//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: The Town of Tadpole // Story: Pearlwort, Unintentional Villain // by Halira //------------------------------// Mera and I couldn't get to sleep. We had too much to think about after talking with Water Shadow. Sex wasn't something we were in a mood for right then either. So we just sat in the darkened cargo hold and discussed the who, what, where, and why of our existence. "What do you think could be gained from having the two of us together?" I asked my wife. "Well, we are producing a one of a kind medicine for treating what happened in Starlight's Folly. But that assumes whoever did this needs it, and the only insurance of that illness might well have been caused directly by them. So, not sure if that makes any sense," she said as she tried to figure out the possibility. "Unless they were intending to unleash it on a wider scale and needed a cure ready to control it," I expanded on the idea. "Meadowbrook is the Alicorn of Medicine," Mera continued our chain of thought. "Having lots of ponies calling on her for help and then swooping in with the cure to save the day would get her a lot of followers." "Except that doesn't work," I replied. "We are giving what we make to all the Alicorns, she wouldn't get the credit for it." "Well, I can't think of any Alicorn that has anything to gain from this then," she complained. "Starlight has a lot of personal interest in us and did things to you without your permission. She also was the first Alicorn to have direct contact with either of us. She has no possible motive that I can think of though. Unless she was just personally vindictive against a town named Starlight's Folly." "The Twilight Princess herself showed direct interest in you," I added. "Again, I can't think of a motive. You could see how bloodthirsty Luna was, so you could imagine her capable of it, but no motive there either. Rarity, no motive, doesn't seem the type either. Same thing with Rainbow Dash, no motive, not the type. Pinkie Pie doing something like this is just an absurd idea. Stygian and Fluttershy both went to Starlight's Folly, and conveniently found nothing, but that would need them to be in league with one another, and again no motive. Most of the others we have had next to no dealings with, that doesn't mean it can't be any of them, but we have no idea what to even guess at with them." "Okay, so trying to figure out Starlight's Folly is a dead end," Mera conceded with a snort. "What about before Starlight's Folly? They had to make sure we made it to the same place. Which means whoever is responsible needed me out of Crystal Heart and you out of Hallow Shades." "Me leaving Hallow Shades was a given. There was no way I could stay there. So, that part was easy," I quickly summed up. "It was once your mother died anyway," Mera said grimly. "Maybe she was deliberately killed. Who would have caught a murder in all the death that was going on? And then Starlight conviently shows up, instead of Luna, to a Thestral town, and she is the only Greater that could transform you." I sat back and considered it. Why had Starlight been the one to come to Hallow Shades, instead of Luna? And though the Crusaders could also remove my cutie mark, Starlight was the only Greater than I knew of who could do it. If any other Greater had shown up there I would likely still be there, in a male body, likely doing the most miserable jobs imaginable. I would never have met my wife. But the fact remained that Starlight was key to making that happen. That shot her to the top of suspects. "What about you?" I asked Mera. "What prompted you to go to Starlight's Folly specially? There were lots of places you could have gone, or you could have just stayed in Crystal Heart. What happened?" She blushed for some reason at my questioning. I didn't think there was anything to possibly be embarrassed about. Her original answer from when I questioned her back when she was suffering from the illness had been fairly vague, but she had said that she wasn't running from anything. "There was this Pegasus stallion I met who started talking to me when I visited his shop," Mera explained after her brief pause of embarrassment. "I never learned his name. You don't really learn ponies' names in those kinds of shops, they dealt with certain types of toys, magazines, and had theaters for certain types of films." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't give me that look," she grumbled. "Estrus periods were hard for me. I did what I could to manage them." "You had said you didn't have a clue what to do with that kind of activity," I said, eyebrow still raised. "Seeing it done and doing it yourself are two entirely different things," she asserted. "Anyway I would visit that shop on and off as I was coming up to my times. He had seen me enough to know about my tastes, and he started telling me about how adventurers really appealed to a lot of mares of our persuasion. Started showing me content of adventuring mares and got me worked up on the idea, over time. Then the last time he starts talking to me about Starlight's Folly, where I could get to be an adventurous mare myself, and meet other adventurous mares. He made it sound so appealing, and I had never really settled into any type of career path, much to my daddy's