Author's Note

Heya everyone.

I’m balancing all my fics and trying to get a job at the moment. I’m also working on an original project of mine, so if I'm a little late, well yeah. This chapter and the next will get you a sneak peek at the other Elements as Dawning and Carly get used to their new surroundings.

1-3 Ponyville

Much to his surprise Carly picked up the slack on their side of the conversation. She rushed forward excitedly.

“ROSE! “ The mare’s eye’s brightened.

“CARLY!” The two of them embraced with some caution on Rose’s part.

“Oh Celestia, I haven’t seen you for ages! What are you doing here? You have to tell me everything!” Rose laughed.

“Oh it’s not that exciting. Mum got tired of the city, you know. She always fancied the countryside, much quieter, not so many sirens to wake up to.” Rose said. As he studied her the memory hit him abruptly. When he was young he was always a bit shy about meeting new people. His father, Switchgear was sympathetic but often would gently encourage him to make friends, introducing him to the children of his work friends.

One of those had been the filly of an old marefriend of his. She was a pink earth pony filly with a light yellow mane Rose Blossom. She and Dawning talked a little bit and gradually developed something of a friendship. Having at least one friend helped him. When Twilight chose him as her student the uproar from tradition-bound Canterlot nobles shocked him, threatening to send him retreating into his shell again. Rose Blossom boldly declared, in the face of teasing schoolmates that she believed the Princess made the right choice. They didn’t see each other much anymore, though Dawning looked for her when he had free time. He never did see her again, and by that time his father was oversees on a trip he would never return from so he couldn’t ask him. (He wasn’t dead, the militia team he worked for was ordered to stay in the Crystal Empire for safety reasons).

He spent years thinking she had moved because of him for whatever reason. That maybe the teasing she got for sticking up for him made her move. He shuffled his feet awkwardly. It was after that he decided that a single best friend was enough. Friends, like fathers and mothers apparently, came and went- and took part of you with them if you let yourself get close.

“Hey Rose.” He said quietly.

“Dawning….” Rose looked at him concerned while he avoided looking at her. He couldn’t even remember her name after all that. He could feel the heat on his face. Bittersweet memories came up in his mind. She still had the same Canterlot and Trottingham accent. “Dawning?”

“Are you all right?”

“Uh yeah….I hasn’t gotten that much sleep. Rough night.” He said.

“Oh I’m sorry. How has it been in Canterlot. Did the Princess send you?” Rose asked.

“I….”

“Yes! He was sent here for independent study.” Carly said. Rose’s eyes brightened.

‘Oh! That’s great! See Dawning, I knew you’d go far.” The well intentioned compliment felt like a buck to the gut.

‘What will say when she learns that I screwed up?’

After all good students got sent to independent study because they aced a test, not because they destroyed a courtyard.

*****

Dawning Sun never knew he could sleep that long. It felt like he had been out for at least a couple days, maybe a week. Emotional exhaustion was a real kick in the flank. He could feel the light from the sun in his eyes and felt himself yawn.

“I hate mornings.” He heard Carly chuckle a bit.

“Actually its mid afternoon, sleepyhead” He shot up and looked out the window. It looked somewhere between three and five in the afternoon.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Since yesterday morning. “ He groaned and rubbed his head.

“Great. Anything come for me?” He hopefully to Carly waiting for her to shake her head. He didn’t think he would get anything.

“Actually, yes, here!” She handed him a curled up piece of parchment with a “told ya so” grin. He eagerly unrolled it curious and dreading what it would contain inside.
Dear Dawning Sun,

I hope you are doing well, and enjoying the new surroundings. I hoped to get ahold of you before I left, but there was an urgent meeting.

I ‘m sorry that the last time I spoke to you was in such a harsh manner. You are my faithful student and that will never change. I only wished you would understand the gravity of the situation. Everypony makes mistakes, but it’s important not to give up hope. Mistakes do not mean the end, but a chance to learn.

