//------------------------------// // Chapter 2- Pegasus in Town Hall // Story: Trade Wind: Royal Tutor // by BlackBonitaCherry //------------------------------// Waking up just before Celestia rose the sun was not how Spike wanted to start his day, but ever since Twilight made friends, saved Equestria, and moved to Ponyville, everything had changed. Now she was eager to improve her friendship with the others and had done a single activity with each pony this past week to get to know them better (and to probably have something to report to the princess.)  On the first day, they visited Rarity at her boutique and were surprised to find out that she did not live by herself. Upon knocking on the door, it wasn't Rarity who answered but a giant blue poodle in a fancy outfit who gave them a once over, looking bored. "You two must be Twilight Sparkle and Spike," the two stared, "Well, are you coming in or not?” Twilight jumped and went in,  “Sorry, Rarity didn’t say anything-” “About having roommates? Heard you guys met at the Summer Sun Celebration, Ash and I were out doing delivers when everything occurred. But yeah, we run this shop with Rarity,” she closed the door and turned to them, “I'm Paris, Rarity is upstairs," she disappeared into a back room before they could ask her anything else, the sounds of whirring and a hissing sound reaching their ears. "Okay, that was weird,” Spike muttered, sure he’d seen Ruby Dogs and the odd Sapphire dog here and there in Canterlot, but he’d never expected to run into one in Ponyville. Twilight furrowed her brow, looking like she wanted to ask something when a zebra descended the stairs, gold hoops on each ear as she glanced at them. "Hello, I am Ash, welcome to Canterlot Boutique, hope your visit is unique," with that greeting she disappeared into a separate room from her roommate. Deciding to put off the weird encounters, the two went up the stairs and went to an open door to a room with mannequins where Rarity was working on a dress. "Um, hi Rarity," the unicorn looked up and Spike felt his heart beat faster as she smiled and flipped her mane out of her eye. "Twilight darling, and Spike! Welcome to my Boutique, I trust that Ash and Paris didn't give you a hard time when you saw them?" Spike spoke up, hearts in his eyes as Rarity put finishing touches on the dress while still looking at them. "We were surprised to see them here, and I don’t remember seeing them at the Summer Sun Celebration,” Twilight gave him a look, “Paris just said they were making deliveries,” the unicorn reminded him, his cheeks turned red. “But didn’t she mean deliveries in Ponyville? Wouldn’t we have still seen them?” Rarity gave a small laugh as she put down her sewing equipment, “Our little Boutique makes deliveries to other towns, they were rather relieved to have missed everything, the panic in other towns was bad enough,” she shook her head, “Now, what did you want to do today?” Twilight faltered. “Um, lunch?” she asked slowly, looking unsure, Spike resisted the urge to slap his face, didn’t she do a research binge the night before about activities around Ponyville? Did she just forget all of it? Rarity didn’t seem to mind, suggesting a nice eatery and lamenting about a certain restaurant being closed at the moment while the owner was in Canterlot. They had a nice lunch, chatting about different things, and touched upon a subject that made Twilight tense. “Wait, you’re a graduate of WEU?” Spike asked in surprise, hay fries in his claw as Rarity nodded, looking sheepish, “Yes, it’s where I met Ash and Paris, the three of us were the only ones into fashion and we were roommates as well. Took quite a while for us to get used to one another, North no Trade Wind, was a great help in that,” the sandwich in Twilight’s aura froze and Spike gave her a wary look, clearing his throat, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, do you know why she chose Trade as her new name?” Rarity thought about it,  “Well I could guess but it is probably something to ask her yourself, do not know where she is at the moment but she does visit Ponyville occasionally,” Twilight twitched, a hair springing up from her mane. “S-she does?” Spike sighed. Great. After their lunch, Rarity had to go off somewhere, citing a prior appointment, and Twilight ended up brooding in the library for the rest of the day. The next day was spent with Rainbow Dash who took them to her favorite chill-out spot after she was done with weather duties and Spike spent the entire time swimming while Twilight read from a book. This of course did not make sense to Rainbow Dash, "You’re supposed to be chillaxing! Not studying," she told Twilight who looked up from her book of physics, "But I am chil-" she stumbled over the word, "laxing, reading is what I do for fun," Rainbow Dash shook her head and got out of her seat, "Come on, we're going swimming egghead, get your head out of the books, what good can keeping your head in books do anyways?" Spike thought he heard a bitter tone in the mare's voice but shook it off as Twilight hesitantly entered the water, only to shriek as Rainbow splashed her with a wave of her wings. Luckily whatever sour mood