"-Luna..."
Lightning Dust could hardly believe it. The infamous moon princess herself was sitting there in Sugar Cube Corner, staring back at her calmly. The pony who could masterfully place the moon and stars into the sky without aid. The very pony whose name promises, both to and by Lightning Dust, had been made on. Lightning Dust had heard of her release from the moon a little over a year ago and her return to her sister's side as proper royalty, but she had never thought she would ever actually meet her.
"Twilight is not one to abuse the power of her crown on a whim," Princess Luna said as she stood up and came around the table. Seeing Lightning Dust still in shock, she became uneasy. "We had thought the citizens of Ponyville had lost their fear of-"
"Princess Luna!" Lightning Dust shouted as she jumped for joy. Her wings fluttered wildly and sporadically, extending the jumps and making her landings uneven. Her uneven landings resulted in uneven jumps and she was soon jumping around the room. "It's really Luna!" she yelled out again.
The bewildered alicorn and the perfectly calm zebra watched her as she made an almost literal foal of herself.
As the sheer, unbridled joy began to fade, Lightning Dust suddenly realized what she was doing. She stopped abruptly and bowed down clear to the floor in Luna's direction. "I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me."
Still bewildered by the display, Luna responded, "Be at ease. I am not angry at your display of..." She hesitated for a moment. "...Joy. It is nice to know some ponies do not fear me." She gestured for Lightning Dust to rise.
"As for your fear of the young Princess Twilight Sparkle," Luna inquired as she walked up to Lightning Dust. "Could you kindly explain your dilemma?"
Reality hit Lightning Dust like a ton of bricks as she remembered her situation. She began to whimper before the princess. She answered the only way she could think of to a pony that had power enough to move celestial bodies completely on her own and lifetimes of experience seeing through lies, "Yes. Yes I can..."
Lyra was in the park. With everypony getting ready for Nightmare Night not many ponies were in the mood for music at this hour. She had earned a few bits in the morning with her lyre, but there weren't many ponies in the park aside from colts and fillies that had gotten out of school early. So she decided to spend the time working on her painting instead.
Using the one spell she could do, Lyra levitated her paint easel to the standing position and broke out her paints. She normally would sell her paintings but this one was special. It wasn't something she tried to throw together to get by. This one she had poured her heart into.
Thanks to Lightning Dust taking up half the burden of the rent, Lyra had been able to keep up with rent and manage a lot more free time for her gift to her mother. She tried her best to show her roommate as much respect as she could to keep her from leaving. Despite this she always seemed to be getting her upset one way or another. Just this morning she was afraid Lightning Dust was going to leave from being so upset. She had to double over her efforts on both keeping her roommate from getting upset and working on her gift. She only had until the winter holidays to finish it.
As she slowly mixed the paints with tender care to get the color and shade just right, she thought back to her childhood and the time she spent with her mother. She strained her mind to make sure she had every detail of her mother's face just right. After a long moment of drawing out the old memories, Lyra was finally in her zone.
The paints were set up just right on her paint pad. She hardly needed to glance at it as she painted, if it weren't the fact that she wanted to make absolutely sure every stroke was exactly how she wanted it.
Several minutes into the painting process she had made only a small number of strokes, having taken her time to make each and every one count to its fullest. The lower part of her mother's face was now visible. It was the part of the face that she had inherited from her mother. So wasn't all that hard. She would soon get to the mane, forehead and upper part of the face, but once she got through that she would have to think even harder to paint the eyes. She had inherited her father's eyes and she would have to spend a long time getting her mother's eyes right as she had nothing to remind her.
She would have to make several practice sketches and paintings to keep from messing up this one, before she finally added the eyes. The eyes that were always there to comfort her when she came home from a bad day at school.
"Well what do we have here?" somepony called from behind.
Lyra stopped her paint brush maybe an inch from the painting and pulled it away slowly in her levitation, making sure she didn't smudge her work. Turning around, she saw three unfamiliar pegasi stallions.
