//------------------------------//
// A question of perspective 
// Story: The Phantom of Canterlot 
// by Azure Drache 
//------------------------------//

After Climber’s statement, the room went silent for a moment. The gaze of the princess was still on his eyes while the seconds passed. First one, then another and another second flew by, yet nothing happened.

Finally Twilight blinked two times, followed by another few seconds passing without any further reaction from her. Climber was unsure if he should say anything, but before he could, Twilight's eyebrows narrowed in anger and blood began to rush into her cheeks.

She got into a more upright position. “That… that is…” she began, but had trouble containing her upcoming anger, “...unbearable! Awful!”

Climber flinched back in surprise before he stood up quickly and indignantly raised a hoof. “Hold on, Princess, you may be upset about her being a fillyfooler, but that is no reason to…”

He was interrupted by Twilight, “No! I am not mad about her being a fillyfooler.” Twilight now raised her hooves too. “I am mad about her parents. Which parents would chase their own daughter away for taking interest in the same gender!” She hit the mattress. “How old was she? Ten? Twelve? Who would do this!” The last part was a yell of outrage, not really a question.

“Eleven.” Climber sunk back on the chair and gave her a serious look. “She was eleven when she ran away from home.”

“Eleven!” Twilight repeated. “I already had compassion for her when you told me she had to run from home as a filly, but knowing the stupid reason for it…” She growled in anger. “Nopony should endure such… such…” she failed to find the right words.

Climber nodded slowly. “I know.” He threw a look out of the window. “It was cruel, horrible and her parents were one of the worst I have ever heard off… “ he returned his gaze to Twilight, “but it was also a stroke of luck.”

Had she first agreed with what he started to say, when he called it a stroke of luck, Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. “How could you say that?”

“The official reason would be that Equestria benefited from it, a lot.”

Twilight’s gaze got displeased even more.

“My personal reason however and the real reason,” he continued, “is that if Snowflake’s parents hadn't outcast her, she would never have become Burning Snowflake. She would have had a normal lifespan and passed away centuries before she would have been able to meet Compassion, meaning she’d never had adopted him and none of the consequences of this event would take place.”

“My family,” Climber made a gesture to include all of Dragonbite Castle, “wouldn’t really exist, or Compassion could have married somepony else and created a family anyway, but as an orphan the chances for that weren’t very high that days.”

“Good for your family, bad for her. I don’t think anypony would choose a similar fate for themselves, even with this outcome in the end.”

Climber made a gesture like he was balancing a scale with his front hooves. “I believe you would be surprised how many ponies would choose to follow in her steps. Reaching immortality is tempting for many.”

“Being immortal doesn’t only have advantages…” Twilight made clear, waving it off with her hoof and a little headshake .

“Of course not.” He folded his hooves back on his chair. “In the end, everypony would have to answer that question for themselves. I only say, given the choice, many would take the immortality.”

“Would you?”

“For the price she had to pay? No,” he said without hesitation. “My wife and I, we have different opinions about being immortal in general, but I would never prefer it before my family.”

“Why do you believe many would prefer immortality then?”

“Not everypony has a good relationship with their family, nor do they have kids or a partner of their own.” He shook his head. “I would never trade Pleasant Smell, Cave Light or Distant Shine for endless life. And I assume ponies with kids wouldn’t either mostly, but for the lonely…” He shrugged, then opened his mouth as an idea sprouted in his mind. He tilted his head, focusing on Twilight. “Well, I guess that goes for scientists too.”

“I don’t think I like where this is going, Baron.” Twilight frowned. “If you imply scientists generally set their own life opportunities over their family bonds, you are wrong.”

“I don’t say that in general, Your Highness,” he denied. “I mean a certain one,” he pointed at her, “namely you.”

“Me?” Twilight repeated, indignant. “How dare you imply I would choose immortality over the love of my parents!” She gave the mattress another hit with her hoof.

