16

by AlwaysDressesInStyle

Act I: Snowcatcher (Part 2)

I sat at my desk, three textbooks open in front of me: history, math, and Equestrian. Whenever I needed a break from one subject, I switched to another immediately, rather than force myself to continue. Dewey often poked fun at me for that, but I found it helped keep things fresh, and allowed me to focus better.

History was usually my favorite subject, but there were certain topics I just didn’t care for. Wars and fighting were tops among them. For some reason, some of my classmates glorified them, but wars meant senseless death and destruction. There hadn’t been many wars over the last millennium. There’d been plenty of invasions and temporary takeovers, but there’d only been one true war…

Griffins on the Equestrian continent have historically preferred to live in and around Griffinstone, while most ponies on the continent of Gryph call Prance their home. Prance is Equestria’s oldest ally, and the two pony nations have never fought a war with one another. Prance’s sovereignty has been threatened multiple times over the centuries, most recently in the year of Princess Luna’s exile.

While Princess Celestia was in the midst of overseeing the repairs to Everfree City following Princess Luna’s corruption by the Nightmare, King Gerald took advantage of the situation and invaded Prance. Ponies abandoned their homes and fled as the griffin army approached the capital, Maris. Prance was caught woefully unprepared, and tried unsuccessfully to pull garrisons from around the country to protect the undefended capital.

Princess Celestia teleported to Prance and met the army on the battlefield, offering them leniency if they threw their weapons to the ground and returned to their own territory. Kind Gerald refused to back down, and was vaporized by the princess on the spot. Several units attacked the princess, and joined their king. The rest surrendered immediately.

The Griffin Kingdom fell into a state of anarchy in the power vacuum created by King Gerald’s passing, as his descendants fought each other for the position. The country descended into civil war, and has never fully recovered.

I paused after reading that, mourning those that had lost their lives all those years ago. It was hard to believe the benevolent mare that ran the school, not to mention the entire country, could also be the same mare I’d just read about. She has to make hard decisions. I don’t think I could take another creature’s life, not even for the greater good. Thankfully, I’d never have to worry about needing to do such things – eventually I would be exploring the Frozen North, far away from other ponies. Maybe Dewey will come with me so I’m not completely alone.

War was a heavy topic. My brain needed a break, so I moved on to Equestrian. I hadn’t gone far when there was a knock on the door. Dewey opened it and immediately fell into a bow. I quirked an eyebrow at that until Princess Celestia trotted into the room. I stood up and immediately bowed as well, but the princess motioned us both to get back onto our hooves.

“Snowcatcher, are you still interested in learning teleportation?”

Words failed me, so I nodded enthusiastically.

“Are you free right now?”

I continued nodding, and she motioned for me to approach her. I did so, and suddenly the two of us were in the castle. I gawked like a tourist at the splendor, trying to relate each of the stained glass windows to the corresponding moment in history. I recognized the nearest window, which had a serpentine creature puppeteering ponies. Discord. I shuddered. The Discordian Era had been unpleasant to learn about, and I suspected it had been even less pleasant to live through.

I realized that I had an audience with the only pony who’d lived through all of the events I’d studied, and been a central figure in most of them. “Can I ask you a question, Princess?”

“Of course, my little pony.”

“I was reading my history assignment when you came in, and it was about King Gerald. What really happened that day?”

“Many, many horrible things.” The princess sat on her haunches and wrapped a wing around me, pulling me next to her. “The history books are sparse on details for a reason. Are you sure you want to know more?”

I nodded, and she continued. “Very well. But if you want me to stop at any time, I understand. King Gerald was an aggressive leader, never happy with what he had, and always planning his next conquest. The griffins united behind him, because he told them what they wanted to hear. He was also winning, and griffins like that.” She held up a hoof. “Ponies also like winners. We’re herd creatures, and while the griffins will never admit it, so are they. Gerald was quite popular in his own kingdom, but he was very unpopular with the other world leaders of the era. He conquered most of Gryph in less than two decades. His empire stretched from the border of Prance in the west to the border with Saddle Arabia in the east. He resisted instigating conflict with those two nations specifically because they were our allies. Declaring war on either would be the same as declaring war on Equestria. He waited until we had our own problems before he reneged on the Treaty of Maris.”

“Princess Luna?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. While the incident with Nightmare Moon was brief, it caused significant damage to Equestria’s then capital, Everfree City. I was in the process of relocating the government to Canterlot when Gerald invaded Prance. The Elements of Harmony were no longer an option. My bond to them had been broken when I banished my sister to the moon. I think they sensed my resentment to the fact they’d taken my sister from me, even though it was the correct decision.” She sighed with the weight of a thousand years of guilt.

“I was a mess, and King Gerald thought it was a sign of weakness. I tried so hard to get him to back down. His was the first life I ever took. It was a decision I always worried I’d need to make someday – the ending of someone’s life. I gave him every opportunity to turn around and go home. When his troops started attacking me though… I had no choice. It was either end a few lives, or let his army kill hundreds or possibly thousands of innocent ponies.”

“The book says you vaporized him. How did you do that?”

“I’ll show you, but only if you promise me two things, first.”

“Okay?”

“I won’t teach you how to do this, so don’t ask. This isn’t ‘cool’ or ‘epic’ or any other such nonsense. With great power comes great responsibility. I’ve done things that still haunt me to this day, because not doing them would have been worse. Secondly, please don’t think any differently of me after I demonstrate my abilities. I’ll always do what I need to do to protect my little ponies, but I’m not a monster. I haven’t taken many lives, and those that I have, I didn’t take lightly. Almost all of them were on that day. I’ve come up with other, less permanent, solutions since then. I regret that I didn’t have them sooner.” There was a tortured look in her eyes as she remembered events long since lost to history. “I never thought there’d be somecreature I couldn’t reason with. Other than Discord, of course. It’s hard to reason with chaos incarnate.”

I nodded, repressing a giggle. It felt like the princess was trying to lighten the mood with some mirth, but the events were too serious to laugh at.

“Sadly, Gerald couldn’t be reasoned with, and I didn’t have an artifact that could turn him to stone or seal him in the moon for a thousand years. Instead, I used my natural talents.” She motioned to her cutie mark.

The princess stood up and started trotting. “We need a few supplies. So let’s walk and talk.”

I sprinted to catch up with her, practically galloping to keep up with her longer strides. “Couldn’t we teleport?”

“We could, but ponies were meant to trot and gallop. You can’t just teleport everywhere for every little thing. Patience is a virtue, my little pony.”

I groaned. “Mama says that too.”

“Your mother is a very wise mare.”

“But there’s so much to learn!”

“Indeed there is. Can I let you in on a little secret?”

My eyes opened wide and I nodded my head vigorously. Oh my gosh, Princess Celestia trusts me enough to tell me something nopony else knows!

“Nopony can learn everything. I’ve been alive for millennia, and I still learn new things on a daily basis. But there’s more to life than learning – you must always remember to take some time off to have fun as well. It pleases me immensely that you have a friend that you care for so deeply that you were willing to sacrifice coming to school here. I’ve seen your progress, Snowcatcher. You want to be here.”

“Of course! Your school is incredible!”

The princess smiled. “It really is, and the reason for that is I’ve surrounded myself with many good ponies through the years. You and Dewdrop Dazzle are very good friends, but it takes more than just two little ponies to make a herd. There are many opportunities at my school, please take advantage of all of them. That includes making more friends.”

We stopped in front of a supply closet as I tried to figure out why making more friends was so important.

“You’ll need these for my demonstration.”

A pair of dark glasses floated over to me and I grabbed them in my own field, putting them on. “Okay?” The glasses covered my eyes in their entirety, darkening my surroundings as if it was a dark, overcast night, with no moon overhead.

Then we teleported to the middle of the salt flats outside Salt Lick City. I blinked, adjusting to the change of scenery through the darkened glasses. The landscape was barren in all directions, though there were half a dozen equinnequins dressed in Royal Guard armor and brandishing swords and spears surrounding us.

“Quick! They’re attacking! Which one is hostile?”

I scanned them, and pointed to the one thrusting a sword directly at us. “That one!”

Several things happened simultaneously. Princess Celestia put up a force field in front of me, while a beam of brilliant sunlight lanced from the heavens and struck the lifeless dummy in front of us. I could feel the heat through the magical shield as the sun melted the armor and weaponry to slag metal and reduced the equinnequin to ash.