You have advanced very far in your studies and I am incredibly proud of you. You’ve reached a point where there’s not much more that can I can teach you in the confines of a castle. Many years ago my own mentor told me the same thing I’m about to tell you. The world is much bigger than a library or a classroom. In order to truly learn everything you can about the world you need to experience it. Live your life. Your new assignment is to study friendship.

This is not an assignment that you can learn from a book or a lesson plan. Get to know some other ponies. A single pony, even a brilliant one cannot get by on their own. That’s why I’ve asked Carly to make sure you go out and get sunshine. I’ve arranged a place for you to get a side job, there’s a performing hall on the west parts of town and they’re looking for someone to provide technical assistance and special effects. Go and talk to them and try going out on the town.

I know you’re probably not thinking much of this project right now. But stick to it. This will be the most important thing you’ve ever studied.

With Love,

Princess Twilight.

PS: I’m not kidding about what I told Carly. You’re not going to just lock yourself away, young stallion.

Don reread the letter several times.

“Studying friendship?” He exclaimed, “How old does she think I am? He huffed and magically levitated the letter into a drawer.

“Well she has a point; you can’t just spend your entire life with only one friend!” Carly said. “Besides what were you going to do otherwise, sleep?”

“I thought she’d have me doing something for Equestria! “Don snapped back. “I can make friends while I do a mission that’s actually important! Like…like sniffing out moles and changelings!”

“This is important for Equestria!” Carly said, “It’s like she said, this is the most important thing you can learn. Remember the stories she told us about the Elements of Harmony? Do you think they just knocked on her door and asked her to join? Did you honestly think she was going to make you a spy after you demolished the courtyard?” He winced and then lay back on the bed.

“Thanks for the reminder.” She slapped a claw to her face.

“I-“

“Just get out!” he magically pulled the covers over himself.

“Don- come on!” He continued to ignore her. For a moment she wanted to rip the covers and drag him out. But she took a few deep breaths. “Look I’ll give you a break but when I come back –“

“Yeah whatever. Get going.” She left, slamming the door behind her before she started growing. Dragons by their nature always had a struggle with one of seven old ‘sins’. When they let the trait take over them they grew into a huge ferocious monster dominated by their fatal flaw, or in some views greatest asset. Greed, pride and wrath were some of the most common. Carly’s was wrath, and as such she had a terrible temper problem. True, due to something in her background, it took a lot of anger to get her growing but she could also be extremely dangerous because of her horn. Which was why Princess Twilight often warned her to watch her temper and taught her ways to keep it under control. She went down and sat at the small bar in the inn where Rose Blossom was serving drinks with two other mares.

“Still sleeping?” Rose asked.

“More like sulking.” Carly said, “He expected an assignment a bit more lofty than the one he got.”

“I see….”Rose handed her a drink. “So how’s Canterlot?”

“Oh still getting worse every time we think it’ll get better. The Dissenters haven’t let it slip who their leader is. A whole branch of the militia is still in the Crystal Empire.”

“…his father too huh?” Rose said with a sympathetic look. Carly sighed, her anger dissipating on the spot.

“Yeah. I think he is trying so hard so he can rescue his father….it’s hard on him.”

“Poor thing. Well, everybody wants to see this war end. We’ll get there.” Rose reached out and gave Carly’s claw a pat. They drifted into a conversation about matters of politics and popular celebrities. It gave Carly’s temper ample time to cool down.

“Dusky Romance is still writing?” Rose snorted, “Seriously? Even Vanity Press told him his writing was crap.”

“He has an excuse for everypony who complains about him and always says the critics don’t understand him. And what kind of schmutz refers to himself as a ‘Misunderstood Genius of Literature.’? “ Carly finished her drink. They both turned when they heard a male voice.

“I think he should listen to that one. Vanity Press knows crap.” Don gave a lopsided grin.

“Dawning? You feeling better?” Rose asked.

“I’m allright. I don’t think I’m going get any more well rested. “He sat down with a small yawn. “So what’s on the menu?”