“I don’t say that, I just say that during your time in Canterlot before you were sent to Ponyville, you would have found that trade maybe a bit tempting yourself.” He stopped her rising protest with a hoof. “As a Baron of Equestria, I know the past of its princesses, including the newest one. I know that Celestia sent you to Ponyville because you didn’t have many friends and your only activity was reading and your studies. You rarely saw your family at all. If somepony had made such an offer to you at that time, are you sure you would instantly deny it?”

“Of course I’d deny it!” Twilight said, brusquely. “I was completely absorbed by my studies, but not blind to my family bonds. I love my parents and my brother and never would have I left them behind.”

Climber stayed calm and stroked over his muzzle. “You say that now with a distant view to it and after you ascended to the Princess of Friendship. I don’t doubt you love your family and always did, but the offer to live forever and continue your study by the side of Her Highness herself… you really want to tell me it wouldn’t have been a tempting offer at all? They wouldn’t be dead, nor would anything happen to them, only you’d have to leave them to get the chance to study for all the time you wanted.”

Twilight snorted. “I never would have abandoned my family!” She held herself back to take a breath. “Even if I don’t like it, I see a point in your argumentation. I agree that it could be a tempting offer for some less lucky ponies.”

It was clear to see for Climber that Twilight’s thoughts hung on her time back as a student of Celestia now. She had moved her gaze from him, looking at nothing in particular. The baron couldn’t know, but Twilight shifted her thoughts from her own past to the past of those she knew or had met during her friendship missions. There were indeed some ponies she believe would have gladly accept that offer, Moon Dancer came to her mind, in the state she was before Twilight had made her apology or Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer before their redemption. None of them had sought immortality in the first place, but getting such an offer may have fallen on fertile soil.

“Family and friends are far more worth than a never-ending life, far, far more.” She moved her gaze back to the baron. “I never asked for this and I would have denied such an offer,” she sighed, “but I know some ponies who maybe would have gladly accepted it if their lives would have taken a different path.”

He nodded. “I wonder how are you going to think about it in a few hundred years, Your Highness,” Climber said then stopped, biting on his lower lip. There lay more on his mind, but he thought better than to continue this conversation about such a delicate topic. “Maybe we should change the topic of our conversation now and return to your second question, Your Highness?”

“Hmm,” she thought about it, “that would be better.” It took a moment for her to shake off the emotions stirred by their conversation. She sunk back into a more comfortable position again. “If… “ she started but was cut off by a loud knock on the door.

The door opened and a brown stallion entered the infirmary, pulling a tea trolley. “Good day, Princess,” he stopped and bowed before Twilight and Climber, “My Lord.” He pointed at the trolley. “I was ordered to bring you dinner, I hope it is to your contentedness.”

“Very good, Happy Day,” Climber said and rose from his place. “Just push the wagon before the bed.” While Happy Day did as he was told, Climber placed his chair a bit back to make room for the trolley.

With the wagon in place, Happy Day moved his hoof invitingly over the crockery, listing what he had in store. A few sorts of tea along with some snacks and to the delight of Twilight, a big plate of hayburgers on the second level of the trolley.

It took a while though, till everything was arranged properly. Happy Day took his job seriously and served the food, also filled their cups, fluffed up Twilight’s pillow and moved the chair for the baron. Only when everything was right in his opinion, he stepped back, bowed and, after a nod from Climber, left the infirmary with the promise to fetch the wagon in an hour or so.

Hayburgers and Twilight of course, were a combination Climber wasn’t prepared for. His mouth hung open when he saw how fast and furiously the princess ate them. Burger after burger was devoured by her, leaving spots of ketchup all over her face. She wiped them away from time to time with the bun, but it only spread even more around.

When he became aware that he was staring at her, Climber quickly hid his face behind his cup of tea. He waited patiently till Twilight was finished with her dinner before he brought their conversation back in motion.

