A warm cup of chocolate milk, with marshmallows, of course, was the perfect remedy. Lightning Dust leaned back in her seat.
The past two weeks had been nothing but hard work. Rebuilding the Crystal Empire after the destruction of the shadow attack was not easy. Not that she didn’t enjoy it, of course. Flying building supplies around the city was the perfect weight training to help her endurance. She carried water, mortar, and bricks from one end of the capital city to the other.
Most of the supplies came in from Vanhoover by freight. Cadence declared that the trains had to stay open, regardless of how the ponies or dragons felt. Repairing the city came first. So there wasn’t an end to the repairs.
But, everything needed to come in moderation. Poppin got a bunch of responses back from her contacts when the first trains rolled into the Empire heavy with overdue mail. But, their first concert wouldn’t be until the new year began. So, that gave the Knights time to themselves.
Starlight had already returned to Ponyville to prepare for the holidays, and Tempest was out with the Northern Patrol, spending her holiday beating the daylights out of any stray shadows on the edge of the Empire. The Crystal Heart was, allegedly, keeping them weak, so if they were destroyed they wouldn’t reform anymore.
At least that meant less fighting for her. Lightning Dust popped on some headphones and drowned out the sound of repairs being done in the palace library. The sound of rain dripping onto leaves, pitter-pattering down and down until they plopped in puddles on the forest floor, helped her breathe.
“Tick, tock. Tick… tock…”
The stallion’s voice on the CD was soft and friendly, very casual, but at the same time, intimate. “Do you know what that sound is? Tick. It’s time. We think we never have enough of it. Tock. But maybe that’s just because we’re greedy. Tick. And now we’re going to wash all those thoughts we think we know and be free from the rush of time. Tock.”
Lightning Dust stretched her wings out and exhaled. Sometimes life didn’t need to have big moments or surprising jokes. Just being totally ingrained in the moment of existing was enough.
Knock knock.
Gallus leaned out of his bed. The past two weeks was not how he imagined he’d spend his winter break. Volunteering at emergency shelters, rebuilding homes so ponies could go back to what they had before the shadows tore through.
The official count was that nearly a quarter of the city’s homes had been demolished, either partially or completely. And as much as he wanted some fun, it didn’t feel right just leaving the Crystal Empire behind to handle their own problems.
He was glad his friends felt the same way, too.
He opened the door to his hotel room to find Silverstream standing with a small paper bag in her talon. “Got you something,” she giggled, popping a fishball into his mouth.
Gallus coughed, nearly choking, but fishballs were almost impossible to find in Equestria, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. He shut beak and breathed through his nose, slowly chewing and savouring the flavour.
“Where’d you--ack,” he coughed the last of the fishball until he could swallow it. “Where’d you find actual seafood? Mmm.” He snatched a second ball from the air as Silverstream tossed it, this time eating it properly.
“It was a gift. I’ve been helping the stores in the night market,” she said. “You should’ve seen Headmare Starlight. She fixed two whole streets by herself just by using magic! The place almost looks like a horde of horrifying monsters didn’t rampage through it.”
“No kidding. I saw Princess Cadence doing the same thing with the houses we were working on. She held an entire house in place and just teleported the nails into their places. It was crazy.”
Silverstream placed her bag of fishballs on the small table by the window and looked out at the repaired city. Cranes still worked on the larger buildings, and long stretches of torn-up roads were still being paved, but the city was almost back on its legs.
In the distance, she could see the palace. Cadence had offered to let them stay since they were Starlight’s students, but they all agreed that there was something special about living within the city, among the citizens and the construction.
“Did you see Starlight’s letter?”
Gallus sneaked a third fishball from the bag. “You mean the one about extending winter break into the new year? Yeah.”
“One extra week.” Silverstream grinned. “With Cadence and Luna helping, the city’s going to be fixed in another day or two. What should we do with our extra time?”
Gallus sat down on his bed. “Get out of here, for one thing,” he said. “Seeing Headmare Starlight perform was great, but, I think I want to forget about the Crystal Empire for a while.”
“Well, it wasn’t all bad.” Silverstream jumped onto Gallus’s bed, tossing up the covers as she bounced on the mattress. She spread her wings out, arching her back in a long, back-popping stretch. “Yona’s been in a pretty good mood after Sandbar started showing her all the places that sell yak foods. Though I don’t think gourd-root buns should count as food.”
“Heh, I bet Yona would think the same thing about fish,” Gallus said.
“Ooh! I just had an idea!” Silverstream sat up. “Why don’t we go find someplace that sells griffon cuisine!”
“Not hippogriff food?”
“They’re basically the same,” Silverstream dismissed the question and reached for a fish ball. “See? The same!”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense.” Gallus leaned back on his bed. “But, I’ve been all around town helping construction, and I’m pretty sure there isn’t a place like that in the Crystal Empire.”
“Vanhoover’s a bigger city,” Silverstream answered, “with the trains open again, we can spend a day there on our way back to Ponyville and look.”
Svengallop exhaled as his masseuse leaned onto his back, the pressure stacking on to relieve the knots he had built up from stress and overworking. Ponies looked at him and thought he wasn’t suited to manual labour.
And they were right.
But organizing volunteer efforts was still a lot of work, so he the moment he heard the spa had been fixed and was open for business, he immediately took the day off for himself. And with the holidays coming close, the spa was offering special rates on their services.
Ding ding. His ear twitched at the sound of the bell hanging over the front door. Despite the reopening, the day had been slow at the spa. Most creatures living in the Crystal Empire were still putting the pieces of their city back together.
