A Better Equestria

Chapters

Chapter One: Under Control
Chapter Two: Feel the Heat
Chapter Three: Trouble
Prologue

Chapter One: Under Control

Chapter One: Under Control

(16 years after prologue)

“Again.”

The kitchen was absolutely silent. Cabinets, sinks, dishes, stoves and other cooking appliances lined the walls in the long, white room. All that stood out in the room of whites and grays were two brightly colored mares.

You know, the kitchen in this castle is a lot more boring without everypony else to rush around and make some noise. With a roll of her eyes and a glow of her horn, Steam Sear lit the stove in front of her with a small, magical flame. She began to think her ‘teacher’ would never be satisfied.

“Again.”

Looks like she was right. Sheesh, this old lavender mare left no room for failure at all. With a sigh, Steam Sear extinguished the flame, and hastily re-lit the wood stove. A few trickles of flame danced in the air around the stove for a split second before disappearing.

“No, no, no. It shouldn’t take that much effort. Again.”

“Can we stop this? I’m pretty sure I know how to light a stove.” This little ‘lesson’ had been going on for 26 minutes. She’d been counting out of sheer boredom.

Her teacher remained stone-faced. “Judging by how this session is going, I would say otherwise. Again.”

Steam groaned loudly. Come on, you old prune... She thought to herself. Why couldn’t this lesson just be over with?

Gazing at all the pots and pans around her was the only other thing she could do. When she did, all she found was a young, pear colored, orange maned unicorn staring right back at her. Steam wouldn’t mind looking at her own reflection if she didn’t appear to have been trampled by minotaurs. What she would do for some sleep right now.

Sear carelessly lit the stove again, much to her teacher’s dismay.

“I said to use less effort! Don’t get impatient. Do it again.”

“Why do I need to keep doing this?! What does it matter if I use just a little bit more flame than is needed?! Who cares, the stove is lit! I’ve done this a thousand times already, Twilight!”

Twilight Sparkle merely rolled her eyes. This little outburst certainly was not the first one she’s had to deal with ever since they started these lessons. “This isn’t about simply lighting a stove. This lesson is supposed to educate you on how to control your magic.”

The wrinkled mare took Steam’s place in front of the stove before continuing her point.

“Magic isn’t something to be used carelessly.” Twilight’s horn glowed a vibrant, pink color.

“If you don’t put enough magic into a spell, the end result will either be incomplete, or non-existent.” As she spoke, the stove flickered and struggled to stay aflame, but to no avail.

“Use too much...” Twilight’s horn glowed brighter, only to have the stove erupt in scorching flames. Steam Sear had to back away from the intense heat coming from the stove, shielding her eyes. Twilight stayed where she was, unmoving. With another flash of her horn, the immense flames vanished as though they never existed.

“...and things get dangerous.” Twilight finished.

“You could have just told me. There was really no reason for the fireworks.” Steam swept a hoof through her golden mane only to find that not only was part of the kitchen covered in soot, but so was her mane. Great, as if she didn’t look bad enough right now.

And just how the heck did Twilight manage to keep her graying mane looking the same?!

“I just wanted to be thorough about my point.” Twilight’s smirk told a different story.

The clock in the once entirely white kitchen let out a loud ring, signifying the end of their session together.

“Well, another lesson ended, and I still haven’t gotten any better with my magic.”

Twilight tried to say something, but was instead cut off by her student.

“I swear, I thought I’d be doing backflips while simultaneously making lasers shoot out of my horn by now. Yet whenever I try anything the least bit complicated, it literally blows up in my face.” She smacked a pot off the counter with a hoof for emphasis, banging on the floor in the sullenness of the kitchen.

“Steam, magic isn’t something you can master at the drop of a hat. It takes time to fully understand how to execute magic spells with ease.” Twilight’s horn illuminated, opening multiple cabinets and levitating out several rags and towels.

“In order for us to be able to perform amazing spells, or more than one at a time, we have to practice.” With seemingly no effort at all on Twilight’s end, the floating rags went to work cleaning up the soot covering the stove area.

Steam reached for a single towel as well with her hoof, but caught her mentor's disapproving look in the corner of her eye. With more effort than most would need, she levitated the rag with an orange glow and joined her teacher in her chore.

“But I’ve made little to no progress since we’ve started doing this. Any other pony would be able to do way more by now.” The green teenager glared at nothing in particular, frustrated at her inability to perform amazing feats of magic.

The old mare turned her head to her student. “We all have our learning curves, Steam. You just can’t give up.” In less than a minute, the kitchen was looking good as new, and all the rags were flying back into their rightful places.

“Easy for you to say, your special talent is magic.”

“Hey, I may be able to conjure up many spells with ease, but unlike you, I could never cook a decent meal to save my life. Even with my magic.”

It was true, Steam made a pretty good chef. Her cutie mark was proof: the image of a cooking pot sitting atop a flame. If you’re ever in need of a tasty treat, Steam Sear could certainly deliver.

“Listen to me.” Twilight ordered as she met Steam’s turquoise eyes. “You don’t lose when you’re unable to do something. The second you give up, that is when you have truly lost.”

Steam couldn’t help but feel her spirits rise as her mentor comforted her. There was just a certain sincerity with the way the purple mare spoke.

“You can do great things, Steam. I know you can.”

The edge of Steam’s mouth curled upwards.

“Now, go on home and clean yourself up. You look like something my dragon coughed up.”

The two unicorns shared a small bout of laughter. When they settled down, they exited out of the kitchen and into the enormous hallways of the castle.

“Well, this is where we part ways. I have a bit of business to attend to. I’ll see you next week, Steam.” Twilight turned to the right, and Steam to the left.

“Yeah, yeah, next week.” Steam wasn’t as enthusiastic as she could be right now, but she was just looking forward to collapsing on her bed at home. That blasted migraine kept her up all last night.

“And practice your control!” Twilight hollered from down the hall.

Whatever. Nag, nag, nag. Steam ventured down the only other direction the hallway could take her. The hallway was nearly empty save for a few servants and guards in golden armor. Trotting past the numerous doorways to different rooms, she could just barely make out the faint conversations between the many ponies of Canterlot castle.

“-eed it! Where could you have possibly put your armo-”

“-when she gets here, don’t tell Silverwind about the accid-”

“-was it like during those days? Was everypony happier in-”

“-princess is pretty upset about something. Don’t know-”

“-know the story of a diamond dog who couldn’t spea-”

Any other day she would’ve listened in on some of these conversations, but today was an exception. The green unicorn just didn’t have it in herself to care.

Some of the servants she saw nodded at her, giving a silent greeting as they passed by her. She had been coming to the castle long enough to be recognized by some of the ponies here.

I swear, this castle gets larger every time I need to get out here quickly. She had walked this path in the castle multiple times before, but nearly every time, something felt different. Maybe the decorations in this castle were switched around daily to make sure the princess wasn’t bored with her surroundings. Or maybe there was something mystical about this castle and its origin.

Or maybe she was just going insane. Yeah, that was probably it.

The hallway guided Steam to a larger corridor with many of the same hallways she was standing in branching off of it. Down the corridor to her left was the exit she was looking for.

Finally. Now I can get back home. The tired mare treaded down to her destination; an enormous wooden door. The two unicorn guards stationed at either side of the door wasted no time in using their magic to pry open the gargantuan door.

At last, Steam Sear made it outside to the commonplace markets. She got a few stares from the locals as the massive doors closed behind her, but she shrugged them off. They always stared at her after she exited the castle, but maybe this time they were actually noticing how terrible she looked. Steam didn’t care. She never was one for fashion, or looking fancy, unlike most of the locals.

Steam picked up the pace. The sooner she got home, the better. As she trotted home, her mind started to wander.

I wonder how long it will be until I can do more advanced magic. Or heck, even basic magic would be great at this point. Twilight’s a great teacher and everything, even if she is a bit stingy, but does she really think I can do this? I don’t want any more explosions...

She took a turn into an alley. Her normal shortcut was the same as ever, what with the litter laying everywhere, and the same stray cat dashing away at the sight of her. Nopony in their right mind would want to come down here if they didn’t know it lead straight to good restaurant.

Then again, I suppose I’m better at magic now than when I was just a little filly., I couldn’t even levitate a feather without risking it bursting into flames.

After walking between the outer walls of a furniture store and some clothes shop she didn’t know the name of, Steam Sear emerged out into the markets of Canterlot again, only now with her destination in sight.

“I’ve reached solace.” The restaurant had never looked so beautiful to Steam as it did right then and there.

As soon as she opened the door to the restaurant, though, there was a deep, hardy voice waiting to greet her.

“Ey, kiddo! How was your little class toda— by Luna’s horn! What happened to ya? You look like something I overcooked!”

The familiar cobalt earth pony stallion was in the middle of taking a couple’s orders, but that didn’t stop him from trotting right up to Steam, leaving them to wait. The image of a kitchen knife crossed with a stirring spoon was his cutie mark, living up to his name 'Culinary Slice.'

The interior of the restaurant was moderately sized, but well decorated for what it was. Purple curtains were on either side of every window, the tables were each covered with a thin, maroon fabric, and numerous paintings lined the walls in order to give the customers something to observe while they waited for their food.

“Hey, dad. Don’t worry, everything went fine.”

“Doesn’t look like it did. Why do you look so sear-ious, Steam?”

She’d heard that joke a thousand times, and it never got old. At least, not to her dad, who was trying desperately not to laugh at his own joke.

“Well, I’m going upstairs to sleep.” And she started to do just that.

“Before you do, I need you to go borrow some frosting from Mrs. Custard down at the confectionery.” The yellow maned stallion started back to the table he so rudely left waiting.

Steam halted right where she was.

Is he serious? “Can’t it wait? I’m so tired...”

“Sorry, kiddo. I need that frosting in case anypony here orders a dessert. I would go get it myself, but I’m busy tending to the customers. Just do me this one favor, and I’ll leave you to sleep for as long as you need to.” The blonde stallion turned back around to face her.

“That, and I’ll make you your favorite breakfast when you wake up!”

The stallion in the couple from earlier loudly cleared his throat in an effort to summon back their forgetful waiter.

“Ugh, fine.” With a defeated sigh, she started towards the restaurant doors. “What’s another twenty minutes?”

Immediately after she departed the restaurant, a thought came to her mind.

I’ll just take a shortcut. I’ll be back here with the stupid frosting in no time.

Steam immediately trotted to a different, longer alley. This one was also littered with crumpled papers, grime, and even a few pieces of scrap wood. Though, no stray cats had claimed the alleyway as their home.

Canterlot is just so pristine. She sarcastically thought.

Making her way down the alley, she started to doubt that this was the faster route. It just seemed to drag on forever like the hallways of the castle.

I must have taken the wrong alleyway. Brilliant job, Steam. The exhausted unicorn scolded herself. How could she have taken the wrong alley? She has only lived here all her life.

Maybe she really was going insane.

The orange maned unicorn pivoted to turn around and get out of the alley, when she felt some slight stinging force hit her neck.

Ow. What was that, some sort of bug bite?

Her legs suddenly felt very weak.

“Gah, what’s wrong with...” Steam Sear fell in a heap on the cold floor of the alley.

“I can’t... move?” her mind became clouded. Multiple red alerts were going off inside Steam Sear’s mind. Steam wanted so dearly to get up and run, but her body would not comply. She wanted to scream for help, but her voice was weak, and there was nopony around to hear her distress.

Steam’s vision started to fade.

“I’m... so... tired...”

She saw no more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“And practice your control!” Twilight bellowed after her student.

Well, no more putting off my work for today.

Twilight strode down the halls of the castle. In all her years of living here in Canterlot, not too much changed. Nearly everything was perfect in order to please the grand ruler of Equestria. You would sooner be struck by lightning than find a major problem in the castle. Everything was just perfect.

Perfectly monotonous.

Twilight was certainly one for keeping things in order, but even for her, this was a bit ridiculous. At first, she had been thrilled to come stay at the castle. After a bit of time, though, the novelty of it all seemed to disappear. If it hadn’t been for her dragon, Spike, she was sure she would have retired to Ponyville by now. At least there was some excitement there.

Or was there? It had been so long since she had last been there.

I wish my friends were here...

Twilight never truly moved on. She wanted their time together to last forever, so that she may always be with them. Time, however, had different ideas. One by one, each of her friends had passed away. By the time she left for Canterlot, all but Applejack had gone.

Twilight’s face turned to one of sorrow. Not a single day passed by where she didn’t think of them. How she wished they could all be together again like the old days.

The hallway split off into two directions. Twilight turned right without a second thought and came to a round staircase. As per routine, she started to climb up the stairs.

At least I’ll always have my assistant. Twilight thought. I’ll have to go see him after I’m done today. He always knows just how to cheer me up. Until then, I wonder what Luna will need for today.

It wasn’t even noon yet, but who knew when Luna would need her Royal Advisor. Twilight learned quickly that with the princess, everything can be just fine one moment, and be absolute chaos the next.

Twilight exited the staircase through a stone door, only to happen upon more massive hallways with the same red carpets and the same stone walls.

Guards were always more abundant up here on this floor. They were right to be. This is where the princess’s room and personal study was located.

Twilight fondly remembered there was little use for the royal guard when she was barely an adult.

But that was the past, and this is now.

The old lavender unicorn finally appeared before a large set of wooden doors. Two very large pegasi guards were stationed at either side. Their bodies covered in brilliant golden armor, and their wings equipped with blades that could pierce steel. Both of the stallions seemed ready for a brutal fight at any given moment. Good thing she wasn’t looking for a fight.

There were only two of them, after all. It just didn’t seem fair.

Instead, she simply smiled at them, and they did so in return.

“Greetings, Ms. Sparkle. Princess Luna is just inside.”