Placing his cup back on the trolley, he addressed the princess again, “To come back to your question, Your Highness,” he paused while Twilight put back the serviette she had used to clean her hooves and then gave him her full attention again, “Sherlay Hays did not die by falling from the viewing platform above Canterlot north-west waterfalls during the fight with professor Memory Artist, better known by the name he got during his expeditions in the forbidden jungle, Mory Arty. She survived, how exactly I don’t know, that would be a question for Burning Snowflake herself to answer. What I know is that my ancestor’s mother wasn’t involved in this event at all.”

“So you simple say she survived, that’s it?” She raised a hoof. “No explanation how she survived the fall?” Her other hoof went up as well. “No word of how she managed to not get shattered by the rocks at the bottom? The north-west waterfall isn’t like the many small waterfalls in the city itself with a little lake at the bottom, its end is plastered with sharp rocks, not to mention the many bulging cliffs on the way down.” One of her hooves moved slowly down towards the top on the trolley, imitating a falling pony. “The long, looong way down.” The dull sound her hoof made when she hit the trolley rounded up her presentation.

“Indeed, that would be something I would like to know too.” He smiled a bit. “Luckily for me, or us in this case, we may get the chance to ask Burning Snowflake ourselves.”

Twilight commented that with only a “Maybe.”

Climber rubbed his front hooves in excitement before he returned to his calmer self. “What I can say, however, is that Sherlay Hays disappeared from the public life in that moment. Only a few ponies knew that she hadn't died that day.”

“Dr. Oatsen?” Twilight asked. “The way he wrote the last book…  it seemed he wasn’t aware of it at first, considering all the mourning and grief you can feel when you read it.” She wrinkled her lips. “Or what was his last official book at least.”

“It very well seems so, I can’t deny it.” He shrugged. “If Sherlay Hays didn’t think it was a good idea to tell him immediately, Burning Snowflake wouldn’t do it by her own intention anyway. With how things were between her and Oatsen, she wouldn’t feel guilty about letting him none the wiser. On the other hoof, I believe she knew it immediately.

“Because Sherlay Hays wouldn’t have secrets before her… partner?” She gave him a look that made it clear she didn’t believe that. “Sherlay Hays wasn’t so much the romantic type as her story tells.”

Climber scratched his snout. “Probably not,” he smiled lightly, “in Oatsen’s books she is not, but we can’t be sure how she was besides her detective work. In any case, it is most probable that Burning Snowflake learned about her partner being still alive immediately, because neither was Canterlot’s underworld set on fire that day nor did something happen to Oatsen after it.”

Narrowing her eyebrows and recoiling her head, Twilight asked, leery, “Wait, you want to tell me Burning Snowflake would take revenge on Canterlot's inhabitants if Sherlay Hays had died?” She moved her head forward again. “And what had Oatsen to do with that?”

“I very well believe that she would go on a rampage if Sherlay Hays had died, yes. Burning Snowflake may spend her life protecting Equestria most of the time, but for two ponies she would have set it on fire without hesitation.” He lifted his left hoof. “Compassion,” he lifted the other, “and Sherlay Hays. I only know with certainty how she reacted when Compassion was in serious danger. To protect him she acted relentlessly, determined and without a moment of hesitation or negotiation. I assume the same counted for her love.”

Twilight raised a hoof to interrupt him. “Even with my compassion for her about her background, you only prove she is a threat and possible criminal with your explanation. Remember we had that conversation just yesterday.”

Climber breathed in to reply, but instead held his breath for a moment before he slowly exhaled. “Of course… Your Highness, of course. This may not put her in better light at all, so we should keep it short instead.” He waited for a nod from Twilight, then continued, “In case of Oatsen, let me just say that Burning Snowflake had to cope with him in some way and it was a give and take between her and Sherlay Hays about it. Sherlay made it very clear that if something suspicious would happen to Oatsen, no matter the reason, she and Burning Snowflake would be apart after it. Sherlay was not blind to the possibility that Burning Snowflake could arrange something to get rid of Oatsen.” He made a calming gesture with his hoof. “I don’t mean something drastic, just anything that would cause Oatsen to disappear or leave Canterlot or Equestria in general. With this threat however, she had to protect Oatsen instead, even during the detective cases.”