Twilight ended up in disappeared by that time, but Spike knew it was a matter of time before someone else brought up the elephant in the room. On the third day, they went to Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie lived, and worked with Mr. and Mrs. Cake to see the Element of Laughter's bedroom. It looked like some cut and pasted four different rooms together, each one with a different design and theme. One corner was filled with the color pink with streamers and balloons everywhere, another corner was the complete opposite with a fancy-looking table and a formal dining set spread out. The third corner had a black and white theme with big chess pieces and other board games piled on top of one another. The last corner looked like a jungle with fake grass that felt too real and a picnic blanket set out. Pinkie claimed to change the theme every week, and when Spike asked about her bed she pointed at the ceiling where a hammock was hanging with blankets and pillows almost spilling out. They ended up looking at photographs of ponies in town, photographs of when he and Twilight came to town which had only happened three days before, then there were the photographs of Pinkie's family that she kept on a night table next to her really pink bed.  Her sisters looked kind of drab with their dark colors compared to Pinkie Pie, was she adopted or something? Only a warning glance from Twilight kept him blurting that question out, though it was the non-pony in the photo that he questioned instead. "Who's that?" he pointed a claw at what looked like a raven crossed with a panther standing solemnly next to her sister Marble with blue eyes. Pinkie joined them and smiled when she saw the picture, blue eyes twinkling. "Oh, that's my baby brother Ganache! He came to our family eight years ago as a baby cub and he's been a big part of our family since!" Pinkie obviously felt pride as she bragged about her little griffin brother, bursting into song about how he wanted to change his name to Onyx when he was five years old. "His full name is Ganache Onyx Pie! I like to call him Nachy for short!" Twilight looked interested as she looked at the photo. "You don't hear much of pony/griffin families," she mused aloud, Pinkie tilted her head, looking confused. "What do you mean silly? There's one here in Ponyville!" she zipped to a wall next to the window with a map of the village, pictures of ponies overlaid on most of the shops and restaurants. She pointed a hoof at the end near the outskirts where a dome-shaped building with Pizza Cub was located, a picture of a family of four, an orange stallion and a griffin with two cubs. "That's Carrot Mash and Reese! Reese is a griffin who came to Ponyville several years ago and moved in with Carrot who was already taking care of two griffin cubs, their names are Caramel and Glaze," her eyes brightened as she looked out the window, spotting the orange earth pony walking along the road with a small pegasus filly carrying a suitcase and scooter, "There's Carrot right now with his niece Scootaloo!" she leaned out and waved furiously, "HI CARROT MASH, HI SCOOTALOO!" the pegasus filly jumped but the stallion smiled and waved back, completely unfazed. The filly looked in their direction with wide eyes but waved back before they disappeared down the road, Pinkie Pie pulling back with a small hum, “I’ll have to remember to do a party for Scootaloo, her cub cousins are all interested in meeting her.” "Wait, so he already had griffin cubs when this Reese came to town, not Reese herself?" Twilight looked so confused, and Spike wasn’t much better. "Oh! Right, around ten years ago, Reese and four eggs were on the black market but they escaped and after Reese hatched the eggs, they had to separate to prevent the bad guys from finding them. Reese went to Canterlot, Glaze and Caramel here in Ponyville, Ganache to my family, and Frost the fourth one to Fluttershy's family in Cloudsdale!" Twilight and Spike looked at Pinkie in horror. "Black Market?" Twilight squeaked, Pinkie looked at them confused, “Uh, you do know about Wind Scar right? Being in the palace and all, and Princess Celestia’s student?” Spike shuddered, “You mean that insane stallion?” he had the fortune of never running into the stallion, only heard stories and read articles about what the pegasus did. He never wanted to run into him, ever. Twilight on the other hoof looked sheepish, “I sort of heard about him, but I was focused on my studies,” Pinkie tilted her head. “Okie-dokie, but be careful about mentioning him in front of the cubs, they’ve had their own run-ins with him and are still recovering from the experience. Oh! How are you settling in the library?” she set out some tea and desserts at the table, and Twilight eagerly took a bite, Spike enjoying the gem-encrusted tart she gave him and wondering if she had anymore. It was rare to get sweets like this, the chefs at Canterlot Palace rarely baked these kinds of sweets. “It’s going great! There are so many interesting books and they’ve been helpful to my studies,” Pinkie paused in sipping her tea, giving Twilight a weird look. “That’s good and all, but have you had any trouble