"Looks like a street performer," the one that looked like the leader said. "And she's drawing some pegasus. Looks good too." Lyra could tell the compliment was genuine, but everything else they said seemed to have an underlying tone to it.
"I'd date the mare she's drawing," the large one said.
"Hey!" Lyra shouted without thinking. "Don't talk about my mother like that!"
The pegasus that had spoken first quickly looked between the wings on the painting and the horn on the painter several times. His eyes narrowed. "You're a half breed."
The leader piped in, "Come to think of it I can see it in you." He took a step towards Lyra. "Your horn barely works, doesn't it?"
"That has nothing to do with my mother." Lyra started to shrink away from them, paints long dropped on the grass next to the paint easel. "It's just luck of the draw. Ponies with only one kind of parent get it too."
"A half breed would say that," the leader retorted. "Half breeds shouldn't have wings or horns. It's a waste of air and magic. They should all be earth ponies." The three ponies had come forward and backed her into a large tree at the park. One of them picked up a rock.
"Maybe we should help her with tha-" he was cut off by the rock he was holding suddenly being knocked out of his hoof, followed quickly by the hoof that was holding the rock being shaken wildly.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome," Pinkie said enthusiastically as she quickly darted between the three of them, shaking the hoof of all three pegasi in rapid succession. "I can't throw you a welcome party right yet with the Nightmare Night committee wanting me to help get ready for tomorrow night, but welcome to Ponyville anyway. I hope you enjoy spending Nightmare Night with us."
The confused pegasi look at the pink blur of chaos as it finally came to a stop, looking away from them and towards Lyra. "You gave greeting new ponies your best shot Lyra, but maybe next time you'll get it right," Pinkie said to her, completely oblivious to what was going on.
The three pegasi recovered their bearings. They gave a quick glance at each other then decided to just continue. Picking up a rock, one of them aimed at the back of the pink mare's head.
"Did you get the special paint we need for tomorrow Lyra?" Pinkie asked, dodging the rock at the last moment with a tilt of her head.
"Not yet Pinkie." Lyra said with worry as a second rock bounced by, which pinkie had dodged again by tilting her head and shifting her weight to her other side.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Pinkie asked as she dodged three rocks at the same time by squatting to the ground. She dodged the rock that followed after the other three quickly with a jump. "Let's go get it silly!"
Pinkie turned to the pegasi that had failed to strike her. "It was fun playing dodge rock with you guys, but I have to go," she said with cheer. "Hope to see you at the festivities tomorrow night." With this she bounced off. Lyra desperately followed Pinkie in all haste, taking only enough time to levitate the painting of her mother off the paint easel as they passed by it. She grabbed only the painting and abandoned all her other painting supplies.
Blackjack opened his wings to follow them before Silver Tongue grabbed his front hoof. He spun sharply as he tried to take off and landed face first in the dirt instead.
"What was that about?" Blackjack asked with irritation, spitting out some dirt.
"That girl has mad skills," Silver Tongue answered him. "It would take the whole gang and some help from the South Horns to get her. Leave her alone. We can get the half breed later. Let's just find a room."
"Eventually I realized I needed to apologize to them," Lightning Dust spoke with her face looking at the floor. "But when I found out the new princess that was in that air balloon as well-" She tensed up and shrank away from Princess Luna. "I-I got scared of what she might do if she found out I was the one that made the tornado."
"Something of a wild tale," Luna said after Lightning Dust finished her explanation. "You do not fear me, yet you were not in Ponyville during my any of my past visits. Were it not for the glum manor of your entrance with Zecora I would be inclined not to believe it."
"My foalsitter's foalsitter was a historian," Lightning Dust explained with her head still down. "So my bedtime stories had a few more explanations to them than most."
Luna looked at the pony before her for a moment in thought then turned to Zecora with an inquisitive expression. The worried zebra nodded ever so slightly. "I believe I know what to do with you," Luna stated very calmly.
