//------------------------------//
// New Friends 
// Story: The Immortal Dream 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"I have arrived," Jamjars declared, leading me into a large enclosure in the southern Day District, plenty big but with more of the trappings of a warehouse than a church. "Last meeting took a little longer than planned. Who's ready to meet the new hire?"

I looked around the room, which was in various stages of decoration and construction. Four ponies were here, all of which I recognized from last time: flower staff mare, the other two bridesmaids, and the janitor. All of them looked up, and several waved.

"This is Halcyon," Jamjars explained, beckoning me forward, standing on a square of ground that was less dusty than its surroundings, as if a crate had just been moved away. "Halcyon, meet Lalala, Saturn, Thumper and Booster. You all handle deeper introductions yourselves, I have half a dozen planning sessions and a charity banquet to attend. Take care of her and show her the ropes, alright?"

The janitor gave a lazy salute. "You got it, boss. Just leave it to me."

"Excellent!" Jamjars twirled and flicked her tail on her way out. Suddenly, I was on my own.

"Err, hi?" I greeted.

"Yeah! Hi!" One of the bridesmaids, a broad-shouldered purple mare with a long, messy black bang that covered her eyes, stomped a hoof and grinned a big grin. "And welcome to the Jam Clan! Nepotism, ho!"

"The what?" I blinked.

"Oh, the Jam Clan." Janitor stallion winked, a short fellow with a bushy black beard and craggy mustache and a pair of pilot goggles around his forehead. "That's just the name we have for the boss's extended family around these parts. You can call me Booster. Thumper there is my significant other, and she's the boss's little sis, so we're both honorary members. Welcome into the fold, little dude!"

Thumper kept grinning, waggling one eyebrow.

The other bridesmaid rolled her eyes. "Saturn," she said, a hint of wariness in her voice. "Pleased to meet you."

I sized her up. Peach fur, purple mane trimmed short but with a very wide part and no bang. Unicorn - the previous two were earth ponies. Her expression was controlled, enough that I couldn't tell where the wariness was coming from, but odds were it was me being a batpony. Maybe I would finally get to ask someone what their deal was.

"And I'm Lalala," flower staff mare said, holding her staff and bowing. She was the oldest of the bunch, though hardly elderly, and had a white mane and soft lime fur. Maybe thirty-five, I guessed. And her eyes-

I started slightly. One of her eyes was yellow, and the other was orange.

It wasn't a huge difference, not enough for me to notice across a dimly-lit room in a chaotic wedding party where she had been constantly lurking at the back, but now that we were face to face, it was plain to see. Staring was rude, and so I forced myself not to, but I had a feeling she was used to that reaction enough to spot it anyway.

Thumper didn't notice, or at least didn't say anything. "So, kid. Halcyon, right? Let's learn you the ropes around here. The boss is the boss. I'm second-in-command, because reasons. Everyone else just gets along. That includes you. Pal around, get to know everyone! Nothing ruins a romantic celebration like a hostess feud. Easy rule, right? Common sense."

I nodded.

"Boss probably drummed this into you, but we're a wedding agency," Thumper went on. "Both planning and execution. There's a lot more that goes into it than standing around looking pretty in a dress. Boss handles the front-end logistics, meeting and screening clients, arranging dates, getting client desires and ensuring they're reasonable and well-understood. Venue searching, all that. I do back-end logistics. Supplies, other contracting services, everything the customers won't think about and don't need to know. Lalala's our spiritual advisor, since lots of ponies like feeling like their union is blessed from on high. It's her thing, she really believes it, talk to her instead of me."

My ears pricked. That was definitely something I was interested in...

"Biggest part of the job is setup and cleanup," Thumper continued. "These wedding halls don't arrange themselves, and we don't use the same space for more than a few days at a time. Booster and I bring the muscle 'cause we're buff, and Saturn's our horn for all those high-up decorations and stuff. Looking at you, I bet you're gonna be her new best friend..." She visually appraised my wings. "But who knows? Maybe you've got huge biceps under those boots. Can't imagine dressing up in weather like this..." She blew on her bangs. "So, now that I've told you a little about us, tell us about you. Where do you see yourself fitting in with our operation?"