“Well we have a lot of cider, some tea, lemonade…and water.”

“I’ll take some cider.” Rose slid a mug of cider at him. He took a long sip from it a little surprised by the fresh taste. A lot of food in Canterlot was being rationed for the war. Rose chuckled.

“We have our very own Sweet Apple Acres right here in town.” She said.

“Oh….” He took a few more gulps, savoring the sweet taste. Maybe this was something he could get used to.

“So where you headed?”

“Well first we have to go by the stage on the edge of town; we heard they had an opening.” Carly said. Don shifted but didn’t say anything. “And then…well I don’t really know I suppose we’ll just explore town.”

“Ohh well, I’d recommend Carousel Boutique. It’s always been pretty nice but since Goldie started taking over things, it’s gotten more of that original flavor it had from back in the old days, at least that’s what Mum said. Goldie really takes after her Great Aunt Rarity.” Something in Carly’s mind pinged recognition from the statement. Rarity. She nodded, deciding that they would certainly hit the Boutique.

When they finished their drink they said goodbye to Rose and went on their way. Don wasn’t’ crazy about being stuck here in a little town like Ponyville, but he had to admit he might as well give this ‘studying friendship’ thing a try. He did kind of owe it to the Princess anyway. The job she arranged for him sounded interesting, he wasn’t exactly an actor but special effects didn’t sound too hard. Princess Twilight had remarked that –when showing her what he learned-he had a flair for the dramatics. As they walked Carly pointed out a few of the sights in town. An energetic yellow salesfilly stood by a stand selling Apples, jams and preserves while a shy-looking brown and white spotted filly hid herself behind the sign. Don could sympathize with the little filly, and not just because of his current predicament.

The sound of hooves could be heard on the cobblestone roads of the town. The rays of sunset reflected off of the tin roofs of some of the buildings. In the many years that passed straw roofs had gone out of style, a few still had them but they were a definite minority. Many houses were now made of wood or brick. There was one place that was even built into a tree-it looked like the oldest building there. It was odd to see so much open sky. Canterlot had been filled with tall castles and buildings.

There were multiple spots in town where they something poking out of the ground with a doorway, probably leading to a shelter underground.

“Well, they’re well equipped.” Don said.

“Did you expect them not to be?” Carly asked. He shrugged but didn’t say anything, not wanting to get himself in any trouble. He hadn’t meant anything by the comment but there was no point in continuing such a conversation.

The stage was in one corner of town, a large and impressive piece of architecture. There were ponies on stage in little groups. Two ponies sat in the audience watching and working on something, one had a pencil precariously tucked behind his ear and the other had an outfit that reminded him of the couture of Canterlot. She had intricate earrings on both ears and a barrette in her mane that looked like an ornate butterfly. Carly whistled.

“Fancy”

“I’ll say…” They slowly began down the rows of seats to approach the two. Two more ponies came from behind the stage, one being a dark-maned mare with a single ring around her horn and some interesting clothing. Tall boots and a brown vest. Next to her was a young mare with a hot pink mane, a quill cutie mark on her flank and a colorful quill behind her ear enthusiastically nodding and chatting. Don felt a stab of insecurity. She didn’t look that much older than him and she had a cutie mark. He shifted his cape a bit to cover his flank.

“Thanks, Spotlight. I’ll come up with somethin’ for you” She gave a salute and dashed off. One of the directors in the audience chuckled.

“I don’t doubt she will, but it would be a good idea to give her time. “

“Or sassperila” the director with the pencil said. Spotlight walked over to meet them.

“Can we help you?” The elegantly dressed director asked them.

“Oh…” Don said “I’m here about a job.”

“Are you now? I have to say with style like that you’ll fit right in here” He shifted his cape a bit. “My name is Dawning Sun and –“

“OH!… …well come on then” the fancy director got up and beckoned for Dawning to follow. “I-we’ve been expecting you.” Spotlight and the director with the pencil rolled their eyes.