displeasure. I thought, why not?" "So, you got sold on the idea of coming to Starlight's Folly by a sex shop clerk?" I asked, trying to restrain myself from laughing at her. Mera looked indignant about my mirth. "Okay, I was a naive and stupid pony," she huffed. "I was very sheltered growing up." "But it is also extremely suspicious," I added on. "I have never heard any pony talk about Starlight's Folly that way. It is mainly a place to make a life when you have no where else left to go. The fact he was trying to convince you to go there is just as suspicious as the stuff involving Starlight with me. You said you didn't get his name, but what did he look like?" "Well, he was hard to place an age to, older than me, but I couldn't tell if that is ten or twenty something years older. I never saw his cutie mark because he always wearing his clerk uniform over it. His coat and mane.." she cut off as she looked at me, her eyes going wide. She didn't say anything else for a moment. Did she recognize his coat and mane as a good match for an Alicorn or other pony in Harmony? "He had the same coat and mane as you, Pearl," she finally said. Causing my eyes to go wide now. "I know your color combination isn't common among other Thestrals, but I don't think it is common among ponies in general. You said your father was a Pegasus right? You had to inherit that from somewhere. Do you know what he looked like?" I shook my head. No, I didn't know what he looked like, my mother never told me. This again could just be really weird coincidence, but as Water Shadow had said, a lot of weird coincidences together started to feel like some pony was manipulating things. A pony that could have been my father had been the one who had encouraged the idea of having Mera go to Starlight's Folly. That was too much of a coincidence. This left little doubt some pony was pulling strings somewhere. Top of the list of possible ponies was Starlight, but that was far from certain yet. "I think we need to go have a chat with that shopkeeper when we get to Crystal Heart," I said with a growl. "That is our only good lead," Mera nodded in agreement. "We could question Starlight as well, but if she is really the pony behind everything that might not go well. It would alert her we are onto her." "If this Pegasus is working for whoever is behind this, he might alert them as well," I reminded her. "We have to be careful how we approach him. No accusations, nothing that will make him go running. The fact you have shopped at his store before is a good enough excuse for being there. It isn't impossible to get information from him while pretending we are just being friendly." "We have a plan then," Mera said with a grin, which turned more mischievous after a second. She started giving me bedroom eyes. "There is nothing else to concern ourselves about with that subject until we approach him, so let's not worry about it anymore right now. But I do need to say that seeing you growling is a big turn on. Maybe we could do what we originally intended before sleeping, and then get a nap in still." She brushed her body along mine like a cat, and made a point of rubbing her wing base against mine. Marital activities seemed much more appealing after that. She was right, there was nothing more to worry about for the moment, it was time to unwind in the best way possible. *** "Wakey wakey little bats," Water Shadow's voice roused us from our nap. "We are now docked at Tadpole, this is where you get off." I looked up the stairs at her. It was still light out, and it was still bright. I wanted to sleep some more. "It's too early to get up," Mera mumbled sleepily beside me. We had both fallen in with our nocturnal clock in a very short time. We were creatures of the night after all. It only took one day of obeying instinct. Unfortunately it likely would take a week or more to get us back on a day schedule, and feel comfortable with it, if we needed to switch our sleeping habits again. I got up from laying down beside her, with caused a small whine of protest from my wife at losing my body heat beside her. "Get up sweetie, we have a nice town of ponies eager to hiss and spit at us to walk through," I nudged her. "You aren't exactly motivating me to get up," Mera grumbled while looking at me with one eye open. "Well, if you want to go monster hunting we have to go through this town," I informed her gently. She grumbled again, but opened up both eyes. She looked up at Water Shadow and then at me, sighed, then got to her hooves. I gave her a hug which made her smile slightly. Water Shadow exited back up the way she came and we followed after. We blinked a little as we stepped back into daylight. Once we cleared our vision we were able to see the harbor town of Tadpole. The best way to describe the area was marshy. Long reeds grew up by the banks from the water. The town was nestled right up into the trees, which all had hanging green moss on them. The dock we were parked at was fairly large and had three other ships in dock as well. Ponies with carts stood ready at the other three ships, some with crates being taken from the ships to the carts, and others with crates being transferred from the carts to the ships. All the ponies on land seemed to be either Earth Ponies or Unicorns, but the ponies on the ships seemed