Our Time to Fly

by Shokinaw

Chapter 11: Joining the Flock

 
The Celestial Sister of the night chased the retreating horizon, blanketing the sleeping world in her sacred power. New stars swept across the sky, seemingly twinkling into reality at Princess Luna’s passing. Some of these tiny glints of light hadn’t been seen for an age, an age of loss and of banishment, of anger and of rage. Astrologists would mark the meaning of these returned shimmering specks of heaven as a sign of a new era, one of penance, forgiveness, and friendships renewed. For so long she’d thought her artful labours above the world had gone unnoticed by her subjects below, but it only appeared so next to the sun. So much time was lost because she had counted curses instead of blessings. She had forgotten those that praised her, and continued to praise her even now. Far below, astronomers applauded her silhouette against the moon as she passed by overhead. Stargazers and poets were left in awe, and stunned into solemn silence at her fleeting image. Sailors on their ships waved and shouted their cheers; the soft shimmering of moonlight over a calm sea would be a guide over the darkest pathways of the world. None of them would be forgotten again.

However, tonight her careful work would go unnoticed by the residents of the small town of Ponyville. A small gathering of clouds had taken over the skies of the little town blowing in from over the Everfree. A team of weather ponies worked to clear them, their efforts constantly thwarted by the magic of the strange wilds where they were created. Below their toils slept a young pegasus, shedding away the exhaustion of what had been a very long day. It had been an emotional roller coaster-ride, the rigours of flight training, presenting her new cutie mark to the town, getting played by Diamond Tiara, and an awkward conversation with her coach. For once the normally energetic pony was just as tired mentally as she was physically, and the next day didn’t look any less daunting.

It was with a great sense of relief she climbed into bed as soon as she got home. A couple competition rulebooks sat unopened on her dresser across the room, but she was asleep before she could even think about reading them. Dreams of stunt ponies, phoenixes, and armoured dragons danced around in her head.

The small sound of rocks tapping against her window had no effect on the deep slumber of this tired athlete, nor did the knocking of a hoof against the window frame stir the sleeping pony. The sounds of hammers, nails, saws and screwdrivers probably should have awoken her, but it was the large splash of water over her head that finally did the job.

Scootaloo sat up sputtering and coughing at the unwelcome surprise of chilled water soaking her fur and bed. She instinctively shook, spraying water all over her bedroom before looking left and right to fix the origin of her wake-up call with the evilest glare she could muster.

“It’s about time! Ah was beginnin’ tah think Ah’d have tah drive a train through yer room tah get yer attention.” huffed her best friend in annoyance, setting down a recently emptied bucket.

“What the hay, Apple Bloom?! I was sleeping here!”

“Ah know, and it needed tah stop. Now come on before we wake yer parents.” She pushed open a poorly rebuilt window, which was wobbling in its frame, before wedging it open with a piece of left over wood from it’s new construction. Bent nails and screws, an unlevel frame, and sawdust left her window shoddy-looking and ready to fall apart at the next hint of a strong wind.

“What did you do?!” whispered Scootaloo’s as loud as she dared, pointing at the horrible offense to the rest of the house. “My parents are gonna kill me!”

“Ah’ll fix it up right later, just hurry up, this is important, alright?” Apple Bloom was already halfway out the window and climbing on to a nearby tree branch, Scootaloo’s skyboard under her arm. There was no helping it at this point. Her curiosity was piqued anyway. Rare was the time the aspiring woodworker left poor craftsmanship behind, no matter how quick the job. There was something big happening. Sighing for the loss of sleep that would be her burden for the rest of the day, she jumped out the window and took to wing. Shakily, she glided down to follow Apple Bloom as she hurried through the empty streets.

“Alright, you broke into my bedroom, woke me up in the dead of night, and stole my skyboard. You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Scootaloo said it in a whisper, as if still worried they’d wake up her parents.

“Ah’m sorry, alright? But it couldn’t wait. Ah need to finish all the adjustments on it tonight. Tomorrow’ll be too late.”

“You dragged me out of bed so you could fix my board? I appreciate the enthusiasm, Apple Bloom, but it isn’t exactly the best time for this. You don’t even need me for that; you already have all the designs written down.”

“Well excuse me If Ah wanted tah say good bye before Ah left!” The shout and glare Scootaloo earned from her friend startled her more than the bucket of cold water ever could.

“G-g-good bye? W-what are you talking about?”

“Come sun up Ah’ll be bound for Appleoosa, an’ Ah won’t be back ‘til Spring at least, and’ likely more! But if yah still wanna go back tah bed so bad, go ahead. As fer me, Ah said Ah’d have yer skyboard perfect an’ ready tah go fer yer show, an’ that’s what Ah plan tah do.” She didn’t slow down, her temper putting a sense of urgency and speed into her step.

“Wait, Appleoosa? What? Why?”

“Because…  ‘cause that’s the only way Ah’m ever gonna get things tah change around here.”

Scootaloo was even more lost with that explanation than she was with the last, but she knew the look of resolve on her friend’s face when she saw it. When that Apple Family stubbornness set in there would be little use in arguing against whatever decision had been made. The morning train would be carrying off another one of her friends, and this would be the last chance to spend time with her. All thoughts of sleep were left behind as the pair made their way to their old club house.

It was the first time in a very long time more than one Cutie Mark Crusader had been at their old hanging grounds at the same time. Before her flight training started Scootaloo still came back here a lot by herself. She kept it clean after the younger foals that had taken up residence here, but she spent most of her time outside. In the work area, very little had changed. Everything seemed so nostalgic. It felt almost as if the two had stepped into their past.

Apple Bloom finally paused, taking in her surroundings before moving on to her old workbench and tool area. This side of the club had rarely seen use since they left, but it still held up well. There were easily enough tools stocked here to work on the skyboard, but it left Scootaloo wondering why they came here. It was well over a year ago now that the Apple Family had put up a workshed devoted to their youngest sibling’s aspirations, and Apple Bloom had never looked back at her old workbench since. It didn’t take long for Apple Bloom to start explaining once she finished setting up. All of Scootaloo’s questions were soon being answered to the tune of a hammer ringing out angrily as it struck against hardwood.

“-an’ turns out the farm was in this money trouble since summer first started!” Another strike of the hammer against the board’s frame forced the old bracings off, splintering the wood with a strength born from years of apple bucking. “Nopony said a word tah me about it! They purposefully went an’ kept me in the dark ‘bout the whole darn thing!”

“That’s pretty rough, but I don’t get what this has to do with you going to Appleoosa.” The sound of tearing wood caused Scootaloo to wince and look away, unable to watch the tearing up of the physical representation of the precious symbol on her flank being torn and ripped to pieces.

“Don’t yah see, Scoot? Leavin’ the farm’s gonna be the only way my family’s ever gonna show me any respect! Ah can’t keep goin’ on like this! They won’t even trust me enough tah help ‘em when things hit a rough patch!” A pry bar tore into another stubborn piece of wood and the board buckled under the harsh treatment of its creator. “Worse than that Scoot, they went out to others before they went tah me! The book worm, the clothes designer, hay, they even called out to Snails for help! Ah thought Ah was family! Ah thought Ah supposed tah be there fer them like they were fer me! But it ain’t like that. Nuthin’s like it oughta be! Ah’m still just a little filly in their eyes, an’ if Ah don’t do somethin’ fer mahself, they’ll never see me any other way!”

 “Yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from.”

Attaining respect was an obstacle Scootaloo understood too well. Everything she had been working towards over the last few months had been trying to build a sense of self-respect. Not being respected by others, though? It was never a problem she really had, outside of the rare stuck-up pony or two in town. Maybe she could have learned to fly sooner if her parents pegasi instead of earth ponies. Then they would have been able to tutor her from the start. But they did the best they could with what they had. Paying for broken scooters, dance classes, and supporting her many adventures with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they always encouraged her every step of the way.

Taking a moment to bask in the familiar, comforting sound of hammer meeting wood as Apple Bloom began to attach stronger bindings, Scootaloo leaned back and looked around the room. Even with the anger behind it, the sound of carpentry going on in the background of their old clubhouse left Scootaloo with a wistful feeling of days gone by. But then, there was something missing from the steady thumping; the hum of a quiet song that would normally contrast with the loud banging. Her eyes were drawn to the empty chair across the table; her thoughts were left to imagine the extra set of dishes that would be left in the cupboards, and the unused song sheets piled in the corner.

“It’s strange to be here without her, isn’t it?”

The question threw off the next hammer blow, sending the tool slipping from Apple Bloom’s hoof and skidding across the floor. Turning to follow Scootaloo’s gaze towards the chair, Apple Bloom nodded her agreement as she went to retrieve it.

“Yeah, it is. Yah know? There was a time she woulda done anythin’ tah trade sisters with me, now Ah’m the one feelin’ jealous over hers.”

“You’re jealous over Rarity? Things must be pretty serious.”

Just the mental image of Rarity and Apple Bloom hanging out casually in the boutique left Scootaloo holding back a bout of laughter that threatened to leave her in stitches.

“Yah say that, but Ah think there was somethin’ tah Rarity’s way of thinkin’.” Setting down the hammer by the board, Apple Bloom began to inspect her work as she tried to explain her reasoning. “It’s just that Applejack has always seen me as a little filly, and that was great when Ah was one. Rarity was always tryin’ tah get Sweetie Belle tah grow up. That really ain’t that great fer a filly that just wants tah play, but look how it worked out in the end! Now, Sweetie Belle’s out on her own tourin’ all over Equestria, an’ mah sister don’t even trust me enough tah do mah part on the farm.”

“So now you think Rarity is the better sister?”