Their guide led them to a building behind the stage to her office, which was filled with framed articles relating to celebrities and the stage.

“I’m Crystal Dahlia, my dear and it’s a pleasure to have you on board.” She said shaking his hoof.

“Uh…what?” He shook his head, “I mean…thanks…I appreciate it.” Just like that?

“You’re very welcome. We’ve been looking for someone to do effects….the last one was a bit too fond of pyrotechnics and set the stage on fire.” She said, “I can imagine you, with your very special training, will be able to give us just the flair we need. “

“Thanks…I’ll do my best.” So that’s it…he was hired? Wow that was easy. He and Carly exchanged looks.

“ The backstage is Spotlight’s area of expertise she’s more of a big picture pony than I am, I admit. If you can come in for a bit tomorrow, she and Quick can give you a little tour. The building here is usually where we have practice and meetings if we’re not doing it onstage. We also use the bunkers every now and then. “She gave a thorough explanation of how things worked. Right now it seemed they were holding drama camp. The theatre troupe here operated like a big team with three leaders who took different portions of the job.

“It’s far more efficient than just one, after all, sharing the load allows us to get things done without someone getting overwhelmed and everything falling to pieces “Crystal said. The bitterness with which she said those words hinted that she had a bad experience before.

“Has that happened before?” Carly asked.

“Yes…my last troupe just fell to pieces.” She said with a sigh. “It was my first time as a director, and I was young and wanted all the glory of being the lead. “ She looked a bit sheepish. “But I learned from it. I had to start over though; a lot of my fellow performers became a bit disenchanted with me. Spotlight was one of the few who stuck around. “

“I’m sorry,” Don said.

“It’s fine…” Crystal gave him a smile. “While we’re still off topic, how do you like Ponyville?”

“It’s nice….” Don shrugged. “I just got here. I’ve been staying at the inn and-“

“Well, you are completely free to stay here; when we’re not cramming every-pony in the bunkers they make a nice temporary living space.”

“Oh uh…thanks” Don didn’t mind staying at the inn but he felt guilty that Rose was letting him off of pay. He didn’t want to take up room and put her out forever. “Much appreciated.”

“Oh good”

After they left the theater Don found himself with mixed feelings. On the one hand he was rather happy he found a job. Or…he should be. Really, he found it nerve wracking. He was with a bunch of older ponies and it was only a matter of time before they found he had no cutie mark. Then what? Crystal Dahlia had told him that the troupe was like a family but that didn’t assure him he wouldn’t be teased.

“Well they were very nice” Carly said, “It looks like a fun place to work.”

“Yeah…I guess…” Don shrugged, “Where do you wanna go next?”

“Oh I wanted to take a look at the Boutique, if you don’t mind.” Carly said. “If Crystal’s style is anything to go by, this place has got to have some interesting stuff.” Don groaned and rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, It won’t kill you”

“Sure…” Carly shook her head but just continued along the path. As he looked around, Don took in the surroundings. There was something about this place that was a little different from Canterlot with its sirens, castles and soldiers. There weren’t any sirens at night and there wasn’t an atmosphere like a ticking time bomb always looming. When in Canterlot the reminders of war were obvious, nopony could forget that there was war. That there was a threat in the distance who wanted to destroy everything. Nopony could forget that they had loved ones far away in the Crystal Empire.

Loved ones who might not come home.

But in Ponyville , everyone seemed so happy. They weren’t waiting for the next threat or looking through the obituaries of the Evening News. On the one hand it made him wonder how everyone could be so calm. But at the same time it was nice. Was this what peace was like?

“Here’s the place” Carly said. It was a round building that resembled a very ornate carousel. Dawning raised an eyebrow.

“Since when do you like this kind-ow!”