I hesitated. "Well, I'm stronger than I look..."

Thumper waved me toward a metal crate. "Stand there," she instructed, pointing next to it.

I did.

Then, she climbed on top, then stepped onto my back. I blinked in surprise, steadying my stance against her sudden weight. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Testing you," Thumper grunted. "Mmm, you're sturdy. Saturn, gimmie a Booster!"

Saturn's horn began to glow. To my alarm, her aura surrounded Booster and lifted him off the ground, hoisting him and stacking him atop Thumper.

My legs almost buckled, but I held firm, gritting my teeth and standing steady.

"Hey, not bad," Thumper remarked, unstacking herself and Booster and then seating herself by the crate she had used to climb up that far. "Hoof wrestle me."

I nodded. "Alright..."

We locked forelegs, Thumper leaning in her seat for more leverage. I leaned back. For a long moment, she refused to budge, no matter how much force I put into it, and a few times, my leg wavered... and then she nodded in approval, letting her leg go limp and giving me the win.

"Good." She stood back up, a small note of respect in her voice. "Didn't take you for someone who works out, but if you've got it, we can use it. Good."

I wasn't certain whether to tell these ponies that I used to run drills with yak warriors for fun and had since traded that out for mountain climbing, so I held my tongue.

"Well, you can probably hang with the heavies." Thumper brushed herself off, everyone else having gathered around to watch. "Still probably going to have you with Saturn most, since up until now she's been doing the ceilings on her lonesome. Right then! We have three ceremonies here tomorrow night, so I want this place ready to go by sunrise. Everyone back to work!"

She wandered off, as did Lalala and Booster. Saturn, however, remained. "I guess you're with me, then," she said uncertainly.

"That alright?" I tilted my head.

She jumped a little. "Fine! No, it's fine. So, come with me. Our materials are over here, and I'll show you what they're for..."





Not long after, I was armed with a long, sheetlike streamer and several light-duty spring clamps. The warehouse had steel rafters, and Saturn's horn was aglow, an amber aura fashioning a similar streamer across them clamp by clamp, so that it hung down in waves. "Like so," she explained, eyes on the ceiling. "We need to get enough of the room looking like that that you can't see the ceiling unless you look straight up. Fly up and set yours two or three feet down from mine. I'll watch."

I swallowed and looked around... There was a high crate stack just next to me. Coiling my streamer under a wing and keeping the clamp bag in my mouth, I crouched and leapt, landing atop the boxes. Then I jumped again, flinging myself at the rafters, grappled one between my forelegs, and swung for a second before pulling myself up.

Saturn gaped at me as I crawled atop the rafter, gripped it with all four legs for balance, and started inching along, managing the streamer with my wings and adding new clamps as I went.

I didn't get it up nearly as fast as her, even though I cheated a little by partly shadow sneaking into the beam to improve my grip and speed myself up, but when I dropped back down she looked very surprised. "Why didn't you just fly?"

"Because." I shrugged, nodding up at my work. "Much easier to work with my wings than my hooves. I can hold myself steadier, too."

Saturn nodded slowly, thinking about it. "Eccentric, but I guess you've got a point. Do all sarosians think like that?"

"Beats me," I answered, though since even I didn't think like that, I had a hunch the answer was no.

Shrugging, Saturn went back to work, and I did too. She didn't ask any more questions about my methods, and we alternated rows until the entire ceiling was dressed. The rest of the room took shape around us at an alarming speed; ornate pillars were added that were hollow and fake, and wall barricades were dragged into place along the edges to make it feel more like a cozy indoor venue than an industrial warehouse. Floor mats, refreshment tables, flower wreaths, candle sconces, several decorative tapestries of vaguely romantic or celebratory things, lace doilies and fold-up chairs...

We broke for lunch and got back to work, though I had a hunch we were almost finished. Saturn and I finished with the ceiling and moved to helping with the rest of the room, including decorating the entrance and making sure the catering area was in order. And then, at last, we were done.

"Good work, goon squad!" Thumper called, drawing us all back together. "Looks like we finished early tonight. You pulled your weight, new kid." She nodded at me.