He exchanged a look with Twilight to make sure she didn’t want to ask something, but she just waited for him to go on.

“In return, Burning Snowflake requested something too, or better made something clear herself. It is a bit difficult to shorten it,” he shook his hoof, a bit unsure how to say it, “the main part was that if Burning Snowflake would keep an eye on Oatsen, Sherlay Hays better keep an eye on herself too. You know from the stories how she acted sometimes, not aware or simple ignoring the danger she brought upon herself. Just remember when she walked on board of that one zeppelin alone to confront its captain.”

“I remember that scene.” Twilight nodded. “Book fourteen, if I am right.”

Climber flicked his tail and wiped the book number away with a hoof. “I don’t remember the number, just that she was careless. With Burning Snowflake bound to the task of keeping Oatsen safe, she wasn’t always able to protect her special somepony. So she made her standpoint clear too. If something would happen to Sherlay Hays, something of that kind with a bad and permanent ending, Oatsen would face the same fate.”

“That is…” Twilight started but was interrupted by Climber.

“Awful, I know, but considering the circumstances and how Sherlay Hays was, I would say understandable.” He shook his head. “Burning Snowflake was not willing to risk her relationship with Sherlay Hays in any way, and Sherlay used it against her in this case. It made Oatsen’s life much safer, having Burning Snowflake watch over him. Also it made my ancestor’s mother unable to make sure Sherlay was as safe as she wanted her to be. Burning Snowflake only used her own ultimatum in case of Oatsen to makesure Sherlay was as careful as possible.”

He raised both hooves now. “Don’t take this wrong as a threat to Oatsen, it was a statement to protect Sherlay instead.”

“You are sure they were a couple, Baron?” Twilight asked with a hint of sarcasm. “Sounds more like opponents to me. Making such awful conditions for each other to stay in their relationship.” She crossed her forelegs.

“Let me ask you a counter question, you said you have read all of Oatsen’s public books about Sherlay Hays, Your Highness?”

Twilight nodded.

“With Sherlay Hays’ outstanding... personality, you really think a simple ‘Please don’t get yourself in danger while I watch over you friend Oatsen’ would have worked?”

Twilight opened her mouth, then closed it again. She did it again, till the third time she simply said, “No, probably not.” with grudge in her voice. “However, that does not make it alright at all,” she quickly said afterwards.

“You remember when I told you she did what was necessary instead of doing it the friendship way? This would count as such a case. Effective, not very harmonic.”

“Not what some ponies would call love… “

“There was love, a lot of pure unadulterated love, only the complexity of both their characters made things a bit com… interesting.” He lowered his gaze and took his teacup, playing with the spoon in it. “They had a very turbulent way to come together and their relationship often was a game of cat and mouse, not that it was clear who was who of course.” He smiled with his eyes still lowered into his teacup and took a sip. “Sometimes when I think about it, I wonder if they knew who was who.”

“If the books can be trusted, Sherlay Hays should be the cat. The informations you gave me so far support that supposition too,” Twilight said. “Sherlay Hays was far more independent than your ancestor’s mother is and she seemed to be more manipulative too.”

Finally Climber looked up again. “And you think that makes her the cat?”

“Well, obviously?” Twilight gave him a wondering look. “Sherlay Hays controlled the game, so she is the cat. Burning Snowflake made her point too, but she only reacted while Sherlay took the initiative.”

“Good point,” Climber confessed. “I haven’t looked at it from that point of view. I have to think about that, thank you for your insight, Princess.” He lifted his cup and gave her a grateful nod.

“You are welcome,” Twilight responded. “May I ask what you thought about it?”

“I assumed they were equal in that matter.” He placed his cup back on the trolley. “When they were in the castle of Her Highness, Burning Snowflake was the dominant, or the ‘Cat’. In Canterlot’s city it was Sherlay Hays who mostly gave the tone. She… “

“What does that mean?” Twilight interrupted.