Even with the darkened glasses, I blinked repeatedly to remove the spots from my eyes. Once my vision was fully restored I took the glasses off and saw that only the one I’d pointed to had been vaporized. The other five were still standing, untouched. “Wow. Incredible precision.”

“My bond to the sun. I couldn’t teach you this, even if I wanted to. My special spell is a burden, a curse.”

“I… I think I see that now, princess. Kinda hard to talk things out with a pile of dust.”

“It’s permanent. There’s no undoing it if I’ve made a mistake, or if the creature in question has learned their lesson. It’s a thing I can do if needed. I try not to need it.”

I nuzzled the princess, rearing up on my hind legs to lick her cheek. “With great power comes great responsibility. You’re a very responsible mare, princess. If you wanted to… you could burn everybody on the planet to dust. But you haven’t, though I bet some of the nobles tempt you every once in a while.”

She snorted at that. “You have no idea. Come on, let’s get this cleaned up, and then I’ll teach you teleportation.”

Before I could move we’d teleported back to the castle’s supply closet, with the equinnequins, armor, and weapons were neatly replaced, minus one set.

“I guess you don’t need help with the cleaning.”

She chuckled. “Not particularly.”

We winked again, this time to the campus’ empty gymnasium. A nice, big space, perfect for working on teleportation. I grinned excitedly. Finally! The princess stood against one wall, and I joined her, looking out at all the empty space.

“The most important part of teleportation is to picture your destination in your mind. It’s highly recommended to memorize specific points of reference. Start with places you can visibly see. Once you’re comfortable with that, move on to locations you’re very familiar with, such as points around your house, your dorm room, or a certain lake I introduced you to.”

I blushed as the princess continued. “Yes, I know you and Dewdrop Dazzle have a fondness for the location. The land belongs to the Crown, so you’re not trespassing. Nopony ever goes there, which is a shame considering the beauty of the location, wouldn’t you agree?”

I nodded.

“Which makes it an ideal location to practice. You know it well, and you can be reasonably certain that it’s clear of other ponies. That’s the next most important thing to keep in mind – you can’t teleport into something. It’s physically impossible to wind up stuck inside a wall, despite that old mare’s tale continuing to make the rounds. The only exception to that is if you teleport into an object that has room for you to fit, like a hay bale. In that scenario, you’ll just displace the hay. It won’t hurt, but you’ll look silly.”

I giggled at the mental image of a unicorn’s rump sticking out of a bale of hay.

“If the space you attempt to teleport into is occupied by a denser object or another being, it results in what’s known as recoil. Your teleport will complete, but instead of emerging where you expected, you’ll emerge from between in motion, moving away from your intended destination. If another pony or creature is occupying the spot, or a smaller, mobile object, the force of your failed teleport will also move that object or being away from you at a similar speed. I can’t emphasize this enough: failed teleports hurt.”

She paused, allowing me time to soak in all the knowledge.

“Next up, while it’s a simple spell to learn, it’s magic-intensive. Almost any unicorn can pull off a successful teleport, but the ability to do multiple winks in a short span of time is something only gifted mages can manage. Attempting another while your magic is recharging will result in your magic fizzling out. For somepony of your talent, that might not be a problem. Gifted unicorns can teleport repeatedly with no problems whatsoever.”

“What about passengers?”

“Interestingly enough, there’s no additional magic output required for bringing somepony with you. Every bit of magic expended is used opening a portal from where you are to where you want to go. Passengers and cargo will need to be close to you, preferably touching, or you can carry them in your aura. Any other questions so far?”

I shook my head and she continued, “Furthermore, there’s a safe range for teleportation. Every unicorn is different, but the general rule is that the more powerful your magic, the further you’re able to go. That said, there’s not really a limit to how far you can go if you’re willing to deal with the consequences. You could, in theory, teleport home to Whinnyapolis from here, however, your safe range is likely only within a mile or two of your present location. Going beyond that is extremely painful. That’s why it’s rare that unicorns use teleportation as a means of getting around. The safe range for a unicorn of average magical ability is approximately a tenth of a mile.”

“How painful?”

“Have you ever had a migraine?”

I shook my head.

“It’s painful enough that most unicorns decide teleportation isn’t worth it except as a last resort, such as trying to escape from danger. Think about how rarely you see unicorns teleport. Nothing makes a memory last like pain.”

“Is it possible to get stuck between?”

“It’s impossible to teleport without a destination. The door won’t open. Teleporting directly to between doesn’t work because it isn’t a destination. Ponies have tried to intentionally wink to between, but rather than picture a blank space, they instead picture pitch blackness…”

“What happens?”

“They end up in space. It’s instantly fatal, and it’s the most common method of suicide among unicorns. Whether intentionally or not.”

I shuddered. “That’s a lot of risks.”

The princess nodded. “Indeed, my little pony. Teleportation is a skill worth knowing, even if one never utilizes it. But the dangers must be emphasized. As we discussed earlier, power comes with responsibilities. If you continue to practice, you’ll eventually suffer recoil. For example, let’s say you teleported to the alpine lake, a place you know well and can reasonably expect to be unoccupied. But there was an avalanche you didn’t know about. You can’t materialize inside the rocks, it’s physically impossible. Instead, you’d recoil, being pushed to the nearest unoccupied space, regardless of direction. That might be up, putting you on top of the rocks, or it might be off the side of the mountain entirely.”

I gulped at that mental image.

“There’s no way to predict recoil. Furthermore, in order to learn your limits, you’ll have to surpass them. When that time comes, you’ll know it. Your horn and head will ache worse than you ever thought possible. Recovery time differs from unicorn to unicorn, but it’s rarely less than six hours. Starswirl could shake such a thing off in ten minutes, but he was the exception, not the norm. This is why unicorns use teleportation sparingly. In theory, one could wink to work, but it’s not practical to spend six hours recovering to skip a ten-minute trot.”

I nodded. That was just common sense.

“So now that you have the background, it’s time to learn how. It’s easy. Almost every unicorn is capable of teleporting. Light your horn and visualize a door or window in your mind. The kind of door doesn’t matter, so long as you can see through it. You should picture your destination on the other side of the door, and then open the door. By opening the door, you step into between for exactly 1.2 seconds. This is important, because if you attempt to teleport onto a moving vehicle, such as a train, you’ll need to factor in the location of exactly where the train will be at the moment you step out of between. Merely picturing the inside of the train car won’t be sufficient. That’s an advanced lesson, and even then it’s suggested to be used sparingly. You need to be very good at calculating quickly to pull it off successfully. The results of a miscalculation can be deadly.”

She’s not doing a very good job of selling me on wanting to do this. That’s probably the point.

“Are you ready to try?”

“Yup!” No hesitation. I don’t scare easily, princess.

“Picture a door. In theory, you could use a window, but most ponies prefer a door. It can be a screen door, or a sliding glass door, or an automated door like they have at the store, the important part is that you must be able to see through it.” She projected a simple door with a transparent pane of glass in front of us. “This is my door. It’s nothing fancy, and both the door and the house it was once attached to have been dust for thousands of years. It was the door of the house I grew up in. You’ll likely also wish to use a door you’re familiar with. Do you have a door pictured?”

I nodded. “Yes, Princess Celestia.” I projected it – it was the screen door to my home’s kitchen, complete with the dent I’d put in it playing ball with Dewey.

“Very good. Now, let’s pick a destination. For your first lesson, it should be something you can see.” She trotted to the center court and motioned to the empty space next to her. “Picture this on the opposite side of your door. It should be easy, as you should be able to see it through your door. Open the door, Snowcatcher.”

I felt my magic grasp around the door handle of the imaginary door. Whoa, it feels solid. Without even trying, I tugged the door open and I was standing next to the princess. “Wow…”

“It wasn’t hard at all, now was it?”

I shook my head.

“Do you feel tired, my little pony?”

I shook my head again.

“Do you feel like you could do it again?”

I nodded vigorously.

“Then don’t let me stop you.”

I looked around the room and pictured a door to the top of the bleachers. I stepped through and waved to the princess. I winked to the other grandstand across from the one I was standing on. My next teleport was to the entrance of the locker room. Finally, I winked back to where the princess was standing.

“It appears as if you’ve got the basics down. I told you it isn’t challenging. Now, let’s try something more difficult.” She beckoned me to follow, and led me into the locker room. “Hold my hoof and picture the gym. I want you to open a door to anywhere in the gym you want.”

With the princess’ hoof touching mine, I pictured the top of the bleachers. We stepped through and both of us were there. “It’s really that simple?”

