• Published 2nd Aug 2014
  • 2,415 Views, 222 Comments

Necessary Love - Zurock



A story of connections and emotions. After the human has been in Ponyville for several months, friendships have strengthened. Twilight shares a sudden stroke of fortune with all her friends, inviting them to an experience she hopes they'll all enjoy.

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Chapter 5: Caring

The deep brown filly was overjoyed to see that James still remembered her. Although it wasn't entirely logical, there had been the tiniest piece of her which had feared that the short time they had spent together two months ago had already been forgotten. She dropped from her neck a travel satchel made of vines and leaves and she rushed forwards, boiling over with thankful excitement and embracing one of his legs happily. Her two little wings buzzed.

The man was left without a compass, lost at sea between reality and waking dreams, and at first he only stood frozen in a timeless moment as he stared down at the young pony blissfully gripping his leg.

Of course he recognized her! How could he ever have forgotten her?

Forgotten THIS adorable little pegasus, with a mane bunched into two tails that sprouted out of the top of her head like fountains of pale purple water? With radiant eyes like amber crystals, the right one still encircled by a black mark honoring Prideheart? With underdeveloped wings which now looked healthier than they had before when they had been initially freed from lifelong bondage, and which now beat so frantically with joy as she hugged him? His little pony, with an inspiring, warm, easy-to-love spirit?

This one could never have been forgotten. Never would he have let it happen.

Only two months ago had been the trip to Hamestown and even in memory the whole even still felt a little overwhelming. So much had been packed into so few days. He had often found that he had a hard time remembering the full details of the experience whenever he had tried to whimsically think back upon it. Without serious concentration, or somepony to talk to and offer reminders, everything about the trip often felt murky and hard to recall.

Everything EXCEPT for any single detail tied to this wonderful filly, down to the tiniest specific. Like few other ponies he had met so far, so short a time had been enough for her to have made so big an impression.

But why was she here?

Those months prior, Twilight and all her friends had been sent out on behalf of Princess Celestia to a far corner of Equestria to investigate some suspicious business at a remote settlement. By the unpredictable, wonderful twistings of fate, the option to accompany them had come to him and, after much hesitation and uncertainty (and luck), he had chosen to go.

At their destination, Hamestown, a great schism in ponykind had been sitting long unresolved. Hidden behind the thriving greenery of Dryearth Forest had lived the Dryponies; a pony tribe founded centuries ago by expatriates who had never made peace with what had separated them from the world. Dangerous had been their conflict with Hamestown, nearly to the point of tipping into disaster. But thanks to the magical power of friendship, Twilight and the others had been able to convince the Dryponies to explore overtures of peace. As far as anypony now knew, things had been going well in that distant nook of Equestria.

And surely the fresh peace must have been going well if Poppy was now here in such shining spirits. Of course, her default mode was to be bright and mirthful. Even at her young age she was a pony with such incredible soul; an unyielding faith in her connections to others, and an open willingness to freely give and receive love. She had been one of the Drypony guards who had captured and imprisoned James and everypony in the beginning, but through speaking with the man she had come to faithfully believe that there might have been real ponies hidden underneath the so-called enemies that she had helped imprison. And the man in turn had found special inspiration inside of her.

But again, what was she doing here in Ponyville?

A thousand thoughts, and memories, and ideas, and theories all crashed together in his head. Explanations cracked like lightning, flashing for unreadable instances. And then, very suddenly, it all ceased.

He didn't care why.

She was here. With him.

'Why?' was a question for his head, not his heart.

SHE WAS HERE. WITH HIM.

That was all that mattered.

He bent down and got his hands under her, bounced her into the air, and caught her in strong hug at chest level. The laughing filly used her new height to embrace him again, wrapping her hooves around his neck while she rubbed her cheek against his.

"I'm really happy to see you, Poppy," the man greeted, giving her a tender squeeze.

She squeezed him right back before she let go, braced her hooves against his chest, and leaned back in his arms to get a good look at him. Beaming, her emaciated wings were STILL happily fluttering.

"Me too!"

"It's a real surprise to see you!" James said.

The filly stretched her brow, startled by his words.

"I... sent you a letter to tell you I was coming."