“I wish Silverstream could’ve joined us.” Svengallop recognized the changeling’s voice. Everywhere he went, these kids showed up. He wondered if he had bad luck, or if this was just his fate for knowing Starlight.
“Can’t be girls’ night without her,” Yona said.
“It wouldn’t be a girls’ night with her,” Smolder replied, “it’s the middle of the day.”
They chattered on for a little while until a pony at the front desk helped them. The massage lounge was right at the front, but as Svengallop listened, their voices trailed off to the sauna. He chortled to himself. A changeling, yak and dragon going to a pony spa. He wondered how that would work. A dragon probably couldn’t feel a deep tissue massage through their scales, and a changeling would feel too much since they were insects without bones.
Differences, he wondered, now that’s something to write a song about.
“You two warm up, I’m going to check something out, first.” Smolder’s voice came back, now closer. Svengallop started to raise his head, but he could already hear the young dragon taking the bed next to him as the masseuse got ready.
“You know,” Svengallop mumbled across the gap between their beds, “most ponies go to the spa to get away from caring about stuff. This doesn’t look like getting away.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Smolder shrugged him off, “I’ll be quick. My friends and I are taking a train out to Ponyville tomorrow. We wanted to get back in time for Hearth’s Warming. I figured since I found you here, I could thank you.”
“Thank me?” Svengallop’s ears twitched.
“Yeah, for the stuff you did in the library. You were right about not being a princess with big speeches, but sometimes that sort of thing gets old. I think you said just the right thing.”
Svengallop laid his head back down. “About time someone appreciates everything I do.”
“I’m just glad you did anything,” she said. “My friends always have my back, which is great, but it just means more when someone else sticks up for you. I know most ponies are fine around dragons, but,” Smolder paused.
“The worst part wasn’t that guy who was saying those things. It was every pony else who didn’t say anything at all.”
“Well, that’s just typical. Most ponies only look out for themselves,” Svengallop reacted, “friends are nice to have, but only if they offer something you need.”
Smolder laughed. “Just don’t let Starlight hear you. I think she’s starting to become more like Twilight. She might give you a lecture if she catches you with that tone.”
He didn’t know how to reply. Most ponies thought his advice was harsh.
But Smolder seemed okay with it. From time to time he lifted his head and saw the young dragon enjoying her spa treatment. Or pretending to, anyway. He could tell a good massage from bad, and her scales just made it too hard to get into the muscles.
But when the pony finished and she got up to return to her friends, there was still a look of satisfaction painted across her face. He guessed she said all she needed to say.
Winter’s winds blew clouds in from Cloudsdale.
Grey giants stormed the sky, swirling wheels rolled them downwind with the changes in pressure. The view of a storm was beautiful from the moon. Luna wished the start of winter didn’t have to look so gloomy from the ground.
Going to the Crystal Empire was not what she thought it would be. She expected it would be hard, no doubt, but in just a few weeks the idle peace of Ponyville seemed alien. The kind of conflict she saw was unlike anything else, and she needed to take her mind off everything.
“Oh, Luna!” Mrs Cake was in the middle of packing a tray of cupcakes into a box. “Now isn’t this a surprise. I thought you were travelling with the band and whatnot. All the kids from the school have been talking about your music.”
“Have they?” Luna smiled and grabbed a seat at the counter. “That’s good to hear. We’ve been a little distracted from planning our tour recently.”
Mrs Cake’s face softened and she pulled out a cupcake from the tray. “Starlight came by a week ago and mentioned it with her friends. I didn’t hear all the details but it sounded like trouble.”
Luna nodded as she thoughtfully licked off the icing from the cupcake.
“How’s every creature’s holiday cravings?” Luna asked. “Students from all over Equestria and beyond are coming here to study. You must have ponies flocking for after-school treats.”
Mrs Cake laughed. “Oh! You bet. I can barely keep up with it. If they’re not buying boxes of cupcakes for themselves, they’re getting them for parties and gifts. And with Pinkie working at the school, she hasn't been around to help as much.”
“You seem happy to be so busy,” Luna noted.
“Oh goodness yes,” Mrs Cake picked up a cookie displayed on a rack on the front desk and started nibbling on it. “Sure, there are some days where I’m too tired to think, but every student likes something different, especially the international ones. I love experimenting with new flavours I’ve never even considered! Hippogriffs love seafood, for example. Can you imagine dried kelp and seaweed on a cake?”
“Not at all,” Luna scrunched her face, imagining the flavour, “but I suppose I can’t judge. I’ve probably eaten weirder things.”
It was late and the sky was stormy, but the two of them talked casually about the going-ons of their daily lives, and the news passing around Equestria. Pinkie’s sister had opened a rock-farm shop on the edge of town. Mrs Cake recounted the array of custom CDs and projector crystals, all made from Ponyville’s own gemstones.
In return, Luna vented her ideas for new songs. Her album had only been out for about a month, but she already had themes burning in her mind. No clear melodies or lyrics yet, just a few phrases or subjects she desperately wanted to share.
“Maybe one of these days I’ll go see your concerts,” Mrs Cake said after Luna had gone on for minutes about her plans for a performance at Rainbow Falls. “Mr Cake and I are overdue for a vacation, and we have been talking about trying new things. Change has been a big theme in the house, now that the kids are starting to get older.”
Luna laughed, thinking to the times she had helped soothe the nightmares of fillies and foals. She raised another cupcake up, mimicking a toast. “It seems we’re both looking to the future. So, here’s to trying new things.”
Mrs Cake picked a strawberry cream tart up from the counter. “To trying new things.”