Luna bent her neck down and gently placed her horn on lightning Dust's forehead. Lightning Dust winced in fear. Luna's horn glowed for a moment then something seemed to flow from the horn and wash over Lightning Dust.
"I grant thee," Luna spoke formally yet softly, "Lightning Dust, a pardon for the crime of endangering the ones known as Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkamena Diane Pie and Twilight Sparkle." She lifted her horn to find Lightning Dust looking at her with bewilderment to match that of the alicorn's only a few minutes ago.
Lightning Dust sat there, her brain threatening to fail her again. Had she really been pardoned just like that? It was supposed to be impossible for one ruling princess to pardon a crime committed against another ruling princess. Completely oblivious to anything else, she stared at Princess Luna. "You can do that!? I thought that only she could do that."
Luna looked back at her with a warm look in her eyes that Lightning Dust could not place. "As she was but a common citizen at the time, your trespass was not against royalty. Any of the co-rulers may pardon you for it."
Luna then reared up on her hind legs, opened her wings and pointed at Lightning Dust. Her voice became overwhelmingly loud. "But know now, young Lightning Dust! Indeed 'tis true, if ye trespasses be against enthroned royalty of Equestria, only said royalty thou trespassed against may pardon thee. Thou hast been warned."
As Lightning Dust got back up from laying on the ground with her eyes closed and ears covered, she noticed the glass display case behind her had been shattered.
"See to it that the glass is replaced," Luna commanded a guard as she came back down to all four hooves. "I do apologize. I will refrain from using such volume when the little ones arrive," she said to a concerned Mr. Cake, who had been cleaning the glass that just broke.
Luna turned back to Lightning Dust. "You can now apologize to the young princess without fear of retribution. I wish you luck in your endeavor."
"Th-th-thank you..." Lightning Dust muttered as she began to comprehend what Luna had just done.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Luna asked with court manner politeness.
"No," Lightning Dust answered as she stood up shakily, "No. I don't think there is." She began to walk towards the door, but stopped when she was reminded of something. "Actually..." she said with a blush. "No, no..."
"No please," Luna called out to her. "Share with me. I rarely have the chance to speak with a subject who is not afraid of me."
Still blushing, Lightning Dust turned around. "Well..." She looked down and away from the princess. Her blush deepened to two strong spots of pure red on her cheeks. "It's kinda embarrassing but I've always wanted to, just once, touch-" Her eyes flicked towards Luna for a brief moment before the returned back to the ground, shutting tightly. "The ethereal mane of the night princess." Her blush deepened further, covering the entirety of her cheeks and muzzle in pure red. The rest of her head and a short ways down her neck was still strongly tinted.
Her voice tightened. "It's the closest I'll ever hope to get-" She turned, eyes still closed tightly, and showed her star encrusted cutie mark. She inhaled deeply to get the courage to force the last few words out. "To touching a star."
Silence filled the room for a long moment. Lightning Dust's heart felt like it was going to jump right out of her chest. She was more embarrassed that she said it than when her aunt discovered she had worked at a restaurant to make ends meet. She could swear she was shaking as much as Keen Wit was when she discovered his dream.
Despite it all, she had no idea why she felt like this or why she had started jumping around randomly. This wasn't all that big a deal, was it? The royal sisters probably had worse requests from fan mobs than what she had just asked. Princess Luna was probably offended, but she wouldn't punish her for just asking. So why was she so tense about it?
Lightning Dust could hear Luna speak slowly and clearly as the night princess stepped closer, "Never, in all my centuries-" Something soft brushed up on the side of her face that was turned away from Luna. It pressed against Lightning Dust's cheek, guiding her to look towards the princess. "-have I heard such-" As Lightning Dust opened her eyes she could see the princess looking at her straight in the face. The princess's eyes were on the verge of tears and her mouth was curled up in an almost quivering smile. "-a flattering request."