"Thanks," I said, more focused on what time it was and whether I'd be able to make it to the Sky District and back again before dawn. Although after doing that climb once tonight, plus an unnecessary amount of shimmying around the skyport's underbelly since I couldn't find the lift, followed by an entire workday of jumping up and down to this warehouse's ceiling while carrying loads... My legs were wobbling. If I could manage it, it sure wouldn't be comfortable.

Booster glanced around eagerly. "...Work party?"

"Hey, yeah!" Thumper perked up. "Saturn! Your place free again?"

Saturn shrugged noncommittally. "Same as it usually is."

I blinked, realizing I was suddenly getting drafted into something, but before I could speak, Thumper had a purple hoof on my shoulder. "You'll love this," she began. "All of us are friends off the clock, so since we finished early, why not hang out for a while? Show each other our moves, brag, get to know everyone when you're not hauling boxes around. You in?"

Well... I really wanted to go back to the Sky District...

But if I was going to be working with these ponies long-term, it would be a good idea to start off on the right foot, and refusing an invitation to a get-to-know-you party when I was already in poor shape to be climbing a mountain sounded like a bad idea. So I nodded. "Alright. I'm in."

Booster cheered.





After a train ride, myself, Thumper, Booster, Saturn and Lalala were walking through a lower level of the southern Day District, close enough to the crater floor that the temperature was very noticeably hotter. I plodded along in my coat, sweating, as the others talked at each other and occasionally at me.

"So the reason we meet at Saturn's house is because she owns a mansion," Booster was explaining. "I'm not even kidding. Three floors! Seven bedrooms! Indoor balconies! Two pool rooms, one for pool the ball game and one for a real swimming pool. Like, wow. Someday, when I get rich-"

"I don't own a mansion," Saturn sighed. "I live with a friend who owns a mansion."

"Ehhh, technicalities." Booster blew a raspberry. "You've got enough clout in the place that we can use it as a hangout zone."

"Don't remind me," Saturn droned.

I tilted my head, focusing on the conversation to take my mind off the heat. "Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Well, Saturn's touchy about her living arrangement," Booster explained, nodding seriously at me. "See, you know how in harem stories, there's always that one pretty mare who moves into the protagonist's house for no reason and is just a freeloader you can't get rid of 'cause she's pretty? Saturn is literally that. Literally. Like, wow, what a sweet life."

"Except I pay bills, do chores, buy and make food, and am not a freeloader," Saturn sighed. "In fact, I more or less exclusively do those."

"You know," Thumper remarked casually, "if it's such a romantic lifestyle, I could always stop doing anything around our own place. Let you do all the work. How about it, tubby?"

Booster grinned deviously. "Oh no. I ain't fallin' for that one, chief. Nice try though. But that trope is only romantic in fiction."

"You sure changed your tune," Lalala chuckled. She was by far the quietest of the bunch, though she had a force of presence I couldn't put my hoof on that could make you easily forget she wasn't saying anything. It was like she was participating in the conversation just by existing.

"What can I say?" Booster shrugged. "I'm a stallion of principles."

Saturn groaned.

We kept up our walk, entering an area where the mountain face got a little more rigid and the streets a little more sparse, and the architecture larger to take up the extra room. Higher up, buildings seemed to rise out of the mountain and hug the wall, only three sides and a roof exposed to the air, or else be entirely underground with only their entrances exposed. Here, the cliff was like the latter category, underground buildings with only their fronts exposed, except it was high enough to add balconies and carvings and ornate pillars to the usual doors and windows. I was looking at a wall of giant dwellings, each made out in enough detail that their faces had to be worth a fortune alone.

"This is the Avenue of Kings," Lalala explained to me, noting my awe. "In previous centuries, the Sosan elite lived here to take advantage of the mountain slope's cooler climate. That trend started falling off about eighty years ago, and now the richest of the rich live in the Ice District and Skyfreeze Tower. It's still one of the highest-class areas in the Day District."

"Not the only one, though." Thumper wrinkled her nose. "Lotta rich types don't like the idea of living in a museum, no matter how fancy it might be."

"How'd your friend get one of these, then?" I asked Saturn, hoping I wasn't treading on a sore subject. "And how'd you meet them?"