acclimating to your librarian duties? With Skywishes retiring there were some events that needed to be put off. I mean, some ponies have been going to Town Hall for their book clubs, but they do like going to the Golden Oaks library. Are you planning on opening it up for the public this week?” Twilight blinked, taken aback. “Oh, I didn’t think about that, it’s fine, I’ll just have Spike look after the library, I still have to meet with our other friends,” Spike grimaced but didn’t protest, he was used to looking after Twilight’s bookcases in her tower, the library wouldn’t be any different. Even if he wanted to get to know the other Elements at least before being saddled with chores. Pinkie saw his expression and frowned, and to his surprise managed to persuade Twilight into letting him finish the week with her instead of staying at the library. On their way out, he spotted a picture with a familiar blue pegasus peeking out from behind another frame, wearing glasses and sitting with three very familiar-looking fillies, but a pink hoof pushed it out of sight and she gave him a shushing motion and a sapphire encrusted cupcake to keep him quiet. Not that it stopped Twilight Sparkle from seeing a picture of the pegasus down in the bakery with a number of spicy sweets attributed to her on a list. The unicorn froze, staring at the picture, and Mrs. Cake came out in time to spot her, “Oh, are you interested in the Spicy-Sweet challenge? If you want to try any of them just let us know alright? We also received a new shipment of Volcano Peppers in from the Dragon Lands if you wish to have a go! Of course you’ll have to sign a form, they are very spicy and not many ponies have the spice tolerance she does. You know, it’s been awhile since she came to this shop, you know her don’t you, being the Princess’ student?” Twilight twitched, a fake smile appearing on her face. “Um, sort of,” Pinkie Pie had a hoof to her face as the unicorn hurried out of the bakery without looking back. Accidentally being left behind, Spike shook his head and looked at the confused Mrs. Cake. “Can I try those Volcano Peppers with uh,” he glanced at the list, scratching his cheek, “Cherry and Peanut Butter Mousse?” the baker smiled. “Sure thing, be right back, Pinkie can you get the form?” the Element of Laughter nodded and ran to get it, and Spike spent around thirty minutes before Twilight finally came back and dragged him home. Which was too bad because he was just about to ask for an order form for some Volcano Pepper Jelly, because it was really good and meshed well with peanut butter.  Then yesterday they visited Fluttershy's cottage and the discovery that she was an important Ranger almost blew his mind. He thought her Cutie Mark meant she was good at treating injured or sick animals. When both of them first saw her, Twilight had been shocked while he was interested to see a Nocturne in Ponyville. The ones that moved to Canterlot tended to stay out of sight, and he was aware of them building a settlement somewhere near the city. But she admitted to being a born Pegasus who was turned into a Nocturne due to a malicious unicorn with no cure available. But she reassured them that she had gotten used to her new form and didn’t mind it as much.  She took them on a tour of her home, including a basement in her cottage and two rooms she explained were recently constructed before taking them to the yurt. The yurt had Harry the Bear, different bats and birds in the wings, a couple of dogs, and to their shock, the manticore from before was there! "Um, Fluttershy?" Twilight pointed at the manticore who was curled up asleep, Fluttershy looked sheepish, "Well, when I told Harry here about him, he went into the forest and brought Manny back who expressed interest in being part of my rescue task force. I'm putting him through a trial period once he passes his medical exams," Spike watched with wide eyes as the pegasus walked over to the manticore in his bed and fluffed some pillows for him, pouring more water into a trough. "He went into the forest by himself?" Twilight exclaimed, looking at the uninjured bear who was licking honey out of a jar. "Well yes, he goes in there all the time, he is one of my rescue animals for the Everfree after all," Fluttershy said clearly, before an alarm sounded throughout the hut, waking up 'Manny' who started growling and making all the other animals tense. Twilight and Spike blocked their ears at the ringing sound but Fluttershy's eyes hardened as she pulled a hard hat out of nowhere and whistled, Several bats flew out and landed on her back, each wearing an orange vest with 'RESCUE' on it, and Angel came in with his own vest, hopping on her helmet. "Sorry you two, duty calls," she flew out an opening in the ceiling that had not been in there before and Twilight and Spike looked at each other. "Did that just happen," Twilight looked concerned about whatever that alarm could mean, but Spike had to stop her from going after the pegasus. "She's a trained Ranger Twilight," he insisted, "It's her job, not ours," he managed to convince her in the end by reminding her of her promise to help Applejack in the morning. Which led to him