Looking in ever so brief a glance, Lightning Dust could see that it was Luna's ethereal mane that had guided her head to attention. Returning her now widened eyes to the princess, she saw the princess give a brief motion which was something of a nod and something of a gesture towards her mane that was coming forward from its usual place of rest.
As Lightning Dust picked up a quivering hoof and ever so slowly moved it towards the mane that glimmered like the night sky, she suddenly understood. It wasn't something she had dedicated her life to but it was still a special moment. Just as when she worked hard on making the school play a success all those years ago, the magic was in the experience of making the dream real and not simply the act. Just Princess Luna being there, acknowledging her simple wish and that it was important enough to the princess for her to bother to grant it, was worth more than if Luna let her touch her mane a thousand times after this.
With her hoof finally making contact, she realized what she was feeling. Not even when her aunt let her stay in Ponyville did she feel this. What she felt right now and when she first saw Luna in the flesh was something she hadn't felt in years. It was pure, raw, childish glee.
"Thank you," Lightning Dust said sincerely as Luna's mane slipped back to its normal flowing position behind her head.
"I have business I must attend to shortly." Luna said to Lightning Dust then calmly directed her to leave.
Lightning Dust went to leave Sugar Cube corner then stopped at the door and looked back at the moon princess in a blissful daze. "Thank you again, for everything."
As Lightning Dust wandered out onto the street she felt like a million bits. She decided to look for Princess Twilight Sparkle right away to apologize. "Nothing could ruin my day now."
As she wandered only a few steps more, she heard a filly scream at the top of her lungs. "There you are!" Lightning Dust turned to see Twist running towards her at full speed. "Giiive hiiiiim-" Twist jumped towards Lightning Dust to attack. As she moved through the air towards her, Lightning Dust could see Twist's eyes overflowing with tears. "-Baaaaaaack!"
With her daze, Lightning Dust was bowled over by Twist's landing. With the filly on top of Lightning Dust, Twist began punching her as hard and as fast as she could. If it weren't for the fact the little filly was clearly winded, Lightning Dust would have been majorly hurt from the blows. Instead, Lightning Dust managed to roll with the punches and receive only a few bruises as the filly kept screaming, "Give him back! Give him back!"
Only a few seconds after the punches started, Twist was suddenly lifted off of Lightning Dust by an equally winded Wayside. The filly was still screaming, "Give him back! Give him back!" as she continued to direct her futile swings at Lightning Dust.
No longer in a daze, Lightning Dust stood up again. She stared at the filly in Wayside's forelegs who started to come down from her fit. "Give him back!" Her forehooves slowed their swings as she realized she couldn't reach her target. "Give him back. Give him back..." She finally broke down in a sob and Wayside set her on the ground. "Give Keen Wit baaa-" Hic. "-aaack..."
Lightning Dust looked at Wayside looking back at her with a face of sheer urgency. "Lightning Dust. I know you are in the middle of taking care of something, but please, I really need you to come with me right now."
* * *
Twist sat on Keen Wit's bed while Lightning Dust sat right next to her on the floor at the foot of the bed. Keen Wit had been explaining his heart out to Twist, "-and that's why I need the wind thread. It grabs the air much in the same way a pegasus wing does to generate power for different stuff. It's not the same thing as wing magic, but if I reverse the flow of magic and feed it with my-" He swallowed a lump in his throat and gestured up to his hat. "It'll have the same effect.
"Lightning Dust didn't make me want to do this. She was just going to teach me once I get them built since-" He paused for a moment then looked up at his dad, who sat beside him.
"Since I can't," Wayside said as he opened the wings that could barely keep himself aloft.
"It's what I've been hiding in that chest." He pointed to the chest under the Wonderbolt poster as he stood under his friend's glare. "I-I wanted to do this even before we met Twist."
