“Way to go!”
Spring had finally come. Flying in winter was fine, too, of course. Flying anywhere, anytime was fine, but absolutely nothing could compare to corkscrews under the springtime sun. Nothing was quite like a well-executed triple loop into a fast dive, air roaring in your ears as you dove towards your breathless audience only to pull up at the last second.
Rainbow Dash’s mane shifted a bit as Fluttershy soared by at a safe distance above their heads.
“Awesome!” Dash called, reaching over to grab another slice of apple pie, spraying crumbs everywhere as she continued. “Think you can pull a hammerhead next? Do it!”
“You go girl!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing up and down on the spot.
“Bravo!” Rarity added, lowering her voice as she glowered at Rainbow Dash, brushing bits of pie out of her mane. “Do mind where you make a mess, dear.”
“They’re just crumbs,” Applejack interjected, reaching into the picnic basket for another bottle of sarsaparilla which she promptly put down at the unicorn’s side. “Here. You help yourself to another bottle too, Pinkie Pie.”
“Well, at least somepony’s a gentlemare,” Rarity murmured with a bemused smile that Dash barely registered. It went to the back of her mind like the rest of the ponies in the little clearing outside of Ponyville proper. In the air above them, Fluttershy briefly paused for breath before rocketing off to try her hoof at another trick. Rainbow Dash sent a leg questing for more pie, but her hoof scratched against an empty pie plate.
“Sorry!” Pinkie called around a prodigious mouthful of apple pie.
“Don’t blame her for being short,” Applejack suggested, grinning. “She’s busy cheering Fluttershy on whenever she so much as flaps her wings.”
Dash’s cheeks flushed. She turned around to fix her three friends with an angry glare. “Hey, you have no idea how long it’s taken me to convince Fluttershy to give stunt flying a try. You don’t like it, you can leave.”
“She was quite clearly joking, dear,” Rarity said, uncorking the sarsaparilla bottle before taking a dainty sip. Pinkie Pie was pouting at her, the full force of a Pinkie frown brought to bear in her direction.
“That I was,” Applejack nodded. “This is all good, ain’t meaning to complain.”
“Right,” Dash said, her ears drooping while she turned her eyes back to the sky.
“Besides, I can’t leave just yet. I owe Fluttershy some ten or twelve pies yet,” Applejack added, smirking and nudging her hat back on her head.
“Why do you owe her pies?” Pinkie asked tilting her head. “Did you lose a bet? Did you win a bet?”
“This isn’t the first time you’ve alluded to some debt or other,” Rarity agreed, lowering her sunglasses.
“It’s nothin’,” Applejack said. “Hey, R.D., is that a flock of geese?”
“What, where?” Dash snapped, whirling around.
The sun was still high in the sky, but Fluttershy had nothing more to give. Even after the small break for pie and apple juice, she’d only been able to go on for another few minutes before she was tired again. Her head still spun from all the twists and turns, and Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity waved their goodbyes after helping Applejack pack up all she had brought for the picnic. Soon the two pegasi stood together watching their friends make their way through the tall grassy field, heading for Ponyville.
“So, how’d I do?” Fluttershy asked, leaning against Rainbow Dash. Truth be told, it didn’t matter a whole lot if she’d botched the hammerhead or if her loops were off. The question was a formality, nothing more. She’d spent the afternoon with Rainbow Dash; she’d already won.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Dash said, stretching her wings and casually draping one of them over Fluttershy’s back, the warmth soothing her aching wings. “I’d say maybe a seven out of ten. You did good, but you could do better.”
Fluttershy giggled. “You always say that. Exactly that.”
“Well yeah, because it’s always true,” Dash shrugged, touching snouts with her. “Hey, you wanna hang out tonight? Do something fun?”
“Oh. Um, I think I need a bath first,” Fluttershy admitted, ducking under Rainbow Dash. She lifted a wing experimentally and touched a hoof to her forehead. “I’m all sweaty.”
“I dunno, I like it,” Dash retorted, grinning as she nosed in under her wing, setting Fluttershy giggling.
“Oh, ew!” the yellow mare giggled.
“Seriously, nopony cares,” Dash claimed, pulling back and breaking into a hover. “Come on!”
Fluttershy forgot she was tired. The baking sun, the ache of a long practice session, it all disappeared when she took off to fly side by side with Rainbow Dash in the general direction of Ponyville proper.