The princess nodded. “It is. It also looks like your magic level is sufficient for unlimited short range teleports. Congratulations! It’s time for the hard part.”

“What’s that?”

“A few months from now, Professor Supernova will have an evaluation to determine how far our newest students can safely teleport. Your safe range will be accurately measured to the tenth mile, and medical staff will be on hoof to ensure nothing goes wrong. The hard part is not pushing yourself beyond a tenth of a mile before that. You’ve already safely demonstrated being able to go that far. You have the basics down, but you should keep practicing. From here to the lake is too far. From here to your dorm room is too far. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Princess Celestia. Can I take Dewey with me?”

“If she desires to come along. Most ponies are wary of winking with a novice for obvious reasons.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But I’ll show her I’m really good at it.” My tail was wagging and I forced it to stop. The princess seemed more amused by my embarrassment than the fact I’d been wagging my tail in the first place.

“Are you familiar with the concept of a cost-benefit analysis?”

I shook my head.

“It’s an economic concept, one you’ll learn about eventually. In this case, once you experience the pain of going past your limits, you’ll have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to go that far ever again. The cost is the pain. The benefit is the ability to go almost anywhere instantaneously. Only you can make the decision, and you’ll probably find yourself making it more than once as the years roll by. Like, for example, going home. Take a train and lose three days each way, or wink and lose a few hours to the pain. That’s the decision you’ll need to make… once you understand the consequences.”

I nodded. It was a fairly simple concept. “If the benefit of saving time outweighs the cost of the pain.”

“You’ve got it. Any other questions, Snowcatcher?”

I shook my head. “No, Princess Celestia. Thank you for taking the time to teach me all this. I didn’t think you did personal tutoring.”

“I make exceptions sometimes. Especially when one of my little ponies explicitly asks me to teach them something.”

I blushed as I remembered our conversation on the day Dewey and I were evaluated. “I just meant I wanted to learn. You didn’t have to do it personally. I know you have more important things to do…”

She stopped me. “Don’t discount the value of education. I cleared time in my schedule just for this, as I’ve done countless times in the past, and will continue to do in the future.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Unfortunately, if you don’t have any more questions, I do have to return to my duties. Unless you want to fill in for me? Half the nobles wouldn’t even notice; their snouts are perpetually pointed at the ceiling.”

I giggled at that image and she left, waving to me as she winked away.

I opened an eye as daylight streamed into the room. I was buried under half a dozen blankets and my bed smelled rank. I’d been sick the last few days, and my fever had apparently finally broken at some point overnight, judging by how clammy my bed felt.

“Dewey?” I croaked out, voice scratchy from disuse.

“How are you feeling, Snowy?”

“The sheet’s soaking wet, and it feels like there’s a freight train running through the middle of my head. Which is an improvement, believe it or not. What’s the weather like?”

“The clouds are cotton candy and it’s raining chocolate milk. Also, all the trees on campus are tap dancing.”

Maybe the fever hasn’t broken yet. I’m still fever dreaming. “Okay, sounds good. I’m going back to bed now.” I pulled the blankets over my head and drifted to sleep.

Under the watchful eyes of Professor Supernova, I trotted a tenth of a mile along with a dozen of my other classmates. When we reached the mark, we each teleported back to the starting line, one-by-one. Everyone in the class made it a tenth of a mile with no problems. Then we moved out to a fifth of a mile, then a quarter of a mile. By the time we got to a mile, it was just me. The others had all reached their limits and were resting in a darkened classroom.

The thought of joining them wasn’t all that appealing, but I had to know my limits. Mile and a tenth, no problem. Mile and a fifth, easy. Mile and a quarter, no sweat. Mile and three tenths, nailed it. Mile and two fifths, and even Supernova was starting to look impressed. Mile and a half, still no problem. Mile and three fifths, still good. Mile and three quarters…

Pain. Pain everywhere. I collapsed on the ground as the world started spinning around me. It didn’t matter that it was an overcast day, it was too bright outside. I don’t wanna die.

I vaguely felt myself being levitated, and I could sense through my squeezed-shut eyes that I’d been transferred to the darkened room with my classmates. Something cold pressed against my horn, and I welcomed the slight relief from the pain it brought. I could hear moans of agony around me, and I added to their chorus. I spent that first hour worried that I was going to die.

I spent the next hour worried that I wasn’t. The pain was excruciating. It was like somepony took a knife, edgy and dull, and cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my skull. With each breath, I wanted to give up the battle and let the darkness take me. I made my peace with the world and wanted nothing more than to just slip away. I could now understand why so many unicorns abandoned teleportation.

Then, as suddenly as it had come on, the pain started fading. Clarity returned to me. I could still hear the anguished cries of my classmates as I blinked, testing my vision. The room wasn’t spinning, that was a good sign. I sat on my haunches, testing weight on my front legs. Once I was satisfied they weren’t about to collapse, I stood up all the way. All of my classmates were still down for the count – not only had I outperformed them, I’d recovered faster as well. I trotted out of the room, head held high. My limit is just past a mile and a half. I can work with this.

I found Supernova recording our performance on a scroll. She looked up as I exited the impromptu infirmary. “Congratulations on the teleportation distance record for your class. It’s been three years since we had a unicorn who could go further than you.”

“Thank you.”

“I hope you won’t let the pain deter you.”

I shook my head. “Not a chance. I know my limits now. Is there any way to improve my distance?”

“I’m afraid not. It’s related to overall magical ability, which is an innate talent. Unless you enhance yourself with an artifact of some sort, your limits are just that. It’s a lot different from when you’re a foal just learning magic. At that point in your life, you can’t even come close to your limits. Now you’re stuck with them.”

I nodded. “That’s what I thought, but it never hurts to check. Thank you!” with that, I left, eager to start mapping Canterlot in mile-and-a-half increments.

“Snow’El! Guess what, sis! It snowed!”

“Seriously? You knew it was going to snow last night.” She still hadn’t opened her eyes.

Time to be a bratty little sister. “Get up!” I yanked her blanket off her with my magic, wrapping myself in it. I noted that the blanket not only smelled like my sister, but also perfume. That was new, my sister hadn’t been wearing any scents before I left for school. The problem with going to school half a continent away is that I feel like a stranger in my own home. Maybe… maybe I need to risk the headaches more often and just come home a few weekends each month instead of just the longer holidays. Dewey would probably appreciate seeing her family more often, too.

“You are such a pain sometimes, Snowy.”

“You barely see me anymore! Come on, let’s play in the snow.” Come on, take the bait. Don’t make me get even more annoying, this is undignified enough for both of us, as is.

“Fine. You want to play in the snow, we’ll play in the snow if it’ll shut you up. And if you let me sleep in the rest of the winter break.”

“Don’t you like playing with me anymore?”

She groaned. “I like playing with you, but not so early in the morning.” With no blanket to pull over her head, she rose from bed and swooped down toward me.

I didn’t dodge, letting her snap me up like a hawk catching a mouse. She opened the window and we were flying. “What was our count. Was it three? Or four?”

I feigned innocence. “What…what count?”

“How many times little sisters can be airdropped. Time to find out!” She let go.

I winked out, trying to guess where she’d be 1.2 seconds later so I could land on her. I miscalculated slightly – instead of landing on her, mid-flight, I came out in the exact spot she was occupying. The recoil pushed us apart; Snow’El crashed into a tree, while I slammed into the side of our house.

“What the hay was that?”

“Recoil. It happens when a unicorn teleports into a space occupied by somepony else.”

She stood up, dusting herself off. “When were you planning on telling us you learned how to wink, squirt?”

“When I successfully landed on you in midair.”

“You planned this whole thing?”

I nodded. “Now I can airdrop you. Shall we find out how airdroppable big sisters are?” I grasped her in my aura and then teleported us a mile straight up. Snow’El had nothing to be afraid of – she had wings. She was safer up here than I was. Or, she would’ve been, if I wasn’t binding her wings to her barrel with my magic.

She struggled against my magic to no avail. Nope, sis. This plays out how I want it to.

When we dropped to within a hundred feet of the ground, I teleported us back up into the sky. “That’s once.”

“Come on, Snowy. Please let me go!”

I pondered that. “On two conditions. First: you never airdrop me again.”

“Fine! And second?”

“Uh, I’ve never actually done this before. I have a theory I want to test, but, uh, if I get too close to the ground, would you mind saving me?”

“I could sleep in from here on out if I didn’t rescue you, but Mom would be mad. You’re her favorite.”