"Is that right?" he bite his lip and gave a slight glance away. No doubt her unopened letter still waited to be read in his pile of old mail. Best that he not tell Twilight about this one because then he would have never heard the end of it.

Giggling at his funny behavior, the filly quickly moved past the matter. Some niggle of remembrance popped upon her face and she took on a grand and satisfied smile. Out in front of his eyes she held up her right foreleg and wrapped around it like a bracelet was the borrowed green scrunchie he had given to her before he had departed from Hamestown. Just as had been promised, man and filly had met again so that she could return it.

It looked like the band had lost a small amount of its blue glitter from wear and use, but otherwise it appeared washed and immaculately taken care of. She jiggled her leg about in a mirrored offering of when he had first handed it to her.

Sliding one arm down so that he could continue to hold the filly, James rolled the scrunchie off of her and chuckled, "Thank you."

"Poppy!" Twilight called in delighted surprise as she reentered the room. She idly set aside the Princess's letter that she had just retrieved for James.

"Miss Twilight!"

Effortlessly energetic, the filly sprung out of the man's arm with a backwards flip from which she landed with perfect ease. She bounded over and flung herself around the unicorn's legs in yet another welcome embrace. Any learned inhibitions she had once harbored for Sunponies, unicorns, or magic had long ago vanished in a puff of smoke.

Giving a hug of her own in return, Twilight pleasantly remarked, "Well hello, my little pony! What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I came to see James!" The words bounced out, full of unbounded happiness. She let go of the unicorn and hastily added on with extra sprinkles of politeness, "And, uh, you and everypony else too... of course."

Twilight smiled in great amusement, "So this is a courtesy visit then?"

"Oh! I-, uh, I mean, I have official-" Poppy struggled to explain herself. She twisted and turned in place like an uncoordinated dog chasing their own tail, trying desperately to recall her special instructions. At last she remembered what she was missing and she sped back towards the front door in skips and leaps. Retrieving her dropped satchel, she slung it back around her neck with one flick. Instantly her stride became proud and soldierly as she trotted back over to Twilight, and there she rooted through her pack. Eventually she withdrew a rolled parchment that was sealed with a leaf insignia, and she held it out for the unicorn to take while she struck a dignified and self-confident pose.

Ever endeared by his adorable trooper, James laughed to himself as he pocketed the scrunchie and joined Twilight's side. Together they unfurled the scroll and looked it over. There was some very proper and official-looking imagery all over the top of it; drawn designs that evoked leaves and trees, stirring all their memories of Heartwood. A thin oval portrait in the center even held a depiction of a noble pony soldier gazing off proudly; a legendary hero with whom they were now quite familiar. Below the fancy designs were straight words written in the deliberate and steady script of an old mare:

The bearer of this parchment is an OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR of Heartwood, chosen specially to represent us Dryponies before Equestria.

With encouragement from our pony partners at Hamestown, we are engaging in a program of cultural exchange with the rest of Equestria. Our ambassadors' tasks are to visit and be exposed to the ponies and cultures of the destinations that they have been sent to; to be demonstrative of the great courtesy, dignity, and honor of the Dryponies to the rest of the world; and to share the immortal story of our ancestor hero, Prideheart. They are here to learn about you, and to teach you about us.

This project has also been approved by the Sun Princess herself, and therefore it is requested by the honor of Canterlot that our ambassadors be treated with all the rights, privileges, and respect demanded by their station. Your compliance is greatly appreciated.

Representative, Heartwood

Willow Wise
Representative, Canterlot

Princess Celestia
Ambassador

Hoppin Poplar but please call me Poppy

Twilight rolled the paper back up, grinning, "Well, this looks very official, MISS AMBASSADOR."

Poppy thrived in the attention regardless of how obviously silly the unicorn was being. She held her snout up with a puffy sort of vanity, and she eagerly shared, "I was the number one choice for this mission!"

"I'll bet," James snickered.

"It's true!" the little filly insisted, bouncing in place. "When Lady Willow announced the-, the-, excultural inchange thingy, I was the first to volunteer! I said I wanted to go to Ponyville!" Wide-eyed and bright, her unflappable confidence shined. "And you know she said to me? She said she couldn't think of a more perfect Drypony for the job! Uh huh, that's right! That's what she said!" Again her face was lifted up with pride as she thumped herself.