Twist looked from the chest to Keen Wit to Wayside, then intensified her glare as she looked at Lightning Dust. She returned her attention to Keen Wit, still holding the glare. Keen Wit waited for her response for a long moment.
"Why didn't you ever tell me? I thought I was your best friend." She quickly glanced at Lightning Dust again with the same glare then jumped down off the bed and walked up to him. "Why did you tell her but not me?"
He went red with embarrassment at this as he pawed the floor with his hoof. "Lightning Dust only found out about it by accident. I couldn't tell anypony or..." He looked at his friend straight in the face and explained it all in two words. "Diamond Tiara."
Lightning Dust didn't understand what he was talking about, but Twist apparently did. "Oh!" the filly exclaimed with a long pause of thought to follow. Finally getting rid of her angry face, she picked up a hoof and curiously pressed it against his hat where his horn was hidden. She swung his horn back and forth for a moment as if making sure it really was there.
"Could you please stop that?" he asked as he closed an eye while his head bobbed back and forth with the motion.
She gave a soft giggle and let go. "Enough said. Let's go play." She turned to leave the room. Keen Wit's face beamed as he followed Twist outside.
Lightning Dust looked at Wayside once the two children left the room. "Diamond Tiara?"
"She's a filly at his school," Wayside explained. "From what I've been told, she loves to be mean and tease her classmates about anything she can."
"Oh." Lightning Dust remembered a scared little colt in the park with an ice cream covered muzzle. "Enough said."
Serra was pouring some tea for the three stallions that had gotten a little too wild in her reception area when she had reopened the inn. She smiled as she looked through the kitchen door to see her son following his friend outside, laughing. "Now if you boys want to rent a room I will still let you, but you will respect my inn and my family during your stay or you will pay the price."
Sledge and Silver Tongue had a real smack down and could barely breathe. Blackjack knew when to give up and had gotten significantly less hurt. "Yes mam," he responded for the three of them. The other two could only nod in agreement.
Several hours later at Sweet Apple Acres, Lightning Dust had apologized to the princess and all the other ponies that she had put in danger, save Pinkie who was not present for reasons unknown to Lightning Dust.
"That's enough Dash," Applejack stated calmly.
"Aww, come on you guys!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "She almost killed all of you."
Applejack's eyebrows furled. "That's enough Rainbow Dash."
"And she's apologized for it," Princess Twilight answered.
"You guys would just let somepony that almost hurt Twiligh-"
"I said that is enough!" Applejack yelled at her winged friend.
"But she-"
"She's paid her debt!" This put Rainbow Dash at a loss for words. "Even if Luna hadn't pardoned her she was still kicked out of the Wonderbolts. We all know she's trying to get back in, but odds are she'll never be able to go back. That course can't be passed. That's punishment enough."
Lightning Dust did her best not to look hurt by the statement that Applejack had made in her defense. It was basically true. She faced that fact on a daily basis almost every time she opened her wings. Even so, it still hurt every time. Nopony had earned a good enough score to pass. Even second round cadets that out performed Wonderbolts and broke records still hadn't passed.
"Besides," Applejack called in a much softer tone, "I think I know the real reason you're being so hard on her." Rainbow Dash pulled her head back in worry. "You were a part of that twister too. You still blame yourself, don't you?"
The weather pony came down from her hovering to sit on the ground in the barn. Her ears went limp and her eyes winced up in pain as her friend hit a bull's-eye. "Ya need to understand," Applejack said as came up to her friend with a slow walk. "We've forgiven. We've forgiven both y'all."
The apple seller gave Rainbow Dash a tight hug, causing Rainbow Dash to blush in embarrassment from it before she slowly gave a reluctant hug back.
"Ya just need to forgive yourself already girl," Applejack said sympathetically. The hug lasted for several seconds until Rainbow Dash started tapping her overwhelmingly strong friend rapidly to let go so she could breathe.