“Ain’t no pony better at bein’ a sister than mah sister!” said Apple Bloom a little too quickly, her defensiveness kicking in naturally.It was a compulsive response, one she was used to giving. It was harder to admit the rest. “Ah jus’ guess that, you know, she’s better at some parts than others. Never thought Ah’d ever say that.”

“Then this is it. We’re all going our separate ways.” The realization hit home like a wrecking ball, leaving just as much wreckage in its wake. There was no way to stop Scootaloo’s ears and wings from drooping, “Even if Sweetie Belle was leaving, I thought at least we could always hang out. Now you’re off to Appleoosa, and Sweetie Belle’s going all over the place, maybe I should look into finding somewhere to stay in Cloudsdale just so we can say we officially scattered to the winds. Growing up stinks. Why does there have to be so many goodbyes?”

“Granny says the reason a pony goes through hard goodbyes is for the joy that comes with reunions. So that we can greet ‘em with all kinds of new stories of the things we’ve accomplished, and new things we can do.” Scootaloo felt her friend’s hoof on her shoulder, “Ah won’t be gone as long as Sweetie Belle, Scoot. And lets face it, yer flight lessons have been keeipin’ yah too busy fer us to meet up much anyway. Let’s just make sure we got some stories that rival any Sweetie Belle comes back with.”

“I think I prefer stories that we’re all in together.”

“Yeah, me too, but yah know…” Apple Bloom took a moment to tighten the leg band on the Scootaloo’s foreleg. “Every story we end up havin’ will have all three of us in ‘em, anyway. After all, no matter where we go, how we do it, or what we do, our stories all start right here in Ponyville, with each other. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are the beginnin’ of every one of ‘em, and ain’t nuthin’ that’ll ever change that fact. Besides, you wait and see! We ain’t done yet; not by a long shot. We’re jus’ takin’ some time off tah learn, that’s all.”

“I guess it isn’t so bad when you put it like that,” Scootaloo turned and hugged her friend tightly before pulling away, “but if we’re all gonna do this, then let's do this right. I need you to Pinkie promise me something first.”

“Uh… Are you sure about that? Yah know, there’s no gettin’ out of those.”

“I’m positive.” Determination and all manner of seriousness was written over Scootaloo’s expression.

“Alright, Ah guess. What is it?’

“You have to make Appleoosa great! As big and as awesome as a pioneer town can be! Make a name for yourself that leaves every other pony around proud you even walked down their street! I’ll make a real name for myself too. I don’t want to just have some funny stories to tell to each other when we get back together again. I want us to be remembered! I want to hear your story by word of mouth before I even get to see you again! Let's give the Cutie Mark Crusaders a legacy that everypony’ll know all over Equestria! Let's make a name for ourselves that nopony will ever forget!”

Apple Bloom arched her eyebrow and considered the epic promise before her, and how far the pony across from her was willing to go. Since they first met, this was how Scootaloo did things. Always taking everything to the extreme, always giving her all at whatever it was she set out to do. With that kind of attitude, her friend was already bound to make a name for herself, she was sure of it. And Sweetie Belle was going to be a star! If she didn’t go out there and give it her all, what kind of stories would she be able to bring back compared to theirs? After a long uncertain breath, Apple Bloom nodded, matching Scootaloo’s bold decision.

“Yeah, alright. It’s a promise. Let’s do it!”

“Cross our hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye. Ow!” They both winced as they finished the sacred gesture by poking themselves in the eye. Grinning at each other, the two long standing teammates spat on their hooves and clasped them together, sealing their promise in every way they knew how. One way or another, their homecoming would be a day for the trio to remember forever, and who knew? Their efforts until then might just be the pride of Ponyville for years to come.
 

 
“-and so, get this, she casts a spell over the doll, and tries to make the fillies fight over it so she can teach them not to!”

Snails was near in tears laughing at the stories as Spike recounted his days as “Twilight’s Assistant’. Twilight’s cheeks were burning red, but she had just completed the story of Spike’s jealousy over Owlowicious before this, so she really couldn't argue against Spike’s retelling of one of her most embarrassing moments.

 In spite of being the current topic of bouts of laughter, she was having a good time. The trio had gathered around the kitchen table for supper and ended up chatting away the hours as they brought Spike up on current events, and Snail’s new emissary role between the bugs and ponykind. It felt great to talk and laugh about her adventures with Applejack and trying to save Sweet Apple Acres. From gem collecting to trying to find a pony to substitute in for Spike while he was off training, and then her correspondence back and forth with Rarity about all of her findings, it felt good to have it all laid out on the table.

In return, Spike had begun talking about his training in detail, something Twilight never once even managed to get away to see, much to her displeasure. That was a situation she would rectify shortly; the next day in fact. The closest she had ever come was when she commandeered him for an evening to have him fly a few laps around the library while she took notes at Rainbow Dash’s request. There was so much to learn about dragons, and Twilight was very quickly becoming the foremost expert in their growth and anatomy due to her unique relationship with Spike. She managed to talk with Rainbow Dash a bit about the flight show that they’d be putting on, but the details, which Twilight had always considered the most important part, were missing. What script they were using, the different stunts in the show, what would be performed when, she made a mental note of each and every new question that came up for later use. She’d be going out the next day with a prepared checklist of everything she wanted to see.

Snails looked to be enjoying himself too as far as she could tell. Stories of current events gradually gave way to the retelling of old ones. Spike was especially happy to give the lowdown of everything it took to be Twilight’s assistant. She hadn’t thought it would be as humiliating as it was. There were many things she had to correct Spike about, though. Really, just because she put it on his list of daily chores didn’t mean she didn’t know how! For instance, of course she knew how to cook! She just had no time for it! After all, cooking was just chemistry with ingredients instead of chemicals. With the large section of cookbooks at her disposal it would certainly be no problem at all to bake a cake or whatever else Spike could do in the kitchen.

One embarrassing story lead to another as Spike and Twilight traded them back and forth, each leaving the new addition to the library staff cracking up more and more.

“Dah, an’ I dought me an’ Snips had good stories. You guys are great!”

“We’ve certainly had our fair share of adventures together,” Twilight smiled fondly at her number one assistant who blushed at the gesture, and looked away. “But when you been by each other’s side as long as we have, I guess anypony would. I’m sure you and Snips have plenty of your own.”

Nodding dumbly in reply, Snails didn’t quite catch on that it was supposed to be his cue to share one. Twilight never thought she would meet a pony more socially inept than she was before she left Canterlot, and here she found herself sitting next to a diplomat that made her look like Pinkie Pie. Life was a strange path to trot.

“So umm….” A slow thought was trying to voice itself through the natural resistance of the slow-witted unicorn. It had been forming for awhile ever since Twilight had mentioned Spike’s attempts at heroics in his younger days, and his decision to renew his training towards that end. Superheroes were something that Snip and Snails had always fantasized about. It was why they had joined the Rainbow Dash fan club, and quickly attached themselves to the Great and Powerful Trixie! Everything about heroes just sounded so cool, and was so much better than anything that awaited themselves. “How do yah start hero trainin’, eh?”

“Well, Rarity thought firepony training would be a good way to go, and out of the different jobs I’ve been looking at it seems like the easiest to train for, and the one I’d learn the most from.”

“I doubt it will be as easy as you’re thinking, Spike,” Twilight interjected while rolling her eyes at the naive teenager, “and I’m pretty sure any one of those professions will teach you a lot.”

“Yeah, but out of all of them only a firepony will actually teach me more about being a dragon. It’ll help me learn how to control my own fires, and maybe even how to use my natural talents to save ponies too! A guard, or a search and rescue pony will teach me a lot about how to do their jobs, but dealing with fires might be the best way to teach me how to be, you know, me.”

The point was conceded with a nod, while Twilight regarded Spike with a thoughtful look. He really did seem to have his heart set on this, and she no longer liked the idea of stopping him. If this was what he wanted to do with his life, she should be encouraging it. No matter how dangerous it might be. Seeing her little brother put this much serious thought behind his reasons helped a great deal too. She was worried the only reason he started after this whole firepony business was because it was the first thing Rarity suggested, but those worries were being put to rest. Using this as a way to learn how to help ponies in trouble and learn more about his draconic nature at the same time was a good idea.

Arcane studies had prepared her for a dangerous life herself. Magic was heavily calculated beforehoof to determine the subsequent results of mixing elements together, but by its very nature it could often be unpredictable. Curses didn’t exist, but mistakes certainly did. There were powerful artifacts that were intended as tools for great good, like the crowns and necklaces that formed the elements of harmony, or the crystal heart of the Crystal kingdom. But these objects could be twisted to evil purposes in spite of the intentions of their creators. Sometimes a goof-up, like with her smarty pants doll, that magical lake Pinkie found, or the making of that amulet Trixie got a hold of could make what was supposed to be an item for assistance a disaster waiting to happen! Her studies were to help prevent those kinds of magical mishaps as much as they were to advance ponykind.

But this was the life she chose. Spike never chose to be a dragon, and if the instincts of his kind were left alone, he’d grow into the violent nature that held all of known dragonkind in its grip. Twilight had desperately tried to give him another option all his life, but now that it came down to his choice, the option she offered wasn’t the one he wanted.

Spike had made the decision to throw his draconic nature by the wayside when he was still a hatchling, but that didn’t mean he would toss out his desire for adventure. Her little brother had become the ultimate example that youth might rarely listen, but they will never stop watching. He often ignored what she said and went off to do his own thing, but the thing he wanted to do most of all was to be like her and their friends. The easy, peaceful life she offered him was rejected for a one of learning his limits, and protecting others. It was a life that sounded very familiar to this particular adventurous scholar.

“Then, I guess we better get prepared for tomorrow.”