"I don't doubt it for a second," the man replied.

Using her magic, Twilight returned the identification scroll to the filly's satchel and then said, "I suppose, since you are the OFFICIAL ambassador from Heartwood, I should give you a very official welcome to Ponyville." She bowed, proper if still somewhat playful, and greeted, "Welcome, Miss Poppy."

"Thank you!" the filly bounced in uncontainable joy, throwing out all the seriousness she had been trying to show for her job.

Twilight suddenly grew more sober than the situation really called for.

"I think we should arrange a meeting for you with the mayor so you can properly begin your duties."

The filly squinted, "You're-... you're not the chief of Ponyville?"

"Oh, no," the unicorn laughed, "I'm just a student of the Princess and a librarian." She delivered Poppy's first, quick cultural lesson, "Ponyville is like Hamestown. We have a mayor here who is in charge of civil duties, and she's elected by us with a vote instead of being decided by strength like at Heartwood. She's the one you want to meet with for your official duties."

Duty wasn't on James' mind.

He didn't question Poppy's attachment to her official mission, but it was already clear to him that she had been passionately driven to come to Ponyville for another reason. No doubt she had arrived just this morning and had immediately searched for the library, and not because she had erroneously believed that the magically powerful unicorn Twilight was in charge. He had mentioned to the filly in the past where he had been staying, and she had come straight there when the opportunity had arisen.

And somehow he was just so glad that she had.

"There'll be plenty of time for business later," he lightly chided his unicorn friend. "How about we give her some rest from her trip and spend some time catching up instead?"

Twilight squirmed, just barely, at the suggestion and all the ignorance of duty which it implied. Yet everything she had talked about with the man was fresh on her mind she swiftly understood that perhaps the Drypony's visit should be about more than meeting the formal requirements. Like James experiencing Equestria through direct contact with her friends, the filly could get more from casual exposure to the town than from merely meeting with the mayor.

Plus, it was also obvious to her exactly whom Poppy had really come to see. And oh, how incredibly delighted he was in turn to see the little filly!

"Alright," she nodded.

In a few minutes all three of them were gathered in one corner of the room, a drink and a snack provided to Poppy, and the hosts listened to the effervescent filly ramble on in electric delirium. The long trip might have been Poppy's, but only James and Twilight rested; the little pony was so chock full of excitement that she couldn't even sit down. She was on and off the table, leaping from here to there, and running her small hooves everywhere as she babbled cheerfully without end. Like the filly herself, her retelling also jumped from place to place arbitrarily. Ends started halfway through the middle and ran into new beginnings before they ever had a chance to conclude.

"Oh! The train ride! Have you ever ridden a train before?" Poppy asked in awe. "It was SOOO AMAZING! It went so high up into the mountains and you could look out the windows and see the whole forest, and Hamestown was so tiny, and there were these HUGE rocks up there and everything!" She swirled about like she had to run somewhere but nowhere to go. "And the train kept going and going! The world is so big!"

"Haha, I remember the train ride, yes," James answered. "But go back to what you were saying about your home. How have the joint projects been going?"

"Yes!" Twilight insisted gleefully. "Has everything been going well between Heartwood and Hamestown?"

"Yeah, it's been great!" the filly was impossibly overjoyed that they had asked. "There's been a lot of new ponies to meet and make friends with! And we get to help them build their village and work their farms! And they help us gather food and . . . "

On and on she went. Somehow she compressed weeks of activity into a fast, breathless rambling. Twilight and James had to content themselves with only getting in the occasional reactionary word or compliment. In an order that only made sense to the whirlwind filly they heard about: frontiersponies learning Drypony songs and dances, Dryponies discovering trades long lost to them, new traditions which were forming in the budding cooperation, and so much more.

"I mostly do a lot of running messages," the peppy Poppy proudly pronounced, "because I'm so fast in the trees. Fastest Branch Dancer in all the Heartwood Guard!"

"It's stupendous to hear what a success the reunification has been," Twilight said. She was quite curious to learn, "And how has Willow Wise been?"

In one go Poppy slurped down her entire drink so as to not interrupt the dialogue.

"Oh, Lady Willow's being an ambassador too! She's at Canterlot spending time with the Princess right now!" At last a minor slowness snagged the filly and blinked with uncertainty. "She said that she really wanted to do Canterlot because she wanted to see it before it was too late..."