to be exclusively Pegasi. I guessed Pegasi made better sailors because of the same reason I didn't get seasick, heightened natural balance, though being able to make the wind for the sails likely helped greatly too. Water Shadow was already down on the dock talking to a Unicorn stallion with a floating clipboard, whom I assumed to be the dock-master. Some bits were given over to the dock-master for parking the ship. He made a few quick notes, and he trotted back to inspecting the other ships without any further concern for ours. Water Shadow then walked back up onto ours. Sometime in all of that Sunset and Hot Sticks had come beside me and Mera, and the four of us waited to be told we were free to disembark. "There is an inn on the far side of town that will accept Thestrals," she told us. " They charge fairly, they will rent rooms to you, and provide meals. The owner's daughter was saved from a manticore by a Thestral a few years back, and he has been more welcoming than most other ponies to that tribe since then. Hot Sticks should have no problem with the town himself, and should be able to shop freely for supplies. Keep close to him when walking through town and you shouldn't get more than dirty looks." Mera gave the town a dirty look of her own. Sunset and I just shrugged. Hot Sticks gave the other three of us a sympathetic look. It could have been worse, at least there was one place here that would take us without complaint. We got down on the dock and Water Shadow did her goodbyes to us. "Though the our trip together was short, it was much more impactful for me than I would have thought possible," Water Shadow told us. "Keep that boldness, there aren't enough ponies in the world who dare to be bold. I will meet with you all again sometime. For right now I need to sail back into the center of the storm and see what I can find. Safe travels for now." "I can hear well too when ponies don't bother to whisper," Sunset said as she went up to Water Shadow and hugged her, causing the rest of us to blink at the out of character display of affection. "I hope you find what you are looking for Shadow. It still pains me to see you hurting, I hope Patina can do for you what I could not." "You have always been my truest friend Sunset," Water Shadow said softly as she returned the embrace. "You have done more than enough. If Patina can help me, she will only be able to thanks to what you have already done. Keep the little Thestrals safe for me, I think they are going to need a good friend like you." "I will," Sunset said as she released her embrace and took a step back, smiling. Water Shadow waved her final goodbye, then boarded her ship. Within a moment the docking plank was pulled back to the ship and we could hear the engine start. We watched the ship leave quietly. When it was a good distance away Mera started looking cautiously at Sunset. "So, you heard everything that we talked about in the cargo hold?" Mera asked the larger pony hesitantly. "Yep," came Sunset's short response back. The larger pony looked down on the small grey furred Thestral with one eye and an eyebrow raised. Her expression unreadable. "So, am I in trouble?" Mera squeaked. Cowering a little as she did. "Feeling a bit of cowardliness now are we?" Sunset replied with the same unreadable expression. She looked down on my wife for a moment before letting off a sigh. "No, you aren't in trouble with me. You actually did good. I still want to throttle you, but I can't argue with results. But please, at least consult with me before considering doing something outrageously stupid again." Mera nodded and let out a breath that she had been holding. I let my own go in relief as well. Hot Sticks looked at the three of us with a look of confusion on his face. "Since I am the only pony that isn't in on whatever occurred, would some pony mind telling me about it?" Hot Sticks asked us. Sunset and Mera bit their lower lips, something that caused Mera to yelp in pain, as she was not used to having fangs. I giggled at my wife's expense and then decided to be the bold one. It would be worth it just to see Hot Sticks' reaction, now that the matter was settled. "How do you feel about blue Earth Pony sailors?" I asked him casually. Mera and Sunset couldn't contain themselves and broke out laughing, attracting disdainful looks of the dockworkers. "What are you talking about?" He asked me, looking at me as if I had sprouted a second head. "Mera thought it would be a good idea to try to play matchmaker between you and Water Shadow," I told him in the same casual tone, though now grinning. His reaction was excellent. "Wha-" he started, then shook his head to try to clear it. "What made you think, in this or any other world, that was a remote possibility." "I touched her, and it seemed like she might find you attractive," Mera said through a laugh. Hot Sticks mouth dropped, and he just stared at Mera, with wide eyes and his mouth agape. It was priceless. "She also said that she might follow up on the idea in the future," I said to give one last push. He just stood there, with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide, though they occasionally did twitch. "I think we broke Hot Sticks," I said with a laugh to the other two mares. "What's wrong, Hot Sticks? The thought of settling down with a mare