Finishing off the last of her tea, Twilight stood up and moved towards the main library. If that was Spike’s choice, then it was about time to stop trying to hinder him, and instead, help prepare him for what was ahead.

“Aw, I wanted tah know more ‘bout hero trainin’, dat sounds sweeeet.”

“That’s good to hear, Snails, because you’re going to help me train one! We’ll borrow Spike tomorrow afternoon and take you both over to the old cart yard. Then you can practice moving objects, and Spike can use them as target practice, but first, we need to get some books on fire control.”

“Wait, now you’re gonna help train too?”

It was probably the last thing Spike ever expected to hear out of his sister.

“Of course! It’s the only way I can make sure it’s done right.”

“And I getta help train a real, live hero?!”

“As long as you keep trying as hard as you’ve been, Snails. But nopony can do anything if I can’t find the research material first. Now, where did I put them?” Twilight began scrounging around the main librarian’s desk.

“Oh! O-okay!” The fresh excitement in Spike’s tone was all Twilight needed to hear. She was certain she made the right decision. “I probably have them upstairs, I already found everything about fire control and fireponies the library has. I’ll just run and get them.”

“Pfft, You’re already looking in the wrong places. Spike, you’re a dragon, remember? Books on mundane fires will only get you so far! What you need are books on magical fire. Now I thought I saw ‘Mordain’s Magical Faerie Fire’ and ‘The Arcane Aspects of Incandescence and Infernos’ over around-”

“I gots one!"

"Here it is!”

Two voices rang out at once, interrupting Twilight’s search. Her assistants were at two different sides of the library pulling out the books she needed.

“How is it that every pony that walks in here can find books faster than I can?!”
 

 
“Are yah sure yah got everything?” Applejack called out loudly. Without waiting for a reply she immediately searched the room for anything left unpacked that a pony might need when heading out West. It wasn’t the first time she checked that morning, and at this rate she’d do it again another couple times before she was satisfied. Why did it all have to happen so fast? There was almost no time to prepare! As much as she appreciated Braeburn’s business proposal to her sister, it should have happened sooner! Not even a full day to get everything Apple Bloom would need for months? It just wasn’t right to throw all this on her so sudden!

Apple Bloom agreed too quickly the day before. That was the problem. They were busy sorting out the business side of the farm to advise her sister on what to sign and when to leave. There was no good reason that she couldn’t be off next week when they had time to get everything together, and had a proper farewell. All the excitement must have gotten to the young pony, and she just went and signed every dotted line Braeburn put in front of her. Even worse than that Braeburn was refusing to let either of the older siblings see what was on the contract.  All he’d do was keep telling her to ask Apple Bloom whenever she asked.

Her brother was being pretty quiet on the matter too, but then, he was quiet on most matters if he could help it. Everything about this would be infuriating if she didn’t trust her cousin to set a fair deal for her sister. She did trust him, of course, it’d just give her peace of mind to know for certain that the filly was being taken care of.

“Ah already said Ah did!” came a frustrated shout from below, “Would yah hurry up already? We’re gonna be late for the train.”

“Well ain’t no reason to get all upset about it.” Applejack muttered to herself, grabbing another pair of overalls and several extra hair ribbons before heading down the stairs. “Look, yah forgot some clothes and Ah noticed yah didn’t bring anythin’ tah keep your hair up. Here’s a couple ribbons.”

“Ah don’t wear pants, and those ones ain’t fit me in years anyway!” A fuming Apple Bloom watched as her sister unzipped a fully packed suitcase and began trying to stuff more into confines that were already looking ready to burst. “Ah left all that stuff on purpose, I ain’t got room for it. And Ah don’t use hair ribbons anymore, see?”

“Wouldja look at that,” Applejack said. Once her attention was drawn to the red and gold fabric being used as a hair tie, she couldn’t look away. A closer inspection revealed the symbol of the crusaders, and left a nostalgic feeling swelling up inside her. She wrapped up Apple Bloom in a surprise hug, in spite of the cloudy mood she’d been in since the day before. “Now when’d yah go an’ get that made?

“It was a farewell gift from Sweetie Belle. Yah know, the unicorn that started on tour weeks ago? Ah’ve only had it in since she’s been gone.”

“Oh Ah'm sorry Sis, I shoulda noticed. Ah’ve just been so busy with all the farm trouble that Ah plum lost out on being there for mah family for a bit there. Forgive me?”

“No!”

The answer left the strong earth pony so startled that Apple Bloom was easily able to slip out of the unwanted hug.

“No?” The word dangled from her lips, unable to be comprehended. Forgiveness in the Apple Family was just a formality; it was just something they always did, no matter how badly things had gotten between family members. It was expected and to be freely given if asked for.

“No, Ah don’t forgive yah! Cause yah can’t even see what it is yer doin’ wrong!” Turning her back on her sister Apple Bloom stomped her way out to the cart with the one suitcase she’d packed herself. Her brother stood in front of the cart, already hitched and waiting for them to load it up. Apple Bloom leapt onto it easily, and set down her bag.

“What’s gotten intah her?”

“I think that’s a question you need to ask her, Cuz.” Braeburn tipped his hat in greeting as he made his way to the door, Granny Smith was hanging on his foreleg to help keep her steady.

“And you need to stop encouraging her!” Applejack glared at his back. “She wasn’t like this until yah went and offered all this hooey ‘bout goin’ West.”

“Now don’t be blamin’ Braeburn for what’s only natural,” her Gran admonished with a smile. “Our little filly is all grown up, that’s all. It’s a shame too. We haven’t heard any pitter patter of little foal hooves about these old halls in years. Ah’d like tah hear some more ‘round here at some point.”

“Not this again, Granny, Ah ain’t got time for any datin’ an’ the like. The farm keeps us all too busy.”

“Oh, don’t get your tail in a knot, Ah’m jus’ teasin yah a bit. Havin’ the leg of a young handsome stallion like this got me thinkin’.” Braeburn rolled his eyes with a smile as she chuckled at his side. “Ah know you’ll get yerself settled down when yer good and ready tah do so, Deary. Can’t force an apple to plant roots after all; can’t much force one tah stay in the tree either, Ah reckon. ”

“What do yah mean by that?”

“Ah shouldn’t have tah spell it out for yah.”

Looking back as she paused at the door, Granny Smith took her hoof from Braeburn to stand on her own. “Any apple farmer knows what tah do when there’s a tree full of ripe apples in front of ‘em. Yah gotta buck ‘em loose. There’s an apple in the cart out there that’s been sittin’ ripe in her tree for years, AJ. It’s time tah let her loose tah grow a tree of her own.”

“She’s only 16, and still got a lotta growin’ tah do!”

“An’ you were barely half her age when you went off to the big city tah do some growin’ of yer own.”

“Yeah, an’ look what happened! Ah came crawlin’ back with mah pride in mah bag. Ah don’t wanna see that happen to Apple Bloom.” Walking over to the window, Applejack stared out as her little sister continued to fume. Their brother was getting an earful, apparently. Whatever she had done wrong, apparently he’d been a part of it. As usual, the big red stallion was taking it all quietly. In fact, he’d probably get forgiven by barely saying a word. How did he manage these things so easily?

“AJ, yah gone and forgotten the most important part of yer trip.”

“Ah’m pretty sure Ah remember everythin’ about that trip, Granny. Ah don’t think it’s something Ah’m liable tah forget.”

“Got it ingrained in there pretty good, didja? Yah might jus’ remember how much yah learned from goin’ away.” Experience garnered over her many years of dealing with a stubborn family continued to guide Granny Smith’s words. It wasn’t a new idea, or the first time she had to deal with it. Sometimes ponies would become so close they couldn’t see it when a pony was changing. During those times you’d have to pry them apart before they’d see the pony they grew up next to.

“Ah did learn a whole lot. Is that what yah figure this is all about?”

“That’s what life is all about,” she said, placing a hoof on her granddaughter’s shoulder, “Ah know lettin’ go ain’t easy. Why me an’ yer brother cried so hard when yah went and moved away that time, we didn’t manage tah get nuthin’ done for two days! We had tah letcha, though, because yah had tah learn how tah live fer yerself. An’ it’s past time tah let yer sister take the lead of her own life. Yah done good by her, mah dear. She’ll do us all proud, jus’ like yah can bet you’ve done fer your parents, and just like you’ve done for me.”

“Gran-” Turning to her Grandmother Applejack could see the tears in the old pony’s eyes. She reached out to hug her, as she felt the wetness in her own. Ever since her parents passed on, they’d all done everything they could with the little filly that left behind. Maybe she just didn’t want to admit to herself that it was time for Apple Bloom to be moving on. Applejack wasn’t sure when she had grown up, but there was no mistaking that it wasn’t some little filly left waiting in that wagon outside.  “Thank you, Granny. Ah think Ah needed that.”

“No child,” Granny Smith held her back with all the strength her old bones could muster, “thank you. Now you go on out there and make amends with the young 'un. Me an’ Braeburn’ll catch up.”

Applejack could only manage a nod in reply before letting go and wiping her eyes. She straightened herself out a bit before heading out.

“Sweet Apple Acres sure grows some fine Apples,” noted Braeburn, not at all referring to the orchards. He offered his hoof to the long time farm elder. She took it gratefully, patting it as she did.

“Ah think yah’ll find Apples grow fine wherever they're from.”

Outside in the cart a young pony was beginning to calm down. Talking to Big Macintosh had that effect on her; it probably had that effect on most ponies. As always he remained quiet during her rant until she had tired herself out. When at last she had, he apologized sincerely, said he meant no offense, and promised it would never happen again. Apparently Apple Bloom would be the first to know if the family was in trouble for now on. It was everything she wanted to hear, and that made it that much worse. She thought all she wanted was an apology, but she really wanted was a fight; a good and exhausting argument that would make leaving so much easier. She slumped over the side of the cart.