“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t let you finish that sentence.” She said. She led them into the building, which made a ‘ding’ sound as the door opened. The shop was fully of mannequins with some very interesting dresses and saddles. The dresses were quite fancy like the ones in Canterlot. Many of them had an unusual quirk; they involved gold jewelry chains or utilized jewelry, beads and such in some manner. They walked around looking at the outfits, Don looking only in mild disinterest.

He spotted a display case of jewelry to the far right side of the building and wandered over. There was an abundance of cleverly designed rings and ornate necklaces. With all the emphasis this place seemed to have on jewelry in its creations clearly whoever ran this place had a talent more geared toward jewelry creation. He imagined that the whole reason she was running this place was to carry on her great aunt’s business. He wondered, did she choose or was she pushed into it?

“Oh! I didn’t see you come in, I’m so sorry” A gold unicorn with a pink and dark lavender mane full of waves and curls came in. Carly looked away from a dress she had been examining. “I’m Golden Pendant but most people just call me Goldie.”

“You did all this? Carly said, “You are really talented. These are gorgeous.”

“You really think so? Oh, thank you!” Don was surprised by how insecure Goldie seemed. He had expected the store’s proprietor to be someone who knew she was a fashion genius. He didn’t know why though, perhaps it was an unfair judgment to make. “I really liked these, but a few of the critics weren’t so impressed. They’re more my own individual style. It seems like my style isn’t what people want.”

“Well it’s very cool and…quirky…in a good way. I’m Carly, and that brooder over there is Dawning Sun.” Don shot her a look.

“Very funny.” He grumbled. Goldie giggled a bit behind her hoof. “I was going to ask anyway, he’s cute.” Don could have sworn he didn’t hear her properly. Cute? He shifted his cape a bit making sure that it properly covered both blanks. She looked a little out of his league. Now who was the insecure one? He opened his mouth but quickly shut it unsure of what was the right thing to say in a moment like this. “H-hi”

Goldie looked away quite flustered as well and she went back to talking with Carly. At some point he blurted. “Your stuff is pretty cool.” They both looked surprised.

“Well thank you very much.” After they left Carly was smirking.

“It’s not that funny…”

“You’re adorable” she put an arm around his neck.

“I’m the same age as you.”

“Nah I’m pretty sure I’m older.” But Carly stopped teasing him about it. They walked around town.

“Looks like places are shutting down….” Don pointed out.

“There’s a few still open…besides we can just admire the view. “ So they walked around town as the sun set and the sky slowly turned to dark. Ponyville was a bit bigger and wider then he realized. As they walked around they noticed a cluster of ponies heading in one direction. The sky was getting pretty dark. “I wonder where they’re all going?” As they kept watching, the ponies were all collecting in one corner of the town.

“I highly doubt that they all live in one place.”Don said.

“Wanna check it out?” Carly looked at him half-pleadingly. She wanted to go very, very badly.

“Where I come from we call that gatecrashing.” He pointed out.

“Oh I just want to see.” Carly said, “come on, live a little.”

“I didn’t’ say no…let’s just look.” He and Carly weaved their way around the crowd to the source of the excitement. There was a party starting on a farmyard. The same apple-stand pony – a yellow earth pony mare- from earlier was out greeting guests. Her green mane was in two braids with ribbon weaved in with a pink and a pastel orange cowgirl hat with lace around it on top. Her orange and yellow dress was reminiscent of a sunset. An orange stallion was chatting with a couple of mares by the fence.

“OH HEY!” Don heard a voice that was familiar to him for some reason but he couldn’t put his hoof on it. It drove him crazy trying to figure it out until he saw a pair of pink eyes in his personal bubble. It was the unicorn from the theatre who had been talking to spotlight. Her pink mane – as pink as her eyes- was mussed a bit by a brown newsboy cap and a pair of goggles. She wasn’t wearing a dress like some of the other mares but just a jacket and some boots.

She backed up a little bit, thankfully.

“Hey there, I noticed you earlier but I didn’t catch your name. You a new actor?”

“Wha-..actor…no.” he said “I’m the special effects guy.”

