race into the alley way, ollie-ing over a trashcan as she went. As she shot out the other side she glanced up at where she thought he should have been and saw nothing but empty air. Furrowing her brow she glanced all around in confusion before grumbling.

After a moment of pouting her little wings buzzed as her thoughts drifted over the colt’s wings. Small like hers, not ready to let him fly just yet but strong and muscular with very healthy feathers. A faint blush, barely hidden by her coat, crept across her cheeks as she wondered what it would be like to preen them.

Shaking her head violently she silently admonished herself for thinking of something so uncool before spinning her scooter on the spot. She cast a grumpy glance at where she thought Skywinder had disappeared before her wings roared to life once more and carried her away with her scooter.

A fair distance down the road a violet mare with a blonde mane stopped pushing a cloud and smirked, resting her elbows on the edge as a smirk spread across her face, “She’s gone, you can come out now.”

Her eyes twinkled with barely contained mirth as a dark purple colt emerged from within the cloud. The utterly exasperated expression on the colt’s face tipped the mare over the edge and she burst out with uncontrolled laughter.

As her cackling settled down to a gentle giggling she asked, “So why where you running from Scootaloo anyway?”

“I’ve been in this country for two days so I don’t know who this ‘Rainbow Dash’ pony is, she suddenly went crazy talking about some fan club as was going to make me join.” Skywinder replied without losing his deadpan. A quick glance at the sky confirmed that it wasn’t even noon yet.

The mare just burst into laughter again for a few moments before regaining her composure, “Yeah, that’s Scootaloo for you; always obsessing over her idol.” Her pink eyes met the colt’s orange as she smiled, “The name’s Cloud Kicker, nice to meet you little guy!”

“Skywinder of the Ninganarra.” The colt replied before deciding to get the inevitable questions out of the way, “My parents are Wedged-Tailed gryphons from Terra Serpantis, they moved here so I could learn pony culture yada-yada.” He waved a hoof about vaguely as he spoke.

“Wedged-Tailed gryphons, eh?” The mare smirked as she scratched her chin with a hoof.

“I hear they’re about double the size of the Northern gryphons.”

“Really?” Cloud Kicker’s grin grew further.

“Yeah.” Skywinder wing shrugged before beginning a question, “Say, I’m lost. You wouldn’t- huh?” It was at that moment he noticed a rather large shadow had enshrouded him. Glancing up he noticed what looked like a rather large, and heavy, bag falling towards him, “Aw…”

In a blur the colt disappeared from in front of Cloud Kicker and the cloud exploded followed shortly from a loud thud echoing from the ground below. Heaving a sigh the violet mare cast her gaze skyward as an apologetic voice called down.

“I just don’t know what went wrong!”

Author's Note

Special Thanks to Sketchy Sounds for helping me out with the Crusaders' introductions. He and the others in the Study irc are always a big help.

Released ahead of schedule to celebrate the end of Season 3… and Season 4 confirmed for two-parter to wrap up that last episode…

Also my proofreader is busy with school work and I didn't want to keep my more avid readers waiting.

UPDATE 1: Proofread by Iron_Wofle

House of Doo (Unedited)

A bone chilling warbling howl brought Skywinder to awareness with start. His gaze was flooded with the rusty red of the soil of his homeland while noticed there was also a scattering of pointy bushes populating the area here and there. The heat reminded him of summer, harsh, dry and unforgiving to the point he could already feel the sweat trailing down his withers.

He knew that howl, any Tribesman would. Dust Dingoes.

Snapping to alert the colt's eyes darted to and fro taking in every detail he could as he searched for the origin of the howl. It didn't take him long to notice the vast red surface of the sacred rock, Uluru, or the small foal cowering at it's base.

The foal had a coat of purple and a mane as rusty as the desert sands surrounding it, crimson blood trailed down from numerous injuries, an eye shut tight to prevent blood from seeping in. It had a definite limp and one of it's wings hung limp as if nearly severed. Even from this distance Skywinder could tell the foal was in serious trouble even without the Dust Dingoes still in pursuit.

Worse, the predators knew their prey no longer had the strength to flee.

An ancient tongue, one used by the tribes for trading, formed on the colt's lips and tongue as he tried to scream for someone, anyone, to lend aid to the foal. To his dismay no sound left his lips and his own hooves refused his call to race to the foal.

One of the Dingoes pounced at the foal, sensing it's next meal was just moments away, when a blinding flash forced Skywinder to shut his eyes lest he lose his sight. As the glare died away the colt refocused his sights towards the foal, squinting through the after images of the few bushes that had been between them.