"Why'd yah have tah be so agreeable 'bout it, huh? Ah was good an' ready for a shoutin' match before Ah got on the train."

"Can't argue against good sense," shrugged her brother, picking a fresh piece of straw and moving it around in his mouth until it rested comfortable off to the side.  "We did wrong by you, figure you got rights enough to be angry about it."

"Yah know Ah'm still leavin', though?"

"Eeyup."

"Yah might not see me for months and months! Maybe even years, who knows?"

"Eeyup."

"An' yer not gonna say anything else 'bout all this?"

"An Apple's gotta do what they gotta do." Her brother took a moment to chew on his straw in thought before he turned to face her smiling sadly, "I'm going to miss you, Sis, more than you'll be missing me. That might not seem like a lot right now, but when you've been out there awhile, I want you to remember I said that, and I meant it. Come home soon, Apple Bloom."

"Okay, that was a little better," she admitted in spite of herself. Hesitation was beginning to creep up on her with all this waiting. The closer it came to time to go, the more cold her hooves were getting. If the big, dependable stallion who she trusted all her life had said something to stop her, there was a good chance she would have listened. “Yer sure this is a good idea? Ah mean, Ah ain’t even seen Appleoosa before, and it’s a pretty big project. Do yah really think Ah can do this?”

“Eeyup.”

The simple answer didn’t comfort her as much as she hoped it would. Her brother’s way of talking sometimes left a lot to be desired.

“Apple Bloom?” She was going to ask her brother to elaborate on his reasoning before her sister called her name. Seeing her standing in the doorway the powerful desire to leave renewed itself quickly. She turned back to her brother and whispered, “How long is it tah the train station, again? Do we really have time for this?”

“Eeyup,” he answered with a closed eye grin, “We ain’t leaving until you both have a word with each other.”

“Aw shoot.” Taking a deep breath, she looked towards her sister who had made her way over. “Ah want yah tah know the only reason Ah’m talkin’ to yah is cause Big Mac said he ain’t leavin’ til Ah do.”

“Really?” Applejack laughed softly, as she looked over to her brother who stood with his eyes lazily half closed, trying to pretend for all the world like he wasn’t interested. He was failing completely. She hopped up onto the cart to get closer to the disagreeable, young mare, “Guess we jus’ have tah bite the bit and get it over with then, huh?”

“Guess so.” Refusing to look her in the eye, Apple Bloom stared off to the side of the cart. She wasn’t used to being angry at Applejack for any reason. Being the pony in trouble was her place. Now it all felt backwards. She didn’t know how to deal with it being the other way around.

“Ah owe yah an apology somethin’ fierce,” started Applejack with a long sigh, “but apparently Ah screwed up so bad, Ah ain’t even sure what Ah did exactly. Ah know Ah’ve been a bit of a pest about yah heading off, but that don’t seem like it’s enough to get yah this riled up. Ah musta done something pretty big. Ah don’t s’pose all the times I did right by yah are enough to earn me a hint?”

“Yeah, maybe.” The answer was given begrudgingly. “It might have somethin’ tah do with you and Big Mac not includin’ me in the family.”

“Ah did what now?” The very idea of that happening hadn’t crossed her mind. “Where in the world did yah get a thought like that caught in yer head? Why you’re a big apart of every Apple event that comes along and yah got tons of responsibilities around the farm.”

“Yah mean except whenever somethin’ important happens! Yah didn’t breathe a word of this money trouble tah me! Not a word, Applejack! Why?!”

“That’s what this is all about? We just didn’t wanna worry yah about it, that’s all.”

“Exactly,” pointed out Apple Bloom with a hoof directly at her sister’s chest, “Yah didn’t wanna worry me! Yah never wanna worry me! This is mah family too, an’ Ah should be as worried as everypony else when it’s in trouble! Ah might’ve even figured out a way to help if somepony bothered to ask me! But no, everypony’s like ‘don’t worry Apple Bloom, she’s too young, or ‘don’t upset Apple Bloom, she can’t handle it’. It’s always like this. Mah family only thinks o’ me durin’ the good times, never when it really counts.”

She ran out of steam and went back to looking at the hundreds of apple trees that ran along the side of the road. She folded forelegs and leaned on the side of the cart, staring at her family’s namesake. “It’s always the same ol’ thing. Don’t tell Apple Bloom, she’s still just a little filly. Ah ain’t a filly anymore, Applejack, but yah don’t even trust me tah pack mah own things. In order tah be treated like an adult, Ah have tah get away from the farm, Ah ain’t got no choice.”

“Ah see,” Applejack said, moving over to stand beside her. She chewed her lip as she thought it over. “Ah figured somethin’ was goin’ on behind all this. Ah guess Granny was even more right than Ah knew. Ah’ve been so busy thinkin’ about mah little sister, Ah didn’t notice she wasn’t so little anymore. Ah was bein’ stupid. What’s worse, Ah was always lookin’ forward tah sharin’ all kinds of adventures with yah when we got old enough. Now Ah’ve gone and missed the chance. Yer headin’ off before Ah had enough sense tah see we already were.”

“Doesn’t matter. Even if Ah stayed, yah’d still end up treatin’ me like a filly outta habit.”

“Yeah, probably,” admitted Applejack, “but yah know, Ah am proud of yah, Sis. Even if Ah didn’t show it as much as Ah should have, Ah always have been. Braeburn did some real good for Appleoosa by recruitin’ yah so fast, and this ol’ farm’s gonna regret losin’ yah to ‘em.”

“Yah really think so?” Apple Bloom finally looked up, “Ah wasn’t sure if Ah was ready fer somethin’ this big. Ah jus knew Ah had tah get outta here, and this seemed like the quickest way.”

“You know Ah do, wouldn’t have said it otherwise. Even if Ah’m pretty thick about some things, Ah am still the Element of Honesty.” She reminded her little sister with a grin. “Besides, Braeburn came all the way from his home to get advice on how tah build up that barn of his, and you were the pony with all the answers, not anypony else. Now yer gonna go out there with him, and plan out a whole town for them folk. It’ll be somethin’ tah see too, when it’s all said and done. By the time yer back, Ah bet there won’t be any way Ah could still think of yah as some little filly.”

“Ah wish Ah was as sure as all that.”

“If yah could have watched yerself grow up the way Ah did, believe me yah wouldn’t have any doubts at all.” There was an air of confidence in Applejack’s voice that was contagious, and she wrapped her leg around Apple Bloom’s shoulders as a small smile appeared on the young mare's face. “Just remember, even if yah ain’t a little filly no more, yah’ll always be mah little sister.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, it means that no matter how old yah get, Ah’ll always be allowed tah do stuff like- this!” The words and a mischievous look was all the warning she gave before pulling the Apple Bloom into a tickle fight.

“No~!” There was barely time to get the word out before she erupted into laughter and tried to wriggle away from her sister’s sudden attack. The two wrestled each other back and forth into giggle fits while Granny Smith and Braeburn mounted the cart with some of the other luggage left behind. When the two stubborn mares were finally forced to stop, they were both left breathless with giant smiles across their faces.

“Don’t… Don’t suppose… yah forgive me yet?” Applejack managed between gasps.

“Ah… Ah figure… whew, Ah figure Ah should,” wheezed Apple Bloom with a grin. “Maybe it is good tah be treated like a filly every now and again.”

“Glad to hear it,” came Big Macintosh’s low voice from out in front of the wagon. “Cause in order to make the train on time; I’m going to have to do something with you all I ain’t done since any of you were young.”

Applejack and Apple Bloom looked at each other as the big stallion shook his head with a snort and stomped his feet a couple times, preparing himself.

“W-wait a minute there, bro! You ain’t gonna-!” The two sisters barely managed to grab on to the sides of the wagon like Braeburn and Granny Smith before the big stallion reared back. With a loud whinny, he charged down the old, gravel road, the cart lurching forward behind him, bumping, jumping, and rattling loudly over rocks and potholes. Wild back road wagon rides were no new thing to any of the farm ponies, but it was something left to the joys of foalhood long ago. With every bounce, and jolt the wagon’s crew were slung about, and recalled tales of their last time barreling into town like this.

Strong as he was, even Big Macintosh wasn’t able to keep the fast pace right through town and all the way to the train station. As the scenery stopped blurring by, the sites of the little town began to hit Apple Bloom hard. With each building they passed came a memory. With each memory came the heart-wrenching thought of leaving it all behind; of leaving Ponyville behind. She hadn't had the chance to be sad about leaving her home. The decision was only made the day before, and she was so sore about being left out of the family affairs, that she hadn’t come to terms with the idea of going away. Anger had rationalized her every action, and now that it was gone she was only just beginning to understand the incredible implications.

The world was opening up, Appleoosa was going to be counting on her, and everything she ever knew was going to be beyond her reach. Important questions began to plague her. Where would she be staying? Would she be with Braeburn or would she have a place of her own? Who would she be working with? What were the ponies like in Appleoosa? Would she fit in? What would it be like to be the stranger in town? What if she ended up in a buffalo village or something, treated like Zecora was?

The distraught pony suddenly wished with everything she had that Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were there for one final good bye. It would have been fitting to see her two most precious friends standing on the train platform, waving to her with her family. What would she say to them now that she was the one leaving? What would they say to her?

A yellow and an orange hoof collided together with a sense of finality.

"Lets make a name for ourselves that nopony will ever forget!”