who could, literally, buck you to the moon, if you made her mad, too much for you?" "Wait, she likes me?!" Hot Sticks exclaimed in shock. The other three of us again broke down in hysterical laughter. This was a well earned retribution for all the times he earned getting bucked. "Not something to worry about now," Sunset finally said, as she quit laughing, her no nonsense tone bringing us out of our revelry. "We need to get to that inn so Mera and I can work on her empathic control. We could have had a problem if Mera had absorbed anything from Water Shadow. Mera, your training is going to get more focused from here on out." I had to agree. The idea of her absorbing personality traits from a depressed Alicorn scared the crap out of me too. I would have had no idea how to help her cope with it if it happened, or if it could be diluted with enough contact with me. Mera had a distressed look as well, knowing how dangerous that could have been for her. We had Hot Sticks take the lead, following close behind. The town was more a trading post than anything. Buildings were all one story, simply made of stone and wood, there was no murals of any type on anything. There were occasional flower beds, but they were small and simple. Shops had simple signs out front, with just the name of the owner and what type of shop it happened to be. There were large numbers of storage buildings, and they were the largest of the buildings. This town was here to move goods between the north and the south in the east, town life centered around that economy. There was no sign of farms, all food must come through shipping, if the shipping stopped, this town would starve in short order. The towns ponies all watched us warily as we passed through the streets. Mothers would pull their foals close to them when we went by them. Ponies would duck inside their houses. If they didn't look at us with hatred they hid from us in fear. I understood how this went, and Sunset seemed unfazed, but Mera didn't take it well. While she was defiant against the glares she practically wilted at the signs of fear. If a mother pulled her filly close to herself to try to guard it Mera's head and ears would drop. She could deal with bigotry she could confront, but she was helpless against ponies being clearly terrified of her. I walked over to her and draped one of my wings over her back. She rose her head to look at me and gave a sad smile, but she had tears in her eyes. This was an unhappy lesson in what it was like to be a Thestral in an average pony town. Ponies looked at you and saw a monster. Perhaps it would dissuade her from trying to go with Thestral as her regular form. We reached our destination relatively quickly. The town was not that large, and reaching the outer edge of it took only about twenty minutes of walking. The inn was one story like all the other buildings, and looked cobbled together from what had been previously four or five single family homes. It had a sign hanging by it's door that read Old Reed's Inn, All Welcome. We walked into the inn and found a brightly lit common room and bar. There had been a great deal of noise inside before we walked in, but after entering the building it went dead quiet. There were about twenty ponies spread about the room at different tables, a single waitress, and an older Unicorn behind the bar who I took to be Old Reed. As we came fully into the building the ponies at the tables began to make exodus out of the building. A few stray ones stayed, huddled at tables in the corners, watching us carefully. The waitress, also a Unicorn, looked briefly at the older Unicorn and we could see her give a small sigh at the departing of the guests. Then she turned to us, put on her best smile, and moved to greet us. "Welcome to our inn. Are you looking for rooms, food, or both? We have an excellent Mushroom soup tonight at two bit a bowl, and plenty of cider at two mugs per bit. We have rooms for rent at three bits a bed per night, and can provide water for baths at one bit for cold and two bits for hot, per wash tub of course. If you spend the night with us we have eggs and juice for breakfast at a flat rate of a bit per guest, with up to four refills on juice, and a second serving of eggs on the house if you choose to eat with us." The prices seemed better than what they would run at Starlight's Folly so the claim they prices fairly ran true. I couldn't say much about the guests, but the staff was at least pleasant. I wondered if this waitress was the one who had been saved from a manticore. She was grey furred, with a green mane, and looked to be in her late teens or early twenties, with a fireplace as a cutie mark. "Thank you miss," Hot Sticks replied warmly to the waitress. "We will be renting three rooms with one bed a piece. I will take your offer on the soup and cider, and breakfast too. I will pay for whatever my companions choose to get. We will only be spending one night, as we are just passing through." He passed some bits from his life pack to the waitress who collected them up on a tray. I couldn't help but notice that he deliberately overpaid by a large margin, even if we all decided to eat. He must have been trying to make up for the lost business the inn had suffered on our arrival. The mare looked at how much he had paid and looked ready to