"Ah, she's just getting old," James said comfortably. His meaning didn't take though; the filly's eyes stayed lost.

The man recalled the time years ago when the first of his grandparents passed. Squaring age, time, and death had been a hard thing for him as a young boy. Willow Wise, to Poppy, had so far always been 'Old Lady Willow.'

Gently he glazed over the topic, "One day it'll just be too hard for her to make the trip."

That logic seemed to have been enough for the filly to have understood. Or otherwise she had simply trusted the man's word. She nodded and smiled.

"And how about Broken Oak?" James wanted to know. "Has he been stirring up any trouble?"

The little pony giggled, "Nah. He was grouchy about everything at first but he's been doing good. The first time that the Hamestown ponies asked him to do some farmwork for them (because he's such a big stallion and all) he got really snorty and angry about it. He did it anyway cause he's a real Prideheart hero who does the right thing of course, and once he started he seemed to really get into it after awhile. Just hauling this big plow around, and carrying heavy baskets, and digging up tree trunks and stuff. He'll spend whole days just working out in their fields. Sometimes without lunch!"

Again her excited pace suddenly wound down as she stared at the ground, gnawing on her confused lip.

"It's weird though... After he began doing all the farmwork, a lot of the Hamestown mares just started... lining up on the fences and watching him work; they get really funny looks on their faces. Broken Oak got REALLY mellow about everything after that started happening."

The filly shrugged.

The revelation was way more amusing than it should have been for James.

"Well, haha, good for him!" the man barely restrained his laugh. "Sounds like he finally found a better outlet for all those powerful and aggressive... feelings of his."

Twilight was tickled by what had become of the hostile stallion as well, holding in her own laughter. But there was a certain look in her eyes – a sparkle of purity – which told James that she was imagining a more... innocence... interpretation to what the local mares saw in a sturdy, well-built, muscular stud working up a sweat under the hot sun.

"What about you guys?" Poppy suddenly asked, hungry with curiosity if at least attempting to be polite. However her energy very quickly ran away with her again, "Has everything been as great as it has been for me? What kind of stuff do you guys do here? Where is all your friends?"

"Haha, they don't all live here at the library like we do!" James exclaimed. He didn't even mean to be so loud and vibrant with his response. Her austere joy just infected him. Of course a filly like her would have imagined inseparable friends as living together; why wouldn't they? A home filled with only the best of friends? Sign her up!

"That's right," Twilight endorsed the man's statement. "Each of our friends; all those ponies you met before; everypony is just another citizen of this town, out doing their own things when they aren't spending time us." She winked at Poppy, "I'm sure you'll get to meet them all again as you have a look around Ponyville."

The thought hammered itself into the little filly and she gasped, large and slow. For a brief moment she was on the train again, her face smushed up against the window and her massive eyes stapled open at the astounding sight of her destination rolling into view.

"Oh, Ponyville! Ponyville looks so amazing! It's so much bigger than Hamestown and there's so much stuff and so many ponies! I want to see EVERYTHING! I want to do EVERYTHING in Ponyville!"

She was already set to go, repeatedly stamping her four happy hooves in unison against the floor.

"Everything? Geez," James chuckled. "You know, I've been here for like three months and I haven't gotten to it all."

"You haven't been in the best position to get to it all!" Twilight snipped at him, with her tongue firmly in her cheek.

Nonetheless, the idea of their new guest being toured around Ponyville took hold the unicorn's mind. Willow Wise had been absolutely correct to have allowed Poppy to be one of the Drypony ambassadors to Equestria. The filly's fervor for discovery alone could have carried her through without an explicit mission statement. Ponyville was going to be a feast for this little girl, and it was only proper to have helped her towards the table.

However, she looked at James. In an instant her whole morning with him collapsed into a single speck: their long and deep conversation, his shine in response to the filly's arrival, his ever-greater glow the longer he stayed in her presence...

"Why don't you spend today showing Poppy around town?" she suggested out of the blue.

The man was somewhat surprised to hear the idea come from a pony like her, and especially how quickly she had offered it too.

"Is... that what you want to do?" he cautiously verified.