“Thank you, sirs.” They were very nice gentlecolts, given how big and tough they looked.

The doors opened, and Twilight found herself in the study of Princess Luna.

The walls were painted a dark, foreboding purplr, with lighter colored mauve curtains lining parts of the wall. The wide floor was entirely sculpted out of obsidian. Twilight could almost see her reflection in the black, glassy floor. The ceiling, though, was possibly the most artistic quality about the room. Tiny, shimmering white dots shined on a black background, giving the faintest illusion of stars in the night, even during the day. In the center of the large room was Luna’s private desk, with papers stacked high and quills left to sit.

The Princess this room was literally made for, though, was not sitting in her desk, but standing out on the balcony opposite the side of the room where Twilight entered. The midnight princess was overlooking Canterlot, her starry mane flowing in a non-existent breeze.

Closing the doors behind her, Twilight wasted no time heading through the balcony doors and marching up to Luna’s side to see the view of Canterlot. It was a truly beautiful sight. The sun was still making it’s way to the center of the sky, shining brightly above the land. The very distant mountains were surrounded with clouds at their tips. Down below, the upper class citizens were going about their own business, appearing not to have a care in the world.

“Good day, Twilight Sparkle. I trust your teachings went well today?”

“Not for Steam Sear, it didn’t. Progress with honing her magic is quite slow, and she’s getting frustrated. You already know if we move too fast, things get a bit combustible.”

“Indeed. The loyal servants were tending to the gardens she laid waste to for weeks.”

“Well, you must admit it was a well performed explosion. Even if it wasn’t of her own volition.”

Luna didn’t reply. She simply stood on the balcony, overlooking her nation. Twilight had no idea how long the princess had been standing out here.

“Tell me, Twilight Sparkle. What is on the agenda for today?”

“Well, today seems to be an easy day, actually. Among other small things, the most important thing you have to do today is hold court.” Twilight

“Thank you. Is there anything you wish to discuss before we tend to our royal duties?”

Twilight got a closer look at Luna. Her naturally flowing mane and tail were a bit droopy today. And not only were there bags under her eyes, but they were very slightly bloodshot as well. Her eyelids seemed like they were as heavy as anvils, waiting to close for an indefinite amount of time. Luna acted as though nothing was wrong, but she looked like she hadn’t slept all night.

“Well, for starters, you look like my student did today, ready to collapse on a moments notice. Did you get any sleep at all, last night?”

“A very minimal amount, yes. In the end, it was a futile effort.”

“Was there a specific reason for your insomnia?” Twilight already knew the reason.

“Just the usual one, Twilight Sparkle.”

Silence again. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin dropping on the floor.

Twilight finally broke the silence. “I miss Celestia too, Luna.”

Luna remained expressionless, as she always did.

“I miss everything about her.” Twilight continued. “From her kind smile to her gracious poise, I miss her so much.”

Luna sat down on her haunches, and Twilight followed suit.

“Ever since her disappearance on that fateful night, I've been hoping she would return.” Luna stated.

She stared down at her hooves, keeping that expressionless face.

“I remember it all so clearly.”

Luna stood proudly on her balcony as her moon began to rise. Once again it was night time, and once again she could tend to her nation as it slept.

The royal guards were being swapped out for Luna’s personal guards of the night. With their silvery blue armor and leathery bat-like wings, they were a vicious looking ensemble to the average pony.

Now that the moon had been dealt with, Luna could get to work managing Equestria.

And then one of the royal guards in his golden armor burst into Luna’s study, looking as though he had seen a ghost.

“Your highness! We have a terrible situation on our hooves!”

And she was just starting to enjoy her night, too.

“What is the problem, Shimmering Valor?”

“Princess Celestia... she... She’s vanished!”

The midnight princess paid no mind to the guards words, as if he hadn't said anything at all.

"You're certain she's not on one of her 'escapes' again?" Luna's sister loved to occasionally slip away when nopony noticed to have some time for herself, If only for a few minutes. When the servants in the castle noticed, though, panic easily rose among them all.

"N-no, Princess. In her room... It looks like there's been some sort of struggle!" the guard looked positively mortified.

Luna had to process that in her mind for a split second. Celestia? The immortal alicorn? In a fight? How? Why?

Luna shook herself out of her dazed stupor and faced the panicking stallion with a hardened look in her eyes.

“Show me. Now.”

“Y-yes, Princess!”

The guard quickly guided Luna to Celestia’s bedroom, where the door was wide open and numerous guards were investigating inside. The Interior of Celestia’s bedroom was exactly the same, despite the fact that there were scorch marks everywhere. Once brilliant paintings were rendered indecipherable by the burns. Her fireplace was still lit, although faint.

Luna remained calm to the best of her abilities, and asked the nearest guard “What exactly happened in here?”

“We don’t exactly know yet. Princess Celestia was escorted to her bedroom by her royal guard, and stood by her door after she entered her bedroom. A little while later, one of the guards claimed he heard a ‘loud, boisterous noise’ from inside. They tried to open the door, but something held it in place. Soon the noise inside stopped, and only then were the guards able to get her door open. But by the time they did, she was gone.”

Luna's breathing became increasingly rapid throughout the guards monologue.

What could have possibly happened? Did Celestia teleport somewhere? Was she attacked? If so, who would want to attack her? What did they do with her?!

Where is Celestia?!

“Princess Luna! I have found something!” A voice called out

Luna immediately went to near the balcony in Celestia’s room to see what the random royal guard had found.

And there was Celestia’s tiara, floating in the guard’s magical grasp. The top left edge of it was completely burned, and had lost some of it’s shine.

“Celestia...” Luna muttered in utter shock. She could not believe what she was seeing.

For the longest time, Luna said nothing. A thousand thoughts were racing through her head as to what could have transpired in Celestia’s room. Everypony in the room held their breath and stared, unsure how the princess would react. Not a single whisper escaped their mouths.

Luna flared her wings, and violently turned to the guards to address them in a loud, ear-splitting voice.

“SEARCH ALL OF CANTERLOT! LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED, AND NO CRACK UNINVESTIGATED! FIND CELESTIA! GO!”

As the guards rushed out of the room to do as Luna commanded, she hollered out one last order for them.

“AND CONTACT THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!! BRING THEM HERE AT ONCE!!”

Luna was alone in her sister’s bedroom, seething at this unexpected turn of events.

But, through it all, she was scared. Scared for Celestia.

Luna held her sister’s tiara close to her chest.

“Celestia. Where are you?”

“Every single day for the past 53 years, I have awakened in my bedroom thinking ‘Perhaps this is the day she will finally return.’ But that day never comes.” Luna gazed back to the view of Equestria.

“I still have to stop myself from sending out search parties nowadays. I know all of Equestria was searched, but I still can’t help but wonder.”

“We all tried, Luna. Me and my friends, we were searching for months on end. We searched everywhere, but couldn’t find a single thing.” Twilight never took her eyes off of Luna.

“I wonder how my sister was able to put up with a thousand years of this.” The midnight blue princess closed her eyes, deep in thought.

“Maybe it was the thought that she knew where you were. She wasn’t exactly left in the dark about your disappearance.” Unlike they were.

Yet again, neither Luna nor Twilight said anything. Other than a few details, they had this conversation many times before. Talking about it always seemed alien to them, though.

“It always seems there is one problem after another. Every little problem must be tended to immediately, but I can only pay attention to one at a time. The subjects of Equestria still don’t seem fully comfortable with me alone as their ruler.” The Princess turned her head towards Twilight.

“It has been 59 years. Will it ever get any easier, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight didn’t respond. She doubted it ever would in her own lifetime, but she wasn’t about to tell the princess that.

That was the last thing said in their conversation. Twilight had done this time and time again with the alicorn princess. She knew her job as the royal adviser wasn’t her main duty. If anything, it was just a ploy to keep them close. The princess needed a friend she could talk to, and Twilight was just the pony for the ‘job.’

It wasn’t until Twilight stood up that she finally broke the peaceful silence.

“Well, Equestria won’t rule itself, Princess.” Twilight headed inside Luna’s study, expecting the princess to do the same.

And then something in the distance boomed. Both mares heard it, and both gazed in the direction it came from.

That was an explosion. Twilight had heard enough of those to know the sound by heart.

“It came from within Canterlot.” Luna stated, her eyes searching.

Luna quickly departed from her study, and through the door Twilight could hear her muffled voice.

“Take as many guards as you need and look into that noise. Ensure that the citizens of Canterlot are safe.”

The purple unicorn gazed back out at Canterlot. Smoke could clearly be seen rising up in the distance.

In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but worry about Steam Sear.

Chapter Two: Feel the Heat

Chapter Two: Feel the Heat

The train’s whistle screamed once again as the mechanical leviathan emerged from a rocky tunnel. Scaling the mountainside as fast as it could go, all the multi-colored ponies inside eagerly awaited reaching their destination.

With the exception of one beige pegasus.

“Canterlot. Pfft.” He boredly gazed out the window he had been having a staring contest with during the entire trip.

In the window, two golden eyes stared back at him. His faint reflection’s long, crimson mane looked much nicer today than it usually did.

Other than the pegasus and his friends, the train car they occupied was nearly empty, save for a couple snoring individuals. Beside him sat his two friends, both of which were exasperated at the pegasus’ constant complaining.

“Fortune, would you stop, already?” The brown earth pony started. “You’ve been whining during the whole train ride!” Of the three of them, she was the only one who looked truly ecstatic to go to Canterlot.

“And I’m right to! Canterlot is just filled with a bunch of self-centered snobs who have no sense of humor!” He countered.

“Why can’t you be like Iron Forge? He hasn’t complained at all.” She pointed a hoof to the large, cobalt unicorn stallion sitting on to Blossom's other side. His short, spiky mane was blue like a morning sky. His muzzle, hooves, mane and tail were frosted with a pure, ice-like color. With a stern look on his face, he patiently awaited when the train would finally reach it’s destination.

“Blossom, he rarely ever talks.”

“Exactly.” The pink-eyed mare smugly retaliated.

“Hey, I’m sure he doesn’t want to go to Canterlot either!” Fortune looked towards the muscly unicorn. “Hey, Forge, back me up on this one!”

With a deep, strong voice, the Iron Forge broke his eternal silence. “Like Blossom Cheer, I am looking forward to seeing the culture of Canterlot. You are acting like a foal, Fortune. Quit your whining.”

With a bit of shock at the stallion’s answer, Fortune Find quietly went back to his staring contest with the window and grumbled to himself.

Despite her irritation with the whiny pegasus, Blossom Cheer addressed him again. “Come on, Fortune. Why can’t you be happy about this? I brought us all on this vacation to get away from the stress in Ponyville and have fun. Not mope around.”

After a slight pause, Fortune Find answered without turning towards her, preferring to look at the vast open lands of Equestria the window had to offer.

”Look Blossom, I’ll admit it’s a very beautiful city, but when I would come here with my dad, everypony I tried to talk to thought I was just some stupid hick. They all despised me, and some even insulted me whenever I would pass by them. Ever since then, I always dreaded coming back here.”

Blossom’s face darkened slightly. “Well, can’t you put aside your bias just this once? Our visit here just won’t be as fun if you’re acting all moody and...”

Rather than finishing her thought, she sadly turned away from him with a sigh.

Fortune Find glanced back at Blossom’s face. In that moment, Fortune saw the hurt in her usually luminous eyes, (and the disappointment in Iron Forge’s glare) and grimaced. Here was the nicest mare he’d ever met treating her friends to a fun getaway, and he was bashing the very idea. How could he be so densely insensitive?

He’d sooner wake a sleeping bear than intentionally hurt his friends. For now, he would have to swallow his pride.

“Alright, fine. I’ll give it a chance.”

At that, Blossom Cheer instantly brightened, and squeezed Fortune in the death grip she called a hug. “Yay! This is going to be so much fun! Just the three of us, having fun in Canterlot!”

“Blossom, little tight...” The pegasus managed to say without showing pain.

“Oh, sorry.” The brown earth pony released her grip around Fortune, only to squee to herself in excitement. It didn’t seem possible for the mare to become more enthusiastic about this trip.

Despite his disapproval of Canterlot, Fortune smiled as well. What could he say? Blossom’s happiness was almost certainly contagious.

The last minutes of the train ride rolled by as Blossom and Fortune conversed. Iron Forge, rather than chime in, chose to listen instead. The large stallion almost never had anything to say. Most ponies never willingly talked to Iron, finding his stature to be intimidating. If Fortune hadn’t been the strange little colt he was when they were young, Iron may never have had any true friends.

Blossom was giggling at another one of Fortune’s mind-numbingly bad jokes when the train came to a slow.

“Now arriving at Canterlot!” the conductor hollered in the nearly empty train car.

Blossom was the first one to jump out of her seat to wait by the train’s door. The quiet unicorn soon did the same, with the somewhat reluctant pegasus following suit.

The train finally stopped entirely, and shortly after it did, the conductor slid the doors open to a large stone platform.

Again, Blossom was the first of the three companions to rush outside. The ecstatic mare wasted no time getting off of the platform and galloping from the train station to the outskirts of Canterlot.

Immediately, she took in the sight before her. Nearly every building in the city was colored white, and outlined in a dandelion yellow. Only a few buildings differed with a blue or purple shaded metal roof. Long, copper pipes would occasionally be attached along the framework of some buildings, shining brightly in the sun's gleam. What the purpose of these pipes were, she had no clue. In various locations, large cylindrical towers of varying size reached towards the clouds, sporting a flagpole fluttering in the soft wind.

The citizens of Canterlot were abundant, some sporting unnecessary articles of elegant clothing. Among the crowds, the beaming mare could even spot a few celebrities.