waking up at this horrible hour and having to make breakfast as her assistant, Apparently, she did not sleep all that well last night if the dark circles under them were any indication, "Ooh, what if Fluttershy got hurt, or trapped, or," Spike stopped her by shoving pancakes into her mouth along with a cup of coffee. "Eat Twilight, we can ask her today about it, maybe Applejack might know what happened," she brightened up around her chewing and quickly swallowed, summoning another stack to her mouth and him onto her back. "Let's go!" he tried to stop her but she ran out the library door and headed towards Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was setting out buckets and carts when they appeared and looked surprised to see them arriving so early, "Ah, did I give you the wrong time? Ah thought ah said seven, not six," Twilight rubbed her head, "Sorry, I couldn't sleep last night, I was with Fluttershy yesterday and," Applejack made an understanding noise, "Did that alarm bell of hers go off and she and some of her critters disappear?" Twilight nodded, "Don't you worry none, she dealt with the crisis last night and last Ah heard she was sleeping it off this morning," the unicorn breathed out in relief. "That's great news! Um, do you know what happened?" Applejack's face darkened, "Some fools decided they were going to go mountain climbing at night with faulty equipment and ended up trapped in an avalanche. Fluttershy ended up spending hours searching for them, one of them was lucky they were a pegasus otherwise they would have completely frozen in the snow," Twilight shivered. "I never thought Fluttershy would be the kind of pony to do things like that," Applejack gave a strained chuckle,  "Yeah, she's shy around strangers and in general, but she takes her rescue duties seriously and we're all plumb thankful she decided to make her home in Ponyville," she looked towards the trees, "Ready to help me win this bet against mah brother?" Twilight grinned, "Yes!" Spike spent the entire time on her back because how else was he going to get the apples down? He didn't have the strength to do that, and barely any apples fell on the ground for him to pick up either. Considering he didn't eat breakfast, his stomach was rumbling several hours later around noon as they exited the orchard with the apples, and he began looking through them for a real juicy one. Of course, maybe he shouldn't have been throwing them if the glare Twilight was giving him was any indication, "Spike, you didn't do anything!" the unicorn scolded him when he complained about his stomach, he huffed before pulling out a really big and juicy apple, "Wow," Twilight's stomach rumbled as he stuffed it into his mouth. He felt a little guilt at the look on her face, but she did make him miss breakfast this morning. Then the familiar feeling of something coming up his throat appeared and fire spewed out of his mouth, revealing a scroll with the familiar seal of Celestia. It all went downhill from there. Twilight and Applejack got excited about tickets to the Gala but before Twilight could offer Applejack a ticket (because hey, it's not like he wasn't there or anything even if he didn't want to go!) Rainbow Dash appeared. Apparently, she'd been using one of the apple trees as a napping place, and she tried to convince Twilight to give her the ticket so that she could see her idols the Wonderbolts at the Gala. Then she and Applejack got into an argument over who deserved the ticket, and Twilight cut them off, "Girls! These are my tickets and I get to decide who gets them, so the one with the better reason gets to go," to be honest, Spike thinks Applejack had the better reason. Unfortunately Twilight seemed to think that Rainbow's reason had the same amount of importance as Applejack's which confused the young dragon but she was new at taking friendship seriously (maybe he should remind her about Moondancer and the others?) They made it into town without incident, then Pinkie dove out of Sugarcube Corner and crashed into them, sending the tickets flying and landing on her face. "Aaah! Bats, bats on my face, HELP!" she ran around, making the tickets fall on the ground, then she took a closer look at them and stars appeared in her eyes, “Ooh, I haven’t been to the Grand Galloping Gala in a while! Can I come?” Twilight opened her mouth to reply when a new voice popped up. "Ooh, are those tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?" a talon darted in his vision and took the tickets and he cried out as something flew over him and landed on the roof of Sugarcube Corner. "Hey! Those aren't yours," he called up to the griffin cub smirking down at him, her golden osprey head and amber eyes a perfect blend with her lion body. "How much are you going to pay to get them back?" he could tell it was a girl but he didn't know if this was Caramel or Glaze. "Give them back please," Twilight said firmly, the cub leaned on her side and propped her head on the claw not holding the tickets. "Give me his lunch sack," the unicorn's jaw dropped at that. "What?" she sputtered, the ticket thief shrugged, "Don't dragons eat jewels for food? He must have some lying