Saturn shrugged. "We were college roommates. Stayed together after that to split the cost of living. Then her estranged family paid her off with it to back them in some high-profile legal business. It's complicated. Do you know who Mobius is?"

I shook my head.

Saturn sighed. "He was the last Sosan factory chief. Probably had about a hundred offspring, but nobody knows for sure. Really destroyed the idea of dynasties in more ways than one. Also the stallion ponies blame the most for all the turbulence in recent times. Anyway, there was a reckoning, the authorities wanted to leave him alone but pop culture came to call, some of his kids started showing up and wanted a piece of the pie... I'm not good with history. Point is, Mandlebrot - my roomie - is one of his daughters, and she got a mansion. And, this is it."

Now my curiosity was piqued, but it would have to wait. We stopped in front of a dwelling that looked no different from the others on the row: carved entirely into the stone, all the fixtures and pillars and stuff just part of the natural rock that had never been removed, very ornamental. It almost reminded me of the Icereach chapel, except with more ambition and less mystique.

Saturn trudged in, leading the way.

The 'door' was sized for a rocket ship, a smaller-but-still-large door cut into the base that she unlocked and used. I half expected to be greeted by a fancy butler, but instead we just piled through, as if it were any other house.

A grand foyer opened up before me, two curved staircases leading up on either side to a second level, the trim and carving immaculate... but the decorations much less so. All the painting slots in the upper walls were empty, there were no drapes, there was no furniture, and a fixture on the ceiling for mounting a chandelier was empty. Instead, a pile of cardboard boxes and assorted junk was heaped against the side of one staircase, looking like someone had started moving in and then forgotten to finish.

"Ahh," Booster sighed, breathing deeply. "Gotta love that nobody-home vibe that comes from having your way with an old and venerable place! What should we do first, girls?"

"Gotta let Mandle know we're here," Saturn said, waving for everyone to follow her toward a door on the first floor. "Then, whatever."

The door opened out into a spacious library... Or a room intended to be one, at least. Despite being made of bookshelves, wooden slots forming every panel of every wall, there were no books.

Far to my left, in a lounge chair that didn't match the architectural motifs at all, there was a mare.

"Saturn!" She looked up from a book - the shelves near her were populated, if sparsely - and beamed. "You're off work already? No way!"

"Hey," Saturn said, motioning at me and the others. "We'll be hanging out for a bit, 'kay?"

Mandlebrot was a unicorn, a black mare with soft red eyes and a long, luscious wavy chocolate mane. "Hiiiii everyone," she said with theatrical girlishness, waving earnestly. "Enjoy your partyyy! I'll join in as soon as I finish this, okay?"

Saturn shrugged, and I felt like she did it specifically at me.

"That's cool," Booster declared, stretching. "What say you we start off our luxurious shebang with a tour of the kitchenerino?"

"Yeah!" Thumper cheered, following him away.

I followed too, wondering why every stallion I knew was a goofy clown who loved the sound of their own voice.





Disappointingly, the kitchen was stocked about as well as the rest of the mansion, which was to say it looked like someone had taken the contents of my old Icereach apartment and tried to make them adequate for a place fifty times bigger. The kitchen was a complex affair, with two aisles and a central preparation table and four ovens and four sinks and a host of machines I appreciated but didn't recognize, which all looked like it was designed for servants to use in preparing a banquet. But the contents of the fridge and shelves...

"Alright," Saturn said, "we've got frozen lasagna, instant noodles, frozen vegetables on rice, crackers and dip, and candy bars. Who wants what? There's only three lasagnas, so you better not all say that."

I blanched. She hadn't even given me time to fantasize about seeing what I could make with a room like this before shooting that dream out of the sky.

"Dibs on the noodles!" Booster shouted. "Can I get two cups?"

Lalala just shook her head. "I had a large lunch. Saturn, we've got to get you eating better."

"Then buy your own party food," Saturn threatened. "I'm stretching my budget as far as it will go, and those fools at Cold Karma don't make cooling a space this big cheap."

I did notice it was a little warmer in here than the warehouse, and most of the other indoor venues I favorited... but after the nasty heat getting here, it was still a welcome reprieve.