I shrugged, knowing full well that she’d rescue me. “That’s fair – you’re Pop’s favorite.”

“So what’s this theory you have?”

“I think that if I come out sideways or even upside down, I should be able to bleed off speed and make a landing I can trot away from. If not, I need you to help me. I’ll let you know.”

I winked and came out sideways. I started falling immediately, but there was no doubt that I’d scrubbed off speed. Rapid-fire teleports were the way to go – the key being to wink again before I could pick up more downward momentum. My last teleport was to right above the ground, but I opened it upside down, bleeding off speed going straight up.

In theory, it was a good idea. In practice, I found myself above the tree line by the time I stopped moving upward. At that moment I opened a door to between and stepped out on the patio in the backyard below.

Snow’El landed next to me. “That was pretty cool, sis.” She bumped my hoof. “We’ll have to go flying sometime. I’ve heard there are some unicorns who can levitate themselves for extended periods of time and learn to fly that way. Think you can do that?”

Whoa. How come I haven’t heard of that? Is she making it up…? One way to find out. My horn glowed and I lifted myself. Not knowing exactly how best to pick myself up, I focused my magic under my forelegs, as if one of my parents was picking me up. I successfully levitated myself in the air, but it was in an extremely awkward position, and I wasn’t sure how I could actually fly that way.

Snow’El nodded. “Cool. Work on that and maybe we can go flying when you come home for summer vacation. Just don’t try out for the Wonderbolts or anything like that. I’ll never hear the end of it from my friends if my younger, unicorn sister is a better flyer than me.”

“Would I do that to you?”

“Yes.”

There was something nice about ice skating in the middle of summer. Dewey had frozen ‘our’ alpine lake, and we were skating around it.

The Summer Sun Celebration was a few weeks in the past, and the whole country had gone to Tartarus in the meantime. We should’ve been home in Whinnyapolis, but there was rioting. The mostly pegasus town had turned on unicorns, and Mama had insisted I stay at school. Dewey’s parents had urged her to do the same, so that’s what we did. In theory, we’d be okay in a predominantly unicorn city, especially the seat of power. The princesses would never allow tribist jerks in the capital.

Except that it was unavoidable, even in Canterlot. The earth ponies and pegasi of Canterlot were being ostracized, and many of them had left the city. Other species had fared even worse, and if the pony tribes could be that nasty to one another, the only thing worse was to not be a pony at all.

We spent most of our time in our dorm room, or at the lake. They were safe places, for even having a horn didn’t matter when your parentage was clearly visible on your flank. My snowflake and Dewey’s umbrella may as well have been neon signs announcing we each had some pegasus in our family tree. Canterlot nobility was entirely based on who your ancestors were and most unicorns in the city could cite their heritage back generations. Pedigree meant everything, and Dewey and I fell short in one very crucial area: we each had a pegasus parent. We were ‘half-bloods, unworthy of breathing the same air as real unicorns’ according to the purebloods.

As hard as it was to believe, things were worse back home, and Mama hadn’t left the house in weeks. At least we could still move amongst the unicorns of the city if we concealed our cutie marks. Mama and Dewey’s dad weren’t so lucky back home in the predominantly pegasus city of Whinnyapolis.

As usual, Dewey and I entertained ourselves. Figure skating was a nice way to relax, and we skated figure eights around the lake, dodging each other at the intersection. Usually. Every now and then one of us wouldn’t be able to slow down in time, or dodge out of the way and we’d go tumbling across the ice. But that was part of the fun.

Ice skating on a lake overlooking Canterlot wasn’t how either of us had expected to spend our summer. We both longed for home, missing our families, but it was more important that we all stayed safe. This is the greatest city in the greatest nation on Equus. If this is how the ponies act here, is it any wonder why we want to go explore the Frozen North? Someday Dewey and I will be exploring up there, mapping everything, and we won’t have to deal with other ponies except when we want to.

Ponies are supposed to be friendly, so why is it that Dewey and I never made any other friends? Maybe that’s why Princess Celestia didn’t take me on as a personal student, like she had Twilight Sparkle. I hadn’t seen her since the day she taught me teleportation, and it seemed she rarely visited the school that bore her name anymore. She’s probably busy ruling the country.

‘Ironic’ was the only word I could use to describe the movie Dewey and I had decided to see. Ever since the Summer Sun Celebration fear had spread around the city.

That meant that a movie about a griffin joining the Wonderbolts was exactly the wrong movie at the wrong time. One could make a very good argument that it was the right movie at the right time, but being a movie that the public really needed to see meant nothing if the general public refused to watch it. It was a pretty good movie – dramatic when it needed to be, heartwarming in the right places, and sprinkled with humor throughout.

We decided to discuss the movie over ice cream. Our normal hangout, The Cotton Candy Café, had been vandalized, and the earth pony proprietor had fled town. We detoured further from the school’s campus to find an open ice cream shop.

Sweetcream’s Scoopers was open, and we trotted in. Sweetcream Scoops stood behind the counter, and we ordered. I opted for raspberry, while Dewey ordered mint chocolate chip. We enjoyed the desserts and talked about the movie we’d just watched – what we’d liked, what we didn’t, what we would’ve changed about it, and most of all, how relevant it seemed to the current social environment of Equestria.

Overall, we’d both liked the movie. If bits weren’t in such short supply, we probably would’ve gone back to see it a second time. It had given us a lot to talk about, and it was dark by the time we left. We were further away from the campus than I could safely wink us, so we trotted toward the campus.

A gentle wind blew down the avenue as four of our classmates stepped out of a darkened side street and blocked our way. All of them unicorns, all of them stallions, and all of them older and bigger than us. I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

“Well, well, well, look what we have here, boys.”

“Looks like a couple of cute young fillies.”

“Looks like a couple of pegasus wannabes. Check out their flanks. We’ve got a special little snowflake and a dumb umbrella.”

“A dumbrella!”

“My Mom’s a weather pegasus, dumbflank.”

I cringed as Dewey admitted that. As our classmates they probably already knew that, but now you’ve confirmed it for them. We might have been able to bluff our way out of it, but now that option’s off the table.

“Half-blood.”

Oh well, only one thing left to do. Support my friend. Come what may, we’ll face it together. “My father’s a pegasus.”

“Two weak little half-bloods wandering the streets at night. You might want to consider paying the toll for safe passage back to school.”

Time for us to make like Journeigh and Escape. I lit my horn and pictured our dorm room on the other side of the door. The portal started opening… Wham! The door slammed in my face. Ow! That stings! What happened? That was unlike any recoil I’ve ever experienced.

“Oh yeah, we know you can teleport. I developed a blocking spell. Can’t have you leaving this party before it starts.”

Teleport denial? That’s clever. I flashed my corona, testing my magic. It was only my teleportation spell that was blocked. They took our ability to run away, but not our ability to fight. So that’s what these boys want – an excuse to pummel us ‘half-breeds’. They’re underestimating us, that’s good. If they hate pegasi so much, I could absolutely fry them with lightning.

With great power comes great responsibility. I’ve done things that still haunt me to this day… Princess Celestia’s words echoed in my head. No. All I need to do is get us out of here. Learn from her mistakes. She told me that for a reason, I don’t want blood on my hooves.

“Aim down, full blast.”

Dewey’s words snapped me back to attention. I nodded and focused all my magic into the cobblestones below us, blasting a hole into the street and severing the water main that Dewey had apparently sensed beneath us. It’s still two on four, but that evens the odds a bit. Dewey’s in her element. Literally.

Come on, think. I know hundreds of spells, why are none of them useful right now?

I felt a change in the air and looked to the side. Dewey had frozen the stallion who was blocking my teleports. Perfect. There’s the door. Destination? I looked up. Works for me.

“Snowy?!?” Dewdrop was hysterical.

“Right here, Dewey. I teleported us all a mile straight up.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I figured it might give us a chance to talk things out. But it seems our company is too interested in screaming in terror to do any conversing.” I glanced to our companions, three of whom were screaming, while the other was frozen in a block of ice, courtesy of Dewdrop.

“I don’t blame them! You’re crazy, you know that?”

“I know. Anyways, thanks for blasting the one with the teleport blocker.”

“If I’d known you were going to do this, I might not have! You know more spells than anypony I know; couldn’t you have used something other than teleportation?!?”

First order of business: calm Dewey down. “I have half a dozen spells going through my mind right now. But I don’t know if I could make any of them work without hurting anypony. I don’t care if it could be considered self-defense, I’d never forgive myself if I injured somepony. If we can’t talk things out with them, at least this buys us a few minutes to think up a better strategy.”