around," Spike clenched his fists, he wasn't going to give his own food supply to this brat! He opened his mouth to shout at her when a familiar voice spoke up, their tone almost reminding him of Twilight's mom in the manner they addressed the cub. "Young lady! Get down here right now and give those tickets back or I will go to Reese and Carrot Mash and have you grounded," Rarity appeared next to them, her face set in the same kind of expression Twilight Velvet always used when he misbehaved. "Come on Rarity! Your ruining my fun," however the cub's confidence had shaken and she was sitting upright on the roof, "Fluttershy dear, would you like to add a few words?" that seemed to make the cub pale as the yellow pegasus landed beside her on the roof, a frown on her face. "Now Caramel," the female bowed her head and flew down, giving the tickets back to Spike and mumbling an apology at a prod from Fluttershy. "It's fine," Spike said grudgingly, the cub lifted her head a bit and turned to Fluttershy who had a scary look on her face. "Aunt Fluttershy," the cub began but cringed as the yellow pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Today as I recall is your music lessons and I doubt you finished them this early," Caramel shrunk, "I will make sure both Carrot and Reese find out and that you will be writing lines at my place," she shrunk even more, "Under Angel's supervision," now she looked terrified. "Yes Aunty Fluttershy, sorry Rarity," she passed the unicorn and disappeared down the road. "Wow Fluttershy," the pegasus blushed at Twilight's words, "I've had a hoof in raising her these past few years so I know how to get her to behave," Rarity let out an aggravated sigh. "Best I can do is intimidate her, guess I need to work on it," Fluttershy rushed to assure the mare, "You were doing great Rarity," Spike agreed with that, "You reminded me of Twilight's mom, the resemblance was almost eerie," Twilight hissed a warning at him but surprisingly Rarity didn't get offended, instead she looked rather touched. "Thank-you Spike, good to know I do have the air after all," she turned to Twilight, "Have fun at the Gala you two," Pinkie chose that moment to hop in. "But Twilight's taking me!" Rarity looked taken aback at that, as did Fluttershy who gave the younger mare a frown that had the Earth Pony smiling sheepishly. "You want to go to the Gala?" the fashionista said this slowly, as if not believing it, Pinkie beamed as she confirmed it, "Darling, exactly what do you think happens at a Gala?" Spike rushed to interject when Rainbow appeared. "Wait just a moment," Twilight gasped at her entrance before frowning, "Rainbow Dash, were you following me?" the pegasus said no quickly before nodding, "Yes, well I can't let a goody-two-shoes like you just give the ticket away like that!" then Applejack appeared and got into an argument with Rainbow Dash while Pinkie slunk over to Fluttershy with pleading eyes, but the mare looked away, making her wilt. Rarity surprisingly did not join in on the arguing, her eyes spotting the clock tower and widening. "Fluttershy darling," the pegasus watching the fight hummed, "You might want to check the time," the pegasus did and gasped, "Oh no! I have to get to the train station, goodbye!" she ran off with Pinkie right behind her and Rarity looked at the two arguing mares disapprovingly as Twilight cringed in the background. "You two, QUIET!" she barked, they fell silent,  "Now, Twilight is the one who owns the tickets, so I suggest instead of acting like foals, that you let her come to the decision on her own without making her tear her own mane out," Rainbow crossed her hooves. "You're just acting like that because you want the ticket for yourself," Rarity scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Please," she turned to Twilight, "I'm off Twilight, see you and Spike later," she left and Spike felt some disappointment pool in his stomach. "I hate it when she pulls the 'Mom' act, just because," Applejack shushed Rainbow quickly, leaving him and Twilight to look at them oddly, "We'll leave you to lunch then," they all disappeared and when Twilight shot a questioning look at Spike he shrugged, how should he know what they are talking about? ------------ Fluttershy looked around the train station with wide eyes, stamping her hooves nervously as she searched for the mare sent by Trade Wind. Pinkie bounced up and down beside her, a bright grin on her face,  “Do you think she’ll like the party I’m going to throw her? Ooh should I do it in the library again or at Sugarcube Corner?” Fluttershy shook her head,  “Maybe ask if they want a party first,” she suggested, giving her sister a look who froze as previous incidents came to mind. “Oh, I’ll ask her first then, sorry, I’m just excited about meeting a new pony and the possibility of Trade Wind coming to town. I mean, I know we aren’t supposed to freely admit our relation with her which is still weird, but it’s been awhile since we saw her,” Fluttershy nodded, the whistle of the train catching her attention as it pulled away from the station. Wait, had they missed the unicorn? A polite cough had both of them turning to a unicorn with