"What's wrong with this food?" Booster pressed. "She knows how to shop."

As everyone else argued and jostled, I settled for crackers without dip, munching away and thinking. Before my thoughts could go anywhere coherent, we moved on into a room with a swimming pool. Thumper immediately cannonballed in.

Booster followed suit, and I quickly dragged myself back to the present. Someone had mentioned this was here, hadn't they? Of course everyone would want to cool off, and jumping into a giant basin of water would accomplish that handily. Judging by their attitudes, it would even be fun, provided you had ever been immersed in water before. I knew what swimming was on a technical level, of course, but I suddenly realized not only was it real, but I had no idea how to do it.

Also, I was fully clothed and not about to undress in a room full of strangers. Out of the pool I would stay.

Fortunately, there were chairs by the edge, and so I relaxed and lounged and took in the architecture. My brain seemed to have suddenly had enough of other ponies for the day, and I tuned everything out, my ears vaguely ringing with splashes and shouts and droplets occasionally raining against my nose.

This was... a good day. I was tired, the way I used to feel after spending days on end getting flattened by yaks from dawn to dusk. My muscles felt clean and wrung-out, my energy was spent but my obligations were completed. Also, I hadn't been harassed by Egdelwonk for a full two days, which was something of a miracle. And while I didn't have a perfect read yet on Jamjars' employees, I somehow doubted any of them were con artists or changelings here to kidnap me and turn my life into more of a roller coaster than it already was. They seemed to be friendly, if eccentric.

I had so many goals left to accomplish in Ironridge, and was stumbling across new ones far faster than I was checking them off, but some of the things I had done so far were going off without a hitch. And I had so many new leads to pursue, I was-

A gust of frigid air tore through me as if my coat was made of tissue, my hooves too frozen to the ground to be bowled over, though the wind was certainly trying. I lifted one and moved it forward anyway. "Corsica!" I heard myself call. "Corsicaaaaa!"

A blue light twinkled faintly in the distance, receding swiftly into the storm. Instantly, I snapped back to lucidity: I must have fallen asleep at the swimming pool. I was dreaming of the day a windigo stole my best friend.

My past self pushed feebly through the storm, intermittently hallucinating as winter clawed at my senses and body. The cold dug into me, hurting as though the frostbite was real, but I fortunately knew that injuries sustained in my dreams couldn't come back with me to the waking world. This flashback had haunted me often in the days following the Aldebaran incident. Less so recently, though. This was the first time since coming to Ironridge.

"Corsica? Ansel!? Corsicaaaaa!"

I cried frozen tears and scrabbled forward in the snow, the drama and violence of the moment clashing in an ugly contention with the peace that had lulled me to sleep. I was too used to my dreams to be properly hurt by the past pain, my previous self's thoughts running along parallel to my own, but it was difficult to do anything more than ride along with some of the more intense ones. My body collapsed in the snow, and the best I could do was maintain a detached apathy as the weather wracked me and my song started to play at the back of my mind. Dreams like this one weren't here to be enjoyed or learned from. Just like nightmares for ordinary folk, they were things that sometimes just happened and were there to be endured.

Flash! My bracelet came alive, green light morphing to green flame as I broke my promise to myself and called on it to save me. Energy licked around my body, repelling the weather while somehow not consuming me in the process-

A tingling shock jolted me awake, canceling the dream abruptly and sending my mind spinning like a thrown die as I re-oriented to the waking world. With a start, I realized what had woken me: I had somehow turned up my bracelet in the real world, too.

I quickly turned it off before the flames could grow, wondering with alarm if anyone had seen... but the pool was empty. I must have been here for a while.

Unsettled, I lifted my foreleg and studied my bracelet. I had never actually turned it on in my sleep before. And it had crackled so easily, not just stopping at light like I usually used it for. Although, I basically hadn't used it since coming to Ironridge... Maybe I was getting rusty at how to control it?

That sure was a thought. For so many years, I had only used it at a low setting, afraid that if I turned it too far up, I might cripple myself like Mother. But I had never considered that this might be a good thing, that I could be practicing with it in a way that would lend me greater finesse and a better ability to use it without hurting myself. I remembered her telling me I wouldn't be able to blow out my leg like she had done by accident, but still...