It’s not what they would say; it’s what they had said. Straightening her hair band, and tying it a bit tighter as the sound of a train whistle blasted not far away, Apple Bloom watched the station come into view. She wasn’t about to let her friends down before she even left home. Narrowing her eyes and looking to the train that would carry her to an unknown future, a feeling of resolve settled down her stomach, and silenced the questions that had threatened to stop her just a moment ago. None of them mattered anymore. The simple truth of it was even if she wasn’t angry at her family anymore there wasn’t any other choice but to go.

There was a promise to keep.
 

 
There was a change in the youngest member of the flight party that wasn’t lost on the other two. After all this time of Spike showing up to practice half-beat, he was finally starting to show up practically hopping and raring to go! And now, determined expression or not, the tired rings under Scootaloo’s eyes were unmistakable. The two fledgling fliers had traded places, and restraining her facehoof over the situation was impossible. As for the dragon, she had never seen him so enthusiastic for a morning practice, or that nervous for that matter. Apparently Twilight Sparkle would be stopping by in the afternoon to watch their rehearsal. A pony could almost see the mix of dread and excitement chase each other around his head at the thought of performing in front of the librarian. The fun part was they probably wouldn’t be able to rehearse today anyway with Scootaloo in the shape she was in. The unnecessary nervousness was an entertainment value worth his weight in bits, and because of it Rainbow Dash couldn't decide if she was more annoyed or amused by the whole situation.

As always, however, her students both showed up strong in heart if not in body, and ready to learn. There was just something keener about them this morning. Their formations had gotten tighter, the flying V had increased in both speed and quality. Not enough to be ready for the qualifiers, but it was headed in the right direction! Scootaloo was a bit more stable now that she knew about Spike’s thermals. She was starting to learn how to compensate for them, and it was starting to make a difference. If only she could get the mare used to slowing down like this every day.

Spike was doggedly pursuing every technical aspect of their moves, concentrating on details he never really bothered with before. That was no surprise, Twilight was all about tiny, significant parts, and the more things he missed in the formations, the more he’d probably have to write an essay about later.

Four formations, that was all they had to cover according to the qualifiers: the horizontal and vertical flying ‘V’, and the horizontal and vertical line. The easiest time the team had was with the vertical formations. Any time they could put the dragon on the bottom, they would excel. His natural strength the thermal drafts that swirled off him gave their team an unbelievable lift advantage. Even the horizontal line worked well, because Spike had the middle spot, and the trail of lift he left behind practically dragged Scootaloo along at his pace whether she wanted it to or not. Their biggest trouble spot was the horizontal flying ‘V’. Scootlaoo was all on her own in that one and she would constantly be changing paces and shakily try to match their wing beats. Spike’s fake wing beats looked awkward, but at least it was consistently awkward, it’d be hard to spot, and this afternoon they might even have a fix for it.

The usual constant shifting in Scootaloo’s routine, however, might cost them everything on the quals. For whatever reason this morning, most of that was gone. Her wing pace was matching theirs far more easily, her speed was slowed, and most of the unsteadiness had vanished almost overnight!

Just as they broke for lunch Rainbow Dash pulled her aside privately.

“Hey Squirt, do we need to talk?”

“No, Captain. I’m good. Sorry I couldn’t dig into those rulebooks last night, I was way too tired.”

“If you weren’t reading, what were you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to hide the relief that flooded her with curiosity. She was rather glad she hadn’t dished so much responsibility onto her student yesterday that it affected her performance.  Then again, they could use some more affected performances if she was going to continue to fly like she did today. “You sure weren’t sleeping, that much is pretty clear.”

“Apple Bloom woke me up to fix my board before she left for Appleoosa this morning.”

“Woah! Apple Bloom went where?”

“Appleoosa. Her cousin asked her to help design the entire town since she did such a good job on the barn he wanted. It’s a pretty big deal, she’ll be gone for... awhile.” It took a moment for Scootaloo to wrap her lips around that last word. At least Sweetie Belle knew when she’d be back. With Apple Bloom, she had no idea how long she’d take.

“And she left this morning? Look, Squirt, I’m happy you’re dedicated to the team and all, but a pony has to have priorities! You should have seen her off, I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Maybe not, but she would have. We said goodbye last night, in our way. Right now she needs to focus on building that town from the ground up, and I have to concentrate on my flight lessons if I don’t want to be left behind.” A grimace overtook her features and she looked down. “Sorry for not giving it my all up there Captain. I really am bushed.”

”Bushed?” She repeated the word as it wrapped around her thoughts and squeezed out an epiphany. “You’re tired! Of course, that’s it! Why didn’t I see it before?!”

“Huh?”

“Scootaloo, you’ve never been as in synch with formation as you are today!”

“Huh?” She repeated drearily with a yawn. The words weren’t making any more sense than the first time round.

“Don’t you get it? You’re always trying so hard to glide! It’s the one part of flying you have trouble with. The reason is because you’re so used to giving it your all! Every other part of flying can benefit from that, but gliding is about being lazy and conserving your energy. It’s only really for flying long distances, or easy landings. You’re always so pumped with energy and wanting to move that it throws your entire game off. You need to calm down and just let the wind carry you. Just like you did all morning without realizing it!

“So you want me to-”

“Get up there and give me 5% or less! You need to just hang out in one spot for a few hours or so, manage that and I bet all your gliding skills will improve, like, huge!”

“Does it have to be this afternoon? All this slow stuff is putting me to sleep.”

“No way, that’s what I’m counting on. Now, I just need a way to make sure you stick to one area.” Glancing around and looking for ideas, Rainbow Dash’s eyes fell upon their team cheerleader who often spent more time interrupting their practice than she did cheering for it. She didn’t mind, though. The random obstacles they’d find in the air were good for the fledglings, it forced them to break formations and realign themselves. Falling into formation was every bit as important as the formation itself. Plus it was always fun to see what she’d come up with: a pile of balloons, a trampoline, her air bicycle contraption. You never knew what she was going to come up with next.

This morning it was all about kites, and it was a fairly impressive feat. The lower sky was being invaded by dozens of different designs, colours, and sizes of wood and fabric.

Kites, huh?

A smile crept its way over Rainbow Dash’s muzzle; the type of smile Scootaloo would probably have run from if only she wasn’t too tired to notice. She was about to call the Pinkie Pie over when Spike’s shout interrupted her.

“They’re here!”

They? The word didn’t sit well in her mind. There was no mention of Twilight bringing a friend along. Too many tongues wagging about what happened in their show might give it all away to anypony listening for that kind of thing. It was a big problem in Cloudsdale, stolen stunts or acts, or show-stealing ideas could ruin a team’s opener easily. Surprise was a great way to get the judges and audience into a show. She was probably worrying too much, this was Ponyville, an earth pony village in the middle of nowhere and a team nopony ever heard of. Not exactly the team you’d want to spend resources and time to look out for. Still, couldn’t hurt to be cautious. Rainbow Dash looked down at the new arrivals to Old Lake’s summer flight camp. The ever oblivious Snails was walking beside the librarian.

Okay, when did that happen? Isn’t he like the one pony Twilight didn’t want hanging around?

Spike had already landed with a thump to greet the two as they entered the clearing. He was waving her down. Tapping her chin in thought, she wondered which she should see to first. Since they were on lunch break, she decided Scootaloo’s gliding issues could wait until that afternoon. She wasn’t in any shape to do the fast flying stunts they’d normally be tweaking anyway, and there was no way she’d let the young pegasus near her skyboard in this state. She wouldn’t like the idea of glide practice all afternoon, but Dash couldn’t think of a better situation to imprint the right way to catch air. The fledgling would just have to deal with it. A quick dive and an easy skid landed her beside Spike.

“Hey Twilight!” She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially while Snails was distracted by a nearby butterfly hovering around his nose. “What’s with lame-brain tagging along?”

Twilight frowned and the cheerful greeting she had been anout to give Dash turned a grumbled:

“Ugh, please don’t call him that.”

“But you said that-”

“I know, I know!” Twilight was quicker than she looked when she wanted to be, and her hoof was swiftly planted over Rainbow Dash’s mouth, cutting her off forcibly. Snails looked over at the commotion the two friends were making, to see Twilight quickly remove her hoof from the pegasus’ mouth and wave cheerfully at him. Dash picked up the hint and also smiled and waved. Shrugging, he went back to staring at the butterfly, satisfied nothing worth his attention was going on to his side.

“Look, I’ll explain it all later. Right now, it’s enough to know that I was very wrong about him, and that I have hired him on as my assistant-in-training, okay?” Her whisper came out sounding more pleading than Twilight would have liked.

“Alright, but I want explanations right after we’re done here, cool?”

“Sure, yes. Absolutely, I’m definitely uh, cool with that. Just keep the putdowns to a minimum, alright?”

“Yeah, no worries,”

Breaking away from her secret whisperings with Twilight, she spoke up clearly now. “So, I’m sorry to say, there won’t be any flight show rehearsals today. Scootaloo tired herself out last night, and it’d be too dangerous to pull any of the real moves this afternoon.”

“What?” Spike shouted. His nerves had been shot all morning over this, and now it wasn’t even going to happen? “When did we decide that?!”

“Pretty much right after you both showed up this morning. But thanks for all that extra enthusiasm, big guy.” Watching him slap his forehead and slide his claw down his face as he realized she had been playing him only made her grin widen all the more.

“Feel free to come back tomorrow Twilight, we’ll definitely have a rehearsal then. In fact, why don’t you surprise us throughout the week!”

The dragon’s eyes widened and he frantically waved his arms back and forth behind his boss in a ‘stop’ gesture. Rainbow Dash just closed her eyes, ignoring his pleas, and spoke that much louder, keeping one eye slightly open, just to watch his reaction. “I’m sure Spike would really appreciate it!”