“What do you want to do?” Fluttershy asked.
“Uh, whatever is fine as long as we’re not going to your place. Angel’s still mad, isn’t he?”
Fluttershy sighed and shook her head. “I’ll talk to him. You really should try to get along, but for tonight, well, the Ponyville theater is staging a new play called ‘Who We Are’. It’s supposed to be very nice.”
“Ugh. A play? Seriously?” Dash asked, flipping over to fly with her belly up, short wingstrokes keeping her at an even pace. “Any action?”
“Um, no, sorry. It’s a drama,” Fluttershy admitted, her ears drooping.
“Right,” Dash said.
“We could go to your place, if that’s—”
“Hey, I didn’t say no. Let’s go see the play,” Dash interrupted, grinning. She angled herself a little closer, giving Fluttershy’s flank a nudge. “It’s indoors, right? And it’s gonna be dark?”
“Okay, I don’t mean to sound like a foal here, but, uh, are we there yet?” Twilight asked.
Celestia laughed. “We are, in fact, almost there.”
The couple had spent the past ten minutes following a narrow mountain path that started in the royal gardens, only to climb up the face of Mount Canterlot itself. Ten minutes that were spent in relative silence following her royal highness’ multi-colored tail up a path that most certainly did not reach the Canterlot Security Council’s safety minimums, despite the guardrail.
“I just don’t want to be late for our dinner with the gang. Getting back to Ponyville takes at least an hour even by chariot,” Twilight added.
“That’s why a very clever unicorn discovered the secret to teleportation, long ago,” Celestia suggested, smiling back at her as they followed the winding path through another turn. Up ahead, the mountain turned green with plantlife.
“Maybe, if we aim for the library or something. I don’t want to use any teleportation magic near Applejack for a while yet, even though I’m pretty sure she was joking the last time she threatened to, well. It involved a lot more apple-related curses than I’m comfortable with,” she trailed off, swishing her tail.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to inconvenience us, but there was something I wanted to show you,” Celestia said. In the past months, Twilight had gotten almost too good at reading her pose and her voice both, and now her ears perked up. The small smile that always lurked in the princess, in her princess’ every word, was missing. She said nothing as she followed Celestia onto a small mountain shelf covered in obviously-enchanted soil. Here grew trees large and small, a garden the size of her bedroom packed with bushes, flowers, grass—and a lonely stone engraved with a torch.
Princess Celestia kept the silence as she crossed the distance to the granite marker, slowly easing herself down to sit in front of it. It took a while before Twilight worked up the courage to cross the threshold to the garden; to convince herself that she wasn’t trespassing.
“I think he would appreciate this little gesture,” Celestia said, her gaze distant. “He would probably analyze it to death, though. Try to see it in light of affection, harmony, and ultimately, magic. Then again, he could be right. Perhaps there is magic in these little moments and places, too.”
Despite her words, there was no sadness in Celestia’s voice. Even so, Twilight sat down at her side and leaned against her, joining their warmth and closing her eyes while she nuzzled into the coat of Celestia neck.
“He said that the Elements and harmony could be used for more,” Twilight said.
“And he would not have lied, even if his understanding was imperfect like ours,” Celestia agreed.
Twilight pulled away for a moment, chewing her bottom lip as she stared at the ground. Every time she let herself consider all that had come of the past year’s events, it was all she could do to keep her brain in check. The possibilities were endless. “I guess the question is what you do with that knowledge. He spoke of immortality and other things. If harmony is tied to life itself, imagine...”
“What we do with it,” the princess corrected her, leaning down to rub her jaw against the top of Twilight’s head. It drew a smile from the smaller unicorn despite the gravity of their discussion. “If what Fluttershy and Applejack have told us is correct, the cave of harmony in the play may not be a metaphor. It is a place. Quite possibly the birthplace of me and my sister.”
“Are you sure it’s safe for you to travel?” Twilight asked, craning her neck to nuzzle Celestia.
“I am not, but I feel at peace. Perhaps that matters. Maybe we should see about having someone return to the old lands and learn more, be that all of us, you, I and the Elements, or somepony else. I am sure of only one thing.”
Twilight waited in silence, scarcely daring to breathe, but Celestia’s smile only widened as she tilted her head and met her lips in a brief kiss.
“Today, we are going to have dinner with our friends.”