a red and purple mane in a similar style to Twilight with bushy eyebrows and glasses in front of purple eyes and a yellow coat as described in the letter. "Fluttershy I presume?" the two shook hooves politely, the unicorn giving Pinkie a nod that the mare returned, "Trade Wind informed me that you would be showing me around Ponyville and helping arrange the accommodations," Fluttershy gave a small nod. "Yes, we'll be going to Town Hall first to talk to Mayor Mare about where you’ll live, then we’ll be heading to the library for you to deliver something?” she trailed off as the unicorn adjusted her glasses. “Trade Wind did entrust me with this task, and she’s advised me not to mention her by name?” Fluttershy nodded turning and walking out of the station with the unicorn right next to her. “If at all possible,” she still didn’t like the fact that Trade Wind decided not to visit Ponyville regularly since Rainbow Dash moved in, but at least she didn’t drop off the face of Equuis. ----- Drying off in Rarity's boutique after that rain shower felt heavenly, even if Twilight dreaded the fact her friend might try her hoof at winning her favor for the ticket. But Rarity didn't do any of that, instead, she brought out some tea and tea sandwiches which Twilight stared at with wide eyes before slowly taking a bite, Spike had no such reservations. He chowed down and swallowed, smiling at Rarity with that lovesick grin he’s had since he first saw her. "So, what's your reason for wanting the ticket?" Rarity stared at Spike blankly for a moment before realization hit her. "Oh you mean the ticket for the," she paused, "Gala," her ears fell back a bit, "Who doesn't want to go to the Gala right?" she laughed nervously but Twilight was surprised. "Wait you don't want to go?" of all ponies she expected to not be interested in the Gala, Rarity was not one of them. The unicorn waved a hoof, "Well, it's a matter of enjoying that kind of event, but not those attending it, in fact," the cries of a foal filled the air and Rarity gasped, "Oh dear, coming my darling," she gave them a brief apology before disappearing up the stairs and curiosity had Twilight and Spike climbing the stairs. What they saw at the top had Spike's jaw-dropping while Twilight froze, "Mommy's here, shush, I know you hate the rain little one," Rarity was rocking a small colt in her hooves, humming a song under her breath as teary dark blue eyes opened from a dark pink face. A dark purple mane with blond streaks fell over his face as he calmed under Rarity's attention. "Um, Rarity," the white unicorn shushed them for a moment before putting the colt back into a bed that Twilight noticed was on the other side of Rarity's bed with raised bars. Turning on some music, she motioned for the two of them to leave the room, shutting the door behind her, "Was that your brother?" Spike asked hesitantly, Rarity gave him a sympathetic smile, "My son actually," Twilight barely caught the now unconscious Spike as he fainted from the news, 'Well, that's the end of that crush' she thought, placing him on her back and following Rarity back down. "So," she trailed off, Rarity sighed, "I meant to tell you sooner, but never found the right time," she laid down on her couch and Twilight took a seat as well, "His name is Titanium Rose and I gave birth to him two years ago.” the other unicorn bit her lip. "The father-" she got cut off. "Is not in the picture," Rarity's tone was cold and Twilight shivered at the dark look in the unicorn's eyes before it disappeared. "Sorry," she bowed her head, a hoof was placed on her shoulder, Rarity giving her an apologetic smile. "It's fine, I just appreciate that you aren't giving a negative reaction," Twilight shook her head furiously. "Why would I do that? It's obvious that you care for him very much," that got her a smile. "I do," Twilight thought about something and wondered if she should question Applejack and Rainbow Dash's words earlier, but she felt scared about Rarity's own reaction. Then her stomach rumbled again and Twilight chuckled sheepishly, "Guess my belly still wants something to eat," in the next moment she was outside again with Applejack grinning at her with a cart full of apple treats, and she gulped at the expectant look on the Earth pony’s face. "I can't decide right now Applejack," she summoned Spike and called into the Boutique, "See you later Rarity, guess I'll take Spike home then," she heard Rarity's reply and ran towards the library, her sanctuary. Unfortunately, word got out about her having an extra ticket, and in the next instant she found herself being overrun by ponies asking to be her plus one. --------------------------------- Fluttershy stood next to Mayor Mare while Moondancer and Pinkie Pie searched through different deeds. Well Moondancer was searching, Pinkie Pie was being chased by the mayor’s assistant, Silver Quill as she grabbed deed after deed, blabbering about new party venues or a new community center. “Ooh! Maybe a branch of North Star magazine!” the assistant blanched and put on even more speed, “No! The paperwork for that alone! Stop trying to buy new buildings!” Fluttershy didn’t stop the Element of Laughter, enjoying the show while feeling a bit vindicative that this mare was having trouble. Mayor Mare was ignoring it as well, talking to Fluttershy about upcoming events and agreeing to putting a sign on the nearby mountain warning hikers. “As soon as those ponies are recovered I’ll arrange for them to be sent to a safety course, would twenty hours work?” the pegasus thought about it. “I would suggest forty instead,” it was one thing to go up a building with a few supplies and new at hiking, it was another to just go on a whim with no supplies at all. Half of her duties as Ranger of Ponyville happened to be stopping ponies from their own foolishness.  