To the colt's surprise the foal lay completely healed and unconscious at the base of the rock and the Dust Dingoes reduced to fawn stains on the desert sands.

Motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned his attention to the skies. What he saw nearly made his knees buckle as his jaw fell limp.

It was more vibrant, but he would recognise that plumage anywhere.

“DAD?!” Skywinder declared as he sprang bolt upright – straight into someone else's nose. Both parties fell back and clutched either their nose or forehead, groaning in pain.

“Owie...” A filly's voice complained will glaring half-heartedly at the colt, “I guess that means you're up, huh?”

The colt grunted in response while rubbing his forehead in pain, “Yeah, but it doesn't explain why you where standing over me...”

“Mummy told me to keep a close eye on you until you woke up.” The filly explained as the colt finally took the time to notice her appearance. A pelt of muted purple graced her delicate features, her well groomed mane, the colour of a pristine coastline, framed her muzzle while a pair of gentle eyes, which seemed to have been made from fragments of the sun itself, gazed back at the colt.

Skywinder maintained eye contact with the filly for a few moments counting the seconds until, “Oh gosh! I should tell Mummy you're awake!” before watching the filly dash out of the room before slowly lowering his face into his hooves.

Between the bashing his head into the filly's jaw and that dream... or vision... he could feel a migraine coming on.

He had never experienced a vision through the Dream before, it usually took years of training and dedication for an Elder in training to learn how to channel the Dream well enough for the Spirits to communicate so directly. They where also supposed to teach lessons to the Elder and the Tribe to help them survive, often using events of the distant past as metaphor...

But what he has seen wasn't like that... was it?

A moment later the familiar form of Cloud Kicker entered the room and Skywinder nodded to her in greeting, his hooves steepled in front of his face as he did so, “So we meet again, Ms Cloud Kicker.”

The purple pegasus blinked at the colt for a moment before choking back a laugh, “You look and sound like a regular Bond villian there kid.” With the colt's only reaction being only the raising of an eyebrow the mare smirked, and with a wave of a hoof added, “Long story and I'm not sure you're old enough to hear it.”

Skywinder grunted and adjusted the pillow so he could set in a sitting position, “So what happened, how long was I out?” he asked with a grumble.

“An old friend of mine, with a reputation for clumsiness, dropped her mail bag right on top of you.” Cloud Kicker chuckled, “Judging from your expression just before it hit I take it that wasn't the first time something got the drop on you?”

“You're right.” Skywinder confirmed, “It's not uncommon for young Gryphoness to use guys as 'target practice' to hone their hunting skills.” He grumbled a bit then added, “I was always a favourite target because I was smaller and more agile then the others... made me harder to 'catch' and thus a better way of demonstrating skill.” He looked Cloud Kicker in the eye and smirked, “Though seeing the less skilled Gryphoness' getting a face full of dirt when I stepped aside was always amusing.”

The elder pegasus chuckled before asking, “So why didn't you dodge earlier?”

“I don't exactly have to worry about getting dive bombed every five minutes in this country.” He explained, “I'm trying to treat this as a kind of holiday while I convince my parents to move back home.”

Cloud Kicker raised a brow in question before asking, “Why wouldn’t you want to stay here? Somepony giving you a hard time? Say the word and I’ll sort them out.”

“No nothing like that.” Skywinder replied forlornly, “Ponyville just isn’t my home. Too green, and the weather is the Serpent’s domain… having ponies change it on a whim just doesn’t seem right…”

“Ah.” Cloud Kicker nodded in understanding, “You’re homesick.”

He simply nodded in reply before muttering to himself, “A qamy Shimmeralis qim yeve.” Shaking his head he looked the mare in the eye, “I suppose you're right.”

The mare leaned in close and smiled at the colt, “Well if you're being forced to stay here why not enjoy it? Ponyville has a lot to offer to an adventurous young colt like yourself.”

Skywinder just grunted non-committally as he looked away from Cloud Kicker, his attention diverted by another pony entering the room.

“Thank goodness you're alright.” The grey mare exhaled as she entered the room, a relieved expression on her face. Her blond mane fell gently over her face as her gaze turned in his general direction.

He wasn't entirely sure if her full attention was on him as one of her eyes was lazily gazing at the ceiling. It was only years of dealing with some of the other creatures native to his homeland that kept him from staring.

“I've been hit with worse.” Skywinder admitted reassuringly. He faintly smiled at the memory of when he had been hit by that 'worse' thing.