"Me? Not with me," she shook her head gladly. "You take her by yourself. I'll handle some of my own things instead today. You know I'm not going to have any trouble keeping busy." The smile she gave exuded a healthy humor, a full faith, and a promise of permission.

"Are you... sure?" he questioned. He was almost sincerely worried about her. For all the trouble she often had when circumstances flew off the rails it was mighty odd for her to push for a derailing intentionally. "It is Saturday, and on Saturdays usually you and I-"

The unicorn burst with perfect laughter.

"What about everything we just talked about this morning, James?" she reminded him with a big grin. "'It's alright to break away from the schedule.' Go on; spend your day with Poppy instead. And since tomorrow is your free day that gives you TWO days to spend entirely with her and show her around Ponyville." Unreserved, she urged them both, "Enjoy yourselves."

For the little Drypony listening to their back and forth, every sentence uttered was another shake of the soda can. Her head swiveled between them as they spoke, lightning spilling into her hooves and her smile conquering her face one nation at a time. There was only inches left on her sizzling fuse before detonation.

But for James...

Was it okay to allow this new sacrifice of Twilight's? She had already surrendered things and endured discomforts for his perceived sake. Even if each individual ding she took for him was small, over time such things can add up to serious weights. Now he was going to allow another one, even if she had used his own words and ideas to justify her noble deed?

Shouldn't he at least try to do something to mitigate things? Like insist that she come along and share their day anyway? She knew Ponyville better.

However, an entire other side of him worked to convince him of Twilight's inherent rightness. Look at Poppy! Just look at her! Imagine the perfect hours that could be spent with that little filly! He had no idea what he would have even done with her out in Ponyville.

But he knew he would love to share a day with her.

Knew he would love to just be around her.

Knew he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.

Knew he wanted to hear her ramble about anything they did or came across.

Knew he wanted to discover firsthand how much she had grown since they had last met.

Knew he wanted to hear her laugh.

See her smile.

Skip.

Hop.

Twirl.

Why?

Why not?

This was a wonderful pony between which he found no barriers whatsoever. If the moment had been just a bit different, he might have cried.

"Well... how about it? Want to do some exploring, Poppy?"

"YEAH!" came the filly's explosive reply. Buttressing her answer she took a soaring leap off the floor, flipped in midair, and touched down with unconscious poise. While already skipping towards the front door she called out ecstatically, "Thank you, Miss Twilight! Come on, James! Let's go, let's go; I can't wait!"

"Alright, alright!" He tried to keep a rein on her nigh unstoppable enthusiasm by walking slowly, but it was a more of a 'big dog, little owner' kind of situation. "Where to first, do you think?"

"Ahhhh, I don't know!" she squeaked as she continued to jubilantly bounce away in front of the door, waiting for him to catch up. "Anywhere!"

While patting his pockets to ensure he had some bits on him for their upcoming adventure the man rediscovered the scrunchie he had stowed there. He withdrew it and twiddled it between his fingers.

"Might as well start with returning this to the original owners. I bet you've never been to a spa before! Lotus and Aloe will really treat you to something special."

"Spa?" Her amber eyes shined a curious gold.

"You'll love it," he promised. "I keep going back. ME, of all ponies."

It was the kind of promise which the filly held in such good faith that it could led her untold miles without question. She screeched in loyal agreement before she rammed the library door open with her head and zoomed out.

James followed, scarcely holding in his laughs by biting on his finger. He looked back at Twilight once.

He was full of a different kind of excitement than she had every really seen in him before. There was a great thankfulness in him, too.

"Have fun," she wished him sincerely.

As they went she stood in the library doorway, waving and calling farewell while they gave back hearty but already-distracted goodbyes. She stayed watching until they vanished into the mire of Ponyville, and then she shut the library door.


Now alone, she turned around to face her suddenly much-less-energetic library.

But that was alright.

Not only was the spongy Drypony going to be able to soak up some of mainstream Equestrian culture directly from a gushing source, but James was going to receive something wonderful out of going around with her. 'Why,' she wasn't quite sure, but she knew for certain that he would. Just like the different pieces of himself he had given to Twilight herself, Rainbow Dash, and all of their mutual friends, some other part of him was connected to Poppy; perhaps a very special part. Perhaps a part that needed to feel things he hadn't yet been able to feel from anypony else.