say something, but Hot Sticks just silently shook his head. "Well, thank you for your gratuity," she said with a smile. "I am Cozy Hearth and the stallion behind the bar is my father Old Reed. This is our home and business, and we hope to make you all feel at home during your visit. Please, take some seats at our bar, and my father will be happy to get your drinks." We did as we were bade and took seats at the bar. Old Reed was the same coloration as his daughter, with a cutie mark of three reeds growing out of some water. He looked at us apologetically as we sat down before him. "Please forgive the townsfolk," he said with a sad smile to me, Mera, and Sunset. "They are good ponies, but they are an ignorant lot. I confess I was an ignorant fool too in my youth. Tried to drive out a Thestral that insisted there was a manticore nearby. We wouldn't listen to him. Then my daughter over there, she was playing out near the edge of town, she weren't more than five years old, my little filly. Damn manticore made his way into our settlement and would have had my daughter for lunch. "That Thestral kept close by though, even though we forced him out," the old Unicorn said we a smile. "He took that manticore down and saved my sweet little filly. Town still treated him bad, but I learned my lesson. I owe your kind my family, her mother died in childbirth, Cozy was all the family I had. You should have more ponies that appreciate you, but at least you won't have to fear judgement here." "Thank you, from all of us," Sunset told him with a grateful smile. It was ironic that she would be the one to answer for the three of us, being the least Thestral of us all. "I think we will all try your soup, and some of your cider." "I will get that for you gladly," Old Reed said with a pleasant smile. "I didn't catch your names. I like to know the names of my guests, just as a general policy. Best not have a pony sleeping under your roof you can't put a name to, my pappy taught me when I was little." "Of course," Sunset continued to smile. "I am Golden Sunset, the Unicorn who is graciously paying for everything is doctor Hot Sticks, my companion in the pinkish-white is Pearl Bottom, and my grey companion is Chimera Wort." "Pleased to serve you all tonight," he smiled. "Let me head to the kitchen for a minute, to help my daughter bring out the food, we will be out in just a minute." He quickly went through a door to a back room. "Well, they seem nice at least," I said with a grin. "I am glad," Mera said quietly. "There was so much distrust, hatred, and fear in the air as we walked through town that I could feel it without having to touch any pony." I reached out and gripped her closest her fetlock with my own. She gave me a smile. "Your wings look weird," came a voice from the floor. We all looked down and there sat a young Pegasus filly gazing up at Mera. The filly couldn't have been more than six years old, shared the same grey fur as Old Reed and Cozy Hearth, but had a dark purple mane. Her coloration would have fit right in with most Thestrals, if she had the accompanying features. Looking at both Mera and the filly you could imagine them close relatives. She didn't seem to be afraid, just intensely curious about Mera's wings. "Why do your wings have no feathers?" The filly continued her questioning. "Did some pony pluck them all out? Is that what wings look like when you pluck out all the feathers?" "Cozy Care! Don't be rude to our guests," We heard Cozy Hearth call out, as she walked out of the back and set a drink covered tray down on a nearby table. She gave us all an apologetic smile. "I am sorry about that. My daughter is at the stage she just says what she is thinking as it comes to mind. The last time Thestrals past through here she was too young to remember, so you are very new to her." "What's a Thestral?" Cozy Care said with confusion, still staring up at Mera. "You look like me and mommy, are you an aunt or something? My friend Bull Frog has an aunt that lives with him, but she doesn't have weird wings," he face then took on an excited look. "Are you here to teach me to fly? Mommy says she doesn't know how to teach me to fly, but I am sure I can do it." The adorable little filly beat her wings like a hummingbird. Definitely not the ideal way of getting airborne. She hovered for a brief second before her wings tired out from the inappropriate use and she dropped back down to the ground panting. She looked up to Mera again with pleading eyes. Mera looked very unsure what to do. She couldn't fly much better than this little filly. Her mechanics were better, but her excitement at flying always got the better of her and locked her wings up. She looked at the rest of us for help and we didn't have a quick response ready. "Can I touch your wings?" The excited filly asked. "I want to know what they feel like." Mera's face brightened up at the request since it was something she could do for the little filly. She looked at one of her wings and made as if she would extend it to the filly to touch. Mera's face and ears fell as she looked past her wing to her cutie mark. She sighed with regret, and then turned back to the expectant filly. "I am sorry honey, but I can't have most ponies touch me," Mera told the filly sadly. "But I am sure one of my friends would be happy to