He was started from his reminiscing by the sudden intrusion of a large brown thing entering his vision. It was a large round bread like concoction with a domed top and small spherical berries adorning the outside.

“Here!” The filly from earlier commented as she forced her way back into his awareness, having jumped on the bed with him and shoved the food item in his face while he was distracted, “It's nummy!”

Taking the confectionery with a sceptical eye he raised a brow and looked at Cloud Kicker, “Uh... what even is it?”

“A blue berry muffin!” The grey mare chirped in reply, “I baked it as way of saying sorry, I hope you enjoy them.” She smiled invitingly as his gaze returned to the strange foodstuff.

With all eyes on him he couldn't very well refuse and so, with some reluctance, parted his lips and tore off part of the muffin with his teeth. The soft substance sacrificed its molecular bonds for the sake of becoming part of a greater whole, while the colt's teeth easily rended their way through the soft berries.

Noticing the eyes of the other three in the room on him as he swallowed he blinked and smiled awkwardly. On one hoof he could admit it just tasted as bland as everything else he'd ever eaten or he could lie and say it tasted good. Though if they didn't question him about it he could-

“So?!” the filly chirped from where she stood next to the grey pegasus,ca “Mommy's Muffins are the best aren't they?!”

“I certainly think they are.” Cloud Kicker added with a wink at the grey pegasus who immediately began blushing even as she cast the other mare a warning glare.

Thinking quickly the colt blurted out, “It was good.” A fake grin quickly worked its way onto his face, “I can't really compare it to anything, but it was good.” His eyes darted between the mares and filly nervously, hoping they didn't pick up on the half-truth.

The grin that appeared on the grey mare's face told him she believed his words, however the fact the grabbed the tray on her back in her teeth and offered the additional muffins sitting atop it to him brought on a sense of dread. That dread was reinforced by the filly chirping, “That's great, we baked an whole oven full for you!”

“Uy Mevlerf'm Xeivb Ru!” Skywinder blurted out without thinking. Thinking quickly he added, “I really should be going, my parents are bound to be wondering where I am... so...” He jumped off the bed and made a break for the door, “See ya!”

A few moments passed in utter silence before Skywinder awkwardly trotted back into the doorway to face the surprised expressions on the mares and filly's faces. Coughing stiffly he asked, “So... which way is the exit?”

The day was as pleasant as one would could honestly expect for one of the co-rulers of one of the most powerful nations on the world of Inigur. Court had ended without major incident, no dire matters had been brought before her attention and none of the nobles had made an Ass of themselves.

No offence was meant to any Asses with that thought of course. Such petty things were beneath Princess Celestia of Equestria.

All that stood between the Princess and some leisure time was a stack of paper work she could easily work through in just over half an hour. With her goal in sight the Princess placed her flank on her cushion made of Phoenix down, to keep the Royal Plot warm, and lifted a quill with her magic.

Turning her attention to the paperwork she because speed reading the document to ensure the nobles weren't trying to sneak in some bill or another. Just within the last week they'd tried sneaking in one that enforced an Elective Monarchy and another that would have lowered there taxes.

She was honestly surprised no one attempted to slip in a bill that flat out usurped her power yet.

Finding the first document to be legitimate she readied her quill to sign it when she heard the chamber door burst open.

“Sister!” Luna declared with a hint of urgency in her voice, “Something most unexpected has occurred.”

Raising an eyebrow the Solar Princess asked, “What has happened, Sister?”

Luna stepped closer to her sister and spoke in a hushed tone, “I have encountered... a Dream Walker.”

Celestia's quill dropped from the air and splattered black ink all over her forgotten documents.

Author's Note

Have a picture

And another for good measure...

Sorry about taking so long to get this out, I hit a block right after bringing up Skywinder's homesickness.

Luna's sopping teats this took a long time... sorry about that everyone. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner...

Actually there is something I wanted to ask you all. If I was to make a Group based around the fic and the world I'm building in it, would anyone be interested in joining and writing for the world?

Rough Diamond (Unedited)

Celestia's eyelid twitched in frustration as she glared at the ruined document on her desk. The culprit of this heinous crime was none other then her own sister!

“Luna! Look at what you made me do!” She demanded in vain as he sister simply ignored her.

The darker alicorn was far too busy skipping in place rapidly while squealing in excitement, “A Dream Walker, Sister! A Dream Walker!” the moon princess giggled merrily, “There hasn't been one to awaken since before my Banishment!”