“Ohmygosh, that’s Supreme Scent! And there’s Mirror Image! And there’s—" She gasped. "That's Dashing Charm!”

She had to resist the urge to scream in excitement. Everything here in Canterlot was just so regal! So beautiful! It was exactly as she had imagined it to be.

“Isn’t this exciting, guys?!” The earth pony said to nopony.

“Guys?” Blossom Cheer was only now figuring out that she was fifty feet away from the train station entrance. She didn’t realize she had left behind her friends.

The two stallions Blossom had sprinted away from were only now catching up to her, halting their trot when they were close enough to the their hasty companion. The pegasus carried heavy looking saddlebags on his back. Blossom silently wondered why Iron Forge didn't just carry them instead.

“Blossom, slow down! You’re giving the Wonderbolts a run for their money!” Fortune Find exclaimed, breathing slightly heavier than normal.

“Can you two believe it!? We’re in Canterlot!” Yet again, Blossom closed her eyes in glee while she squee’d in joy.

“Yeah, I know, but will you calm down? You’re causing a bit of a scene.” Iron Forge simply nodded in agreement to Fortune’s pleas.

“Oh, right. Sorry, I’m just so excited about this!”

“You don’t say.” Fortune sarcastically replied as he landed on the ground.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I’m gonna go find Dashing Charm! I just saw him pass by that crowd over there! What say we all meet back here in half an hour? Then I’ll show us to our hotel, and we can— Oh, this just so exciting!”

“Blossom, wait!”

And without another word, she was off chasing after some celebrity.

Fortune sighed in defeat and turned to Iron, still standing next to him. “You off to do your own thing, too?”

Iron Forge nodded his head once with a bored look on his face.

“Ugh, fine. Just remember to be back here in front of the train station in half an hour.”

Without another word, they separated.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Oh come on, now. Where did he go?” Blossom whispered to herself.

She had been searching for the elusive Dashing Charm for almost fifteen minutes, now. After the famous actor traversed through the Canterlot crowd, he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Eventually, Blossom came to a local bench just outside a building. Without hesitation, she hopped up onto it and sat down. Searching for one pony in a city like this was certainly not easy.

Well, I guess I’ll have to give up. Who knew Dashing Charm would be so hard to find? Blossom sighed to herself in disappointment. She was so close to meeting one of Equestria’s most renowned actors.

Oh well, what am I so disappointed about? There’s plenty of other things to do here! Look, there’s a bookstore right over there!

A voice derailed her train of thought not two seconds after.

“Excuse me, miss, but do you know where I can find the tuxedo shop around here?” The mysterious voice behind her derailed her train of thought.

Blossom turned her head to face the stranger, and immediately recognized him upon doing so. The macho stallion’s coat was the lightest color of purple she’d ever seen on a pony. His short, combed-back mane on the other hoof, was a darker and more vivid purple. His eyes were a bright rose color, and Blossom couldn’t help but get lost in his stare.

“You’re—! You’re Dashing Charm!” Blossom literally jumped out of her seat.

The earth pony actor couldn’t help but smile softly at the Blossom’s shocked expression.

“Indeed I am.”

Ironically, Blossom was speechless. She had finally found him, and now that she had, words failed her. She wanted to tell him everything about how she loved his acting, but her words felt tangled and unprepared, now that she was standing in front of him.

The stunned mare thought to herself as the stallion stared at her with those beautiful, eyes.

Come on, say something, Blossom! Anything! He’s right there! Just introduce yourself, or something!

“HI, I’M PONYVILLE. I’M FROM BLOSSOM CHEER.”

Argh! No! Calm down! He’s going to think you’re an idiot!

“YOU’RE AN IDIOT.”

That certainly got an surprised stare from the actor.

OH NO WHY DID I SAY THAT.

“Wait! No, I meant to say I’m an idiot! Sorry, It’s just that I’m so nervous talking to you, what with you being a famous actor and me just being a normal pony and—”

“Madame, please! It’s quite alright.”

At that, she took a deep breath, and introduced herself properly, rather than talk a mile a minute.

“Right. I’m Blossom Cheer. Sorry about my nervousness. I’m a really big fan of yours. I remember seeing you perform Take What You Want in Ponyville once, and I just want to say you are an amazing actor!”

Dashing's face brightened. “Ah, thank you! That was one of my favorite plays to be a part of. I’m actually surprised to hear someone talk about that play. I’m almost always remembered for my performances in Torn from Paradise and Out With the Old.”

“Yeah, well, that was the play that stood out to me. You just captured the main character’s personality so well! It was so romantic whenever he chased after his love interest.”

“Tell me... Blossom, was it? What brings you to Canterlot?”

“Well, me and a couple of my friends came here just to have a bit of fun. I’ve only been here for a short while and it’s already amazing! I mean, I’ve already met you! A celebrity!”

“Oh, please, I’m not all that famous.” The humble actor rolled his eyes.

“Are you kidding? You’ve been getting praise from every newspaper out there! And let me tell you, it’s well deserved.”

“You flatter me, Miss Cheer. Thank you.”

“Hehe, don’t mention it.”

After she said her part, Blossom could’ve sworn she saw something about his eyes change for a split second.

I must really be nervous if I'm seeing things.

“Well, It has been very nice talking to you, Blossom Cheer, but I’m afraid I must be going. I have a formal gathering to be at tonight, and I don’t have a suit. Imagine that, eh?”

“Oh, no, It’s fine! I completely understand! You’re busy and I’m just wasting your time right now.”

“Not at all, Miss Cheer. I enjoyed our little conversation. Frankly, I don’t even want to be there tonight, but the host insisted I show up. You know how these Canterlot nobles can get.”

“Well, It was very nice meeting you!”

“Same to you. May we meet again!”

And with that, Dashing trotted off, disappearing behind a building.

“I. Just. Met. Dashing. Charm.” Blossom Cheer was once again speechless, but it was short lived. She couldn’t contain her delight any longer.

“Aaaaaah! This is the best vacation ever!”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“This is the worst vacation ever.”

Fortune Find begrudgingly walked along the paths of Canterlot. He really didn’t like it here. The architecture and multitude of shops may have been a nice difference from Ponyville, but to Fortune, that was about all this place had going for it.

All this disapproval is making me thirsty.

The grumpy pegasus scanned his surroundings. A little ways in front of him was a massive fountain, with some citizens of Canterlot relaxing around it. The soft roaring of the water erupting from the fountain soothed all the ponies around it. Circling all around the fountain were a cavalcade of restaurants, clothes stores, antique shops, and even a few individual stands. One of which to the right of the fountain was serving Fortune’s favorite beverage.

Lemonade! Jackpot! I just may survive this trip yet. With a renewed spring in his step, he made his way over to the stand.

You would think there would be a line for this stand. It’s a fairly sunny day and all.

“Hi there! I’d like to buy a cup of lemonade.” Fortune said to the pink mare behind the stand.

Without delay, she poured the yellow drink in a cup for the pegasus. The longer he watched, the thirstier he became. Fortune could see the frosty cup drip with condensation. He stared with great intensity at the sweet, delicious liquid. The golden eyed pegasus reached for the money stored in his saddlebags.

“How much do I owe you?” Fortune inquired.

“Fifteen bits.”

Fortune did a double take. “FIFTEEN BITS? You can’t be serious!”

“Fifteen bits. Take it or leave it.” The mare was firm, he had to give her that.

“Oh come on! That’s way too much!”

“Twenty bits.” She dryly retaliated.

“Huh?! What happened to fifteen?!”

The pink mare simply shook her head. “Should’ve accepted the deal.”

“You can’t honestly expect me to pay twenty bits for a drink!”

The mare seemed to ponder that for a second. “You’re right. Twenty-one bits.”

The pegasus face-hoofed. “Grr... You’re a stupid rip-off artist, you know that?! I’ll just go find a drink somewhere else!”

“Do you see another lemonade stand around here?”

Needless to say, there was no other place in sight that could offer a drink like that. He didn’t doubt there was somewhere else that served lemonade somewhere in this city, but his thirst couldn’t wait any longer.

With a groan, Fortune Find surrendered his money. “Fine. Here, twenty one bits.”

“It’s twenty five bits, now.”

The fuming pegasus shot a few feet above the ground, supported by his wings.

“Oh come on! Why?!” he shouted to the heavens, getting a few stares from the onlooking passersby.

“Because you insulted me. Twenty five bits.”

“Wha... I... You! Aagh!” Fortune could not find the words to express his rage, and his talent was finding things, evident from the magnifying glass on his flank. Go figure.

Fortune didn’t think he’d see the day, but he was completely at the mercy of a lemonade mare.

“I’m so thirsty. Just lower the price a little bit? Please?”

The mare behind the stand thought for a moment.

“You really want this drink that badly?”

“Yes!”

“Then it’s thirty bits.”

The beige pegasus’ twitched his left eye.

I think I see why there’s no line. The two ponies stared each other down. Neither one faltered for the longest time. Not wanting the price to raise any more, Fortune reached into his saddlebags with a groan.

“Fine, here. Thirty bits.”

“Thank you very much.” The pink mare smiled to herself.

“Stuff it.”

The disgruntled stallion flapped away from the greedy salesmare, holding his overpriced drink in his hooves. At least he wouldn’t be thirsty anymore.

Is it just me, or did the ponies in Canterlot get even greedier?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Iron Forge slowly traveled the streets of Canterlot. Obviously in no hurry, the unicorn observed the massive towers which reached towards the heavens, admiring the detail that went into building them.

Most of the ponies he walked by didn’t travel anywhere near him, as if afraid he would try to maul them. He didn’t blame them. He was naturally giant and intimidating.

The cool breeze blew against his face and rushed through his icy mane. To Iron, it was such a relaxing feeling.

The cobalt stallion had been walking alone for a while. Somehow, he had ended up in a less commonly traveled part of town. He traveled farther and farther into Canterlot, mentally creating a map of where he was so that he could find his way back to his companions.

Canterlot is quite the beautiful city. I can see why Blossom brought us here.

During his trek into the city, citizens grew more scarce where he went. Eventually, he trotted into an area scarcely populated. Only the occasional passer by could be spotted, and they were few and far in between. One could swear this place was a ghost town.

It made no difference to Iron. He wasn't exactly sociable anyways.

Although, why this part of the city was still, he couldn't understand. There were a multitude of stores and buildings for ponies, although only a few of them actually had anypony inside. A barber shop, general store, and a clinic, to name a few.

He didn't stop walking until he came upon a business he was all too familiar with. The smithy.

He took a brief look at everything that was visible to him. The layout of the tools and appliances wasn't too different from what he was used to. Thinking back to his own smithy in Ponyville, he somewhat dreaded knowing he would eventually have to go back to his hard work. He may have had a knack for metal work, but that didn’t mean a break was totally unnecessary.

The unicorn stopped to glance at his cutie mark, as he had done so many times in his life already. A hammer striking an anvil, like always. It was always the same thing.

He thought back to his friends, wondering what they were doing right now. Fortune Find was probably getting into an argument with some of the locals right about now. Either that or trying to tell them one his abysmal jokes. Blossom Cheer said she was chasing after some actor with a ridiculous moniker. ‘Dashing Charm?’ That had to be some sort of bad stage name.

As he wandered along in the empty side of the capital, Iron Forge just barely heard a distraught voice echoing around the corner alley several feet in front of him.

“Please, let me go!”

In curiosity, he moved towards the alley. The voices becoming more clear as he approached.

“Quit your yapping, Goldy. Now I’m not gonna say it again! Cough up your bits, or me and my friends bash your skull in!”

A robbery. The gargantuan stallion quickly moved to the corner of the alley, making sure he was concealed by the wall. He slowly peaked his head from around the corner to see the details of the event.

Three, buff stallions had backed a shaking, yellow unicorn against a wall. All but one of his assailants were earth ponies. The other was a sneering pegasus, looking eager to pounce the helpless unicorn. He looked unharmed, but judging by the looks of his attackers, that wouldn’t last long.

“I-I already told you, I don’t have any money on me!” The unicorn slowly tried to make himself as small as possible, as if trying to disappear from sight.

“Is that right? Well boys, looks like we’re gonna have some fun with this one!”

“No, wait! Don’t— Ah! You there! Please help!” The victim desperately bellowed to Iron Forge, who now stood inside the alleyway for the muggers (and victim) to see.

While looking towards the enormous unicorn, the thugs didn’t notice their victim slip away to cower behind Iron.

“Huh? Darn it, Shifty! I thought you were watching him!” The leader of the brutes shouted at the pegasus, who merely shrugged in return.

Iron whispered to the terrified unicorn behind him. “Go get help.”

The victim nodded once and bolted immediately.

“You’ve got a lotta nerve, interrupting us like that. Now thanks to you, we’ve lost our guy.” The lead mugger viciously said to Iron. “Looks like you’ll have to do instead.”

The three fiends all joined in a bout of chuckling as they slowly surrounded the stoic unicorn.

Unphased by their taunting, Iron Forge glared at the earth pony in charge.

“I’ll say this once. Stand down, or else.”

The thugs merely laughed even harder and longer. Eventually the leader spoke up again.

“Alright, get this oaf.”

And all at once, the three brutes charged the unmoving stallion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Okay so, Iron Forge, was it? Are you hurt in any way, sir?” The royal guard inquired.

“No." Iron nervously stated. "but I can’t say the same for the assailants.” Iron Forge looked towards the alleyway, where three unconscious ponies laid bruised and slightly bloodied. More guards had arrived to take away the would-be muggers. They had taken quite a bit of time to get here, but Iron Forge disregarded the thought.

“Alright. Thank you, sir. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.”

“No problem.”

The guard walked off to help his fellow soldiers with the criminals. Iron was thankful now that he didn't have to talk to anypony.

At least until the yellow unicorn he had rescued appeared.