New goal: find somewhere private and practice some more with my bracelet. If I was right, keeping myself in tune with it was a lot better than the alternative.

Mentally, I thanked my dream for reminding me of something important... and then I realized with a start that I wasn't alone: Lalala was resting in the next chair over, her eyes closed and her hooves folded peacefully.

I hesitated. Was she sleeping? There was a whole lot I wanted to ask this mare in particular, namely about her work as a 'spiritual advisor' or whatever Thumper had called it. What did she know? What did she believe? Could she answer any of my questions about what was out there, or how I could meet the light spirit again? And... how would I even ask questions that were so personal?

A door creaked open, and Thumper crept through, moving far more stealthily than could be expected for a mare of her size. When she saw I was awake, she hurried over.

"You awake? We're playing sardines," she whispered furtively in my ear.

"What's that?" I breathed back, sitting up and copying her tone in case silence was important.

"It's like hide-and-seek," Thumper hissed, "except when you find the one who's hiding, you hide with them, and the last pony to find the group has to be it next time. Mandle's hiding now. You in?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Stick with me for this round," Thumper whispered, "so I can show you what's off-limits. And keep your voice down. You don't want others to know where you are when you go dark. Come on!"

I slipped to my hooves, silently following her. This sounded like my sort of game! We left the pool room opposite the way I came in, emerging into a dark stairwell that Thumper immediately ascended. I slithered on behind her, not making a sound, my ears perked for telltale thumps and bumps.

We crossed through a small room with a piano built into the floor, one of the few things that was apparently too fixed down for its previous owner to take with them. I considered the possibility of hiding inside the piano, but Thumper didn't bother checking. Maybe she knew hiding places that were too cramped wouldn't be a good idea, because if the first ponies to find you had to hide out in the open, your cover would be blown for everyone else. Or maybe she just wasn't thinking of all the places a pony could fit if need be.

We crossed a third-floor balcony looking down over the foyer and searched several posh bedrooms, most of which were fully made and pristine, if very dusty. Maybe someone had decided disassembling multiple giant four-poster and taking them with them was a little too much trouble when they were moving out. Nowhere I had lived before would be able to fit even one of these things.

Thumper checked under the beds and had me check the closets, and in the third bedroom along the line, we met with success: Booster, Saturn and Mandlebrot were all lurking under the bed, the former very barely managing the fit.

"Heyyy, good game!" Saturn cheered, her demeanor much more cheerful than I remembered from earlier. Maybe the games were helping her to unwind? "Looks like you lose this one, chief."

I stepped over to watch as they crawled out from under the bed. "Technically, Halcyon loses," Thumper explained. "Since I checked the bed first. Tough break! But she only started playing halfway through, so I'll take this one. Five minutes to hide, timer starts now!" She bolted, closing the door behind her in a flash.

Everyone else started laughing, their manes and tails showing signs of being dried recently. "Sorry I fell asleep," I apologized, stepping closer. "Been running around a lot the past few days, and-"

"Dude, don't worry about it." Booster clapped me on the back with a hoof. "So this party's a sleeper. Just gives me something to heckle the girls about! Have any sweet dreams down there?"

A nightmare, actually, but-

"Wait a minute," Mandlebrot interrupted, staring at me with wide eyes. "Are you a sarosian?"

Oh, great. More ponies who had unusually strong reactions to batponies... or maybe it really was a good thing, since I had yet to figure out what that was all about. "Sure looks like it," I said, stretching my wings.

Mandlebrot's jaw dropped. "I am so sorry I didn't notice earlier! Welcome to my house! I'm so happy to have you here! I hope you've made yourself comfortable..."

"A little too comfortable, if you know what I mean," Booster said, punching her on the shoulder.

"What's so special about me being a batpony?" I pressed, deciding it was high time I get an answer.

Mandlebrot tsk'd. "You should never have to ask about what makes you special. I'm sure you're a unique and wonderful pony, no matter who says otherwise. Did I get your name, by the way?"

"Halcyon," I said. "But who's saying otherwise?"