“Excuse me?”

“Gave the tone, what does it mean? I don’t see what music has to do with it.”

“Oh that,” he gave her an apologetic smile, “is an old saying, it means who ‘takes the lead’. Freely translated. It has it origins in the profession of a conductor. They lead the choir, so they decide what would be played. So if you give the ‘tone’, you are in charge.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, Sherlay Hays was somewhat in charge in Canterlot itself. She worked there and Burning Snowflake had to adapt herself to that, in most aspects. But she wasn’t a slave to Sherlay’s will either.” He took a breath in. “In the castle of Her Highness and close by however, Sherlay had to play by her marefriend’s rules.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Twilight asked, curious. “What Sherlay Hays expected, I have a good clue about. Burning Snowflake surely could support her detective work and also help her with her research and satisfy her curiosity in matters of history and wonders of the world. Burning Snowflake surely had a lot to tell about these.”

“Amazingly accurate, Your Highness.” He grabbed his cup again and hid his face behind it.

Twilight hummed contentedly and smiled. “So with that cleared, what were Burning Snowflake’s rules?”

When Climber didn’t answer in a reasonable time, she gave him a questioning look. “Baron?”

Still holding his cup, his face was hard to read but when she looked closer, Twilight saw his cheeks were reddened.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “Is your tea not good, maybe?”

Climber stared into his cup. “Everything is right with my tea, Your Highness.”

“Then what is…” She started but Climber cleared his throat..

“Could we just skip that topic, please?” He gave her a smile. “Truly, Your Highness, it isn’t so important and I would prefer to not speak about that at the moment.”

“Mhh,” Twilight thought loud, “if you want to… okay.”

“Thank you.” He raised his head to give Twilight’s cup a look. “Some more tea, Your Highness?”

Emptying it, Twilight extended her hoof with her cup over the trolley. “Yes, that would be nice.”

While the tea streamed into the cup, Climber said, “If you don’t mind, I would skip right to the end of what I know about Sherlay Hays and Burning Snowflake’s last known days together.”

“Alright, go ahead,” Twilight answered, pulling back her cup. “Now I am curious what will you tell me.”

“Actually, there is not much to tell about their last days together in general. As a background information, it may be useful that their relationship lasted twenty years. Twelve of them before the official death of Sherlay Hays and eight after it. There would be a lot more to tell about these times for sure, but the important thing worth emphasizing is, that Burning Snowflake didn’t age, while Sherlay Hays did of course.” He gave her a confirming nod. “This fact is mentioned more than one time, not pointed out directly, but if you read between the lines, it is very clear.”

He shifted his weight on his chair. “If you set the puzzle pieces together, it seems that Burning Snowflake wanted to do something about it, well at least to me. There are intimations here and there in their shared part of the story. Sherlay’s aging had become more and more of a problem in their relationship. Not that their love had lessened, there is not even the tiniest hint of that, the opposite seems to be the case instead. But fear that Sherlay would pass away one day grew in Burning Snowflake’s head from day to day, I assume. And then, one day, Sherlay Hays disappeared all of the sudden.” He made a wave in the air with his hoof as if wiping a table clear. “No word about where she went, what happened, if she left or anything else. From that day, till my ancestor’s mother told Compassion about her, there are only rarely words about her and none of them concerned her vanishing.”

“Not a single word?” Twilight gave him a quizzical look, “In that case the words Oatsen left for your ancestor’s mother didn’t surprise you as much as they should have. You must have had a clue,” Twilight insinuated.

“Indeed,” he smiled, then his smile disappeared, “but it is a sad thing.” His gaze wandered back into his teacup and he sighed. “I wasn’t surprised, because I guessed that Snowy had tried something to prevent Sherlay’s normally unavoidable death and it got terribly wrong.” The tea had become very interesting for him it seemed, he swung the cup around a bit and watched the liquid move. “That would explain why Oatsen blamed Snowy for Sherlay’s disappearance. True or not, Sherlay Hays didn’t appear in the story in person from that point and my ancestor’s mother didn’t find a new special somepony as far as we know.”