“Unless we splatter! How about you teleport them to a jail cell, and us back to our dorm?”

Oh Dewey, I can’t teleport them to jail. They haven’t committed any crimes except harassing us, and it’s our word versus theirs. “Remind me to start teleporting us to and from locations around town from now on. Speaking of…” We winked again, once more coming out a mile above Canterlot. Having done all I could do to soothe Dewey’s nerves, I turned my attention to the three panicked stallions who could still speak – trusting them to talk on behalf of themselves and the ice cube. “So do you boys want to talk about why we find ourselves plummeting towards our deaths?”

“You’re crazy!”

I nodded. “Yes, but we’ve already established that. I’m not the one who started this fight. So why don’t you tell me why we’re all in this predicament right now?”

“Because you’re inferior to us!”

Seriously? Calm down, Snowy. No time for sarcasm, it’s time to put on my serious face. “Oh? Doesn’t look that way from where I’m falling. I can save us any time I want, yet none of you seem to have any spells at your disposal to get out of this situation. I can keep doing this all night, but if you’d prefer I can always find another spell to use instead.” I levitated a spell book out of my saddlebags and casually flipped it open as we fell. “Nope, nope, nope, definitely not. Wow, who came up with that one? Oh! This could work: Barker’s Gelding Spell. Would you prefer that one instead?”

That suggestion did absolutely nothing to calm their nerves. Three tails somehow defied gravity as they tucked between six legs as we continued falling.

“Uh, Snowy? Ground!” Dewey was pointing below us, and I nonchalantly gazed at Canterlot below us.

I’m sorry, Dewey, but if you’re going to panic, I’m going to use that to our advantage. If you’re panicked, then they’ve got no proof that I’m not crazy. “Hmn? Oh! Silly me, I almost forgot about that.” I teleported us yet again and we continued our descent. “Now where were we? Right, I think you three were about to promise that we’re all equals and that you’ll never call us half-bloods ever again. Preferably before I start getting tired since it takes about a dozen more teleports to bleed off speed.”

Once I was satisfied with their responses, I started the process of landing. Eventually we all splashed down in the river, and I winked Dewey and I to the shore.

I looked at the stallions sputtering in the water. “Going to keep those promises?”

The stallions nodded and I grinned as I opened a door to between. Instead of walking through, I reached through with my aura and grabbed the three stallions, then opened another door to the opposite shore of the river from Dewey and I, depositing them on their rumps. As soon as Dewey unfroze the other stallion I winked us back to our dorm room. I hit the floor with a thud, safe teleportation range exceeded. I felt Dewey trying to get me into bed as I slipped out of consciousness.

The first snow of the season decorated the city as Dewey and I trotted through town. Hearth’s Warming was less than two weeks away, and we were doing some holiday shopping before I teleported us home to Whinnyapolis for the winter break.

Canterlot was the social and political hub of Equestria. There was no end to shopping opportunities in the city. The only limit was our budgets, which being students, were perennially near zero. I tried to get each of my relatives something special – for Mama, an exquisite snow globe, for Pop, a model railroad layout, and for Snow’El, I got lucky and found an amazing dress for her at Rarity’s Boutique. The rest of my meager bits went toward stocking stuffers for the three of them, and supplies to make something for Dewey. Such had been our tradition for years; simultaneously a way to save money and give a gift that came from the heart. Something that required time, not bits.

I was mostly done with my shopping, while Dewey still needed to visit a few more stores to find things for all her siblings.

“Mrow.”

I stopped upon hearing the faint, but unmistakable, sound of a cat and Dewey crashed into me, knocking us both into the slushy road. I lifted my head and looked around. Off to the side of the road was a kitten. He was laying on his side in the snow, ribs showing through patchy fur every time he took a labored breath.

I approached him slowly, but he made no attempt to get up. “You poor kitty.” He flopped lifelessly in my magic as I levitated him onto my back. I yanked my scarf off and wrapped it around his shivering body.

“Three blocks that way.”

I looked up. “Huh?”

“There’s a veterinarian’s office three blocks from here.” Dewey pointed in the direction we needed to go. I broke into a gallop, and Dewey passed me, punching a hole through the crowd so I could follow. She came to a stop in front of a sign for the Broken Wings Animal Hospital. Dewey held the door for me, and I kept a magical hold on the kitty nestled on my back.

The hospital was empty, and we walked right up to the counter. The mare there introduced herself as Doctor Fauna, and she took the feline into the back.

Dewey took a seat to wait, while I paced laps around the waiting room. I wonder what happened to him? I wonder how many other ponies heard his cries and just kept trotting? I wonder… if he’s going to make it?

The minutes dragged by, turning into the longest hours of my life. Dewey read every magazine in the waiting room while I continued pacing. I couldn’t sit still. Not without knowing the kitty was going to be okay.

I had to continuously fight the urge to name him. A name meant attachment. A name meant I couldn’t just leave and go back home like nothing had happened. The school doesn’t allow pets.

My thoughts were interrupted by Doctor Fauna emerging from the back room. She looked tired as she said, “He’s going to be okay.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, and Dewey joined me, standing in front of the veterinarian.

“He’s going to need to stay here for a few weeks. He’s a very lucky kitten. If you nice young mares hadn’t stopped for him, he wouldn’t have lasted much longer. Have you decided on a name yet?”

“Oh, we can’t keep him. I’m sure he’ll make a great pet for somepony, but we’re students. We can’t have pets in the dorm.” I stared at the floor. I really wanted a cat.

“I won’t tell if you won’t, Snowy. How about you, Doc?”

“Who am I going to tell?” Doctor Fauna winked at us. “All I care about is making sure the little guy goes to a good home. I’d be remiss if I let you walk out and never come back for him. If you didn’t care about his well-being, you would’ve just dropped him off and left.”

“In that case, his name’s Snowflake.” I’d lost the battle not to name him within minutes. I’d been denying it, but the name felt right.

Doctor Fauna nodded. “A very appropriate name. When you return from your Hearth’s Warming vacation, he should be healthy enough to go home. That should be about a month from now, right? Come see me when you get back to town.”

I nodded, and we let ourselves out. Once we were outside I hugged Dewey for all I was worth. “You’re the best, you know that? But do you really think we can get away with keeping a cat on campus without anypony finding out?”

“We’re the least popular ponies in school, Snowy. You’re a loner by nature, and everypony thinks I’m a freak because I have to use water to utilize my magic correctly. When was the last time somepony voluntarily came to our room?”

“Point.”

“Just cast a sound deadening spell on the room and nopony will ever be the wiser.”

My senses slowly returned to me. My head was throbbing, and I felt something cold and damp against the base of my horn. Icepack. Right, I teleported us back to school. It was cool and dark, but there was a droning sound that had woken me up. My ears flattened as I tried to go back to sleep.

“Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”

Dewey. I reminded myself that Dewey was incapable of reading minds and tried to speak. My mouth opened but no sound came out. On the third try, I finally squeaked out her name. “Dewey?”

“Yes?”

I whispered, the sound of my own voice causing my ears to flatten in pain. “Are they jackhammering our dorm?”

She chuckled. “That’s the sound of a content kitty.”

Snowflake! Oh my gosh! Dewey got Snowflake for me! I felt a small vibration against my withers and realized that Snowflake was laying on me, purring. I opened my eyes and immediately wished I hadn’t. The room started spinning and I shut my eyes. Snowflake must’ve sensed my discomfort because he started licking the nape of my neck.

Dewey climbed into bed behind me and wrapped a foreleg around me and I fell asleep in her embrace, Snowflake happily purring between us.

I lounged on my bed reading, while periodically swishing my tail off the side. Snowflake attacked my tail, batting at it, pouncing on it, and occasionally yanking out pink or red hairs, but I didn’t mind. I was just happy to see him doing better.

He’d bounced back from his near-death experience. He’d put on weight while under Doctor Fauna’s care, and his ribs no longer showed. His fur had done a marvelous job of growing back, and while the spots that had been bare were still thinner than the rest of his coat, he was looking much healthier than he had when I found him. He was energetic, playful, and the most affectionate cat I’d ever come across. He seemed genuinely grateful that Dewey and I had taken him in. I had no way of knowing what he’d been through previously, but there was no way I’d ever let him suffer like that on my watch.