James cared about Poppy in a unique way that he could not anypony else. Not even her and their other friends. Something in the filly activated his most nurturing love.

And truly Twilight was glad to see it, and to let it take the man wherever it would.

The unicorn enjoyed her time with James as much as she enjoyed spending time with any of her friends, but 'losing' today was one 'sacrifice' for that she absolutely didn't mind. The cause was good, the benefits were obvious, and her own losses were nearly impossible to specify with any accuracy; their days had always been so fluid and slapdash. It wasn't as if by parting from him she now had a Saturday of broken commitments to deal with; they had nailed down no plans or schedule! With only a few minutes of reorganizing, while blindfolded with her hooves tied behind her back, she could again have a full schedule for the day.

Actually, thinking over it, she found that she didn't feel upset or regretful AT ALL that she had lost her day with him. Oh, truly, TRULY, she did not resent him or harbor any secret grudges towards him; never once had she explicitly wished for him to have been gone. His appearance in her life had already paid many dividends: in terms of her friendship lessons, for her personal growth, and even for the pure enjoyment of having had an engaging verbal sparring partner.

The more she mulled over her odd apathy the more she came to think that it was borne from her anticipation for her future surprise for her friends; the letter she had received yesterday still caged her mind. It was almost as if nothing of the present mattered to her since the future outshined it so brightly. How she wished she could have just closed her eyes and transported herself ahead in time!

But no. The future only arrived one day at a time. That meant that, until the future reached her, she had to handle her responsibilities like normal.

Where to start?

A little cleaning first? The empty cup which had once held Poppy's swiftly-finished drink was still out next to the bowl of nibbled-on snacks. The filly had left her satchel behind as well, though presumably she wouldn't have needed it for a day cavorting around town. Also, some careless pony had left an envelope just thrown on the—

Oh!!

James had never read his letter from Princess Celestia!

The unicorn scooped it up with her magic, intending to put it somewhere he might notice it upon his return. But after no more than a single step, she froze.

He had been so casual about its presumed contents. So very, VERY unbelievably casual. DISTURBINGLY casual.

So far she had always held herself back from asking him for specifics about his personal correspondence with the Princess, but just earlier he had effortlessly shared the pen pal nature of his letters, disregarding easily his own privacy. Then... he wouldn't have cared if she HAD shown genuine interest in the details. Right?

...

The way he had described his exchanges... What he had said about Princess Celestia being more than a princess to him... She just didn't understand...

...

Maybe-... maybe he wouldn't have minded if she... took a quick peek? Just one small look, for herself? It hadn't bothered him to have shared of his own already, so what possible harm—

No, no. Don't be ridiculous. It was HIS mail. What an invasion of privacy, to have tore it open without having asked! Even if he wouldn't have cared! And if the words within were truly as normal, friendly, and everyday as he had said then it couldn't have contained anything which she desperately needed to see.

...

But if what was inside WASN'T actually important then there was really no problem with ANYPONY taking a look at—

Nope. No. No! No.

...

Well, if the envelope WERE to have been opened SOMEHOW, by some freak accident perhaps, then there were spells that could have carefully resealed it. And she hadn't practiced such a spell in a long, long time. Really, if there were ever a good reason—

No! Stop it!

She pushed the letter further away from her face, out of temptation's reach. Diligently she marched along so as to swiftly return it to his mail pile and be done with it. But as she passed a brightened window through which the unobstructed beams of the sun burned, she slowed down and held the envelope right up to the glass in shameful hope of maybe catching a word or two with the help of the piercing light.

There-... there seemed to be... nothing distinct... but maybe if she just—

No! Enough!

She tore the letter off the window and stormed forward, determined to dodge any future traps. The whole way to James' bed she berated herself silently, and once there she hurriedly returned the taunting letter to the stand she had first taken it from. She dared not to look back as she stomped away.

Desperately she needed something powerful to glue her focus elsewhere; something engaging enough to keep her far away from James' mail.

Mail...

MAIL!

Her mail! Her own wonderful letter! Just the very first thoughts of her special surprise for her friends had her trotting lighter, the hard clops of her self-reproach pulling a full retreat.