“That explains it.” She nodded. “Is there any evidence she had made attempts to find a new partner at all?”

“Mhh, I don’t think so.” He thought about it for a moment. “No, she didn’t… why?”

“It gives me a better understanding of her character. Either this means she is still heartbroken and mourning Sherlay Hays’ death or she got more secretive in general about matters of the heart. Normally I would say she just became disinterested in that kind of relationship, like Celestia did, but I doubt that Compassion wouldn’t have interfered here.” She tilted her head. “If he was such a caring stallion, he would insist his mother would get a new partner or at least she should try to get one.” She gave him an inquiring look. “I see it as fact that he wasn’t homophobic?”

That brought a little smile back on his lips. “No, at least not in matter of his mother of course. When she told him that she was into mares,” his smile got brighter and his mind drifted off for a second, “he asked her if she wanted to adopt him. Snowy was… ahem… well, she was very well aware that she couldn't do that and secretly stay the Phantom of Canterlot at the same time. She had to either deny or tell him everything, to a degree. Burning Snowflake was afraid he wouldn’t want to get adopted anymore if she told him. His reply was, well let me quote what he said.” He coughed. “He had hugged her forelegs and was looking up to her, saying,” and now Cimber imitated the voice of a little colt, “Does… does that mean I can have two moms then?” Climber now changed back to his normal voice, “His eyes were sparkling with hope and happiness. Snowy wasn’t able to hold back her emotions after this and started to cry, lifting him up into a hug and embracing him with her wings.”

Climber swabbed over his left eye with his serviette. “My apologies, Your Highness. This is one of my favorite parts of my family’s history.”

“It is really touchy,” Twilight admitted and reciprocated his smile. “Did she say yes?”

“Of course she did, she adopted him as you already know.”

“No, did she say yes to him having a second mother? You know, if she said yes to the question, it would imply that she was open for a new relationship.”

“You and your eye for details.” He gave her a light disbelieving head shake and closed his eyes while he thought about it. “I don’t remember her answering that question directly.” Opening his eyes again, he repeated his head shake, a bit stronger this time. “No, she didn’t answer that question and as long as she was around her son, she didn’t have a certain mare at her side. Means none of the castle inhabitants saw it, nor Compassion wrote it down or told somepony about it.”

“Interesting, but it doesn’t have to mean much,” Twilight said and took a sip of tea. “If she was that… mhh… if she had enough to do with her task to rise and protect him, she maybe was too busy for a relationship.” She placed the cup back on the trolley and denied Climber’s offer to refill it. “As far as I know, in her comics, I mean in the comics about her, there is no special somepony mentioned for her too.” She scratched her mane. “That of course could be because the publisher didn’t want to scare away the readers with the fact she was into mares. Also, it’s possible he simply didn’t know.”

“Both is possible, Your Highness.”

“That brings up the question, who drew the comics in the first place? Or who told the artist what he had to draw?”

“Don’t look at me,” Climber shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“But can you make a guess?” Twilight asked.. “If somepony can, then the head of the Snowflake family,”she said with a requesting smile.

He let out a polite giggle. “You flatter me, still I don’t have a clue.”

Twilight raised both her eyebrows and gave him a requesting look as if glancing at him over invisible glasses.

“Alright,” he gave in, “if I had to guess,” he leaned back and stared at the ceiling, “there are a few options. First, and that is really unrealistic, somepony with a very long lifespan was present during her activities. That would explain that all of the comics managed to preserve the same way of drawing and design.” He shrugged. “That pony would have to be talented in drawing of course.”

“You mean, one pony could have drawn them all alone?”

“I said, it could be, not that it is realistic.” He focused back on her. “Second, she made them herself.  Honestly, I have no clue about how good she is at drawing, but this way, the fact that the comics are published over a time period of two hundred years is covered. As well as the same design too.”