The door opened, and Dewey came in. I could see the sparkle of amusement in her eyes as she watched Snowflake. “Congratulations, Snowy! You’ve performed spectacularly at Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns, ranked number one in our class, and are a horseshoe-in to be valedictorian. You’re sufficiently qualified to be a cat toy.”

“He’s healthy. That’s all that matters. If I lose a few tail hairs, so what?”

“He’s more than just healthy. He’s happy.”

I smiled. “If he’s happy, I’m happy.”

“Makes three of us, then.” She opened her saddlebags and revealed a small fish. Snowflake’s nose twitched, and he lost all interest in playing with my tail.

“Mrow!”

Dewey dropped the fish into Snowflake’s food dish, and he tore into it like he hadn’t eaten in a week.

“Where’d you get a fresh fish at this time of the year?” I was watching my budget, because I had no income and cat food was expensive. Cats are obligate carnivores, so he couldn’t eat pony food. That meant I couldn’t sneak him food out of the cafeteria, and the only places that sold meat tended to make you pay for their exclusivity.

“The river, not far from the castle. I did some ice fishing. It’s not all that hard for a mare of my abilities. The hard part was finding the right fish – not so big that he wouldn’t be able to eat all of it, and not too small that it wouldn’t fill him up.”

“Thank you.”

She shrugged. “No sense wasting bits. We’re perfectly capable of catching our own fish.”

Snowflake had finished the fish and flopped over in a sunbeam for a post-dinner nap. I wrinkled my nose. “Indeed we are. I just wish they didn’t stink.”

“Beats hanging out in the griffin meat markets.”

I nodded. “Those places smell like death.”

“Smelling one dead fish is better than smelling thousands of them.”

Snowflake was done with his meal and I levitated the fish’s remains to the garbage, then tied up the bag and levitated it into the hall. “I’m gonna take the trash out, Dewey.”

“Good idea.”

After a long day of class, there was nothing Dewey and I liked more than visiting the little lake high up on the mountain. It was winter and the days were still short, but if I teleported us directly from our last class of the day, we could manage a few hours of frolicking before starting on homework.

It had been a particularly brutal day, with tests in three of our classes, and we’d been too busy studying the past few days to have had any time off to play.

It meant we were pent up and needed to really cut loose. Thankfully, nopony ever bothered with ‘our’ lake, not even in the summer, let alone the middle of winter. We were alone, and that meant we could go all out.

Dewey’s magic was strongest around water, and between the lake and the snow, she was in her element. The snow meant I was also at my peak, and we squared off against one another in a battle for the ages.

As always, I let my friend go first. The fight was almost over before it began. I could see Dewey’s horn glowing, but I couldn’t figure out what she was doing with it until I was hock-deep in snow. The packed snow beneath my hooves was slowly swallowing me.

How subtle. I teleported from the trap and onto the middle of the lake, skating to a stop on the far side. Dewey had me on the run early, but with the ability to teleport, I held the overall advantage. I unleashed a spark of magic into the air which boomed as it exploded in magical fireworks. It also triggered an avalanche, and a wall of snow raced down the mountain toward us.

C’mon, Dewey, show me what you can do.

The more snow and water, the stronger Dewdrop’s magic. She reacted best when she didn’t think about things, hence why I’d caused an avalanche. The idea was to force her to do something big, like when she’d gotten her cutie mark. On that day she’d summoned a downpour on a sunny day.

With more raw material than she’d ever have access to unless she went to the ocean, Dewey sculpted a magnificent, much larger-than-life replica of Princess Celestia. She even utilized the debris caught up in the avalanche, with rocks becoming her regalia and a mighty pine tree becoming her crown. It was a sight to behold, and Dewey placed it at the top of the peak, where everypony in Canterlot could look up at it and behold its magnificence.

“Beat…that…” she huffed.

I shrugged. “I can’t. You win.” It didn’t happen often, but I was never disappointed when she beat me in our magic battles. “Want to go skating?”

Dewey nodded. “Just let me catch my breath a bit first.”

I nodded and draped a wing over her withers. At that moment she went from panting for breath to holding it in awe. She stared at my horn and wings in turn.

“Is something wrong, Dewey?”

“Wings.” She fainted.

My horn blinked out and my ‘wings’ disappeared. A simple illusion spell, it was one of my favorites. Combined with another spell to simulate the weight of the wing and the feel of feathers, they felt as real as they looked.

I grasped Dewey in my aura and teleported us back to our room. That’s enough playing for one day.

Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns was prestigious enough that every year the senior prom was held in the Canterlot Castle ballroom. I was bedazzled by the opulence on display, from the finest woods to the brightest gems. Most of our classmates came from noble houses, and were dressed in finery and jewelry that had been hoofed down from generation to generation.

Dewey and I didn’t have all that – we didn’t even have dates, so we’d gone together. We’d spent far more than either of us would’ve liked at Rarity’s Boutique, and had to hope that the gems the fashionista had worked into our dresses would be enough.

The school had spared no expense, and Mare Supply was performing on a stage near the center of the room.

“♫ Trotting along the boulevard, speaking into the air… ♫”

We sat dejectedly by the refreshments, hoping against hope somepony would actually ask us to dance. We weren’t rich. We weren’t from a noble house. We weren’t even pureblooded unicorns. In Canterlot, that meant we kept sitting, regardless of how pretty we looked. We’d gone all out and I thought we looked really nice. It was a shame to just sit there on prom night. We both knew better than to come here, but we did it anyway because we only get one prom night. Better to have come and failed than to have always wondered ‘what if we’d gone?’ the rest of our lives.

“♫ Here I am, playing with those memories again… ♫”

Memories overwhelmed me as I thought back on my life. In almost every memory Dewey was right there beside me. She’d always been there. Is that love? Have I been mistaking love for friendship all these years? Only one way to find out…

I want to dance. Dewey wants to dance. Mind made up, I yanked my best friend in the world onto the dance floor.

“♫ You know you can’t fool me, I’ve been loving you too long… ♫”

Like most of Mare Supply’s catalog, it was a romantic song. The couples around us were kissing one another. I looked at Dewey. My best friend forever. I’d never felt any attraction to her before, and as far as I knew, she’d never felt any toward me, but it was prom night and she looked radiant in her dress. Everypony should get a kiss on prom night, and everypony on campus already thinks the two of us are dating. I moved my snout closer to hers and she made no move to stop me.

If I was supposed to feel sparks or see fireworks, I was disappointed. It felt like kissing my sister, and Snow’El was the last pony I wanted to think about when making out with somepony. Dewey had already opened her eyes by the time I opened my own and she shook her head.

“Wanna get out of here?”

She nodded, and I levitated a request to Mare Supply’s lead singer, Tender Heart.

He looked at the request and frowned. “Are you sure?”

I nodded sadly.

“My condolences.” He quickly told Heart Song, and Dewey and I trotted out as the two of them started playing one of the saddest songs in their repertoire.

“♫ …I’m trying to survive, love and other bruises, makes us all good losers… ♫”

I held the door for Dewey and then we trotted back to our dorm room. I sighed – we were probably going to have a very long talk about what was and wasn’t going on between us. Things that had never been questioned were suddenly no longer black and white, and it was all my fault.

Dewey’s the only friend I’ve ever had. I don’t want to be alone…

A week later I was still having a hard time looking at Dewey without blushing in embarrassment. We’d had a long discussion to clear the air between us. We both realized that dancing together at prom was the closest either of us had ever come to having a date. Fate, it seemed, had pushed us together. Even if neither of us was the other's ideal partner, we weren't opposed to spending our lives with one another. It beat being alone. We decided to keep our minds open to the idea, to see if feelings blossomed between us.

I apologized for kissing her, and she apologized for not beating me to it. The thought had been on her mind too. Neither of us regretted having our first kiss at prom, or with each other. If anything, we were disappointed that sparks hadn't flown. We were both adamant that a rash moment of awkwardness wouldn’t ruin more than a decade and a half of friendship.

We’d been the talk of the school for the last week, with other ponies thinking we’d had some sort of lover’s spat at the dance. They seemed confused that we still seemed inseparable, standing next to each other in gowns and caps. Since the diplomas were given out in alphabetical order, Dewey razzed me that she’d graduated before me.

An hour later it was my turn to go up, except I had to give a speech, since they’d named me class valedictorian. I stood there in front of my classmates, in front of family and friends of the graduates. As I looked out on the crowd, I couldn’t find my own family in the audience until Snow’El and Razzle Dazzle flew out of their seats, unfurling a banner that read ConGRADulations, Snowcatcher! with an intentionally punny misspelling. They were stuck in the back, far away from the premium seating reserved for the noble houses of Canterlot. Money might be able to purchase a diploma, but it couldn’t buy talent.