She was fairly certain that her multi-page reply to yesterday's letter was complete, but she still wanted to proofread and edit it as thoroughly as possible. Maybe now she had gained the temporal distance to adequately do so? If everything checked out then she could rush it to the post office today instead of sending it out on Monday, though in the grand scheme of things she recognized that, given the nature of her prize, advancing by two extra days probably wouldn't have sped up the—

Her ears lifted at an unexpected noise, and she came to a stop. The sound; a hard wooden tapping, but it hadn't been her own hooves on the floor.

Shortly she heard it again. A soft knocking on the library's front door! No haste, no strength; just the sound of a limp hoof barely falling against her home's entrance.

She turned about and began heading there, in no particular hurry. Mild curiosity had her pondering who it was with no great effort, but then again the unknown guest was obviously not in a rush either. The hollow taps on the door didn't cease; lifeless knocks in groups of three or four broken only by an cold pauses.

At last Twilight reached the door and, dusting herself once and straightening her mane first, she opened it.

The most beaten frown was on the other side. The pony there wobbled her lips as she tried but failed to greet the unicorn, not even getting out so much as a dry breath. Her mane was soggy not from any downpour but from the heavy gravity that surrounded her. Her spirit had been all but devoured to the last crumb and she hardly was able to work up the strength to move.

Twilight held in a single disbelieving breath.

The doorway divide had on one side a glum, infinitely-dark gloom. On the other side was a surprised silence shattered only by a concerned greeting.

"... Pinkie Pie? What's wrong?"

Her eyes deep wells of sadness, the pink pony sniffled in pain, "Why isn't James my friend?"


Spike peeled open the lid to the straw package which sat on the ground. Up to the very top it was filled with wintry treasures. They looked like large snowflakes that were molded from a hard and almost reflective material, inches in width but in many different sizes and shapes, and colored in whites and soft blues. Small, glittering crystals were attached to them in many symmetric places. If the dragon were to have spilled the container over a balcony edge then it would have been the most stylish and elegantly crafted snowfall to have ever hit Ponyville.

"Wow. These look great, Rarity! I'm sure they'll fit into your designs exactly like you wanted," he said to his adored pony.

A random sampling of the dress-accentuating ornaments came out of the pack, lifted by the unicorn's magic. Her keen eyes flipped between them one at a time as she determined, "Mmm... yes... perfect, perfect! They're exactly what is needed! Let's get these back to the boutique immediately."

She returned her sample, resealed the lid, and helped Spike get the package's straps over his shoulders. After the cargo was secure she floated a few bits in payment to the pleasant pony behind the counter and wished the shopkeeper a great 'thank you' before departing from the store, not tempted in the least by any of the other infinite baubles which lined the shelves. Such was the confidence in the dressmaker's own vision.

As they walked the streets together, making their way back to Rarity's shop, the unicorn strongly expressed to herself, "Oh, I can feel it! This is going to be my greatest winter line ever!"

"I hope so," Spike eagerly supported her. But he was too faithful to hide a slightly worried thought which came to him, "Are you sure you'll be able to finish the first batch of dresses in time? The winter swap is just around the corner."

"Tut-tut, of course I will," she affirmed, her head held high. "I've been pressed into tighter corners by worse dresses." She gave her words some space before she thoughtfully decided to add, with a very intentionally thankful inflection, "And besides, I needn't be worried when I have such wonderful help. Isn't that right, my little Spikey-Wikey? You may be Twilight's assistant officially but you've come to know the in's and out's of my boutique as well as you know the library's."

The dragon blushed.

"T-Thank you, Rarity. Just happy to help!"

He bounced the package on his back and kicked his steps up a little higher. But soon another damper came upon his happy energy, though smaller than before.

"I thought maybe that side project of making a set of winter clothes for James was really going to get in your way."

"That was a concern at first," Rarity admitted readily, "but thank goodness he has such simple tastes. Assembling something basic with a little more insulation and wind resistance than his old outfit; it hardly took any time at all."

Indeed, if she had earnestly sought to explore the fashionable possibilities that his human form had to offer then the job could have been quite time consuming. But as it was, she knew that the man would gratefully accept even the most bland and plain set of clothes as if they were an outfit devised for royalty. Ultimately for his winter suit she had contented herself with having created something that was all function and virtually no form. In her eyes, anyway.