Mandlebrot's face broke into a wide beam. "I'm so glad everyone's been treating you well, then! That's great to hear!"

This was... weird. I scrutinized her, her facial ticks and ear position and tail movement and where she was looking and everything I could think of, and still couldn't pin down the feeling I was getting from her. Part of me wanted to say inauthenticity, but that didn't fit well: she seemed to be legitimately happy. Illogical, maybe? The first thing you learned when trying to understand ponies' personalities was that there was always a good reason they felt the way they did about something. But even though I had just asked her what that reason was, I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.

Saturn nervously gritted her teeth. Booster seemed to be too-patiently waiting for something.

"I'm glad for your gladness," I offered. "But what are you so happy about?"

Mandlebrot gave a worried, clueless look to Saturn.

"Ladies, meet values dissonance," Booster announced, stepping forward. "Think about it this way: Mandle lives in a cave, socializes with a select few, and is a paragon of feminine hospitality by measures known to that select and privileged few. Halcyon hails from a literal cave in a land far, far away that probably knows none of that. Now, ignoring the cavemare-meets-cavemare brain food that idea has to offer?" He nodded at me. "Just divide the volume and intensity and implications of what you're hearing by about a hundred, and I bet you'll get what she's trying to say."

I reddened just a little, feeling like a foal getting a patronizing lecture on something someone falsely assumed I didn't know. "I know what a friendly host is!" I insisted. "I just wanna know why me being a batpony is such a big deal. This isn't the first time someone has shown me a weird amount of deference."

Booster shrugged. "Don't look at me, dude. I just wanted to say the cavemare thing when it popped into my brain. Didn't mean to ruffle your membranes."

Saturn sighed. "Mandle is a member of a popular movement that believes sarosians have been not-that-well treated in Ironridge's recent history, and that the road to enlightenment lies through doing penance and overcompensating as hard as possible. I am a member of the extreme minority school of thought that thinks all ponies should be treated based on what they actually do. That clear anything up?"

Actually, it really did. Not the why, at least, but the what and the how... I nodded. "Any chance it's called a Zero Armada, or the like?"

Mandlebrot beamed. "You've heard of us! Yes, that's the one!"

Meanwhile, Booster was glancing at Saturn. "You still sore about the time when Valey-"

Saturn slapped him.

"Ow..." Booster held his cheek. "Yep, she's still sore..."

A small pendant around Mandlebrot's neck flashed, and she jumped a little. "Oh! There goes the timer. Let's get searching, everyone!"





I didn't search in a pair this time. The others had filled me in on a few rules: no hiding inside the piano, decks and balconies were fair game but no leaving the premises, no hiding in bathrooms and one wing on the top floor was off-limits due to a relative currently staying there who wasn't inclined to play along.

Exploring the giant mansion was actually really fun. I was fairly sure I'd be last again just due to not knowing my way around, but the game was an excellent way to learn. After my nap, I was a little more feeling up to running around, and I soon had the entire building's layout memorized. But the longer I searched, the fewer and fewer of the others I saw.

Finally, I resigned myself to the one place I had yet to set hoof: the outdoor balconies. I really didn't need the close proximity to the Night District to cook me in my coat again, but I had to check sometime and didn't want to keep my new co-workers waiting. Picking at random, I decided to check the second-floor right side balcony first.

My senses told me something wasn't normal as I approached the doors, but I slipped through them anyway, not quite able to stop myself in time... and then I froze, blinking.

It was actually cool outside. And the source of the chill was deafeningly obvious: a storm had arrived, and rain was thundering down.

The shock to my expectations was almost great enough that I missed several ponies hiding behind a large, empty flower pot... or not so empty, since Thumper and Booster were both inside. It looked like I was, indeed, the last one here.

Congratulations and condolences were handed out, everyone started laughing, and someone asked me if I wanted another round to explore before I had to be the one hiding. I passively nodded, my thoughts far away in the past: hadn't Gerardo mentioned, while we were flying here, that the mountain storms occasionally cooled things down?

Maybe he had, or maybe I was misremembering. Either way, I had made a crucial new discovery: whenever the rain came, that was my opportunity to explore the Night District.