Celestia looked at her sister dully before placing a hoof to her forehead, “I know you are excited Luna, and while this is a momentous occurrence; I really do not see why you need to barge into my office and ruin my paperwork!”

Her only reply was more squealing.

The elder sister sighed and frowned. The younger sister may be happy about the news but the re-emergence of Dream Walkers would have long reaching repercussions.

A day after the rather hectic series of events in which he encountered the three 'Crusaders' and the filly he learned was named 'Dinky' Skywinder couldn't help but thank the spirits. After leaving Dinky's home his journey to his own residence was uneventful and he had been able to spend the next day helping his parents set up the shop without interruptions.

A full twenty four hours of peace and safety from the madness of Pony Kind.

But now he must face the greatest challenge a young transfer student could possibly be confronted with... returning to school after a weekend...

Rays of morning sunlight pierced the veil of the intricately decorated fine silk drapes, casting their radiance on the restless form of a pink coated filly. She tossed and turned atop the fluffy mattress of her four-poster bed and kicked her delicate sheets off herself before pulling them back over herself without even opening her eyes.

Suddenly her eyes shot open as she let out a gasp and buried her face in her pillow as she let out a groan of frustration. The feeling of that Wild-Colt's lips against her own and the feeling of his tongue exploring her mouth had been plaguing her for the last two days. The memory insistently gnawed at her mind to the point she had barely slept since the incident.

It was bad enough he had kissed her at all; but he had done more then just kiss her. That kiss had been her first, and that colt had stolen it from her. Worse still he had even had the gall to use his tongue! The pampered filly couldn’t believe the humiliation he had inflicted on her.

While she admitted she had indeed been the one to instigate the confrontation, and had spoken poorly of his upbringing, certain things just where not done! Kissing a filly out of the blue with no explanation and no apology before fleeing the scene was one of those things!

But it wasn't the humiliation that annoyed her.

Her own mind betrayed her and refused to allow her to sleep as it replayed that moment over and over, each sensation just as intense as it had been the first time. The tingling sensation echoed over her lips as if a ghost of Skywinder's own kept brushing against them, leaving them desire his touch again.

She hadn't been get any sleep over the last two days and even worse, had completely failed to say focused enough to feed herself or even hold a conversation. A part of her was amazed she hadn't been a walking disaster whenever she retired to the bathroom...

She was Diamond Tiara, daughter of Filthy Rich, heir to his fortune and future proprietor of Barnyard Bargains, one of the most profitable enterprises throughout Equestria, and yet here she found herself unable to think of anything else besides some no-name colt! Who, to make matters worse, was raised by Gryphon Tribals from some Flank-End region of Equus.

Yet she couldn't bring herself to hate him. She, the one who had hated and bullied anyone mercilessly for something as juvenile as not having a Cutie Mark, couldn't hate the colt who stole her first kiss. That brief contact had conveyed as much as if he had spoken to her for ten minutes.

He hadn't acted out of malice or anger, she hadn't hurt his feelings or pride. All he wanted was for her to leave him alone.

It was a strange feeling knowing that she, the terror of Ponyville Schoolyard, the one that had belittled every last one of her classmates for having less than her for every reason under Celestia’s Sun, hadn’t even made an impact on somepony whose very upbringing she had insulted. For the first time she felt like she had encountered somepony who truly had the will to not bend their knee to her.

It both scared and excited her.

For the first time in her short life her go-to tactic to assert her dominance, a tactic that had never failed her in all the years she had used it had backfired. And it did so utterly. The only reason Diamond felt she could maintain her carefully crafted superiority was due to the small fortune of herself, Silver Spoon and Skywinder being the only ones present at the time. The only way word could have gotten out was if Skywinder was secretly a blabber mouth or Featherweight had snapped a photo.

Since her maids weren't gossiping about it and she hadn't seen the flash of a camera going off she knew neither event had happened...

On that thought she realised she never did figure out how the maids managed to keep up with all the latest gossip when they never left the mansion...

Still, that left figuring out how to deal with Skywinder. She couldn't just leave him alone; if she was seen leaving the new guy alone after being so unrelenting to the rest they would see it as a chink in her armour. If that happened it was only a matter of time before they rebelled.

If she couldn't verbally abuse him into submission like she usually did that logically meant she should resort to a physical approach, but that presented it's own issues. First among those was the fact that hitting colts was simply something a young mare of her breeding simply shouldn't do, not even a farm working pony like Apple Bloom would baulk at the idea of physical violence against the fairer sex.