She hummed for a whimsical moment, retracing her foggy dreams for the clothes that could have been. But her choices had been sound; it would have been an error to have created human clothes for her own sake and not for his. Besides, for projects of such personal generosity just the right inspiration was critical; an inspiration not always so hampered by need or practicality.

"Perhaps some day I'll be able to unleash my full creative talent on something for him," she mumbled to herself with the crumbs of a sigh.

Refocusing, she stated, "Rather than be a burden, having James around once a week to assist has only helped things go faster."

"You really think so?" Spike asked.

"Oh, most certainly," she attested. "He may not have a sense of fashion, nor any knowledge of dressmaking, but one area he has proven himself remarkable is in following directions. Leave him with some clear, precise instructions and by Celestia he follows them to the letter."

"Ah," the dragon realized, "so that's why you always have a list of stuff for him to do when he comes in, and why you give him the most boring-, erm, repetitive tasks."

"Quite so," she nodded, before adding a more silent and reserved, "though you didn't have to put it quite so crudely." She shook off her unladylike side-commentary. "I'm sure he would do well under my precise guidance; where I could work more closely with him, and diligently watch over him, and correct his missteps. But there just isn't the time for that. I much more trust you, my dear Spike, to do the hooves-on work right next to me since you have more experience."

"Aw shucks, Rarity."

Once more Spike's cheeks reddened and he marched more proudly.

Her reply was simply an affectionate smile.

"However," she politely picked up, "I will say once more that he has been a big help. Between his attentive obedience and those steady... fingered hoof-things of his... I can teach him a simple stitch, show him where it goes, give him a pile of dresses to apply it to, and know that he'll get the job done in a respectable amount of time for an amateur. That frees me up from some of the grunt work. It's the little shortcuts like that which have helped to get us ahead of schedule-"

Scootaloo came blazing by between them, approaching from behind and scorching a trail in the ground. She had skirted so incredibly close to Spike that she sent the dragon for a spin, and only with luck did he manage to clamp down on the package's straps and steady himself without falling over backwards and crushing his precious payload.

"Hi Rarity! Hi Spike! Later!" the filly quickly spat as she zipped through.

"Oh my!" the surprised unicorn gasped. "Fantastic save, dear."

"Yeah," Spike agreed, "that was a close-"

"One side, y'all!" Apple Bloom greeted as she rapidly rushed through, following Scootaloo.

She swiped the dragon on his other side, whipping him into a reverse spin. Again he would have tumbled over backwards and squashed his cargo but he managed to save himself by stiffening his tail and using it like a stand. Straightening up again he opened his mouth to complain.

Rarity was fast to recognize a pattern however, whatever for it took. She lifted the dragon off of the street with her magic before he got a word out, and it was just in time to avoid a collision with the galloping Sweetie Belle. Setting Spike safely back down, her magic seized her sister instead.

Sweetie Belle, lifted off the ground, ran in place for a few more moments before she realized that she wasn't catching up to her friends.

"Hey, what gives?"

"'What gives' indeed!" Rarity lightly scolded her sister. "What's all this careless rushing about? You and your stampeding friends nearly knocked over dear Spike, which could have destroyed my valuable snowflakes!"

"Oh!" Sweetie Belle looked back startled. "Sorry, Rarity! We're just in a rush! We've barely started and we've got so much more to do! We have to do EVERYTHING in Ponyville today!"

"Ah. Crusaders business, is it?" the older sister realized. She gently set Sweetie Belle back down, telling the filly, "Very well. Just do be more careful."

Overly eager to get past this obstacle, Sweetie Belle flashed a quick smile and nodded absently, "Sure thing! Bye, Rarity! Sorry, Spike!" And like that, she was charging down the road again and shouting after her fellow crusaders, "Hey! Wait for me!"

Danger passed, Rarity allowed herself a small laugh.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be a proper weekend if they weren't recklessly throwing themselves headfirst into their quest."

"I think Twilight said they had set up a bunch of quick lessons with different ponies and mentors all around Ponyville," Spike remarked, readjusting the straps on his shoulders. He stared at the three fillies as they wildly scrambled away, so intent on their next task that they hardly seemed to recognize where they were going. "Wonder if they'll run into anypony else?"