let you touch their wings," she turned to Old Reed. "I'm sorry, but can I see my room. I do want to eat, but I need a few minutes," every pony could hear that she was trying to hold back tears. The film's mother and grandfather exchanged a concerned look between each other. They looked over at Hot Sticks trying to put the pieces together. "If you would like I can," Old Reed told her. "Are you sick with something really contagious? We don't mind. We just want to know so we know if we have to replace the sheets. It is no burden, you have more than compensated us." "No, I am not sick," Mera said sadly. "My magic is just problematic. I am more worried she will accidentally hurt me, and a little filly shouldn't be put in a position she can accidentally hurt some pony. I just need a few minutes to compose myself, if you don't mind." "I will be coming with you," I said bringing myself to a low hover from my seat, which caused Cozy Care to gasp excitedly, and clap her hooves. I landed myself next to my wife a moment later, much to the disappointment of the filly who wanted to see me continue flying. "I can give you pointers on how to fly," Sunset told the little filly, getting a look of wide eyes wonder in return. "My friends will be back in a few minutes and if you do really good you can show them how much better you are going to be." The little filly squealed with excitement. Her mother gave Sunset a concerned look. "You aren't getting her hopes up for nothing are you?" The protective mother whispered. "She wants this so much, I don't want to have her feelings hurt if she doesn't do much better." "Her wings are perfectly healthy, she just needs a change in perspective. I won't be doing what Pegasi parents do. They just toss their foals off clouds and let instinct take hold. I won't do anything so traumatic," Sunset said with a smile. Cozy Hearth's eyes had gone wide at hearing the typical Pegasus method, and gave a look of massive relief when Sunset said that would not be doing that. Old Reed led Mera and me through a side hallway and quickly to a room. Inside was a simple little room with a simple straw mattress with white sheets, and a simple round rope-weave area rug. There really wasn't anything else in the room. "I know the accommodations are scarce and simple," Old Reed told us as he looked over the room. "But we do try our best. We try out best to make up for the simple rooms with good food and good company." "Thank you," I told him with a grateful smile. "This room is perfectly fine. We will probably be out again in a little while to eat, Mera just needs some time." "Did my grandfoal do something wrong?" He asked. "She didn't intend to, the little filly doesn't have a mean bone in her body. I don't understand what might have upset you, but I do want to apologize on her behalf." "She did nothing wrong," Mera said mournfully. "And I can see she is a good little filly. I just have some personal issues right now. I just hope I didn't upset her by refusing to let her touch me." "Fillies are resilient," the old Unicorn responded. "I am sure she will forget all about it quickly. I will leave you two alone for right now. I will keep some soup hot for you and some cider ready to serve, for whenever you are feeling more up for it." After the old Unicorn left us alone in the room Mera looked at me with tears in her eyes and lurched into a hug with me. I smoothed her mane as she sobbed into my fur. She sobbed for several minutes before they began to subside. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her, putting all the love and concern I could into the question. "It isn't just one thing," she said back, tears holding back sobs. "All those ponies in town that were just so scared had gotten to me. Then that filly looks at me like I am the greatest creature she has ever seen, but when she asks to touch me, I realize I can't let her do that, because who knows what I might absorb. It was just too much, to get that full acceptance right after all that distrust, and be forced to just brush it away because I can't control my abilities." "You will get better at controlling them with practice," I consoled her, still brushing her mane. "I know today was a lot of emotion going in every different direction. It is okay to say you need time to recover and refocus. And soon we will be in Crystal Heart, where you won't need to be on constant guard about touching ponies anymore." "Do you think I am being a stupid pony with trying to be a Thestral?" She asked me in a quieter voice. "You don't have to say it out loud. Just think about it and I will be able to feel it." How did I feel about my wife taking on this unfamiliar form? No matter what she was still my wife, in any form, was the first thing that came to mind. Next up I considered her mindset. She had absorbed enough from me that her own sense of being had changed. I wasn't sure I had done her any favors with that. But regardless that was what she was now. It was just like me, my sense of being insisted I was a female, even if I had been born with a male body. That sense of self drove me to beg Starlight to change me even though it would bring down the condemnation of my tribe upon me. Tribes with ponies were a big deal, there was a big difference in being a Pegasus or an Earth Pony. There were different