“Hi. I just wanted to thank you for helping me out back there.” He didn’t look directly at the quiet unicorn, as if ashamed of his helpless display. His limp, white mane hung towards the ground. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t showed up. I really appreciate it.”

“Y-You’re welcome.” Iron showed an awkward smile in an attempt to comfort the shaken unicorn. It didn't seem to work.

"Um... so..." Iron lamely said.

"Yeah..." The meager unicorn replied quietly.

This encounter wasn't going very well. Iron silently cursed his inability to converse with strangers.

“By the way, I’m Gold Treasure.” the yellow unicorn held out a hoof towards his savior.

“Iron Forge.” He simply stated as he shook Treasure’s hoof.

"Much obliged."

The two sat again in and awkward silence as neither of them spoke up. The seconds just dragged on and on. Iron Forge needed to end this conversation for everypony's sake.

“Well, It's nice to meet you, but I must be going. Have a nice day.” Iron added as he marched past Gold Treasure.

“Oh, ah, I hope I see you again, someday!” The yellow unicorn shouted after Iron. “Thank you, again!”

Nice stallion. Iron thought to himself.

Iron ventured back to the train station. He was a little late to meet his friends, but if he trotted fast enough, maybe they wouldn't give him a hard time about it.

A newspaper page dancing in the wind flew into his chest. Stopping his trot, he levitated it away, but not before catching the main headline written in bold text.

CRIME RATES ARE RISING SWIFTLY

Iron Forge sighed to himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Where is he? It’s not like him to be late.” Blossom asked Fortune Find for what had to be the hundredth time. The annoyed pegasus flapped his wings in the air. He scanned their surroundings in front of the train station once again, on the lookout for their serious friend.

“Wait, there he is!”

From the crowds, Iron appeared. He already looked tired out for the day. His two friends wide-eyed at his worn appearance as he stood next to them.

“Sheesh, Iron. Where’ve you been?” Fortune asked as he landed next to his companions.

The stoic pony dully stared at Fortune and said nothing.

“Fine, whatever. Blossom was gonna show us to our hotel.”

“You two will love it! I promise you’ll both get your moneys worth.” Blossom Cheer chimed as she lead the group.

“I hope so.” Fortune muttered.

The trio began their trek through the crowds. Fortune was looking forward to getting the heavy saddlebags off of his back. He didn’t mind carrying them for his friends, but they were seriously hindering his flight. He wasn't nearly as strong as somepony like Iron Forge. Then again, not a whole lot of ponies were as strong as Iron.

Why didn't he just let Iron Forge carry them?

"Hey Blossom, let me carry that for you. It looks pretty heavy."

"You sure, Fortune? It's pretty heavy. I was just going to ask Iron to carry it for me."

"Yeah, don't worry! Iron's not the only stallion here, y'know."

Oh, right.

Their journey could have been going better. Ten minutes into their walk, Fortune was steadily sweating, and they had already been pushed and shoved multiple times by the multi-colored traffic of Canterlot. Nopony even bothered to apologize.

Blossom would occasionally attempt to engage the locals with a ‘hello’ or a ‘How are you?’ All that she got in return were either incredulous stares, or ponies picking up their pace to avoid conversation.

What’s with these ponies? The brown mare didn’t see anything wrong with a little bit of small talk.

Having kept quiet for a while, Fortune tried to start a conversation to distract from the rather rude citizens.

“So, Blossom, did you find your ‘Handsome Dash’ or whatever his name was?”

“His name is Dashing Charm, first of all, and to answer your question, yes I did! We didn’t get to talk long, but he was very polite! Even after I was so nervous.”

“Really? How so?”

“Uh... you know, stuttering. Just... regular nervousness!” The mare put on her best ‘please-believe-it’ face.

“Cheer, what happened?” Fortune could tell too easily when the green haired mare was fibbing.

“I... may have accidentally called him an idiot.” She reluctantly admitted.

Fortune immediately burst into a fit of laughter. Even Iron Forge couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Blossom pouted.

“Ha ha haaa! I didn’t think it was possible to be that nervous!”

Based on Fortune's uproarious laughter, Blossom deduced she would never hear the end of this one.

“Yeah, well, at least I got to chat with a celebrity! What did you do?”

That certainly shut him up. Fortune Find’s amber eyes shifted left and right, as if looking for an excuse not to share his recent ordeal.

He couldn’t think of anything.

“Ugh, I got scammed thirty bits for a drink.”

It was Blossom’s turn to laugh at the indignant pegasus. Iron could only stare unbelieving at Fortune.

“Hee hee hee! How did that happen!?”

“The salesmare was evil, that’s how.”

“Heh heh hoo, oh, that’s just brilliant. Hope you’re fine with being down thirty bits during the rest of this trip!”

“Yeah, I know.”

The group was calm again, and Fortune was left to recall his less than amazing moment. They were nearing the hotel, and only knew that because Blossom kept telling them so. Eventually, Blossom trotted ahead out of hearing distance in her excitement, leaving the two stallions behind.

“I wish you would get together with Blossom, already.”

“Ah, not this again, Iron.”

“You’re only delaying the inevitable. And for what? You're too afraid. I know it’ll happen sooner or later.”

“Right.” was Fortune’s only response.

A dead silence fell upon them as the two stallions walked after their distant friend. Fortune desperately wanted to change the subject to get rid of the awkward feeling in the air.

“So what about you? What did you do when we all separated?”

Iron paused at that before responding, as though thinking how best to tell him.

“Let’s just say I helped somepony in need.”

“...”

“Is that blood on your hooves?”

Suddenly, a horrible, ear-splitting noise interrupted the masses of Canterlot, causing all the ponies in the area to immediately stop what they were doing. Some ponies ran back to their homes, and some simply stood in place, stunned by the loud boom they had heard. Whatever it was, it was within very close range.

Blossom ran back to her friends, both looking in the direction they had heard the nearby noise. Behind a row of buildings, smoke was starting to rise into the clouds above.

“That sound came from where we were going!”

“Really? Might as well check it out.”

Blossom and Iron broke into a sprint, and Fortune flew after them. They didn’t have to run for long. All the trio needed to do was turn a corner on their right, and they found their destination.

Only to find that their hotel had burst into flames.

“That’s our hotel!”

“Well, looks like I’m not getting my money’s worth after all. This is not a good day for me.” Fortune inappropriately joked.

A small crowd of ponies gathered around the large blazing structure, shocked at what was transpiring. The three friends joined the crowd observing the event. Flames spewed from half of the windows, and those windows that didn’t have fire spewing out from them instead had a few ponies shouting to the masses below. In the crowd, injured and unconscious ponies laid still on the ground while some of the crowd just helplessly stared or panicked, not knowing what to do.

The panic in the crowd was growing fast.

“There are ponies still in there!

“Somepony has to help them!”

“My kids! Where are my kids?!”

“I need a doctor! Somepony, help! Please!”

Maybe it was the screams of fear, but after a few seconds of it all, Fortune decided he couldn’t stand around spectating anymore.

“Blossom, you have a bit of medical experience, right?”

“...Yeah?”

“Then you and Iron go see what you can do for the injured. I’m going in the hotel to try and get the last of them out of there!”

“What?! Are you crazy?! You can’t go in there, you’ll just hurt yourself!”

“Every moment we stand around, innocent ponies could be dying! We can’t waste any time! We have to help!”

"No, no, no. Fortune, there is crazy, and then there's... this. What makes you think you can help them?! That you won't end up killing yourself?!"

"Did you forget about the time I saved Ponyville from the rampaging wyvern?"

Bloodied feathers

How could they possibly forget?

Blossom Cheer wanted to convince him not to go, but she couldn't think of any argument that could sway the determined pegasus. She had forgotten just how serious the usually silly pegasus could be when the situation called for it.

“Of all the insane... I can’t even... Iron, will you talk him out of it!?”

Iron Forge glanced towards the burning building before giving his input.

“I’ll go with him.”

“What!?” They both yelled.

“There are trapped ponies in there, and they need help now. We’ll watch each other's backs. Keep each other safe.”

Fortune widened his smile. “Alright! Blossom, go help the injured! Let’s go, Iron!” Fortune crowed before taking off with Iron.

“Hey, wait!”

They didn’t wait. Instead, the two stallions rushed through the growing multitude of ponies, and burst in through the glass doors of the hotel, much to the crowd’s surprise and commotion.

“Oh no. No, no, no!” Was all Blossom could mutter to herself before dashing to the first victim she could find.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Steam Sear’s eyes struggled to open. Her eyelids felt so heavy.

Her mind was sluggish and slow to work. Apparently, she had been sweating profusely ever since she fell asleep.

Wait, I don’t remember falling asleep. Where even am I?

The green unicorn found herself on a comfortable bed that she did not recognize. The room looked nice, but didn’t have many accessories. There was a desk facing against a different wall, and there was a doorway that lead straight into a bathroom. Paintings of inanimate objects decorated the walls, and there was only one large window to her left. The only other notable thing about the room was the closed door which she assumed to be the exit.

Oh, and there were giant flames near the bathroom door.

Oh no! I’ve got to get out of here! Wherever that is!

Smoke polluted the air inside the room, causing the mare to go into a coughing fit every couple of seconds. She crawled on the floor to avoid inhaling the rising smoke. It was better, to a point. Frankly, she’d rather be somewhere without smoke at all.

She crawled the short distance to the window so she could peer out of it. From what she could tell, she was high up. Maybe four stories high. There was a small crowd of ponies down there. Some of them looked badly hurt. Jumping out from here would only end in broken legs, and she’d rather try to avoid that.

So she crouched back to the floor again, coughing her lungs out. The only other way out was through the door.

Upon reaching the door, she rose. Steam Sear felt the doorknob with a hoof. It was warm to the touch.

Yeah, that’s not good.

The fire in the room was quickly spreading. It had already blocked off her way to the window.

I’m gonna regret this...

With a burst of energy, she hurriedly opened the door and dashed out of the room, only to be met with a fiery inferno of a hallway. She strained against the intense heat to keep her eyes open.

The long hallway she entered was already halfway burned. The entirety of the hallway glowed a reddish orange color, obviously due to the fire. She could see rooms similar to the one she was in through massive scorched holes where a wall previously covered. The charred wallpaper in the halls curled under the intense heat. The air in here felt hot enough to melt her skin.

The passage to her left was entirely blocked by fallen lumber, so that just left the right passage.

Or it would, if it wasn’t blazing with fire. These flames were closer to her, also. Such a shame too, as she could see stairs on the other side.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to teleport right now!

With quick thinking, she busted down a burnt door on the other side of the hall, going into one of the many similar rooms. The wall between this room and the neighboring one had almost entirely collapsed, creating one big apartment.

There was so much smoke. She couldn’t help but feel a bit dizzy. It was way too hot in this building. Nopony should ever have to suffer through this heat.

Slightly staggering, it occurred to Steam that she could use the other room’s exit to walk around the flames which blocked the stairwell.

Yes! I just may get out of here yet!

A sharp cry sounded over the roar the flames. Steam pivoted to where she thought the sound came from. Whatever it was, it constantly kept up the noise.

Is that somepony else?

The unicorn hastily retraced her steps over the collapsed wall, and past the spreading flames. As she did, the noise became more clear. It was the sound of a crying child.

“Hello! Where are you!?” Steam attempted to holler over the roaring flames.

Nopony answered. Only the sound of crying met her ears. Steam Sear searched under the ruined bed, and found nothing. There was so much smoke, it was getting too hard for her to breathe. She had to get out of there fast if she wanted to get out alive. The mare started to question if she should just save herself.

No. I’ll be damned before I turn my back on a child on death row. “Hey! I’m here to help! Where are you?!” she rasped out.

Finally, a frail voice responded. “I-In here!”

Steam Sear hadn’t noticed the bathroom door was open. After cursing herself for not seeing the obvious, she made for the bathroom, jumping over the small flames that threatened her hooves.

Through the bathroom door, she could see a crying, grey filly cowering over a blue, passed-out unicorn colt taking refuge in the tub. The filly was obviously terrified for her unconscious friend.

“Hold on! I’m coming!”

She took one step towards them, and the floor beneath her cracked.

Uh oh.

The wooden flooring she was standing on completely collapsed under the pressure, and she fell victim to gravity. Steam Sears body crashed through another floor, taking a bunch of burning lumber with her. She finally landed two floors beneath where she had started, and the broken debris of flooring plummeted after her.

The massive rubble crashed on top of her, eliciting a loud scream from the unicorn, and pinning her down. Her back end was entirely covered by a giant burning beam.

Steam Sear weakly attempted to get up, only to feel an excruciating pain in her chest. Her chances of getting out of this alive were dropping very fast. The green mare was trapped, and more importantly, the two foals were still cowering in their bathtub two floors above her. Every inch of her body hurt, and certain doom seemed imminent.

Well, I’ve failed at everything, today. I failed at improving my magic, I failed at getting the frosting for my dad, I couldn’t escape this stupid building, and I couldn’t save the kids up there. What a terrible last day.

Steam’s turquoise eyes gazed upwards through the fiery holes she had created. She could just make out the strained cries of the gray filly in the bathtub two floors above her. She wished she didn’t have to hear the crying. To hear her failure.

Those flames were getting awfully close.

From behind the weak, blazing walls, she heard a glorious sound.

“Hello!? Is anypony in here?!”

Steam didn’t even have time to holler before the mysterious voice found her first.

What turned the corner was a light brown pegasus with a shaggy, red mane. His golden eyes widened at the sight of her, and he turned his head to holler.

“Iron, I found another one!”

The pegasus wasted no time trying to lift the beam that hindered the green unicorn, but Steam Sear waved him away.

“Up there!” She pointed up through the holes she created. “There are two foals trapped in a bathtub!”