“When I was a filly they told me I’d never amount to anything. My special talent was catching snowflakes on my tongue, about as useless a real world skill as they come. I didn’t know it back then, but I was starting my life in a hole. But I’m tenacious, if nothing else. If someone tells me I can’t do something, I prove them wrong. A dozen years later I stand before you a graduate of Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. Thank you for taking a chance on a unicorn from Whinnyapolis with a weather cutie mark. I’ve learned so much in the years I’ve been here and I really can’t thank you enough for the opportunity. They said I’d amount to nothing, but now I can be anything. The world awaits, just as it awaits all of my classmates. I wish all of you luck in your future endeavors.”

It was a short speech. I wasn’t a noble, I didn’t belong, and I wasn’t going to waste words on ponies I didn’t like, and who didn’t like me. I winked back to my place to allow the next graduate to be called.

When it was finally over, Dewey and I met our families in their hotel. They weren’t hard to find – the Dazzle horde took up most of the hotel’s lobby space. Dewdrop had several siblings younger than Razzle now, though I was embarrassed that I didn’t actually know any of their names. A quick look at Mrs. Dazzle showed her heavy with foal yet again. Bringing everypony out here must have cost a small fortune. I’d been too busy to bring them out, but I made up my mind that I’d teleport everypony home to save money.

We headed to Canterlot’s famous Restaurant Row to celebrate. Agreeing on which place to eat was about as challenging as getting everypony gathered to agree on pizza toppings. Personally, I wanted to go to The Cotton Candy Café, but that wasn’t on Restaurant Row. Dewey suggested The Tasty Treat, and I had no objections, so that’s where we ate.

I sat with my family at one table, and Dewey’s family took the remaining tables. The Dazzles don’t patronize businesses so much as they overrun them.

“Welcome to The Tasty Treat, my name is Coriander Cumin. May I take your order?”

My family turned to me. “Today’s a special day, sweetheart, so feel free to order anything you want.”

“Hayburger and fries.”

“Are you sure, Snowy? We’re celebrating your graduation. There’s a bread steak that’s supposed to be really good. It better be good if it costs that much.”

“Okay, Pop. Hayburger and sweet potato fries.”

“Fine, but I’m ordering the bread steak.” Pop grumbled, while Mama and Snow’El chuckled and placed their own orders.

Our food arrived soon after and my burger had fried onions, crisp lettuce, bread and butter pickles, and was absolutely dripping with ketchup and mayonnaise. Dad’s bread steak smelled interesting. It had been marinated with some sort of sauce and flavored with exotic spices. It was the most fragrant of our entrées and while curious to try it, I didn’t regret my own choice for a second.

My parents had asked me to repeat my speech, so I indulged them between bites of my burger. It was likely the shortest speech in the history of the pretentious school primarily attended by stuffy, egotistical nobles who liked to hear themselves talk. I trailed off halfway through my recital, as I turned my attention to something behind Pop’s shoulder. When he turned to look I snuck a bite of his bread steak. Mama and Snow’El did the same. When Pop turned back around, half his dinner was missing. He looked from his plate to the three perfectly innocent mares sitting at his table and just grumbled something about the silly fillies he lived with.

The chef appeared and introduced herself as Saffron Masala. “I’m told that you just graduated today! Congratulations! I shall bring you some of our signature curry on the house to celebrate.”

She didn’t stop there – when we were done with dinner, she brought out a cake for all of us as well. How did she make a cake this big that quickly?

I scanned the room and Razzle Dazzle was looking a little too smug, even considering her age. Hmn, Dewey ‘picked’ this restaurant that we’ve never even been to in all the years we’ve lived in Canterlot.

“Hey, Razz.”

The pubescent pegasus fluttered over to me. Her legs were too long and her wings were comically large for her petite frame – she’d grow into both eventually, much like Snow’El had done years earlier. When did Razzle grow up? Has it really been that long since she was the adorable little yearling I helped ‘win’ that snow battle all those years ago? But there was a different question I voiced instead. “Level with me. How’d you know about this place?”

“You figured out it was me.” She beamed and hoofed me a book. “Pinkie Pie’s Perfect Picks: Relatable Restaurant Reviews gives this place five party balloons.”

“I’ve always been partial to Cotton Candy Café, personally.”

“You always find a place you like, then never go anywhere else. Live a little. Be adventurous! Like a pegasus!” She flared her wings and wiggled her rump as if she was about to take off. Not that she’d get very far inside the restaurant.

Much to my surprise, she hopped onto one of the other tables. Much to her older sister’s surprise, she snagged Raindrop’s slice of cake and made a break for it. I looked over to Snow’El, licking my lips at the slice of cake still sitting on her plate.

“Don’t even think about it.”

Too late, sis, and threats aren’t going to work on me. My horn glowed and she hunched over her cake, protectively. Instead I opened the door to between and the cake appeared in front of me, taking her completely by surprise. I gave it back to her since there was still plenty of cake left if I wanted seconds. Which I did. More importantly, I wanted a slice my sister hadn’t been eating from. Yuck.

I spun the globe absently as I filled out an application to petition Princess Cadence in the Crystal Empire. They’d write back if the princess agreed to meet with me. But I’d never believed in putting all my eggs in one basket, so as a backup plan I decided to apply for a visa to go to Earth. I’d already studied everything I needed to know to get approved. The ads indicated they wanted the brightest and best mares to apply, and I was confident I’d be approved if that’s what I decided to do.

I had the apartment to myself – Dewey had taken a job with the Canterlot Department of Water, which was paying for the apartment. I’d suggested getting a job also, but Dewey was adamant I focus on our long term goal, while she took care of the short term living expenses. So I’d spent the last few months researching the presentation I was going to give to Princess Cadence.

I flipped through the books on Earth again. Their polar regions were already well-explored, a point I made sure to bring up in my presentation to the princess to prove how essential it was. But it meant that if I had to go with the contingency plan, I’d be stuck on Earth for five years doing who knew what. It most likely wouldn’t have anything to do with their arctic or Antarctic. Maybe I could figure out how to save them before they’re gone. I looked at the data yet again and wondered for the umpteenth time how the humans could have trashed their planet that badly. I sighed. Their idea of fixing it is to just keep pointing the blame at one another. Do I really want to get involved in all that? If they don’t listen to their own scientists, they’re certainly not going to listen to me.

I looked at the clock – quarter to four; Dewey would be home in an hour and change. I fed Snowflake, then started working on dinner for Dewdrop and myself. Nothing overly fancy – just baked macaroni and cheese. Snowflake rubbed against my legs as I worked, and I scratched him behind the ears with my magic.

I stared out the window as dinner cooked. Canterlot didn’t stop living just because I was bored out of my mind. Ponies were pulling carts and wagons through the street, while messenger pegasi zipped to and fro delivering messages. Maybe I’d been living in Canterlot too long, but it wasn’t hard to pick out the tourists from the locals. Nor was it difficult to pick out the true natives from those who’d moved here from elsewhere, like I had. I chuckled to myself. This isn’t what I expected I’d be doing after graduating. I reminded myself it wouldn’t be for much longer. But I was used to having multiple projects going at any given time, whether it be term papers or science experiments. Being idle was a new feeling, and not one I particularly liked. I just have to keep focusing on what’s important. As soon as I get through this presentation, good or bad, I’ll know what direction my life’s going in.

The scent of baking mac & cheese tickled my nostrils – it actually smelled good. Either my cooking had improved to the point where it wouldn’t give us food poisoning, or we’d built up resistance to it.

I sighed as I looked out the window for Dewey. Waiting for Dewey to get home. Waiting for a reply from the princess. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I was sick of waiting around doing what felt like nothing. I was used to being a mare on the move, never slowing down for a second. But I was stuck in a holding pattern, and it was driving me up the wall.

The timer dinged and I turned the oven off, then took dinner out and put it on the table.

I need to get out and do something. The Crystal Empire, the Frozen North, Earth… it doesn’t matter. I just need a change of scenery.

I stepped off the train and into the brilliant sunshine. After nine hours on a train, it was blinding. I should have brought sunglasses with me. I didn’t have a lot of time before my appointment, but I had enough to have a late lunch.