Spike’s arms fell to his sides and he slumped over, fixing his devious coach with the flattest look he could manage.

“Worst. Captain. Ever.”

 Twilight held a hoof over her muzzle as she tried to hold in her laughter, knowing all too well the face Spike was probably making behind her back, even if she wasn’t quite sure what it was about.

“That’s okay. We have a couple other plans for Spike this afternoon if you’re not using him too much. Don’t worry-!” Twilight cut off her friend’s automatic denial before it was even out of her mouth, “It actually has a lot to do with helping out your flight show. He said you were going to use his fire breath for some of the stunts, right?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Then it’s perfect! You wouldn’t want him melting the judges by accident! All we’re going to be doing is going over to the old cart yard to practice his aim. If you want, you can come along and oversee it with us. Maybe you can help him practice aiming while in flight!”

“The old cart yard, eh? Lots of scrap metal lying around that place.” A thought was growing in her mind.

“Umm, yeah, but don’t worry! We’ll be careful!”

“Oh, yeah. Careful, sure, that’s a good thing.” Dash said, waving the concern off dismissively. Her thoughts were pushing towards the makeshift armour they could strap to Spike. “You know what? Sounds good. We’ll move afternoon practice over by the cart yard. I’ll let the other two know!”

Taking to the sky over to the high dive cliff edge where the others awaited, she rubbed her hooves together. The Sisters were smiling on them today, she couldn’t believe how perfect everything was coming together!

“With a little more luck and a little more effort we might be able to pull this whole thing off!”
 

 
Dear Rarity

I hope this letter finds you well. I have to apologize for not writing as much lately. Training has pretty much taken over my entire life now that Twilight’s gotten involved, and I haven’t had as much time to get back to the library desk. It’s all going great though! After finding out what the script was about Twilight was fascinated by the idea, and insisted on joining the team as a narrator during the show. Pinkie Pie was a little disappointed at first because she was doing the introduction during our practices, but then she realized it gave her a chance to cheer from the stands that much more and she perked right back up again.

Flight training is back to being as difficult as it used to be again. Mornings got a lot easier after I finally figured out how to stay in the air because we mostly practice formations and gliding for Scootaloo’s benefit. Not to brag, but I thought gliding was a snap. Apparently our esteemed Captain noticed I was having an easy time and decided she didn’t like that. Now I have to fly with my weight worth of metal strapped to my sides and back! She calls it cool-looking villain armour, and said I need it since I’m playing the villain. Really it’s just a bunch of melted, metal slag left over from my fire control training at the old cart yard. At first I thought it was a really cool idea, but turns out it’s really heavy, and moving in it is really awkward let alone flying. It’s also always falling apart. I don’t think going into the show looking like I’m wearing a bunch of rusted metal that’s always falling to pieces is going to impress anypony.

Fire control lessons are going a lot better. I can even hit a target on a dive now! Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with everything I’m learning. Twilight has me teleporting entire carts now! Almost all of them have stopped coming out on fire even! They’re just a little charred on the side. If I push out the flame while I’m flying, it will spiral in a trail behind me.  I don’t think it has much real use, but it looks cool, and Scootaloo came up with a way she can use it with her board. Actually there’s going to be lots of fire all throughout the show. All the heat it gives off makes it easier to fly apparently, and even easier for Scootaloo to fly her skyboard. That sky board is really awesome, I can’t wait until you see it, you’ll really be blown away by the stunts she can perform.

Scootaloo’s gliding really started hitting its stride today! You wouldn’t believe how Rainbow Dash decided to start training her. I was standing around the cart yard waiting for Snails to start up his magic (it can take quite a while) when I see one of Pinkie Pie’s kites looking awfully familiar in the sky. A second look showed it was Scootaloo! Her wings and limbs were stuck open, and bound by ropes to a stick behind her! She was held in place by a spool of string in Pinkie’s hooves. It didn’t look practical, but you can’t argue with the results! Our formations are so much stronger now it’s hard to believe we’re the same team as bef-

The sudden sound of a large pile of something smashing against the floor made Spike jump right out of his seat and sent his quill slipping from his claws and rolling across the page. His ink bottle spilled over and put a couple hours’ careful work to waste. With a frustrated sigh, he crumpled up the letter into a paper ball and threw it harder than necessary to the overfilled trash can to the side; leaving it to join the many others by the wayside.

“Snails! Tell me it did not just happen again.” He called out as he left his bedroom to find his fellow assistant sprawled out on the floor beneath a large number of new encyclopedias. Claws on hips, he took a moment to observe the unicorn’s predicament. It seemed all too familiar to him, if he was honest with himself, but then, who wanted to ever be that honest?

“Um, yeah,” Not the first time trapped under a stack of books this evening, Snails looked up pleadingly to his would-be rescuer. “Could uh, I get a hoof here, ya think?”

Folding his arms and looking away from the pathetic figure his new partner made on the floor, he tried not to remember all the times he was caught underneath the weight of a bunch of unwieldy books. Without looking he offered the distressed pony his tail, and pulled him free once Snails latched on.

“Whew. Danks a bunch, Spike.” Standing up, he shook off the dust from the floor purely out of habit, Spike guessed. There was never any dust worth noting on the library floor, Twilight Sparkle would make sure of that. “Guess I goofed up again, huh?”

“You think?” Spike shook his head, as he bent down to start putting the books back in the mostly empty box Snails must have been trying to pick them out of. Picking it up with ease, he looked around for their possible destination. “Where are they going, Snails? I’ll help.”

“Ya will? Sweet! Da boss wants dem all down by her desk, ya know? Someding about ‘quality control’?”

“Yeah, Twilight likes to make sure all the new entries meet the standards of the old copies already on the shelves. If they don’t meet her expectations they’re shipped off again. If they do, she’ll copy all her notes in the definitions into these new ones. Editing encyclopedias is kind of her hobby, if you can call it that.”

“Ugh, dat sounds like da most boringest thing I ever heard of, eh.” Snails shook his head, his disgust evident on his face.

“Somehow I don’t think it’ll ever catch on.” Spike agreed with a grin as he led the way down stairs. It actually did feel pretty good to have Snails hanging around every once in a while, if only to have another pony to talk with about Twilight’s strange habits. Then he paused, thinking about the scene he just came upon. Why was the box still upright? If you were going to spill books on yourself, normally the box would be tipped over. The books that were left in the box were all still neatly placed too! “Wait a minute, Snails, did you try to pick up all the books in the box at the same time?”

“Dah, yeah,” he said. Rolling his eyes as he followed the dragon, he nearly bumped into him when he stopped abruptly, “It’d take forever if I only did one at a time.”

“Well, did you think to just take down the whole box at once?”

Watching Snail’s facial expressions as the idea took hold was priceless. On anypony else, you’d think they were coming to some great life-changing conclusion that would benefit all of ponykind. For Twilight’s new apprentice, it was every time you had a thought that hadn’t occurred to him, and those were fairly commonplace.

“Wow! I never dought of dat! Just put ‘em down Spike, I’ll take care of dis!”

Spike hid a smirk as he set the box down for the pony to pick back up again. It took several slow minutes of magic chugging away and concentration for the box to slowly begin lifting. The wait was normal and he had gotten used to the slow-starting grasp of Snail’s magical senses while at the cart yard.

“There. You see? You’re getting it. I bet that’s a lot easier.”

“Huh, yeah! It is! No more goofing around for me, eh! I’ll just take a whole whack of dem at once from now on.” The box of books rode higher and levitated behind the Snails, who marched along in front of it proudly as if pulling a slow moving cart behind him.

“You might as well start moving the whole shelf of them over to her. She’s eventually going to want to browse every section anyway!” Spike called out jokingly as he watched him go. Glad it wasn’t him for once, he turned to go back to his letter. Helping Twilight Sparkle was an honour and a pride, but there were precious few moments he had for his own interests anymore. Besides, writing to Rarity was way too important to put off any longer than he already had.

He quickly moved back to his room and began tenaciously tracing the rough draft of his letter once more. It was a couple more hours of work before Spike had finally caught up to where he was before. After finishing up some added descriptions of a few of Scootaloo’s more cool stunts, he put the good copy securely away and studied the rough draft, tapping the end of the quill against his snout. It was mostly about his flight training, and really there was a lot more than that going on. Rarity also said she wanted to know his troubles, and what was on his mind. His new partner under Twilight was the most pressing matter to him currently, and he’d barely mentioned Snails in the letter so far. Shrugging, he put quill back to parchment.

I should mention that Twilight’s new assistant is doing pretty well. Snails is just as goofy as you’d expect him to be, and he fouls things up a lot. I did a lot of that myself when I was first starting out. He gets a better grip on his magic control a little more every day! I’m not sure if it’s Twilight’s teaching strategy or if he just has a knack for it. In either case, I think ponies are going to be really surprised how far he’ll go. It’s all pretty contradictory to his grades. Twilight retrieved them from the school so she would have an idea of where he was at. Mostly she all she found out was that he failed his magic test abysmally. It wasn’t what you could call helpful.

As far as I’m concerned he’s doing great. Like I mentioned, Twilight has him helping me out with my fire control lessons! Twilight has him magically lifting and moving my targets all over the place like a game, and it’s getting harder to hit them the more he practices. Rainbow Dash suggested we turn it into a daily contest thing, complete with its own reward system.

Snails has to try to keep his targets safe from me by hiding them and moving them around the old cart yard, and I have to spot and melt them. As long as I melt more targets than he manages to get away from me, I win. I almost always win. I think we need to change the rules to favour him a bit, but Dash was adamant about specifically not doing that for some reason. Whatever the case, every time I win, it means Snails has to take up the majority of the assistant duties that evening.