“Good point,” Twilight said, “I just wonder why she should have done this? The question is how does she benefit from it. I don’t see her needing the money or the fame all of the sudden.”

“Indeed, a reasonable question. Somepony could have pushed her to do it, even if she made them maybe, it mustn't have been her idea in the first place.”

“Doesn’t answer the question why.”

“I give you that, still I am just guessing,” Climber reminded her. “Third, a bunch of ponies made them over time, just taking every effort to make them look like from one hoof. Again, I don’t know the reason why they would have done this, but the possibility stays anyway.”

“We have a lot of ideas, but none of them seems completely fitting.” Twilight placed her hoof on her chin. “We are missing something…”

“Dad!” The voice of a little colt made itself noticed as the door of the infirmary suddenly opened. Distant Shine quickly trotted in and swiftly moved closer to his father. “Mom said she is too busy to read me a story tonight and you are telling a story to Twilight anyway, so I can stay up and listen to that instead.” He placed one hoof on his father's chair, then looked over to Twilight. “Hello, Princess!” He waved to her with his other hoof, accidentally dropping the plushie he was holding.

“Hello, Distant Shine,” Twilight greeted back with a smile.

Climber was a bit surprised. “Your mother told you that?” He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure she said it exactly that way? You didn’t misunderstand something?” He fondled through Distant Shine’s mane.

Picking up the plushie, his son answered, “Yeah, mom said you will tell the story this evening. She allowed me to take Sev with me too.” He raised the plushie for his dad to see. “He will help you,” he looked at Twilight again, “to get better soon!” Distant Shine took a step in direction of Twilight to give her the plushie but was picked up by his father.

“I don’t think it is a good time to do that, Son. I haven’t started the story yet and I have a conversation with Her Highness going. I can read you a story tomorrow instead.”

“No!” the little one’s voice became defiant as he tried to escape his father's grip, “I don’t want to hear it tomorrow, I want to hear it now!”

“Distant Shine,” Climber’s voice got a bit more serious and determining, “what have I told you about behaving in front of our guests?”

“Dad! It is story evening! You and mom promised to tell me a story at story evening!” He gave his father his best reproachful gaze.

“Ohhh,” Climber just made in realisation what day it was. “Well, Son, I… we… your mother and I are a little bit busy at the moment, so…”

“You promised!” Distant Shine said accusingly and gave his father a push. “You promised! You promised, you promised!”

Helpless, Climber peaked over to Twilight. “It seems I can’t talk my way out of this, my son is right about  that I made a promise. Would you mind if we continued our conversation later, Your Highness?”

“No, not at all,” she said with a smile. “A promise is a promise, there is nothing to argue about.”

“Yeah!” Distant Shine yelled with joy. “You see dad, she says it too!” He fidgeted till his dad placed him back on his hooves. At once he walked around the trolley and over to Twilight, offering her his plushie.

A bit unsure, Twilight took it. “Thank you,” she said, giving the plushie an uncertain look. It was a small light blue dragon, with a fluffy tail tip going a bit into purple. The same applied to his chest fluff and some sort of mane. “And who is that?” Twilight asked.

“That is Sev, the cuddliest dragon in all of Equestria!” Distant Shine announced. “His full name is Severhak, but I call him Sev.”

“Well, hello there, Sev, nice to meet you,” Twilight said.

“I will lend him to you for tonight, he will watch over you and make sure you get well in no time.”

"How generous of you," Twilight said and placed Sev next to her on the bed.

"Hey, Distant Shine!" Climber called out for his son, who had placed his hooves on Twilight's bed and tried to hop onto it. "What do you think you are doing, little stallion?"

Half hanging, half climbing, Distant Shine answered, "I’m preparing for the story, Dad." He pushed himself up a bit further and then grabbed Twilight's tail to pull himself completely into it.

"Distant Shine!" Climber rose from his chair, ready to grab his son, but a raised hoof and a giggle from the princess stopped him.