The pegasus looked up, and bolted straight upwards. In his place, another unicorn appeared into view.

He was bigger than any pony she had ever seen. His coat was a brilliant cobalt, and his short blue mane and muzzle were both outlined by a icy color. His eyes were blue like a lake on a sunny day.

With little effort, he levitated the beam off of Steam, and levitated the mare onto his back, knowing she was likely hurt or near fainting.

Woah. He’s... strong.

With Steam laid across on his back, (but still grunting in pain) the pegasus returned with the two foals in his arms. The green unicorn couldn’t have been more relieved.

More fiery debris fell from the ceiling, as if reminding the ponies that they were in peril.

“Let’s get out of here!” The pegasus ordered.

The stallion ran for the stairs, and the pegasus followed after him, carrying the children with his forelegs.

The ponies galloped out of the room and into the hallway, bolting for the stairwell as fast as they could. Pieces of the floors above them came crashing down around them. Some of the falling debris came dangerously close to barraging the escaping ponies, but the two rescuers jumped and weaved through the burning wreckage unharmed. The large blue unicorn even caught a large chunk of wood with his telekinesis and threw it away like a small stone.

They descended the stairs to the lobby below. Like the rest of the building, it too, was destroyed, but this room was different. The middle of the floor was largely indented, and scorched completely black. All the desks and chairs were pushed against the walls. In fact, almost nothing filled the space near the middle of the room besides burning lumber. The two floors above the room were almost nonexistent, filling the space with black smoke.

Not paying it any mind, the two ponies ran outside with the victims on their backs. They were met with a concerned crowd, being instructed by a few royal guards to keep away from the flaming structure. Steam Sear did not recall seeing them when she looked out the window before.

“Okay, I think that’s all of them. Even if it’s not, the Royal Guard can take it from here.” The pegasus declared.

Steam Sear tried to pick herself up from off the stallions back, regardless of how nice it was to be carried. She didn't want to be a damsel in distress.

“We should take her and the foals to Blossom. She might be able to help them out.”

The two moved through the noisy crowd. Steam tried desperately to remember how she even got here in the first place, but to no avail. Last thing she remembered, she was leaving her house, then... nothing.

She looked back towards the building. It was taller than she first thought. Way above the top, she could see pegasi stomping storm clouds to help put out the flames. The building itself was actually six floors high, and wide for a building. She could now see the burned name of the building above the entrance.

The Hot Spot Hotel

….Fitting.

Before she knew it, Steam was being levitated off the large stallion and gently laid onto the ground along with the two foals, who were now both passed out. Steam Sear may have been put down as gently as possible, but it still didn’t do anything for the pain in her torso. She was placed next to another unconscious pony whom she didn’t know, and as far as she could tell, there were quite a few others like him laid down on the ground. A short distance away, she could see two medical ponies making their rounds on all the patients.

“Hey Blossom, we’re done! And we’ve found some more patients for you!” The pegasus bellowed.

An earth pony came into Steam’s view. This mare had a brown coat and a lush green mane. Her flank was adorned with a picture of a single pink blooming flower. She moved back out of Steam Sear’s point of view, presumably examining the two children.

A short while later, she spoke up.

“These two will be fine, they just passed out. Poor little things. Now that that's out of the way...”

Steam Sear could hear the faint thumping of a hoof against fur.

“Ow!”

“Ungh.”

“Finally. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to do that.” Seemed like this pony was upset with these two.

“What the heck, Blossom?! That hurt!”

“Serves you both right! What in Tartarus were you two thinking, running into danger like that?! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Every time you dunderheads ran back in there, I was scared to death that I’d lose you!”

“Blossom, it’s okay! We’re fine!”

Steam Sear wouldn’t mind their bickering so much if she wasn’t in horrible pain. By Luna, she felt like vomiting.

“But what if you weren’t?! I don’t know what I’d do if you two got hurt, or worse!”

“Blossom, there’s one other pony that still needs your attention.” Steam didn’t recognize that deep voice. Was that the large blue unicorn?

“Oh! Well, this isn’t over!”

The earth pony trotted over to Steam, and looked her over.

“No serious burns, from what I can see.”

Blossom felt Steam’s body for any injury she could find. When she touched the mare’s side, Steam yelped in pain.

“Oh, that’s not good, you might have broken something.” The earth pony hypothesized. “We may need to get you to a hospital.”

“Oh. Joy.” Steam whimpered. This day just gets better and better.

She didn’t want to just lay there, looking helpless and pathetic. If there was anything she disliked, it was her vulnerability. Against the pain, she lifted herself up off the ground. Her body screamed at her to give up and lay back down, but she would not let today get the best of her.

Upon noticing Steam, Blossom tried to interject. “Hun, you should really stay down until the paramedics show up.”

“I’m fine.”

The brown mare looked somewhat taken aback at that. Obviously, this unicorn wasn’t in the greatest of moods.

“If you say so. Just don’t exert yourself.”

Steam stood on all fours for a whole three seconds before sitting on her haunches.

Well, sitting isn’t so bad.

Steam Sear turned to the two stallions, who were engaged in their own conversation.

“Hey.”

Both of them turned to the sitting Steam Sear.

“Thanks for saving my skin back there. If you two hadn’t showed up...” She didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened.

The unicorn stallion smiled and nodded, while the pegasus gave his own grin.

“No problem at all, greenie. After all, the situation back there was getting pretty heated!” The pegasus’ companions just boredly stared at him, as did Steam Sear.

“So, who are you all?”

The brown mare decided to answer this one herself.

“I’m Blossom Cheer. Pleased to meet you. The pegasus is Fortune Find, and that’s Iron Forge." She gestured towards them accordingly. "What about you?”

“I’m Steam Sear. Nice to meet you all, too.” Steam replied to be nice.

Steam looked back to the burning hotel. Thanks to the storm clouds, the fire appeared to be dying down. Too bad the building still looked completely ruined.

“So, do you three live here? You don’t really look like the Canterlot type.”

“Actually, we all came here for a vacation. We just recently got here, too.” Blossom answered Steam.

“Wow. Welcome to Canterlot, huh?”

“Indeed.”

From the crowd, an older mare emerged, looking very upset.

“Silver! Ocean!”

The white mare ran to the two foals laid down on the ground. Near tears, she kneeled down to examine the two kids.

“Oh no no no no no! What’s wrong!? Why aren’t they waking up?!” The older pony was near hysterical, whereas Blossom, who walked to her side, was calm as could be.

“Calm down, ma’am. They’re gonna be just fine. They’re just passed out right now from all the excitement.”

“Oh, oh my babies!”

“If you’re really worried about them, I would recommend getting them to a doctor anyways, just to make sure.”

“Oh, thank you, miss!”

“Don’t thank me, thank these two.” She pointed a hoof towards the two stallions behind her. “They were the ones who found them inside the hotel.”

“Oh, thank you both so much! How can I ever repay-” The white pony’s eyes glossed over the two stallions and over to Steam Sear sitting behind them. Upon doing so, she narrowed her eyes at the sitting unicorn.

“You!”

Steam raised an eyebrow.

“... Me?”

“You did this! You’re the reason I almost lost my foals!” Ponies from the crowd looked on as the loud mare argued with Steam Sear.

“What?! Lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Raagh!”

The white older mare launched herself towards the green unicorn, but was caught in the air by Iron Forge’s telekinesis. The mother kicked and writhed in the air, trying to tear Steam Sear to pieces and causing a scene.

“Ma’am, calm down! What are you trying to say, Steam Sear caused this?”

The mare floated in anger, looking to kill.

“I know what I saw! I was in the lobby when she just waltzed on in with a crazed grin and blew the place up! This is all her fault!”

Blossom and Fortune looked suspiciously towards Steam Sear, who could not bring herself to respond to the seething mare.

“Don’t look at me! She’s crazy!”

“Hey, I saw her, too!” A new voice from the onlooking crowd hollered. Everypony gazed in the new speakers direction. “She came into the hotel lobby and cast some sort of spell! Next thing I know, the entire place exploded into flames!”

That certainly did nothing to help the suspicious looks Steam was getting from Blossom and Fortune. Not only them, but more ponies from the crowd were now eyeing her suspiciously.

Steam had no idea what to do. Everypony was accusing her of doing this? She couldn’t have! She couldn’t remember anything after leaving her house earlier today!

She couldn't remember.

“I-I couldn’t have done this! I would never do this!”

The crowd around her just grew louder in anger and confusion. All she could hear were the faint murmurs accusing her of this foul deed.

“I would never... I’d never...”

Steam collapsed in a heap, ignoring the pain in her chest which agonized her so.

“No... I didn’t do this.” Steam murmured to herself.

With her hooves over her head, Steam closed her eyes. She wanted to disappear from this place. She wanted so much for this day to be over, and she just wanted to go home so she could fall asleep on her bed.

She cowered on the ground as accusals sounded from every direction. The crowd itched with anger and confusion. Calming this crowd would be a chore for even the best of speakers.

She opened her eyes to see Iron Forge standing above her, no longer magically holding the enraged mother. He had no emotion on his face, and no look of accusal or sympathy in his eyes. With that deep voice, he spoke to her.

“Are you giving up?”

Somehow, she didn't think he was talking about her turning herself in.

“I-I don’t—”

“Are you?”

Steam didn’t get a chance to answer, as the old white mare had come back screaming at her. This time, she was accompanied by two royal guards.

“That’s her! She’s the one who caused all this! Arrest her!”

The two guards exchanged confused looks, and trotted up to Steam Sear as Iron backed away. She recognized these two guards from the Castle.

“We're sorry, miss Sear, but until further notice you are under arrest. Please come with us.” One of them ordered.

“I can’t move, my chest hurts too much.”

Without any words, one guard levitated her off the ground in a blue glow. Steam looked back at Fortune, Blossom and Iron one more time. Blossom and Fortune looked on at Steam with a mixture of concern and wariness, while Iron talked with another of the royal guard.

As she was carried through the crowd, multiple ponies jeered and insulted the supposed arsonist, but she couldn’t hear them. more guards held back those who tried to lash out at the floating mare. Only four words could be heard inside her mind. One simple question.

'Are you giving up?'

The burning wreckage gradually got smaller in the distance, but Steam could still see it all very clearly. All those hurt innocents.

I want to go home...

Chapter Three: Trouble

Chapter Three: Trouble

Smoke rose from the blackened wreckage of the late Hot Spot Hotel, only to be carried away by the cool breeze of the mountain city. The bottom half of the structure still remained intact, but was badly damaged by the unforgiving flames. It's smoking ruins were the only blemish in the beautiful city. Only a fraction of the guards that quelled the fire still patrolled the area, either interviewing the remaining witnesses or hovering around the wreckage for seemingly no reason.

Blossom, Fortune and Iron all sat on the other side of the road between buildings, looking towards the remains of what was supposed to be their retreat. Only Iron sat up straight, showing off his good posture, as opposed to his two companions. Blossom sat on her haunches like Iron, but with a slouch. Her half-open eyes set on the short grass in front of them all. Next to her lay the sprawled-out Fortune Find, fidgeting every few minutes and constantly changing his sitting position. He stared at the sky with a bored expression on his face.

"How much longer?" the overturned pegasus complained to nopony in particular.

Either his friends didn't hear him, or they didn't care to answer.

Deciding yet again that his positioning was unsatisfactory, the uncomfortable pegasus sat up straight with his hind legs in front of him. Upon inspecting his friends, he only now noticed just how despondent Blossom Cheer appeared.

He couldn't have that now, could he? "Hey Blossom, you alright?"

No response. The brown mare seemed lost in her own thoughts.

It was faster than he was.

Blackened scales.

Bloodied feathers.

"Blossom?" He repeated.

She responded with a short, muffled noise.

"Blossom. Hey, what's wrong?"

The distant mare snapped out of her stupor. "Oh, sorry. I'm just disappointed is all, what with... that." she gestured towards the destroyed building. "Where are we supposed to stay now? I mean, I'm sure we can find another hotel no problem, but after spending our bits on another place, we wouldn't have enough money to do much else here in Canterlot." She paused for a moment. "Plus, your whole lemonade fiasco doesn't help either." Blossom finished that last part with a chuckle.

"Thanks for reminding me." Fortune sarcastically replied.

"No problem."

Fortune laid back down on the ground on his back, still unsatisfied with just sitting. "I guess it's just our luck, huh? We finally get out of Ponyville for some fun and our place bursts into flames."

Blossom snorted at that. "Yeah. I bet you don't think Canterlot is so boring now, huh?" she took the same position on the ground as Fortune, looking towards the sky.

"Well, It was no wyvern fight, but it was just as hot." Fortune Find said brashly.

Blossom's expression darkened as Fortune laughed it off like a joke. "And dangerous." She added with hint of stern in her voice.

"Are you still mad at us for that? We made it out fine, y'know."

Blossom slightly narrowed her eyes. "That's not the point."

"Well, what is the point then, Blossom? If we didn't do anything, ponies could've died in there."

"The point is you don't think, Fortune!" Blossom snapped at her friend, sitting up on her haunches. "Just like the stupid wyvern incident in Ponyville, you threw yourself into danger without thinking of your own safety! What would you have done if you got trapped in that Hotel and Iron couldn't help you?!"

Iron Forge turned his head so he could see the two ponies in his peripheral vision. The overturned pegasus sat up to protest, but Blossom cut him off.

"One of these days you're going to get yourself killed by running into danger like that! Where would I be then, huh?! I don't want to lose anypony!"

Both of them were silent as Blossom turned her head away from Fortune.

"I don't want to lose anypony." the distraught mare mumbled.

Fortune and Iron exchanged regretful glances. Iron Forge knew he was just as guilty as Fortune was, only saved from Blossom's scolding because of his ascetic manner.