There was a café near the railway station, so I took a seat inside, near a window, so I could let my eyes acclimate to the bright sunshine. The daffodil and daisy sandwich was nothing to write home about, but the crystal berry shortcake was phenomenal. As I paid, my eyes were drawn to a photo on the wall behind the cash register – it showed Princess Flurry Heart eating at this very restaurant. She looked to be entering her early teens, though she was probably a few years younger than that. Alicorns were taller than the rest of the population, so she probably towered over ponies her own age.

My meeting was with Flurry’s mother, and I checked the clock as I left the restaurant. If I teleported, I could do a little sightseeing before my appointment. I could see the stadium where the Equestria Games had been held a decade prior, and I made that my first stop. It was now home to the Crystal Empire Hearts buckball team. I teleported to the top row of seats, and looked around the city from my vantage point. I could see a statue nearby, and in the blink of an eye I was there, reading about Spike the Great.

I glanced at the sun in the sky – I was running low on time. I could see another statue, and I winked to it, surprised to discover it was a monument to King Sombra. The locals had covered it in graffiti, and the signs posted encouraged the defacement of the statue. I read the placard – thankfully the letters had been carved into the crystal, so they were still legible under the layers of graffiti. It was, unsurprisingly, the typical propaganda one would expect from a dictator like Sombra. The Empire was better off without him.

With time running out, I teleported to the Crystal Castle, and momentarily stood in awe of it. It was much more aesthetically-pleasing than Canterlot’s castle. A guard trotted up to me and led me inside. I took a seat in the waiting room and made myself comfortable. As I sat there, I tested the wards. As expected, the castle was warded against teleporting in. Thankfully, it wasn’t warded against teleports out. If my meeting ran long, I could wink to the train station if needed. With such a long distance to go, there was only one train in and out of the Crystal Empire each day. I’d brought enough bits with me that I could stay overnight if things went really well, and the princess wanted to have a follow-up meeting, but if I didn’t need to spend the bits, I was hoping not to. I’d scheduled my meeting in the window between the train’s arrival and departure, so with luck I could save some money.

Eventually, it was my turn, and I bowed to the princess as the guard announced my name.

“Greetings, Snowcatcher. How may I assist you today? Have you traveled this great distance looking for love?”

Of course she would think that. That’s probably the only reason ponies ever petition the Princess of Love. “No, Your Highness. I would like to offer my services to you.” I turned and presented my mark to her. “It’s been my dream since I was a filly to explore the Frozen North. I recently graduated from Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns, and I propose an expedition to map the Frozen North on behalf of the Crystal Empire.”

“I really don’t think that will be necessary.”

I blinked. That was the last reaction I would’ve expected. “We wouldn’t require much money. My team would consist solely of myself and my partner, Dewdrop Dazzle. We’d need basic supplies: nonperishable food, portable shelter, etc. We could do this much cheaper than anypony else.”

“Tell me more about your partner.”

“Dewdrop? She also just graduated from Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. She’s a water mage, and between the two of us, we’d be able to overcome any obstacle in our path.”

Princess Cadence nodded. “How long have you known her?”

“Since we were fillies. I nearly ran her over on a sled and ever since we’ve been inseparable.”

“How close are the two of you?”

“She’s my best friend in the world. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other.”

“That’s it? Just friends?”

Oh. Right, Princess of Love. “That’s correct. Neither of us has a special somepony.” I’m losing her! Think! “Which is why we want to do this now. While we’re fresh out of school, and before we’re ready to settle down.”

“With each other?”

I shook my head. “I mean, I suppose it’s possible, but I’d think that with as long as we’ve known each other, we’d know by now if we had feelings for one another. I certainly wouldn’t object to having her as a partner, in that regard, but I don’t think that really fits the definition of love. What do you think? Love’s more your specialty. You’re the expert here.”

“I think you should go home to Dewdrop and you should kiss her.”

I blushed. “Uh, Princess. We’ve… we’ve kissed before.” My face was redder than a tomato. “Neither of us had dates for prom, so we went together, and we were dancing to romantic songs and I guess we got caught up in everything going on around us… All the other couples were kissing so we did too.” I stared at the floor. “It was the most embarrassing moment of my life. Everypony else was looking lovingly into the eyes of their dates, and Dewey and I were just standing there, staring at each other awkwardly. I didn’t feel anything, and she didn’t either.”

“You could just be a bad kisser. Try it again.”

My throat went dry. Every time I opened my mouth to respond, no words came out. Thanks, Princess. Now I have a new most embarrassing moment in my life. Eventually I mumbled something noncommittal and tried to steer the conversation back to why I was there in the first place. “If I do that, will you sponsor our expedition?”

Princess Cadence shook her head. “I thought I made myself clear, earlier. I’m not sponsoring or authorizing any exploration of the Frozen North. It’s much too dangerous, even for mares of your talents.”

“I know the risks. I’ve studied what scant texts there are on the subject. The neverending blizzard, yeti, polar bears, etc. We’re on friendly relations with Yakyakistan these days, so it’s never been safer to explore. I’m even willing to pay out of my own pocket. This is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a filly. This is my dream. Please?”

She shook her head. “Guards. Miss Snowcatcher was just leaving. Please ensure that she finds her way out of the castle.”

“I can find my own way out.” I winked out of the castle.

I teleported to the railroad station platform and quickly bought a ticket. I sat on a bench with a good view of the castle, just in case any guards were on their way to detain me. I gulped. I could teleport to Canterlot. But I don’t want to be incapacitated when I get there. If I arrive, and I’m down for the count, and Cadence tells Twilight and she sends guards… our house is the first place they’ll come looking for me. I’ll be trapped.

My panic was unnecessary – no guards came looking for me, and I boarded the train in peace. My irritation must have been obvious, because nopony even tried to sit next to me.

Is there something out there she doesn’t want ponies to know about? Ancient ruins? It’s possible that the lands buried by the windigos could be there somewhere – the original homelands of the three tribes. But why wouldn’t she want something like that to be discovered?

It was a long train ride home to Canterlot. It gave me a lot of time to think. I had a contingency plan, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through with it. I pulled the guide out of my saddlebag. Earth. Is it worth it? I sighed. It’s going to have to be. I can’t stay in Equestria. I probably made Cadence angry today, and I’d rather not find out if the Princess of Love carries a grudge.

“Mrow!”

“It’s only for a few months, Snowflake.” I kissed his head as I levitated him into the cage. “I’m sorry.”

We really weren’t supposed to take animals across the portal. I’d jumped through hoops to get Snowflake to come with me, but at the cost of three months in quarantine. “I’m going to miss you. I don’t think I’m allowed to visit, but when your ninety days are up, Mama will be there when the doors open. Love you, Snowflake.”

My kitty just glared at me, hurt and betrayed. I could’ve snuck him in, but that would’ve caused more problems when someone eventually found him. Being without him for ninety days or five years – it was an easy decision, at least on paper. But my heart ached as I watched him get loaded into the back of a truck with the rest of the baggage. I reminded myself that I’d probably need those three months to find a place to stay and get settled in. It was for the best, but that didn't make it any easier.

I caught up with Dewey and we took our place in the line. Most of the ponies around us were saying goodbye to their loved ones, jockeying to be among the last to go through the portal to squeeze in a few last precious seconds with one another. Nopony had come to see Dewey and I off and we were near the front of the line as a result. We probably would’ve been the first ones through the portal if I hadn’t needed a few hours to sleep off a long distance teleport – we’d decided to spend our last days in Equestria at home with our families. We’d been expecting to say goodbye to them for a few years for a different reason, and I think they were relieved that we were going somewhere safer than the Frozen North.

The portal opened for business and I watched as the first non-diplomat, non-politician, non-military visitor from Earth stepped through. She looked around with her jaw hanging open, and since she was the first human most of us in line had ever seen, we mirrored her expression perfectly.

Then it was time for the first pony to trot through. One moment she was there, the next she was gone. It seemed like any other teleport in that regard. As we inched closer to it, one pony at a time, I reached my magic out to try and get a grasp on how it worked. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before; I couldn’t describe it if I tried. The portal itself was magic – some of the most powerful magic on the planet. There was technology too; somepony had stabilized it to keep it permanently open. Given enough time to properly study it, I could probably break it down into its component spells; but even with all my arcane ability I wouldn’t be powerful enough to cast it. Only a true archmage would ever have a hope of doing so.

I was so lost in analyzing it, Dewey had to poke me to let me know I was next. The guards searched my saddlebags, then waved me through. I took a deep breath and stepped through.

Brave new world, here I come.