It took a while to get used to the idea that he’d be staying here, and I wasn’t sure I’d liked sharing my time with Twilight. Does that sound weird? We’ve been alone working together for so long that even just getting a pet was kinda disturbing. It’s hard to imagine where I’d be without her, and I’m not sure what she’d do without me. If you asked me a couple months ago, I’d have the answer straight away. Now, I think she’ll actually be okay. She’s managed every test Celestia has pushed her into, and every obstacle that came her way. I was there for a lot of it, but I really do believe she could have done it on her own with some help from you guys. Between Owlowiscious and Snails, I’m not entirely sure she needs me anymore. Especially not once Snails has been fully trained.

I certainly don’t need to be by her side every day like before, but I also don’t want that to end. I liked being by her side. It was always somewhere I knew I belonged. Maybe she can get by without me, but I think I might go crazy if I didn’t have her to come back to. I’m starting to wonder if this whole flight lesson was a good idea. I like training, and Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash are great! But if it comes at the cost of my home, I’m not sure it’s worth-

“Snails! What do you think you’re doing?!”

The startling shout sent his quill tearing through his rough draft. Spike leaned back in his seat, holding up the neatly torn parchment, nearly in tears. His head whipped towards the doorway as he crumpled the paper up and threw it on the ground with all the strength he could muster! It made an unsatisfyingly soft and low bounce. Ignoring the newly crumpled attempt at a letter he stomped his way to the stairway, half a mind to chew both of them out. He’d be up with this stupid letter for the rest of the night at this rate!

What he saw was so surprising it stole any thought of rage from his breath. Snails stood on the stairway, an entire library shelf, completely filled with books floated awkwardly above him. Twilight was on the main floor staring up, utterly terrified.

“Dah, I’m just getting all dem books like ya asked me to. Don’t need to get all mad and stuff, eh.”

“B-b-but you can’t carry all that! I-it’s too heavy for you!” Twilight stuttered out, obviously still trying to comprehend what it was she was seeing.

“I can’t?” Snails looked up at the bookshelf, then back at Twilight, suddenly confused as well. After a small attempt at trying to work it out in his mind, Spike could see him give up with a shrug. “Oh, okay.”

He turned around and marched the gigantic bookshelf right back where he got it. He tried to set it down roughly where it had been. The bookshelf rattled loudly as it landed, but surprisingly none of the books fell. Spike felt his jaw go slack; a cursory glance to Twilight showed her expression matched his own.

“How did you do that?” Twilight ran up the stairs in leaps and bounds, studying the bookshelf itself as if it held some secret.  Lifting it up, and turning it in the air, this way and that as she looked for some hint or clue of what just happened.

“I just did what you and Spike told me to do. You said ‘get these books, Snails’ and Spike was like ‘you might as well move da whole shelf of dem, ya know?’” His impression of their voices was unflattering at best. “So I was bringing down the shelf.”

“It was just a joke! Really! I didn’t mean it like, well… like that!” Spike gestured to the bookshelf in question as Twilight looked over to him for an explanation, “any pony with sense wouldn’t take the whole thing at once!”

“Interesting,” smiled Twilight as she set down the shelf herself, and took a moment to observe the pony in question. “Snails, that was amazing.”

“Uuh, it was? But you do dat kinda thing all the time, eh.”

“Yeah, but that’s because Twilight’s even more amazing,” laughed Spike as he walked over to pat him on the back, “and it took years for her magic to get that strong.”

“I think we need you to retake your magic exam.” Rubbing her chin in thought, Twilight began to smile. It was a smile that spoke of a whole new study project, of crazy experiments and data gathering, and all the excitement that was to follow with the assembling of information to attain the final result. It was a smile Spike recognized all too well. He slowly backed away from Snails who was still unfamiliar with this side of Twilight, silently apologizing to his new partner for abandoning him to his fate.

“I, uh, I gotta go finish that letter now Twi. Y-you two have fun.”

She barely spared Spike a glance as books about magic theory began floating around her, quickly flipping through pages as regarded her latest curiosity. Snails sat down, and leaned close to the floor, his attention caught by a beetle that happened through an open window, completely unaware of the foreboding feeling that any other pony would be getting right then as Twilight’s shadow began to pass over him.

Spike slipped through his door, and pushed it quietly closed. Turning back to the scattered papers and scrolls lying by the low candlelight illuminating the room, he took a seat at his desk. His vigour towards finishing the letter was suddenly renewed as he tried to not picture Snails bound to the chair in the basement with electrodes all over him, and all that crazy magic energy sizzling all around. That chair was still warm from the last time he had to sit in it, and the whole mood of the place sent a chill down his spine. Twilight had never done anything harmful or anything of the sort to those that were invited to the basement, but she did give off this uncomfortable scent of ‘crazy’ when down there. It was something he tried to avoid whenever possible. He put quill to page, hoping to leave that all behind.

“Well, at least I got something else to write about, I guess.”
 

 
Setting down her tea cup, Rarity glanced at the over-filled teapot left on the burner. There was always too much left over lately, as if she was expecting company. It was something of a habit she had developed in Ponyville. In the little town anypony at all would often stop by for tea at any time of the day, and share the latest word of gossip. Now its fate was to be unceremoniously dumped down the sink. Even if there were ponies that would stop by, it was never for tea. Rarity didn’t really have time to entertain them if it wasn’t a business related purpose. Instead her days and nights had been completely devoted to fashion.

An understanding of just how Twilight had become socially crippled while living in a city of socialites began to sink in. Life in the heart of Equestria was the very opposite of Ponyville, where jobs were mostly necessity orientated and there wasn’t enough work to go about to keep the whole time occupied for most of a work day. Canterlot was full of opportunities, and a seemingly endless stream of work. For workaholics like Twilight and herself, there was enough to occupy a pony for a lifetime and again so long as you had the right set of skills. It was the education capital of Equestria with entire libraries that were sometimes focused just on particular subjects if the subject was broad enough! It was also the fashion central for the most elite of the elite, where everypony that could afford to do so had a wardrobe at least the size of their bedroom. They were always craving the new style of the season. It would be so easy to lose yourself in the workload.

Rarity was beginning to understand as great as sales had been there would simply be no way for one pony alone to be on top of it all. It was a rare thing for a business to be so successful after just opening, but royal recommendations stretched a very long way in Canterlot. The royal family rarely related themselves to any commercial product because other businesses would complain about the unfair advantage. When Princess Celestia and Luna stopped by the one time, it was most likely as a gift for her services to Equestria as one of the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Apparently, Princess Cadence wasn’t as much a stickler for the unwritten rule because while she was visiting the kingdom, she stopped by several times, not just as a friend either. The Princess was coming with a business proposal every time she entered the shop.

It had taken years to train crystal ponies to the point they could have royal guards of their own and as it turned out, the usual royal armour designs did not wear so well on their crystal coats. New designs for the crystal pony guards were needed, and nopony worked with gems and crystals in their fashion as much as Rarity did. As obvious a choice she may have been for this task, it still seemed unfair to the other designers who were vying for the contract. Rarity hadn’t even thought to make a bid on the contract; she hadn’t even known there was such a contract! Still she couldn’t just turn away a friend. Princess Cadence had come in with the designs the other ponies had presented her with, and they all seemed to have an imbalance between fashion versus function. Some looked nice but would just get in the way, others were perfectly functional, but were just so drab!

Now, Rarity and Snips were currently looking into different armour designs used throughout the ages for inspiration. Snips’ services had, again, been called in from Ponyville to help her work her way through the hefty weight of orders that continued to come in. Counting on his flair for functional wear, Rarity tasked him to research which types of armour they could use as a foundation to work off. As for herself, she was concentrating on art designs and patterns that could be used with whatever set of armour her assistant came up with. They had spent most of the night working together on this one project. She was happy because it meant having somepony to share her tea with, but what she was really wishing for right now was a letter.

 Two weeks had passed since Rarity received word from Spike. It wasn’t like him to be late, and she had begun to worry in spite of how often she assured herself it was probably nothing. After all, if there was anything wrong her friends would notify her. Of course, if they did notify her, it’d normally be through Spike. So if he was what was wrong they’d have to go through the regular mail. Regular mail would take a little over two weeks. Two weeks had passed. Snips hadn’t been any comfort, either. All he could say was that no dragon had been seen in Ponyville for a month, but he said the same for Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Scootaloo, and to his own worry, Snails.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, those letters had become her lifeline to a life outside of work. Twilight’s letters had completely stopped after being informed that the farm had been rescued from its predicament. Rarity hadn’t realized how much she was actually looking forward to them night after night. After the letters stopped coming in she had finally understood how lonely it was in this big city so far from home, and how much she was depending on her correspondence with her friends to keep her sane.

A part of her was worried that she had called Snips in for the week just for the companionship. It’d take more time to go over the designs with him by dragon mail, but it could have been done. Every day he spent here was a day the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville would be closed. It was not a decision she made lightly, and she hoped it wasn’t personal feelings that helped her to come to it. That would be an amount of unprofessionalism she could not afford.

“I think we got this figured out!” yawned Snips as he came down stairs, holding up a sketchbook with some scribbling on it that looked somewhat like a pony. Unfortunately when it came to designs, his talents were function alone. It was a shame how far more artistic endeavors were beyond his skill. If one could manage through his chicken scratch there would probably be a good idea in there somewhere, but it took quite some time before she’d grown accustomed to his notes. “It looks like those giant plates are the biggest problem. Throwing on some fabric underneath so it slides along their crystals easier like you said, would work, but the big plates don’t slide well enough. They’re just too heavy. If we use something like this scale mail stuff with the cloth, they ain’t going to chip the pony like the usual royal armour.”