“Oh…cool.” She offered a hoof, “Nice to meetcha , special effects guy. You got a name? Mine’s Hazy Dreams. Writer for hire.”

“Dawning Sun…and that’s Carly. We just got here from Canterlot.”

“You lived in Canterlot?” Hazy leaned in interested. A few other ponies looked their way.

“Uh yeah. “ Don wasn’t sure he was comfortable with too many ponies finding out who he was.

“What was it like?” Hm, seemed Hazy was more interested in Canterlot than him.

“Tense….loud, always busy. Everybody talked about war.” Carly said bluntly. A few ponies looked away and Hazy’s face fell a bit. She looked a little embarrassed. Dawning shot Carly an impatient look. She responded with a shrug as if to say “what? It’s true.”

“O-oh” she said quietly. She backed up a little bit. “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“You didn’t bother –“But she was already gone. The orange stallion by the gate grinned and waved them over.

“C’mon in ‘an enjoy yerselves a lil. Maybe you could get ta know some ponies” he said. That was as good of an invitation as any. The two of them came in and walked around. Before the night was through they encountered more ponies than Don could remember. There was a dark grey pegasus with a multicolored mane and bandaged wings who seemed a little more reluctant than even them to be here but once he got started talking about his job he was talking a mile a minute.

After him they chatted with a pair of unicorn twins from Manehattan , a mare and a stallion who aside from build and minimal gender differences appeared nearly identical. Both had cream colored bodies and a caramel brown and dark brown mane.

“You two are city folk, aren’t ya”

“Uh..well we came from the city” Don started. Carly sighed in annoyance.

“We knew it when you walked in the room. We’re from Manehatten , so we know what to keep an eye out for. “the mare said, “The countryside is a nice change a pace ain’t it?” She gave them a mischievous smile. “I’m Vanilla Candy and this is my dear cousin Chocolate Fudge.”

“Uh yeah, it’s nice-“

“Free air and fresh grass everywhere. Good place to slow down from the unforgiving concrete jungle, eh?” Chocolate Fudge pulled Carly over with an identical smirk.

“Are you trying to sell us something?” Carly asked, put off by their manner. Both of them exchanged looks and snickers.

“You’ll know when we’re trying to sell you something.” Vanilla Candy patted Don on the shoulder and then both of them backed up a little. “Enjoying the party?”

“uh yeah….”

“A bit surprised we got in, since we don’t know many ponies here.” Carly said.

“Heh . Well, if the Apple family is anything, they’re warm, friendly and downright hospitable.” Chocolate said. “you can bet that if they have a party, they must have everyone there.”

“Everyone that will come that is” Vanilla added somewhat bitterly. Chocolate groaned. “Just a friendly tip watch out for some of the Wannabe Elite “

“Nilla-“

“They’re vipers.”

“Vanilla!”

“What ….they deserve a warning from those snakes, don’t they?”

“Well you know Spiced Apple and Lemon Cookie don’t want trouble. Can’t you lay a grudge aside for one night?”

“Who’s the Wannabe Elite?” Don asked.

“They’re some fancy folks from the upper class who came down here to get away…but brought their attitude with ‘em. They don’t come to these parties much and when they do they always complain. They think they’re better than a lot of people here.” Vanilla explained. “and they want everyone to treat ‘em like royalty. They’ll probably try to pull you to their side if they find out you’re from the city. “Chocolate rolled his eyes.

“Nobody pays much mind to them….”

“Except when they grab it.”

“Let’s go get some cider and talk to Sugar Apple….” He said pulling his sister, “Was real nice meeting ya” As they walked away Carly whistled.

“Seems like someone has a grudge.” She said. She suspected may have just met a pony who could match her own temper. They continued to chat with ponies. Don kept an eye out for the orange unicorn mare, hoping to talk to her more. He never did find her, and eventually forgot his quest when he got his hooves on some Hard Apple Cider while Carly was talking to Golden Pendant again.