The second was that Skywinder wasn't like other colts. While it was true some grew up to be physical powerhouses like Apple Bloom's aptly named older brother, Big Macintosh, Skywinder was already one of the most physically imposing ponies in the class, matching Apple Bloom for sheer muscle.

Add the fact he was raised by a male-dominant society and you get a colt that could not only over powering her but wasn't afraid to do so...

That... both terrified her and made her stomach flutter in excitement. Like any Earth Pony Diamond Tiara prided herself on her physical prowess, so even if she lead the pampered lifestyle of an heiress she still envied Apple Bloom for being stronger then her. That was part of the reason she singled her out more then their other classmates.

But for some reason the idea that a colt, the fairer sex, being able to overwhelm her strength brought the opposite feelings to what the other filly did. He brought her feelings of yearning and longing she couldn't understand.

She had always looked at colts as nothing more then tools, ways to help her rise further up the social food chain, hopefully high enough to have the ear of the Princesses, and to produce an heir of her own some day. Mere pieces on the board to manipulate however she desired.

Now this one was changing the rules on her. What she thought was just another pawn had turned out to have as much control over the game as she did... and she found herself desiring that challenge, when she had so often just been annoyed and beaten whatever resistance she had encountered into submission before.

To make her feel even worse Diamond Tiara remembered her heritage as the proud descendant of a long line of Earth Ponies dating back to at least the banishing of Princess Luna. Such a rich history and here she was pining for a Pegasus who considered a tribe of savages, from farther south then where the Pegasi gather the migratory birds during Winter Wrap Up, to be his family.

She wasn't sure how but she knew that she had to keep the colt from challenging her authority constantly. There was no debate in her mind about the necessity of her staying on top at school.

As a maid entered her room to announce the morning, and the need to prepare for the day of school to come, the heiress reached her conclusion. If she couldn't dominate him by undermining his own self worth and brute force wasn't a solution, then she still had a third option.

She would convince the colt to join her, if she could make him throw his support behind her then nopony in the school would dare try and challenge her again. A happy smirk crossed her lips at the idea of having the colt standing side by side with her as she looked down on all the lesser ponies...

“Not interested.”

Diamond Tiara's bottom eyelid twitched in frustration. She had just wasted the last twenty minutes intercepting Skywinder and presenting him with all the benefits of being her left-hoof stallion. And he responded by rejecting the offer the exact moment she finished the last syllable of her offer.

The colt just sat there impassively as the heiress sputtering as she tried to get her brain to understand this turn of events. It was her friend who regained her senses first and made her presence remembered by poking the colt in the chest.

“Don't you know who you're talking to? She's Diamond Tiara! The richest and best connected filly in town! You should feel honoured that she's being so nice to you, Featherbrain.” Silver Spoon hissed, her hoof jabbing the colt with every word.

Skywinder shrugged his wings and replied, “I should care, why?”

The grey Earth Pony snarled, “Because a Cloudmuzzle is hardly deserving of her attention let alone one that is a mere colt.” She poked him again, though this time it was more of a shove.

The pegasus barely budged, which Silver Spoon hadn't been expecting. Unlike Diamond Tiara she had no reservations about getting physical with a colt. She also didn't expect to find herself falling onto her back after Skywinder threw her off with enough force to take her off her hooves.

“I don’t know who you do things around here.” The gryphon raised Pegasus growled as he loomed over Silver Spoon, “But where I’m from, we don’t lash out at another without reason.” His eyes narrow as he leaned his snout down to within an inch of the filly’s, “But if another attacks first, we are free to strike back with as much force as we feel appropriate.”

With that the colt flicked his tail in irritation and proceeded to trot towards the schoolyard. Silver Spoon rolled back onto her hooves as he called back, “Be glad we also teach our males not to hurt the females.”

Silver gulped slightly and glanced at Diamond Tiara, “Well… that could have gone better.” Even as she said that she couldn’t help but think about how strong Skywinder seemed to be. She also couldn’t stop thinking about that hint of rainbow light she saw in his eyes the moment after she prodded him…

“Yeah…” Diamond Tiara snorted, “I think you just made my plan even harder to pull off.” She observed with a grunt as the two followed the colt towards the school, hoping to at least get into class before the bell chimed.

Author's Note

Not really happy with the ending but it will do for now.

Still testing the waters to see if anyone wants me to make a group for this fic so others can write in the setting. I'd rather not waste anyone's time if no one wants to get involved.

Fun Fact: Most of this chapter is actually rewritten from work I did for Tafe earlier this term. Considering I got three and a half pages of content from a page of text, that's saying something.