Moondancer joined them, a deed in her aura that she showed to them “I would like to stay here,” Mayor Mare looked at the deed and an unreadable expression crossed her face, "Oh, that one, that's a bit of a fixer-upper," she tried to warn them, Moondancer looked unconcerned, "I know several spells to help with fixing it up, and it’s the only other one near the Everfree to reduce traveling time between the house and the castle," she explained, Fluttershy glanced at it, “That’s close to my place, I can arrange for some of my animals to help if that’s alright,” she suggested, the unicorn nodded as she handed something to Mayor Mare. “Here’s the blank check from the castle, we’ll arrange for any needed funds and a meeting for recruitment,” the politician accepted it with a gleam in her eye, looking excited. Pinkie Pie joined them just as loud voices were heard outside the building. Exchanging looks, the ponies went to th door and peered out at the crowd chasing after a panicking Twilight and Spike. Mayor Mare stared at the scene with wide eyes while Fluttershy and Pinkie exchanged glances. Moondancer took one look at Twilight and scowled,  “Let’s go ahead and stop the chase, I want to get this over with,” she marched ahead, her horn lighting up and causing a few crackers that startled the crowd, who then saw Fluttershy standing there with an unimpressed look on her face. Several animals appeared around her, landing on the roof of the Town Hall or perching on her back with piercing eyes. “Go home,” the pegasus stated, staring at all of them before they turned and left with ashamed expressions. A shocked Twilight was dragged into the library where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were tied up, Rarity standing over them with a frown.  “Hello darling, I believe these two,” she glared at them, “Have something to say,” Applejack glowered at her. “This wasn’t necessa-” “When someone who prides herself on being so honest tries resorting to bribery,” her eyes narrowed, “it is.” The Earth pony flinched, looking at Twilight. “Sorry Twilight, I got so gungho about the Grand Galloping Gala, I didn’t think about how you felt,” the ropes disappeared and she got up, stepping away from Rarity who raised her eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was still struggling against the ropes, looking like she wanted to bite them off.  “Rainbow Dash,” she said in a sing-song tone, Rainbow stilled, seeing the looks on everyone else’s faces before she slumped, “Fine, I’m sorry too, whatever decision you have about the Gala is up to you,” Twilight let out a breath, smiling. “Thank-you,” she took the two tickets out and wrote a letter to Princess Celestia, sending them back by Spike, who ended up spitting out a new letter with six new tickets. “My dearest student, why didn’t you say so?” the tickets floated towards everyone, Pinkie taking hers with glee along with Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack. Fluttershy and Rarity eyed theirs a bit differently. Does this mean she expects all six of us to go to the Gala?" Fluttershy sighed, "I guess I can always talk to one of my former mentors," they were looked at with confusion, Rarity in particular. "Wait, you don't actually want to go to the Gala, you Rarity?" Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief, the white mare gave her a look, "In case you didn't know, a certain noble was a student at WEU and let's just say I've been to several of the functions, and don't want to experience it again," she shuddered, Moondancer blinked and took out a letter from her saddlebag,  "I actually have a letter for you regarding a new reason for you to attend," she gave it to the unicorn who unfolded it and gave it a brief once over, an unreadable expression appearing. "Guess I will be going after all," she announced, burning the letter up in her magic, just as Twilight’s stomach rumbled. “I don’t suppose we can celebrate over a meal? Moondancer do you want to come,” the unicorn gave her a cool look. “Only because I have business with you six, but after that I have somewhere else to be,” her cold tone took Twilight aback as they all went out, the Element of Magic looking a bit hurt at her former classmate’s tone.  