"Well forgiven for the tumble at least," a well groomed, white fashion pony stated after the special moment was over. "I still cannot believe you would mix up me with that ill groomed Vinyl."
"Hey! All I remember was a white unicorn with Fluttershy." Lightning Dust pointed at the pony she barely knew from Wayside's other department.
"Her coat is most certainly not white!" the fashion pony stated bitterly. "It has a distinctive tint of yellow with all the smoke and fog from her work. It might be mistakable for a pale cream after she's taken a thorough shower, but-" The fashion pony glared at her intently. "If you ever want to step a single hoof in my boutique, you will learn your shades."
"Well forgiven or not," Rainbow Dash snarked at Lightning Dust as she recovered from the embarrassment, "I still don't like you." She jumped into the air and flew off.
After giving a sigh, Lightning Dust snarked back to the empty barn door, "The feeling is mutual. See you at work tomorrow."
As Lightning Dust headed towards the barn door to leave, she turned to the young alicorn that sat on the hay. "Thank you again for forgiving me princess."
"Keen Wit really likes you," Princess Twilight Sparkle stated with a grin forming at the corners of her face. "At times I can hardly get him to focus on his studies when he's rambling about you. He would never let me live it down if I didn't, but please-" She rolled her eyes. Standing up, she walked to Lightning Dust. "I don't like being called princess when I'm in Ponyville with my friends. Could you just call me Twilight?"
"Th-thank you, Twilight," Lightning Dust corrected herself with a twitch to her smile.
"Besides, it wasn't all that hard," Twilight added casually. They started heading for the door of the barn together. "I mean, Luna must have been really impressed with you to fly all the way back to Canterlot to write up a pardon."
"Back to Canterlot?" Lightning Dust looked at her confused.
"Of course. A pardon has no official weight unless it has been written down and submitted to the Canterlot courts for archiving."
"Oh!" Lightning Dust softly exclaimed as her eyebrows shot up and her head quickly turned back to leave. She moved out as quickly as she could without being suspicious. Despite not exerting herself, Lightning Dust could faintly hear her rising pulse in her ears. Princess Luna hadn't left Sugar Cube Corner.
"We're back," Mrs. Cake called. "Sorry for being so late. The doctors were hesitant to give them the medicine. They had to inspect your message to make sure it was from you." The twins rested in their hampers that were around Mrs. Cake's back, drugged into a much needed dreamless sleep.
"That is alright Mrs. Cake," Luna responded with tired eyes as she lifted her horn from one last sealed container, which Pinkie promptly took and hid away as if it were golden chocolate. "It took longer on my part as well but if it means their safety-" She looked at the foals as they slept. "-I will do what is needed to protect my subjects."
"The nightmare forces trying to seed themselves in our little Pound and Pumpkin." Mr. Cake shook his head. "They have no shame."
"An eternal force to be held in check every generation." Zecora came forward out of the corner of the room. "The tide of terrors stemmed back to prevent devastation. Careful each step must be in the eternal dance, to insure neither joys nor woes be pushed off balance." She looked at the foals affectionately and carefully pushed a hoof against a cheek of each of them in turn, just enough to cause discomfort in their sleep. "Fears and pain have a purpose in life." She then took out a fine hoof stitched blanket and placed it on the table. "But hope must counterbalance such strife."
"Rest now dear children," Luna called sweetly to the foals as she levitated them out of their hampers and placed them on the blanket. "Though bad dreams will come again in time, never again will they be forced upon you by the nightmare realm. My blessing will see to that."
Luna came up to the foals and wrapped the blanket that Zecora had provided around them with her magic. "With Ponyville so close to the proximity of their latest encounters with our world their grip on the minds of the locals is stronger than most." Her horn glowed as she set it ever so delicately on the infant pegasus colt's forehead. Magic washed over him as Luna gave him her blessing. "The adults of Ponyville have grown in resolve and can resist their pull, but the little ones still need protecting." She then moved to unicorn filly and repeated the process. "Today I have seen that they are still seeking ponies with natural ability. Pound and Pumpkin are both bound for greatness."