Silence reigned over the three for a few moments. Fortune shifted towards Blossom Cheer and wrapped his front legs around her. She leaned into his embrace, closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Blossom." The sorrowful pegasus comforted.

"I... apologize also," Iron Forge started. "We never meant to hurt you."

Blossom and Fortune held each other still. Only the sound of the breeze could be heard in those moments.

Then the distraught mare broke the silence. "Promise me."

"Huh?"

"I want both of you to promise me you'll never do anything dangerous like that again."

Fortune Find recoiled slightly at her proposal. He opened his mouth to argue, but Blossom cut him off.

"Please. Just promise me." The worried mare pleaded to her friends.

Silence overtook the three yet again as Fortune and Iron contemplated their friend's request. The two stallions were stumped. If they agreed to this, what were they to do in times where others were in dire need of help? Stand on the sidelines? Trouble would eventually find them again. Times were changing rapidly, and not for the better.

But Blossom had a point. Blindly throwing themselves into danger would eventually get them killed.

Fortune started to speak again when a new voice cut in. Gruff and hardy, it shouted towards the trio.

"Sorry to keep you folks waiting for so long!" The guard stated as he trotted towards them. "Me and my crew had to secure the entire area, make sure the whole thing wouldn't start over again, yadda yadda yadda. Basic protocol."

"Oh, no problem! We've only been waiting here for several hours." Fortune spat as they all stood to meet the newcomer.

The guard waved off Fortune's complaint without a care. "Like I said, we're sorry about that. We couldn't exactly let you three go just yet. You all played a bigger part in this than anypony." He snorted. "Well, except for maybe Steam Sear. Which reminds me! Private Gale!" His holler was immediately answered by another stallion in the same, gold armor.

"Yes, sir?" Private Gale inquired with a salute.

"Go inform Steam's parents about her arrest." He started back towards the trio, before he remembered something else. "Oh, and go tell the ol' egghead Sparkle, too! She'll want to know what happened."

As "Private Gale" took off, The former guard nonchalantly took off the familiar golden helmet and shook out his gray mane. The sky-blue pegasus stood nearly as tall as Iron Forge.

"Captain Rainfall, at your service. Who might you three be?"

"I'm Fortune Find." the impatient pegasus started. "This is Blossom Cheer, and that's-"

"Iron Forge." Rainfall finished.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know that?"

"Ah, one of my privates told me about him earlier this morning. Wouldn't shut up about the beating this one gave to some would-be muggers." The captain explained with an everlasting smile.

"So that's what you did when we separated!" Fortune exclaimed to Iron Forge. "That is so you!"

"Who would want to rob you? You're the biggest pony I've ever known." Blossom interjected.

"Not me. Somepony else." he responded, uncomfortable with being the center of attention.

"A take-charge kind of stallion. I like it!" Rainfall approved. "You know we could use more ponies like you in the royal gua—"

"Alright alright alright!" Fortune interrupted, clearly irritated. "Look, we've already told you about what happened in the hotel. Can we leave now? Why have you been keeping us here?"

"Leave? Ho ho ho, no! You three ain't leaving yet!" Captain Rainfall laughed. "Fact of the matter is, you three are heroes! 'Specially this one right here!" He pointed a hoof at Iron Forge. "You see, we here like to honor our heroes and give them the recognition and respect they deserve.

"So, none of ya are going anywhere!" he declared with exaggerated movements. "You're coming with me to the castle. I'm gonna make sure all of Equestria knows what the three of you did!"

All three ponies stared in surprise at the captain's revelation. Fortune sat back down on his haunches with his mouth agape. Iron's face didn't change much save for his eyes widening. Blossom wasn't much different, but over time, a growing smile crept onto her face.

"We're... We're going to Canterlot Castle?" Blossom stuttered.

The captain let out a chuckle before confirming. "You are correct, ma'am!"

If the mare could explode in excitement, she would've done it. There would be no survivors from the massive mushroom cloud of pure enthusiasm Blossom Cheer seemed to emulate.

Instead, she just fainted with a wide, toothy grin on her face.

Fortune shook himself out of his stupor to see the collapsed mare. "Ah, geez."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Twilight paced the tall corridors of the castle with no destination in mind. Every guard she passed gave her the same salute she had seen at least a thousand times over. Her mind raced with thoughts of every event that had happened today. Steam Sear's lesson. Her talk with Luna. A guard asking Twilight about his missing helmet. That poor sap never was too organized. How he ever got to be a part of the Royal guard was beyond her.

The most pressing matter at hoof, though, was the resonant noise she and the Princess heard just a little while ago. Twilight was deep in thought wondering about all the different things that could have made a noise like that. In truth, Twilight already knew what it was, but she wanted to be wrong. Few things could make the same noise that a fiery explosion could.

Which Steam Sear could easily create.

The thoughtful unicorn shook her head in annoyance. What was she worrying about? Even if it was Steam who caused an explosion, it was probable no harm was caused. The inexperienced unicorn has accidentally detonated things numerous times in the past, and no harm ever came to anypony.

But those blasts were never too large. Based on the loud noise it made, this one had to be massive in size.

Twilight cursed her own realistic mind as she grunted to herself. She couldn't make any assumptions yet. Assumng never got anypony anywhere. She would just have to wait for somepony to fill her in on the situation. Surely, Twilight would find out exactly what happened any minute now, and then she could look back on how silly she was acting.

...

Confound it, where is Captain Rainfall?!

Twilight and Luna had heard the boisterous noise well over two hours ago, and still she had heard nothing from it. She needed something to get her mind off of the subject. What had she not done yet today?

Spike! How could she ever forget? Twilight cursed her mind for a third time, letting her worries occupy her thoughts.

With a spring in her step, she hurriedly made her way to the Castle's own library. The old unicorn was thankful it wasn't very far from where she was. Only one more turn around this corner and she'd see the fairly large decorative doors.

A bright red figure blazed past the unicorn in the opposite direction she was headed. She didn't even need to look twice to tell that it was Philomena. Where the fiery bird was off to in a such a hurry, she could not say. Not that Twilight cared too much. The Phoenix seemed to know how to take care of itself, for the most part.

Ignoring the speeding bird, Twilight quickened her pace to the library. It took her not one minute to approach the twin doors, seeing one of them already slightly ajar. Inside, she could hear the unintelligible ramblings of a very familiar voice.

Twilight opened the doors and immediately spotted her reptilian friend at a white table, wiping a spilled drink with a small rag clutched in his large claws. The table was quite small in comparison to the dragon. He was easily four times the size of a large pony, with sharp green spines running down the back of his entire body. His scales were almost the same color of Twilight's purple coat, if just a little darker. His wings were folded to his sides, as always. The dragon hadn't had the chance to fly for quite a while.

"Lousy, good-for-nothing phoenix. Peewee never gave me this much trouble..." He muttered to himself. The look on his face suggested he wasn't very happy at the moment.

"Hello, Spike."

"Oh, Twilight!" The dragon immediately stopped what he was doing and turned towards the old unicorn.

She examined the library's less-than-stellar state. The small white table was covered in a spilled beverage of sorts. One enormous sandwich much too big for a pony to eat sat disturbed and uneven on one of two saucers. The floors and stairs of the library were littered with books knocked down from their rightful place on the shelves. In the center of it all, a guilty looking dragon stood on his hind legs, diddling his claws.

Twilight had to ask. "What happened here?"

"Well, I had lunch prepared for the two of us, but I guess Philomena had other plans."

With a smirk, Twilight moved to take a seat at the table. "Did she now?"

"The stupid bird took one of the sandwiches! I chased her all around the library trying to get it back." Spike grumbled as he took notice of his surroundings. "Looks like I've got a bit of cleaning to do, now." He said with a defeated sigh.

"That can wait until later. Right now, let's just take a seat and relax." Twilight said, getting comfortable on her chair.

The large reptile sat on his hind-legs, well aware he was much too big for the chair at the table. It was a ridiculous sight, seeing such a large creature sitting at the miniscule table. Spike glanced again towards what food was left of the phoenix's pillaging. He felt a tinge of guilt letting the phoenix steal only Twilight's food.

"Philomena didn't take my sandwich. You can have it, if you want."

"That's okay Spike. I'm not really hungry. You go ahead and eat it."

His face lit up immediately. Unlike the old unicorn, he was starving, and the sandwich was devoured in an instant. It may have been enough to feed three large stallions, but it wasn't large enough to last two seconds against the massive beast's maw.

"So. How's today going for you, Twi?" he asked with a full mouth.

"It could be better." She responded with a huff.

"Really? What happened?"

Twilight retold the days events to her scaly friend, from her morning with Steam to the present moment. Spike said nothing during Twilight's rant, nodding when appropriate. His face turned grim when Twilight told of her discussion with the Princess. The painful memory was a scar that would not fade.

Twilight finished her monologue of the days events with a sigh, slumping in her seat and laying her head on the ivory table. The worrisome unicorn's magic reached out for the single glass of orange juice, chugging the entire thing before spike could say anything.

"Not every explosion is caused by one mare." Spike argued. "Whatever noise you heard could've just been caused by another random outlaw."

This did nothing to help Twilight's mood. "There does seem to be more and more of them these days." Twilight said with a downtrodden expression.

That may have been the wrong thing to say. Spike regretted to himself. He reached out an enormous clawed hand to Twilight, gently stroking her back with experience that told this wasn't the first time he had to do this.

"I miss the days where I could walk in the streets at night without having to look over my shoulder." She started. "I miss the days where I could say 'hello' to any random pony without getting a suspicious stare in return. I miss the days when the guards were hardly necessary."

With a heavy sigh, Twilight buried her head in her forelegs.

"I miss my friends."

"I know, Twilight." Spike picked Twilight up off her seat, lifting the old mare to wrap her in a gentle hug. "I miss them, too. So much."

Twilight leaned her head against the dragon's warm chest. To the best of her abilities, she returned the hug, only able to grasp Spike's front.

For a short while, the two silently held one another. Through good times and bad, they had always been there for each other. An inseparable duo who had been with each other their entire lives. Twilight knew she could always turn to her number one assistant for support, and Spike the same.

Finally, Spike gently put down Twilight with practiced care.

"Thank you, Spike. For listening."

"Always, Twilight." He assured with a wide grin. "Speaking of friends, how's Applejack been lately?"

At that, Twilight's face lit up. "Well, she hasn't sent any letters recently, so I really couldn't tell you. Last I heard, her family was trying to get her to retire."

"Applejack? Stop working?" he snorted as a puff of smoke blew out his nostrils. "They'd have better luck trying to move mountains."

"She always was a stubborn one." Twilight agreed.

"Remember the time she headbutted the minotaur king?"

"Oh, how could I forget? The guards must have been chasing us for miles!"

Spike ended up falling on the floor, grabbing his sides as the two shared a bout of laughter.

Twilight was the first to calm down "Whew. That hurt my sides."

"Mine feel like they're about to burst."

"Me and you will have to visit Applejack sometime soon. It's been too long since we've seen her."

"Yeah, I could fly us down to Ponyville! I haven't been out in forever."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her enormous friend. "Why is that?"

"Well, uh..." Spike scratched the back of his head. "I don't think ponies would react too well if they saw a dragon strolling around town. Especially these Canterlot types."

"Spike, you can't just stay in the Library and routinely trash it." Twilight said with a motherly tone.

"I clean it up!"

One look around the Library told differently. Spike had yet to clean up Philomena's raid. Twilight gave Spike a stare as if to say Really?

With a exaggerated groan, the exasperated dragon went to work picking up the many books laying on the floors.

"While you're at it, Spike, Could you please find a me a book?"

"Sure. Anything specific?"

"Anything you can find about magical disabilities."

"Steam, again?"

Twilight nodded her head as she reclaimed her seat at the table. "She can't be the only unicorn in history who has had a problem like hers."

"You got it."

Spike advanced from bookcase to bookcase in search of any book that may fit Twilight's needs. The dragon stood as tall as he could for some of the higher shelves, but even then he wasn't high enough to reach the unnecessarily high shelves. Seeing as how he was too large for the ladder, the dragon resorted to climbing the shelves of the Library, grasping the bookcases with his claws.

Spike crawled around on the library's perimeter until he came across an old tome which looked as though it hadn't been touched in ages. Although, the same could be said for a lot of the books in here. Gently grasping the dusty book in his jaw, he descended the bookcase upside-down, and made a bee-line for Twilight.

"Blech!" Spick wretched, clearly not liking the taste of dust. "I think I found something new for you." He said as the book was lifted from his claws in a pink aura.

The aged unicorn smiled as she read the title; Unicorn Diseases and Abnormalities: An Overview

"Thank you, Spike. This could be exactly what I needed."

Spike smiled to himself. The smug dragon was always proud of his efficiency.

Time quietly passed by as Twilight silently read her book and Spike tidied up the Castle Library. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours. Spike had all but made the Library spotless early in the time that passed, and decided a nap would be nice. Twilight was too engrossed in her reading anyways. She wouldn't be doing anything else anytime soon.

Spike's quiet breathing was the only sound one could hear in the Library. Twilight barely made any noise save for the occasional page turn.

Twilight was almost all the way through the entire book, and other than a new awareness of 'Freeze Fever,' she had nothing to show for it. Anything that could've related to Steam Sear's problem was either listed as a temporary or a myth. Even if Twilight did find what she was looking for, the text rarely spent any time explaining how to treat or cure the illnesses it described.

End of the book. There was nothing more to read.

Twilight seethed in anger at the old tome. Letting her rage consume her, she enveloped the book with her magic, giving an annoyed yell as she hurled it against the bookshelves. More books toppled over onto the floor from the impact, and the sleeping dragon opened his eyes as he heard the commotion.