Spike barely took a step out when he received another letter from the Princess with his own ticket, and with a smile on his face, hurried to keep up with the ponies. They ended up going to Pizza Cub on the outskirts of town and the group of eight took their seats at one of the large booths, Rarity, Pinkie, Moondancer, and Fluttershy on one side; and Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Spike on the other. “So what did you want to talk to us about?” Rarity looked at Moondancer who was rummaging in her saddlebag, brushing her mane back when it fell over her eyes. The unicorn looked tempted for a moment before tearing her gaze away to pick up the menu. “And can you make it quick?” Rainbow said, “I’m starving,” clearly there was something else she wanted to say, but a look from Fluttershy silenced her and she flipped open a menu with a huff. Twilight looked a bit uncomfortable but looked over her menu, quickly eyeing the options before deciding on what she wanted while Spike let out an exclamation. “Hey, they have a ruby pizza on here!” Rarity chuckled. “Well,  the occasional dragon passes through, and some of the other restaurants also have gem food,” Spike’s mouth dropped open and he stared at her. “Dragons have been here?” the white unicorn gave a nod and flagged down the waiter, which turned out to be a female griffin, wearing an apron with the restaurant’s name as she walked over them. “We’ll have a Dragon Claw special for Spike here, and two,” her eyes cut to Pinkie and a hungry Twilight, “Make that four pizzas, the first one Ash’s special, second the Triple Green, third the Mushroom lovers, and for the fourth? Make that a triple cheese,” the waiter nodded and walked away with their order, Rarity turning to the others to meet accusing stares, “You're telling me you would have ordered something different?” the stares looked away and she raised an eyebrow at Moondancer who was holding six envelopes in her hooves, “You do realize I already have one of those correct? As does Fluttershy,” the others looked to see what she meant, and while Pinkie Pie let out an excited gasp, Twilight looked confused and both Applejack and Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Are those tickets to the Nightwing Festival?!” she clapped her hooves excitedly, vibrating in her seat. “Nightwing Festival?” Twilight questioned while Applejack groaned. “Can Ah refuse?” Fluttershy shushed them and turned to the unicorn. “Go ahead Moondancer,” giving her a curt nod, Moondancer unrolled a scroll and read aloud. “As thanks for freeing the Princess of the Night, the Nocturne have officially invited the Bearers of Harmony to participate in the Nightwing Festival as honored guests at the Royal Table,” she passed out the envelopes, giving the sixth envelope to a surprised Spike, “And since Fluttershy already has one, here’s yours,” the dragon accepted the envelope with wide eyes, “As for you Rarity, this is merely an invitation by the Festival’s committee. They hope you will attend after missing the first two Festivals,” She turned to the others, “I will tell you this, these tickets are an honor, and refusing them because you are uncomfortable with the hosts will not be accepted,” Applejack opened her mouth to protest but Pinkie Pie spoke over her. “Ooh, the Nightwing Festival! I’m so excited to meet new ponies and finally get to go, the last two years were very busy!” Twilight finally cut back in as the pizza was set before them. “What is the Nightwing Festival?” her desire for knowledge overrode her hunger, for the moment. Moondancer rolled her eyes, getting a slice for herself and cutting into it. “I’m surprised you don’t know about it considering Princess Celestia herself attended the Festival in the past,” Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “I-I, was busy with my studies,” she said, before shaking her head, “But what is it?” Rarity took her turn to speak. “The Nightwing Festival is hosted by the Dragons, Griffins, and Nocturne and is a new celebration created by the students of WEU to foster better cultural relations between the different species. Of course, for the other students, we have separate celebrations still in the works, but the Nightwing Festival was agreed on and each of the hosts involved has it in their lands. The Dragons held the first one on one of their islands and the griffins? Well, it was more of a pegasus/griffin effort as the griffins wanted to charge a lot of bits just to entertain the idea of being hosts. Now I believe it is the Nocturne’s turn and will be held in one of their Underground Cities,” she looked to Moondancer for answers, who pushed up her glasses again. “Yes, the event itself lasts several days and there are various competitions that are held, there is also a parade and a dance at the end of it. I should also say this, in matching the name of the Festival, attendees not born with wings will be required to create their own wings as a sort of costume. Those with wings will be required to wear masks that they have created and there will be contests judging the best ones.” Twilight finished chewing her second slice, eyes wide with the information she just received. “Wow, I can’t wait to attend with all of you,” she smiled at her new friends, some of them smiling back, though Applejack looked unsure. “Uh, are ya’ll sure about this?” but the others were caught up in the excitement and she sighed, sinking down in her seat. How was she going to get out of this?