instincts, different magic, a different sense of who you were in the world. Mera's sense of being told her she was a Thestral, even if it had not always said that. You can't deny what you know you are. And every pony had this essential sense of self, Mera could not deny her own. I realized I was guilty of denying who she was to some extent. I hadn't really taken to heart she was a Thestral, not a Crystal Pony. She was born a Crystal Pony, and she had Crystal Pony abilities, but that wasn't who she was now. Even after she took back a Crystal Pony shape she would still be a Thestral. That was what she knew herself to be, and it needed to be how I thought of her too. I could not deny her eagerness to live as what she truly was. "Thank you," she said to me gratefully, smiling up to me as she did. "And don't go feeling guilty about how you changed me. I choose to let that happen. It was my choice, and my consequences to accept, and I don't regret it for a moment. You are such a good pony, a better pony than me, if I am being honest. I aspired to be more like you. I became something similar, but different, and I am okay with that." "I just want you happy," I told her as I griped her tightly. "And you make me happy," she said with a smile. "You give such good hugs. I think I am ready to go back out now. I just needed you holding me for a few minutes." We exited the room and were greeted by the sounds of the joyous cries of a filly. As we went out into the common room we saw the reason for them. Hovering steadily near the ceiling was a very happy Cozy Care. Her mother was looking up at her daughter with happy tears, and a hint of worry for her now airborne filly. Cozy Care just giggled and cheered and called down to the adults asking if they saw her, as if any of the adults could miss the happy little Pegasus. All the other patrons even looked up at her with pride and happiness. "Thank you," Cozy Hearth said through happy tears, as she wrapped her forelegs around Sunset in a tight embrace. "You don't know how much it means to me that you could do this for her. I felt so helpless not knowing how to teach her." "It was my pleasure," the large Alicorn in disguise replied. "I would invest in a set of tracer necklaces. In fact I will give you the bits for them myself as a gift. She is airborne now, and it will be hard to keep her out of the air. Being able to track where she is at a times will help ease your mind when she takes to the air outside. Set her some clear boundaries, but big enough to give her some freedom. Pegasi are very independent ponies, and you can't let them feel caged in, or they will resent you for it. So your new Pegasus foal challenge is learning to balance her freedom with her safety." "I had hoped I was past what I couldn't understand with her learning to fly," Cozy Hearth said wistfully. "She is a Pegasus, there is always going to be Pegasus instinct there that might not coincide with Unicorn instinct," Sunset said sympathetically. "But you are doing an excellent job. You care about what her specific needs are, even when you don't fully understand them yourself. Just remember that in the end you are raising a filly to eventually be a mare, and if you raise her to be kindhearted, responsible, and you keep caring about what her needs are, she will turn out alright." Cozy Hearth nodded, as looked up at her still happy daughter. Mera and I could not help but be caught up in the joy of the moment, and we nuzzled close together draping our wings over one another. We watched the little Pegasus continue to radiate joy to the room as she started trying to do more than simply hover, flying and giggling. "Cozy Care!" Her mother shouted. "We can't have you flying around like that indoors, you might accidentally break something. Come down here and we will go outside for a little while, and you can fly more outside. Just keep in my sight for right now, okay?" "Okay mommy," the little filly said as she pulled herself back into a hover. Then she got a confused look on her face as she realized she didn't know how to land. After a moment of trying to figure out the problem she simply stopped flapping her wings, and dropped like a rock to the ground. Her mother rushed over to her concerned, but the little filly got up as if nothing had happened. Flyers were very good at getting up from crashes typically. "Oh yeah," Sunset said sheepishly. "Get used to that, crashing is going to be a thing for a while. She will be able to walk most of them off fine. Expect her to go tumbling on the ground, smashing into trees, into buildings, into you, and any other large thing happens to be around. Just as long as she doesn't ram into anything at full speed it won't hurt her. Cozy Care, next time you try to land do what you just did, just do it when you are already as low to the ground as you can get yourself, and have your legs spread to brace for a landing," the little filly giggled and nodded enthusiastically at her teacher. "How about we eat and have a nap," I said to my wife. "And we can get back up later tonight and work on your flying out under the stars. We aren't Pegasi with a desperate need to keep to the air as often as we possibly can, but flying is part of who we are too." Mera giggled and hugged me close, and we returned to the bar to get some much needed food.