"It is okay dad, you don’t need to help me.," Distant Shine said, completely misinterpreting the situation.

Climber sunk back on his chair and covered his face with a hoof. "Distant Shine, you can't just use somepony’s tail as a climb assistant. That is rude."

"But Dad," his son protested, "how else should I get up here on my own then?"

"You shouldn't," his father answered.

"Don't worry about it," Twilight interfered and moved a bit to the side so one of the smaller pillows was free for Distant Shine to lay on. "The bed is big enough."

"Is there place for one more?" A shy voice now came from the door. In the frame stood Cave Light, holding a pillow in her hoof. "Mom said you all would be here and that dad would tell a story. I would like to listen too, if I am allowed?"

"Ahem," Climber made throwing unsure looks between Cave Light, Twilight and Distant Shine. Only after a nod from the princess, he said, "I don't know, maybe if we move one of the other beds closer..." He looked at Twilight. "If that really is alright with you, Your Highness?"

"Of course it is," she said and already organised everything necessary. "Distant Shine, you move a little closer to your dad, while I move over to the other side so Cave Light can have the middle."

That offer she didn't need to repeat. Very quickly Cave Light trotted over and jumped onto the bed. It was followed by a little fight with her brother about the blanket and the general allocation of the space in it, but it was quickly settled. After a short while, Twilight and the foals were laying in the bed under the blanket with Sev on Twilight's belly, so only his head peaked out from under the blanket.

"Aren't you a little bit too old for carrying Sev around with you anymore?" Cave Light teased her brother.

"I don't carry him around!" he protested. "I brought him for Princess Twilight!"

"Foals, don't fight with each other," Twilight ordered. "Be nice to each other so we all can listen to your father's story."

"She has started it!" Distant Shine protested, turned around and pointed at his sister. "And I know you still carry Hedvika around with you sometimes!” He looked over to Twilight, “that’s her little unicorn scientist doll.” he explained.

"That is a lie!" Cave Light ranted.

"Foals!" Climber said loudly. "We have a guest here, behave like it."

Both his foals gave him an innocent smile, then kicked at each other under the blanket. It stopped immediately when their father’s eyebrows narrowed. He was going to say something but Twilight was a little bit quicker. She lifted Cave Light up and placed her on her right side and took the place between the foals.

"Are you two now going to be peaceful?" she asked. "Otherwise one of you must sit on the ground."

"I have been well-behaved all along," Distant Shine claimed, set Sev, who had slipped from Twilight's belly, back in place and snuggled his back against her.

Climber raised a hoof in his direction when Cave Light said she had behaved as well as her brother and snuggled against Twilight's other side. Climber pulled back his hoof and ran it desperately through his mane. Luckily, Twilight didn't mind the cuddling. Now peacefully and patiently, all three waited for him to start with the story.

"I..." he coughed and gave the scene a last suspicious look. "Could you remind me where my wife had stopped, Your Highness?"

"Of course, Baron." Twilight shifted herself a bit back and forth to lay more comfortable. "Pleasant Smell stopped right after Burning Snowflake told her team members about the griffons and how she ended up under the collapsed building."

"Cool!" Distant Shine shouted. "That is right before... "

"Don't spoil the story!" his sister reminded him. "Twilight doesn't know yet."

"Oh," he gave Twilight an apologetic look, "I haven't thought about that, I am sorry."

"Don't worry about it," the princess replied. "You didn't spoil anything yet."

"Well in that case," Climber threw a meaningful gaze at his son, "I may have to let out a few details and tell the foal friendly version instead."

"I am old enough to hear the adult version," Distant Shine commented. "I am already nine and a half years old."

"So still a few years too young," his father replied. "I will tell you the other version when you are twelve at earliest."

"That is not fair!" Distant Shine complained.

"It is and I will not discuss that with you. The foal friendly version it is," Climber decided.

Pushing the trolley a bit out of the way, he placed his chair closer to the bed. "Alright, let me tell you what happened after she told the other firefighting ponies about the incident in the brick factory...