******

“….Don do you know what hard apple cider is?”

“Uh…..dunno…didn’t taste very hard to me….” The two of them were lying in a barn on a few stacks of hay. Dawning had collapsed after tripping over his own hooves.

“It’s alcohol….you just drank alcohol” She sighed and covered him up with something. “Just stay here and try to snooze it off a bit…you’re a little unsteady on your feet.”

“But I’m not-“ *hiccup*.

“Just trust me…”

“I’m sorry Carly…”

“Don’t sweat it, could have happened to anybody.”

“Not that “

“So you aren’t sorry you got yourself plastered?” Carly laughed.

“…stop it, you’re making my head hurt.”

“No, that’s the cider.” His body became heavier until he shut his eyes and the world faded away just for a night.

*****

“Are ya allright there, sugarcube?” Don heard an unfamiliar voice. He couldn’t remember much of what happened last night. Just something about a party..and some delicious…apple….something or other. He opened his eyes and found a green maned mare with bandanna around her neck smiling down at him. “I’m awful sorry ya got it so bad. I told Orange we shoulda kept a closer eye on the hard apple cider.”

Hard Apple Cider……

Alcohol

The memories came back and Don slapped a hoof to his face. He had been here all night. He saw his cape on floor in realized that he had been without it at some point…making him even more nervous. He quickly grubbed it up and fastened it around his neck. The thought of using magic made his head hurt more.

“I am so…so sorry” He hastily and dizzily got up to his feet but was brought back down by the pounding of his head. “Ow…”

“Aw it’s nothin’ honey. Now let’s getcha some water.”

“Where’s Carly?”

“Oh yer friend, she came inside already. She’s a real sweet friend, helpin ya out like that. You two know each other long?”

“Since we were kids, yeah.” The mare helped him into to a water pump where a few ponies and Carly were all talking.

“Morning!” Carly said.

Don gave her a small smile.

“Hey….” The stallion…who seemed to be the Orange the mare had been talking about pumped out some water and laid a bucket at his feet. He looked down at it surprised.

“Trust me…you shouldn’t try an’ use yer magic right now” With the pain he was already feeling in his head he took their word for it and took a few drinks. “Yer head’s hurtin’ cause yer dehydrated. Hard drinkin’ will do that to ya. I take it you never had anythin’ real hard before.”

“Nope. “

“Never drank once.” Carly added. He drank until he had his fill and the headache seemed to ease a bit. A slightly older mare came over.

“So who’s your new friend here?” she asked.

“Dawning” he wiped his muzzle with a front leg feeling a bit embarrassed. “Dawning Sun. Your cider is really good.” The cinnamon brown mare smiled a bit.

“Well our light Apple Cider is just as good, with a lil’ less of the headache.” Don looked down sheepishly noting the ever so subtle tone of sternness in her voice.

“ehehe…noted.” He said. “Thanks ... for everything.”

“Aw it’s not problem honey” The younger yellow mare said. “My name’s Citrus by the way. Citrus Seed.”

“Nice to meet you. Thanks for your amazing hospitality.” Carly came over and put an arm around Don. She supported him a little bit as they left the farm. As he walked away he had noticed that a little brown and white filly had been watching him the whole time. It made him feel a little more sheepish, and he hoped he hadn’t been a bad influence on her.

“I can’t believe I got drunk. “ he muttered as they walked away.

“Well…at least now you know the consequences of drinking too much hard cider.” She said. “and the importance of reading labels. Now come on….we gotta get your stuff from the inn. “For the first hour that they were out Don couldn’t look anyone in the eye. But no one seemed to say anything about it- though he was sure he saw a few people whispering. The wheels of the paranoia train were set into motion. They made their way over to the stage where a few young actors and actresses were chatting in groups.

He heard some of them talking about the party and he tried to move around without being noticed. Carly looked like she would scratch out the eyeballs of anyone who dared give him trouble in a moment of vulnerability. She was the sort of friend who believed “no one gets to mess with him but me” and even then she knew her limits. A few ponies waved but mostly they minded their own business.