"Hey, I just cleaned this place." Spike half-joked.

"Nothing! Not a single useful sentence!"

Spike yawned as he lifted himself from the floor. He wasted no time moving to Twilight, lest she trash the Library any more and undo his work.

"I understand that it can be a little annoying, but don't you think you're overreacting?"

Twilight marched around the Library with no destination. "No, Spike, I don't. I have been trying to find a solution in these books for the past week, but I haven't found anything!" She stomped her hoof for emphasis. "Usually, I would have found something to go off of by now; A page, a paragraph, even a sentence! But nothing on a mare with involuntary combustion powers." The old mare sat on the floor in defeat, hanging her head.

Spike soon joined her on the floor, having to lay down completely. "Look Twilight, I know she's your 'student' and everything, but..." Spike paused as he searched for a way to word his next sentence. "Why do you care so much? She hasn't even been your student for very long. I think you're worrying about this more than Steam is."

"She's not just my student." Twilight stated firmly. "Besides, I've told you how I met Steam Sear, didn't I?"

"Not really. You were actually kind of vague about it, to be honest."

Twilight stared at Spike in surprise. "I've never told you? Really?"

"Nope." Spike shook his head.

Twilight straightened up, preparing to recall a long memory and turn it into a story. "Well, one day I was touring Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, mainly just for the nostalgia. But as I left th—"

Twilight's story was interrupted as a guard entered the library, uncaring of any loud noise he made.

"Miss Sparkle."

"Yes?"

"Captain Rainfall sent me. He claims you would want information about Steam Sear."

Twilight's eyes widened as she braced for the worst.

The school hadn't changed much. Aside from a different layout in each classroom, and some new instructors, it was still the same place she knew all those years ago. Almost to a fault. The entire structure looked almost old and outdated compared to some of more recently constructed places In Canterlot.

Just another reminder that Twilight wasn't getting any younger.

When she was lucky enough to pass by a classroom with it's door still open, she couldn't help but sneak a glance inside. Young unicorns of various colors were either scribbling notes as the teacher gave his lecture, taking a test in complete silence, or even conducting experiments in small groups. It reminded Twilight of when she was a mere filly, taking tests and completing essays. It was a simpler time.

A happier time.

Why had she come here? It all reminded her too much of the days when Celestia was still around. Just seeing the name 'Celestia' above the school's entrance pained her so. She didn't want to long for those days. Just to remember them as they were. Why, oh why couldn't she put it behind her?

Time to leave. She couldn't be here any longer, lest she end up teary-eyed. That is, if she had any more tears to shed.

Twilight exited the school with a touch of haste, not daring to look back at the name emblazoned above the entrance.

She slowed down from her nervous trot, now more relaxed. Her slightly disheveled breathing returned to normal, and she cursed herself for acting so absurd. How could she lose her head like that? She'd defeated vastly powerful foes without so much as breaking a sweat, but she couldn't stay in a school without freaking out? She really was getting old.

Right as she moved to return to the castle, something in her peripheral vision caught her eye. A far distance away, a single unicorn mare stood alone on the streets of Canterlot. The young pony had a mane as bright as fire, and a soft green coat. Her blue eyes were fixed on the school for gifted unicorns with an emotion Twilight could not read. The teenaged unicorn just appeared bored.

Normally, this one pony wouldn't have held her interest for so long, were it not for one thing.

She was throwing rocks at the school, but she wasn't using her magic to do so. Rather than levitate the stones with her horn, she scooped them off the ground with her hoof, or flung the rocks with her teeth. Why wasn't this unicorn using her magic? All grown unicorns knew basic Telekinesis, at least. The sight of it both baffled and captivated Twilight. She couldn't look away as this pony threw rocks at the school.

...Wait, she's throwing rocks at the school! TWILIGHT'S school!

With a new motivation, Twilight trotted over to the young delinquent. On a good day, Twilight would've probably let the kid go, but this was anything but a good day. Twilight was mad, and ready to take it out on somepony.

The offender must not have heard Twilight coming, because she didn't turn to look at her or try to flee.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Twilight asked with irritation.

In her own surprise, the young unicorn dropped the rock she was about to toss. She took one quick look at Twilight, and tore off in the opposite direction.

Or she would have, if Twilight had not caught the young mare with her magic. Lifted in the air, she was turned to face Twilight as she struggled to free herself from the pink aura.

"I'll ask again. What do you think you're doing?" Twilight repeated, her eyes narrowing.

The young pony matched Twilight's glare and retaliated "Bite me, you old hag. Let me go!"

Twilight had never been labeled a 'hag' before. There was a first for everything. "You could have broken a window, throwing rocks like that!"

Twilight's words fell upon deaf ears. "I said let me go!" This young mare was a feisty one.

Unsurprisingly, Twilight did the opposite. "I have half a mind to confront your mother about this."

The young mare's expression instantly changed to one of dread. "No, not her! Anything but that!"

Twilight's face lightened up a bit, confident she had won this little spat. She examined the pony pleading for mercy before her.

"What's your name?"

"Twilight Sparkle." the mare snorted, not intending to reveal who she really was.

Twilight disregarded the fake name. "There's only one Twilight Sparkle here right now, and that's not you."

The young unicorn stared at Twilight briefly before her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Y-you're...? No way..." her jaw bobbed up and down, trying to form words, but failing miserably.

Twilight gave a smirk. The young mare did not. She instead stopped squirming, and hung in the air with her head facing the ground.

"Why were you throwing rocks at the school?" Twilight asked.

The floating unicorn said nothing.

"Why were you throwing rocks?"

Still no answer.

"Answer me!" Twilight demanded, her patience having run out.

"Because I can't do any magic, okay!?"

Twilight eyes widened at her captive's outburst. Twilight started to ask what she meant, but didn't need to as she was cut off.

"I'm not able to do anything with my horn. Never have! My entire life it's been completely useless. I've been completely useless!"

Twilight couldn't get a single word in. The green pony didn't let up on her rage.

"I bet you love being able to use that horn, huh? I don't get that! I had to watch as all my friends learned how to levitate, teleport, or do other amazing things with their magic. All the while I was left behind, unable to lift a single quill! Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to be the only unicorn who can't do any magic? I may as well be an earth pony!

"So I come here sometimes, to relieve the stress of it all. Most kids have to worry about passing their entrance exam to this place? I couldn't even apply! So there's your answer, miss 'Element of Magic.' I throw rocks to vent about the fact that I am WORTHLESS!"

If there was anypony else around, they would surely all be watching the unfolding events. The seething mare's speech came to an end, and Twilight didn't know what to say. The two sat in silence, one more angry than the other. Twilight didn't say a word as she released her prisoner from her aura. The green unicorn, now more calmed down, looked away and attempted to retreat.

"Wait." Twilight begged, her voice less hostile.

She didn't wait. The indignant mare walked away from Twilight, ignoring her plea.

"Please, wait." Twilight moved to block the young unicorn's path.

"I don't want your pity. Just let me go."

Twilight refused to move out of her way. "I'm sorry. I had no idea. I thought you were just another vandal."

"Yeah, okay." The impatient unicorn wanted nothing more to do with this conversation, and pushed past Twilight.

Twilight didn't give up, and followed after her. "It's just... A unicorn without magic? I've never even heard of such a thing."

"Yeah, well, you're looking at the exception."

"And you've tried everything to treat this... problem?"

The green mare shot Twilight a look that said 'Of course I have.' Or maybe she was hinting for Twilight to buck off.

"Leave me alone."

Compelled to do the opposite, Twilight once again moved in front of the curious mare. They both stared each other down, as if trying to read each other's minds.

"Listen," Twilight spoke. "I think we got off on the wrong hoof." Twilight reached out a foreleg. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?"

She didn't answer right away. She instead glanced back and forth between Twilight and her extended foreleg, contemplating weather or not she wanted to associate with this old mare.

With much hesitation, she lifted her own hoof to meet Twilight's. "Steam Sear."

"Steam Sear, I'm sorry I scolded you for a problem so petty."

Steam Sear rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you said that alread—"

"And!" Twilight interrupted. "I would like to make it up to you."

Steam Sear's face read a mix of emotions. "Uh, that's okay, you really don't have to do anything."

"No, I don't have to, but I want to." Twilight rebutted. "Steam, how would you like some magic lessons from the Element of Magic herself?"

Either the hospital bed was quite uncomfortable, Or her side was still acting up. Either way, Steam Sear felt anything but one hundred percent right now.

The hospital room was mind-numbingly bland, and had no windows. There were no paintings decorating the wall, no vibrant colors anywhere, almost nothing except for the bed she was on, and scattered medical equipment she had no idea what they were. The only door leading out into the hospital was locked, with a guard standing right next to it.

Was the guard even necessary? Even if Steam wasn't shackled to the bed, it would hurt too much to even attempt getting by him. Much less get off the hospital bed.

Steam Sear smirked slightly as she entertained the idea of a decrepit pony trying to take on a trained military stallion. It was a silly thought, but she had to take whatever little pleasures she could get at this point. It seemed things were only going to get worse.

When she was first left alone, her first idea was to use this opportunity to go to sleep. The pain in her side, however, was too flagrant to ignore, and thus kept her awake. The only other thing she could do was reflect on the days catastrophic events.

There was no way she could've destroyed the hotel, Steam thought. She wasn't even conscious for it. Steam had to have been framed, but for what purpose? What would anypony have to gain from incinerating a hotel?

The same questions had plagued her mind since she was levitated away by the guards. None of them she had answers for. Only one thing was crystal clear to her in this moment.

Next time Dad needs me to get frosting, I'm going back to sleep.

Speaking of, the inevitable arrival of her parents should be quite soon. What would they even think? How will they react to hearing their daughter has been arrested for arson? How will her mom react?

Fighting the guard for freedom suddenly sounded like less of a silly idea.

Steam found it surprising how little attention she had received from the hospital staff. Once they wheeled her into this room, a few spells were casted on her torso, (none of which helped soothe the pain,) a doctor told her one of her ribs was cracked, and that was it. Everypony walked out of the room to do Luna-knows-what. For all Steam knew, they were dancing in the hallways.

Steam smirked again. This was a very inopportune time to be joking around.

She really was her dad's daughter.

A sudden knocking on the door derailed her train of thought. From the other side, a stallions voice was heard. Probably the guard, Steam assumed.

"Culinary Slice is here to see Steam Sear."

The stallion guarding the door moved aside as the door swung open. Through it appeared a very familiar and distraught looking blue stallion.

"Steam! Oh, dear Luna, you look terrible! What happened?! Are you okay?!" Culinary panicked.

"Dad, calm down. I'm alright." She winced in pain as she moved to sit up on the bed. "For the most part, at least."

"When you didn't come back, I must've worried my mane off!" Steam's father frantic manner slowly turned to frustration as he spoke. "After a couple hours, I had to close the restaurant just so I could go out looking for you, and when I come back empty-hooved, a guard stops by to tell me you've been arrested?!" Steam knew he was not directing his anger at her, but it didn't make it any less painful to sit through.

"What. Happened?" He finished with a cold stare.

"Well, I—"

Before she could retell the events, they found themselves rudely interrupted by another knock on the door.

"First Lieutenant Merry Heart has arrived."

Oh no. Steam's eyes widened.

The guard in front of the door didn't even have time to move before the door flung open, smashing him against the wall like an insect.

Through the door flew a caramel colored pegasus, her body adorned with the brilliant golden armor all guards wore. Her salmon colored mane was short, and hardly visible under her helmet save for a few strands. Steam's eyes met the guard's angry gaze, knowing that look all too well.

"Steam Sear!" The enraged mare hollered.

Steam laughed nervously like a filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. "Hey, mom."

"Don't you 'Hey, mom.' me, young lady! What in Tartarus' dark depths have you done?!"

"Merr'." Steam's dad tried to interject, but to no effect.

"You've gotten into some trouble in the past, but getting yourself arrested?!"

"Merr'." He retried.

"Do you have any idea what prison is like? Let me tell you right now, you don't want to find out!"

"Merry."

"Not that it matters, because right now, you are in so much trouble!"

"Merry!"

"What!?" Merry Heart turned on him in the blink of an eye.

Culinary looked bravely into the face of his wife's scorn. "Calm down."

The airborne mother landed, standing up to her full height. In reality, Merry Heart was the smallest pony in the room. She was barely the same height as her own daughter, but that didn't make her any less intimidating.

Closing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath, she spoke again. "Okay. Alright, I'm good." She pivoted back to her daughter lying on the hospital bed. "Now explain yourself!" She demanded.

Steam started with a sigh. She told them everything she remembered from when she left Twilight to her escape from the hotel. While her dad gave looks of horror and wonder accordingly, her mother was stone-faced the entire time. Then again, she did have time to practice that as a royal guard. They were practically famous for their unchanging expressions.

"—and that's when the floor under me collapsed. I fell through two floors before I landed, and when I did, I got stuck." Steam said.

In the blink of an eye, the lieutenant flew to Steam Sear until their faces were mere inches apart.

"You fell through two floors!?" She exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, that's why I'm lying in this be—Eeyah!" Steam's explanation was cut short when her mother gave Steam the death-grip she called a hug.

"And here I am yelling at you! Oh, my poor girl!" Merry Heart cried apologetically.

"Mom. That hurts."

"Oh! Sorry, sweetie."

"So how did you get out, then?" her father cut in, curious to know the full story.

"I was rescued by a couple of random stallions. Iron Forge and..." Steam thought for a second. What was the other one's name? "... Finder... Keeper? I forget his name. Well, they got me and the two foals out of there, and that's when I got diagnosed with a bad rib by..." Again, Steam could not recall the name. "Flower Power... I don't know her name either.

"Whatever. Point is, some other crazy mare started screaming at me, and that's when other ponies started blaming me for blowing the place up."