“Are you sure, Darling?” She studied the awkward notes. Remembering what she knew of this scale mail. It didn’t look as bulky as was the preference for most of the guard. Less bulky tended to mean less safe, as far as she knew about such things. “Will they be as well protected as our guards with something like this?”

“No,” Snips shook his head with a frown. “But they’ll be safer than they would be trying to use armour that doesn’t fit them. On the other hoof, they’ll be way faster than our guards without all the extra weight.”

“If that is our best option, I’m sure I can put something together, but I’ll have to send word to the Princess. She may be disappointed by the idea.”

“Well, if she is, let some blacksmith pony deal with it. I’m pooped. We got enough orders on our hooves as it is! Most of them we haven’t even looked at because of this one.”

“I suppose. I just hate to leave a client unhappy.”

“If we keep going at just this one all night, nopony’s gonna be happy with us.”

A sudden burst of green flame interrupted Rarity's response. Her blue aura sprung from her horn and reached out, catching the scroll in the air. It had become a habitual response at this point. At last! Elation and relief came with feeling its weight in her magical grasp. Everything was alright at home, or at least well enough that Spike could finally send a letter.

“Holy Horse feathers!” Snips was somewhat less than relieved at the letter’s dramatic entrance. Large portly frame or not, he had jumped into the arms of a posing Ponykin which thus far seemed to boast the strength to hold him. Rarity made a mental note of its high quality, and decided she’d continue to buy from that particular line. Snips stuttered out in his surprise. “W-w-w-w-what in the world was that?!”

“Why, it’s just a letter from Spike, Darling.” Holding out the scroll for him to inspect, she lured the frightened unicorn down from his perch. “You see? Nothing to afraid of.”

“Hey! I wasn’t afraid! I was just-” Snips racked his mind searching for what he just was, “-surprised! I mean, it’s just a green fireball that came out of nowhere. What pony would be afraid of that? When did he start sending you letters anyway?”

Allowing him his false bravado, and ignoring that his legs were still shaking, Rarity instead turned her focus the scroll before her. “My dear Spikey-Wikey has been sending me these perfect little updates from home ever since the very first week I moved. He’s been keeping me informed of everything that’s been going on whenever he gets the chance.”

“And,” Snips paused mid-sentence as he thought about this, “you like that?”

“Why, yes! Of course I do! There’s absolutely nothing more important to me than my friends, and it has been difficult being away from them.” This line of questioning left her a little confused. Who wouldn’t want to receive a letter from a friend? And why was Snips so interested? It wasn’t like he knew anypony that had left town, except for maybe her little sist-

Oh! Her smile widened as she paused to eye him up and down. I see.

His cheeks began to glow red as if he somehow knew she had just read his mind. Now, she always had her suspicions, but she never pursued the matter believing that her sister could work things out on her own. But then, Sweetie Belle did have a tendency to be oblivious to such things. She was always too absorbed in those capers with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to notice. Maybe some pursuit was just what the matter needed.

“You know, I always write back a reply as quickly as I’m able. I’m sure anypony in the same situation as I would do the same.” Rarity suggested as she purposefully turned away to let the idea sink in. She focused her attention onto contents of Spike’s most recently sent affections. That wonderfully flowing script was back again. Her name adorned the top once more with a sense of exquisite beauty, a lovely ever-flowing thin-to-thick-to-thin-again line that started at the ‘R’ and never stopped until it reached the flourished ending of the ‘y’. Furthermore, she noted, he had almost developed his content to meet the high standards he had set for her name. This time the letter would be framed.

“So, umm, what kind of things does he say in it?”

She had finished skimming over the letter before Snips managed to find his voice again. There wasn’t extremely private matter anywhere as far as she could tell. Certainly there’d be no harm in showing him. Unrolling the scroll completely for him to inspect, Rarity turned around with what she hoped looked like an innocent smile. Her interference with her sister’s love life was most definitely something Sweetie Belle would not enjoy hearing about. Snips wasn’t the most astute of unicorns, though, and the temptation to help was just too much to let go. She should be able to sneak in a few tips without drawing anypony’s notice. Besides, in her opinion, Spike made a perfect example of how to win a lady’s affections in spite of any odds.

“Would you like to read it with me?”

“That’s alright with you?”

“I’d be happy to share. In fact, it seems that part of the letter has to do with your friend. He’s doing astoundingly well in his new apprenticeship. Twilight seems to have high hopes for him.”

“No kiddin’?” Reading through the letter himself, Snips sat down with a smile. “Would you look at that? He’s actually pulling it off. I always knew he could, but I was beginning to wonder if anypony else would ever figure it out. Did you know he was the first in our class to learn magic? He was using light spells while we were still trying to lift pencils.”

“Really? But Spike said he failed his magic tests.”

“Snails failed all of his tests. His mind likes to go wandering without the rest of him, if you know what I mean. He was always pretty easily distracted by whatever ant was hanging around. Any beetle or fly that got in the classroom would be talking to him whole the time. If he paid as much attention to tests as he did to bugs, he’d probably aced them all.

“And Twilight would never allow any insects in the library.”

“Then I can’t wait to see how far he goes! I mean, here I was always worried about him. Now he’s training with a real, bona fide hero! How lucky can a pony get?!”

“Ahem.” Rarity cleared her throat, though it had no need of clearing. Staring at him quietly, she stood with her forelegs crossed waiting for him to say something. At least Snips managed to take part of the hint, he looked up at her, blinking, and uncertain of what she wanted him to say or realize. With an exasperated sigh, she gave him a cross look. “Twilight Sparkle didn’t rescue Equestria all those times by herself, you know!”

“Oooh. Yeah. That’s true!”

Finally! Sometimes breaking through to Snips was like trying to start a fire by rubbing sticks together.

“Spike trains with her and Rainbow Dash! That’s way luckier than Snails!”

Of all the nerve! Rarity fumed silently, her cheeks burning red as Snips went back to reading the letter. Check that, it was more like trying to start a fire by rubbing rubber sticks together! Why do I put up with him?!

“Though I guess he isn’t that lucky. Snails and I used to play with old junkyard parts. We thought armour when we saw it all lying there too. Take it from me, they’re not for wearing.”

“J-junkyard parts?! I should say not!” She must have missed that part on her skim-through. The very idea made her skin crawl. All the bugs, dirt, grease, and grime! She pushed closer to her assistant to read with him “Here, let me see that. They don’t mean to actually have the poor dear wear such a horrid thing during the show, do they?! Certainly it must just be for training!”

“No, seems like they want it for the show,” Snips pointed out the line he read. He watched as Rarity began to pace angrily back and forth, continuing to scrutinize the suddenly offensive paper in front of her. He shrugged and continued talking about what he knew. “Apparently he’s gonna be the villain of the show? I don’t know much about it. I hear it’s supposed to involve a whole lot of fire, though. It sounds awesome. It’s called ‘Fire in the Sky’. I hope they do a show of it in Ponyville after they finish in Cloudsdale! I would be there in a flash.”

“First, they leave him completely out of the flight team’s name, and now they’re trying to dress MY Spikey Wikey up in old rusted parts on his big debut!” Stomping her hoof down, she whipped around to face her apprentice. There was a sense of inspiration burning in her eyes. “Well! Not if I have anything to say about it! Come along Snips! We must go see the smithy tonight!”

“Tonight? But you don’t even have Princess Cadence’s designs finished yet!”

“Snips! I’m disappointed in you! Who can think of business at a time like this? Princess Cadence can wait.” Rarity took a moment to don a scarf, wrapping it around herself elegantly, and looked herself over in the standing mirror she had placed by the door. “That air show is only a few weeks away, and the smithy will need as much time as he can to be done on time.”

“Done what on time? You haven’t even finished the banner for their team yet!”

“You presume too much. Why, I’ve even come up with a proper team name.” Rarity stared over her shoulder to wink at Snips, flaunting her mane dramatically as he offered her coat like a perfect little gentlecolt. She smiled.

Perhaps there is some hope for him yet.

“You have? What’s it gonna be?”

“Captain Dash and the Skyblazer Crusaders.” I think it has a nice ring to it, don’t you?”

“I don’t know, sounds kind of old timey and corny.”

Just when you thought he had potential too.

She sighed, deciding then and there that Snips would need to learn a lot more than just making clothes from her. Use of tact would have to be a lesson to come, and the sooner the better.

“We don’t call it old timey and corny, Snips. We call it classic, and it’s a perfect team name for a show about a very old story. You want something that is a bit more timeless with that kind of thing, and isn’t going to be forgotten like the latest top hit that sounds like every other top hit for the past two decades.”

He quickly held the door for her. Rarity loved that he didn’t lazily open it with magic as so many unicorn colts had taken to doing in modern times. It was the extra amount of effort in the details she always admired most in a pony.

Or a dragon, her mind quickly reminded her as she rolled up the scroll Spike had written for her and placed it carefully deep in her coat pocket. He spent so much time to get every letter perfect with what she would have been overjoyed to receive even if he had scribbled it down on a napkin. No wonder it had taken so long this time. There was no stopping the flush that had taken over her cheeks.

“But you don’t have any more designs for Spike than you do for Princess Cadence.” Arching an eyebrow, Snips shook his head as she passed him out the door. “It’s also getting pretty late; the smithy will be closing soon. Are you sure about this?”

“Never question the timing of inspiration, Snips!” she cried out giving voice to the fashion diva in her heart, before leaning up against him to whisper in his ear, “and quite the contrary, I have many designs for Spike.”

Rarity cheerfully left her protégé standing stunned and slack-jawed in the doorway, as she trotted happily down the street, forcing him to rush to catch up.