She gently wrestled her horn out of the grip of the child, who had grabbed it with her mouth out of reflex while still asleep. "It is a good thing Zecora saw the signs and contacted me. Coupled with Zecora's regimen, my blessings will help them recover from the seeds I have purged." She looked out at the door. "I will take care of the rest of the town's little ones at the celebration."
"It is good to know they will be able to sleep peaceably again," Mrs. Cake responded, "But wouldn't it be better to get the rest of the town taken care of now, before they harm somepony else's foal?"
Luna answered them with a heavy sigh, "No. I have tried in the past and it was not pretty. They feed off uncertainty and it would do more harm than good to alert the townsfolk. I can do it more effectively if I integrate the procedure into the holiday events to keep from fears rising."
Luna looked at Zecora with gratitude. "Zecora has taken care of the littlest of the little ones with the hospital's aid. Her talents will also keep more seeds from spreading to anymore newcomers or newborns. Even if the efforts of the nightmare realm are refocused into the other seeds that are too firmly rooted for Zecora to take care of, they won't be able to do any harm by the time I purge them tomorrow night."
Luna cast a simple illusion to disguise herself and her honor guards then left Sugar Cube Corner. She thought back on the events that day as she waited for her chariot to land.
Shortly before the chariot landed, Luna saw Lightning Dust trotting down the other side of the street. The pegasus moved with such haste that it was obvious something must have scared her at some point, yet the young mare's face had an unmistakable look of accomplishment to it. "It looks like Twilight accepted your apology," Luna muttered softly to herself as she felt a trickle of nostalgia form a small but in-suppressible smile. "It feels wonderful, doesn't it?"
A royal chariot, also disguised in illusion, landed in front of Luna to take her back to Canterlot. "Several hours of sleep lost today, but the crisis has been averted." She climbed into the chariot as her smile began to grow bitter. "...For once."
Back inside, Mrs. Cake was marveling at the baby blanket Zecora had given Pound and Pumpkin. "This is simply magnificent. What do you call this material?"
"In your tongue, it would be called cloud cotton," Zecora answered the mother's question as if she knew it was coming. "In its embrace, a day's woes are easily forgotten. Only small blankets can be woven of it at best. Rare is the delicate plant found in the right state to harvest."
Zecora came over and smiled as she saw the foals sleeping soundly in the blanket's embrace. "When I found an unheard of amount, right away I knew. The blanket was not meant for one-" She looked up at the mother with a knowing smile. "-but two."
Mrs. Cake gave a small titter and a blush. "You probably say that to all the twins you've given blankets to."
Zecora gave a stern look at the mother as she shifted her attention fully to her. "One should know, this art is not easily done. Aside from today, I have given only one." The zebra's eyes cut into the mother like daggers. "In my homeland, the greater forces send such blessings for a reason. To give them like candy is as foul as treason."
After reprimanding the pony about the seriousness of such a gift, she took a moment to close her eyes and calm herself.
"I, I'm so sorry. I didn't-" Mrs. Cake was cut short by the zebra raising a hoof.
"I am the one needing to apologize. I should not have put the fire in my eyes." Zecora opened her eyes again with a subtle pain in them. "The first blanket I wove was for my unborn brother, or so my young self had thought," she began to explain. "But fate meant it for another. When he was born dead-" The healer looked down at the floor. "I was distraught. I learned the blankets are to be made then given, not the other way around. My teacher told me in time, the right foal would be found."
She looked back up with a subtle happiness hidden behind her watering eyes. "In my travels I found the child of one worried with the need to provide. To her I gave the blanket and told her to take hardships in stride." Zecora paused for several moments to clear the tears from her eyes before finally succeeding. "To some, remembering a foal you only saw for a moment might seem silly, but I will never forget that beautiful pegasus filly."