Nobody seemed to bother them though, a few ponies smiled as he passed and waved at him. He continued magically levitating his things until he got to the room they had secured. Once the door was closed he collapsed rubbing the spot next to his horn. “urgh….I swear I’m never going to drink, even when I’m older.”

“Sure, that’s what they all say after their first hangover” Carly chuckled. She spread a sheet over one of the cots they had been provided.

“I’m serious” he said.

“Ease up , I’m just kidding.” She said. As they days went on Carly tried to encourage him to talk more with the other ponies. Whereas Don just wanted to focus on doing his job and staying out of people’s way. He still wasn’t entirely comfortable with spending so much time socializing as Carly did.

For his first day of work, Dawning was brought backstage by Quickpen and showed around. For the first day he started easy, asking Dawning to produce colored lights.

“We‘re going to start slow, and small, because we don’t want to tire you out on practicing. We just need to make sure you can do the basics for now before you move on to bigger things.”

“Allright.” Quick called out for spotlights of different colors. As Dawning conjured them, he was reminded of when he was home and the Princess tested him on his spells, she would hold a book and say the name of a spell, and Dawning would cast it. They practiced in a room in the castle that was large and bare. The very first time she brought him there after he was made her student, the room felt so much bigger, as he had been very small when he started. He wanted so badly to impress her, and the first time he conjured the spells it hadn’t seemed like good enough.

As time went on he worked harder at it, not only casting the spell but giving it a dramatic flair. As a child he was inspired by a unicorn that used to come to his kindergarten class and do a magic show. When Don as a young colt mustered up the courage to ask the unicorn how he made his magic look so cool, the unicorn had said, “magic is an art”. Magic was an art. That had stayed with Dawning, and the more confident he got in his training the more he became confident enough to give his magic a little flair.

“Brilliant!” Quick Pen said, as Dawning gave a bow after his ‘performance.’ When Dawning rose up again he noticed a few other ponies in the audience. He recognized a few as some of the actors and acting students.

“Hey can you give us some thunder?”

“Yeahh! Thunder!”

“Guys, come on it’s his first day.” Quick Pen said. But Dawning felt, at that moment like he was floating. He found himself forgetting why he had been so reluctant to be around them. Their clopping at the ground and hoots and shouts were getting to his head.

“No, its fine” Dawning said, “I-I can do thunder.” He backed up, taking a moment to focus and then summoned up his strength to release huge crack. There were a few shrieks in the audience; one pony was knocked backwards, not expecting the volume. Quick Pen held two hooves over his ears.

“Whoa”

The actors made a few more requests, before Quick and Spotlight reined them back in. His first production and the audience was literally out of control.

“Man, that’s awesome! Is that his mark? “

“Nah, I don’t think he had one. Should be though.”

“This guy doesn’t have one…are you kidding me?” All at once, when he heard that, Don felt everything in his body plummet. His breath caught in his throat. He remembered what some of his old classmates said when he met them again and saw that he had yet to get a Cutie mark. “Wow, he doesn’t even have his mark yet? “ “How sad is that?””What kind of pathetic pony doesn’t have a mark yet?” Those voices and the sound of laughter filled his mind driving out any other noise. He was so distracted that he tripped over the last step on the stage. He picked himself up and ran even faster, wanting to get out as soon as possible. He didn’t want to hear what was said after that.

“Whoa,” Carly said when she caught sight of him coming in to their living quarters. She had been out around the city that afternoon and was just coming in after him. “What’s up with you?”

“First day was a disaster” he said.

“….really, because….from where I was standing you were having a damn good time and they were eating it up.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Well…..I..I just don’t want to talk about it.” He said. “I’ll be fine.” Carly sighed. She probably knew what this was about.

“You can’t shut down every time someone mentions it.” She said, “You remember what the Princess said? It will come.” Dawning nodded and pulled his cape around him.