"That's it?" her father asked, as though disappointed by the end.

"Yup."

"That's all?" her mother parroted.

"Yes, already." Steam confirmed, irritated of their repetition.

"I say that's a load of horse-apples! You risk your life trying to get yourself and two kids, and you get arrested for it!?" Her dad scoffed, pacing in the small, featureless room. "You deserve a damn trophy! Half of Equestria wouldn't even consider trying to save those foals!"

"It's not about the foals, dad."

Her dad continued, uncaring of his daughter's words. "Bunch of slimy ingrates, accusing you for this! I'll bet they just wanted somepony to blame for this!"

"Calm down, Cul'." Merry interjected. "We're actually on the edge of a knife right now."

Steam and her dad both looked towards the Lieutenant in confusion.

"What do you mean?" her father asked.

"From what Steam said, there are multiple eye-witnesses claiming to have seen her blow up the hotel." Merry went into full lieutenant mode. "We don't have much to counter their arguments other than 'we don't really know, she doesn't remember.' and that's a weak dispute. You already look guilty in the eyes of many, Steam."

Steam's heart sank upon hearing her mother speak.

"And nowadays? Ponies love to convict those they see guilty."

There were no words from Steam, nor her father. The only thing she could do was let the information sink in. The realization that she may very well go to prison only now took it's toll. Steam's eyes watered, and she sniveled. After everything, Steam was finally driven to tears.

Merry Heart was taken aback, now aware that what she said may have upset her daughter. "Oh, honey..."

"Now look what you did, Mer'." Her husband half-joked.

After shooting her husband a look he'd seen many times over, the lieutenant hugged her daughter, and the father soon joined them in a big family hug. Steam's quiet sobs served as a substitute for her actually talking about how horrible her day was. She didn't need to. Her parents understood entirely what she wanted to convey. That this was the worst day of her life. That she was afraid of what could happen. That she felt powerless.

"Shh." Her father comforted. "We're here for you, Sear."

"It will all turn out okay, Steam. You'll see." Her mother assured.

"I'm... sorry..." Steam managed to blubber out.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Anypony in their right mind would be sobbing their eyes out right now." The stallion argued.

The family's heartfelt hug was interrupted by a rude knocking on the door. Almost instantly, Merry Heart screamed at whoever was behind the room's entrance. "Who's the idiot that has the nerve to disturb us right now!?"

To answer her question, an all too familiar purple mare peered inside. "Did I come at a bad time?" she asked almost sarcastically.

"Oh. Sparkle." Merry Heart said her name with overt distaste.

"Merr'. Be nice." Steam's father warned.

Closing the door behind her, Twilight took her place next to the bed. "Lieutenant." Unlike Merry, Twilight had no venom in her voice. "Steam, are you alright?"

"No. I'm not." Steam Sear sniveled, calming down from her episode.

"I've been told about what happened, Steam." Twilight lamented. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Yeah." Steam flatly muttered.

"May I ask you something, though?"

Steam nodded.

"Did you do it? Did you destroy the hotel?"

Merry Heart, who had been glaring at Twilight the whole time, took the opportunity to speak up. "How dare you! Of course she didn't! My Steam would never do something like this! How could you even think about accusing her, you—!"

"Settle down, Lieutenant." Twilight stopped her. "I just need to hear it for myself."

"Don't you tell me to settle down!"

"Merry!" Culinary Slice shouted.

"What!?"

"...Settle down."

Merry Heart reluctantly complied, grumbling something unintelligible.

"Steam?" Twilight retried.

The very fact that Steam hesitated to answer made Twilight uneasy. Steam looked at nopony, contemplating to herself. Twilight was thankful when Steam answered her with a look of determination, "No. I didn't."

Twilight smiled, relieved to hear it. "Well then," she started. "all we have to do now is clear your name."

She should have been here by now.

The streets of Canterlot were bustling with activity, filled with the prim and proper. It was perhaps possible she didn't see him due to the crowds, but she wasn't one to make a rookie mistake like that. None of them were. They couldn't afford to screw up. Not anymore.

The smell of the alleyway was starting to get to him. He started to regret setting up the rendezvous point next to a pile of garbage. Still, he stood there casually, leaning against the wall. Hardly anypony noticed him. Those who did only stole a glance before they disappeared in the masses of ponies.

The noise of four hooves touching base with the ground was heard behind him. He didn't have to look to see who it was.

"About time you showed up." He criticized as the two descended further into the alley out of view.

"You did your job?" She asked, not wasting any time with banter.

"Indeed. I already know you did yours."

She paused for a moment. "I feel bad for doing it."

"It was necessary."

She didn't respond.

"Don't worry." He said. "Gradient said Luna will likely take mercy on her."

"And if he's wrong?"

He gave her a look that plainly said Yeah, right. "Come. Let's go inform Gradient."

"Very well, Charm." She said.

Making sure nopony was watching, she pulled out the familiar yellow crystal, and placed it on the ground. Dashing's horn released a spell unto it, causing it to crackle with energy. Long strands of magical lightning erupted from the crystal and engulfed them both, and In an instant, they were no longer there.

Prologue

Prologue

Ponyville was a peaceful sight.

The sun was shining brightly above the western horizon; Soft colors of orange were starting to paint the sky where the sun would eventually sink. The outline of Canterlot Castle could be seen in the distance, attached onto the mountain. The citizens in the large village of Ponyville were rushing to finish up whatever business they had for the day. The stands in the main plaza were being taken down and packed up, and tomorrow, routine would kick in and the salesponies would yet again attempt to sell their wares to the townsfolk. All ponies were content, it seemed.

All, except for one brown earth pony filly trotting on the path away from town.

Stupid trail.

The blank-flanked child stared hard at the ground, daring it to fight back when she stomped and kicked at the dirt. That’ll show it.

Stupid Ponyville.

She looked back at the town with wet, pink eyes. She hoped that would be the last time she would have to see it again. Her saddlebags were stuffed full to the point that they seemed they would burst.

Stupid Olivine.

Olivine was probably fuming back at the house right now. How dare she run off without her knowing. Oh, Olivine would regret ever being so mean and unfair to her.

Stupid ponies...

So what if she hadn’t made any friends in this town? She had a bunch of friends back in Manehatten she could talk to. Yeah, who cares about the ponies here? She didn’t need them anymore where she was goi—

“Hi!”

Huh?

“I like your mane. It’s a cool shade of green!”

After halting her trot for a brief search of her surroundings, she found the owner of the voice hovering a few feet above the ground in front of her. A young pegasus colt, with a light tan coat was floating down from the air to greet her. His long, shaggy crimson mane came down to the top of his cheerful golden eyes. His bushy tail was a ragged mess, as though he crashed into a bush. This little colt didn’t seem to have a cutie mark either.

She could have sworn she was alone out here.

“Y’know, with your coat and mane, you look like you’d make a great tree!”

Did he just compare her to a tree?

“What do you want?” she asked almost impatiently.

“Uh, nothing, I guess. I was just out here practicing my flight ‘cause my dad says I gotta ‘train my wings’ or something. It was getting pretty boring, but then you showed up! So, hi!” This little pegasus seemed a bit too excited for almost nothing.

“Hi. Nice to meet you and all, but I have to go.”

The brown earth pony shoved past the floating colt and continued on. The young pegasus fumbled a bit in the air, but gave chase shortly after he regained his balance.

“Woah, wait up! Where are you going?” he asked.

“None of your business.”

“Where do you live? You new around here?”

“I came into town a little while ago.”

“I haven’t seen you before. Did you move here with your family?”

The filly balked for half a second, but ignored his question. That didn’t stop him from asking again.

“Didjya hear me? I said—”

“I know what you said!”

The sudden outburst took the little colt by surprise, as he lost his balance in the air and flopped onto the ground.

“Just..." she faltered. "Just drop it, alright? Go back to practicing your flying, or whatever.”

“Heh, ‘drop’ it.” The young pegasus chuckled to himself at the terrible pun, and followed behind the earth pony who started walking away yet again.

“But what are you doing?” Crashing to the ground didn’t seem to discourage the inquisitive little colt.

“I’m getting away from this place.”

“What? Why would you want to do that?”

“Don’t you have flying to do? Why are you even talking to me?”

“Well, you seemed like you were kind of upset. I figured you could use a bit of cheering up!”

Okay, now he was just getting annoying.

“I don’t need cheering up. I’m just fine.”

“Well, you looked pretty sad before I came to talk to you. Now that I think about it, you kinda looked like you were crying.”

“I told you, I’m fine.” Her voice steadily increased in hostility. Couldn’t this pegasus take a hint?

“Oh come on, what’s wrong?”

Guess not.

“Nothing.” She grit her teeth.

“I’m just trying to help you out.”

“Well, I don’t need your help!” she whipped around to face the young colt, who was wide-eyed at her sudden anger.

“I don’t need you, or Olivine, or anypony in this dumb town!” the steaming filly advanced on the colt, who slowly backed away in return.

“Ever since my parents disappeared, my life has been terrible! I’m going back to Manehatten so everything can go back to the w-way it was! W-where I can stay with my fuh... friends!”

Her furious glare was getting more glassy by the moment.

“I... I j-just want everything to be nuh.. normal again!" she sniffed before finishing her spontaneous rant "You happy now!?”

The frantic little filly sat down on the path hard, and hung her head as her pink eyes streamed with tears.

“Juh.. just g-go away.”

The beige colt simply gazed at the filly as she had her breakdown in front of him. Call him crazy, but going away wasn’t going to help this pony any. He slowly sat down next to her and addressed her in a softer voice.

“Hey, come on now. It’s gonna be alright.”

“N-no it’s not. H-how would you know?” Her voice was strained and shaky.

“Well, how do you know it won’t be?” Even he knew that was a weak rebuttal.

“I j-just do.” She sniveled. “You w-wouldn’t be saying that if you were m-me.”

The young pegasus wasn’t too sure if he could reassure her, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him.

“I... once had a problem that was kinda like yours.” He was just talking on the spot, but hopefully this story would do something to help.

“Oh sure you d-did.”

“Not exactly like yours. It was a couple months back actually. I once lied to get out of taking a really big test at school because I was afraid of failing, but since this was, like, the biggest test of the school year, I eventually had to do it no matter what.”

“And you did great. Your story is predictable.” The troubled filly sniveled lighter. She finally seemed to be calming down.

“Well, no. I totally bombed it. I had to beg my teacher to let me retake the test, and then I aced it.”

For the first time since they met, the little filly showed a ghost of a smile, but it was short lived. “Well that’s a neat story and all, but this is a bit of a different situation.” She went back to her staring contest with the ground.

“Well yeah, but that day, I learned that running away from my problems didn’t solve anything. If anything, it only made things worse. The teacher almost didn’t let me retake the stupid test because he thought I was some sort of slacker, and he hated slackers. I mean, this one time, he got so mad at another student for—”

As the red-maned pony told some story about his teacher, the troubled filly got lost in her thoughts. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I should just go home and accept my fate. Sitting next to the rambling colt, she gazed at Ponyville. She could just barely make out some of the ponies heading home for the day.

“—couldn’t believe that hawk was so huge!”

Woah, what was he talking about?

“So if you think about it, your problem isn’t all too different.”

Well, at least he was finished.

The filly was at last done with her waterworks, only now she was just silently staring back at the town she had previously never wanted to see again.

With a resigned sigh, she broke the silence.

“I just want everything to go back to the way it was.”

With a bit more sympathy in his voice, the colt responded.

“Hey, it can’t be all that bad.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have Olivine for a ‘guardian.’ She gets mad at me for the stupidest reasons. She’s probably absolutely furious that I went out alone without telling her first.”

“My dad says he only makes rules for my safety." He paused for a brief moment. "But on the other hoof, I don’t see why I’m not allowed to have too many sweets.”

“Well, that can actually be bad for your health.”

“Ugh, not you too. You sound just like him! Next you’ll be telling me to brush my teeth, or go to bed on time.”

The distraught filly finally let out a giggle, and the colt joined her. Things finally seemed a lot calmer.

“Olivine is going to be so mad at me.” The poor filly dreaded going back home, as it would only lead to another lecture. She could still go to Manehatten, but she just started that fiasco out of pure impulse. The likelihood of getting there with only the things in her saddlebags was pretty slim. Get punished by her legal guardian, or risk a pointless journey?

It was a pretty close decision.

“If you’re really so worried, I could help you out. Maybe if I say I was with you the whole time, she won’t be so mad at you!”

“You’d do that for me?” the filly was baffled. This colt was willing to lie for a stranger?

“Sure! What are friends for?”

No, he was willing to lie for a friend, apparently.

“Oh! And I can introduce you to my other friend—”

Rather than listen to his rambling, she zoned out again. This little pegasus had just said they were friends? That had to be the fastest friend she’d ever made. Really, though, she couldn’t complain. She hadn’t made any friends since she moved to this town, so why not? And what was he talking about, introducing her to another friend of his?

“—known him since I started school here. He doesn’t talk a whole lot, but he is WAY strong! Me and him are gonna grow up to be heroes when we're older! Oh, this one time, he—”

Wow, can he rattle on.

For the first time since she moved here, the little filly was genuinely happy. This tan colt may be a bit irritating, but maybe he wasn’t so bad at all. At least he means well.

“—ellooo! Are you even listening to me?” The colt was now staring at the filly who seemed to be gazing into space.

“Huh, what? Oh, sorry. I guess I blanked for a second.” Felt more like a week.

“We should go. It’s almost sundown and I need to be at home before dark.”

“Well, alright then. Lets go.”

The little pegasus flapped his wings and floated in the air next to her as the two made their way back home.

There was just one more thing the little beige pegasus needed to ask of the brown earth pony.

“So what’s your name?”