//------------------------------// // Ch11 Mares Rule, Stallions Drool [edited] // Story: Jake and the kid // by peter //------------------------------// Jake and the Kid Chapter 11 Mare’s rule, Stallions Drool ***** Of all the changes that had occurred while Princess Luna spent a thousand years trapped in the moon, the one she was coming to hate the most were the various assorted spells that made the creation of reams of paperwork possible. If she had her way every copy spell and their equivalent would be banned and the books containing them locked away in the restricted section of the archives, classified as malefic magic of the first degree. Case in point was the nearly two-inch thick folder currently sitting on her desk awaiting her perusal. It was ridiculous. All this for a simple housemaid? True, the filly would be her personal maid, part of her household. Luna was prepared to concede that certain due diligence was needed in finding just the right mare for the job, but this was ridiculous. She had more important matters to attend to than plowing through reams of useless linguistic juggling. Just an hour ago Luna had been informed that the archivists had finally located the room where the contents of her old library and lab had been stored, behind a series of bricked up doorways. She itched to rush down to the sub-sub-basement and start digging. It would be a little while yet, however, before the closed-off area was vented and judged safe for the ponies who would be assisting her. In the meantime, she might as well try and do something constructive. With a sigh, she levitated the thick file folder to a comfortable height for reading. She was surprised to find herself rather enjoying the document, at first. The initial few pages were a compilation of four reports generated by the four mares recently seconded to the Night Guard from the Canterlot Police Department. Clearly, someone in the chain of command was not sure what to do with them and had likely been happy to assign a suitable feminine task to them while they were undergoing basic training. Their observations were factual, and to the point, even if in the case of one of the mares, Mrs. Banehammer, where her report more closely resembled a criminal case file than an evaluation of a job applicant. Another, Mrs. Thermal made the observation that the subject would make a first-rate sting decoy, whatever that was. Luna could not say she knew Goose Down, the pony in question when she was finished with their report. You could never know a pony until you could look into their eyes. Truthfully, the reports told her more about the writer’s personalities than that of their subject. The one piece of data that truly caught her eye was the fact that in the judgment of Mrs. Grace, Goose suffered from Ouranophobia. She felt deep sympathy for the poor filly. What a terrible affliction for a pegasus. At the same time, she felt a sense of anticipatory pleasure. This was something she would be able to help the poor pegasus with. She was certain. Phobias were tailor-made for dream therapy and she was sure that she would be able to resolve Goose’s problems. Luna paused in her reading to contemplate this. Despite frequent reassurance from various sources she still felt deep guilt at the existence of the Nocturne, who she had created, and then almost totally exterminated during the rise and fall of Nightmare Moon. The chance to repay some of the debt she felt she owed them, even if only to one pony, was something to be grasped firmly and with joy. For the most part since being released from the moon, Luna had merely been going through the motions. Raising and lowering the moon and stars was her responsibility and duty, but it did not bring personal contact, well, except for Twilight. Luna felt a happy glow at the thought of the closest thing she had to a true friend beside her big sister. Helping Goose, and Jake, that poor colt stuck in an adults body, were small personal things. It had been a long time since she had looked forward with such anticipation to using her talent. Unfortunately, after the first fifteen or so pages of the report, the practical informative section ended and the weasel words began. Luna was informed, in exhaustive detail, of the makeup of her sister’s personal staff, and how that should be mirrored in her own household taking into account the differences in their various duties. A history lesson on the evolution of the support staff was thrown in as well. It took Luna longer than it would have her sister to realize what was going on as the writers went on and on without actually dealing with the subject at hand. She, or the department she represented, were extremely reluctant to make a decision. The history lesson proved that it had been a very long time since they had been required hire personnel support staff for a princess. Everypony working directly for Celestia came from a family who had been serving her for generations. If a pony’s parents had not worked directly for her, then their grandmother, or great grandmother, had. Not that this did not also cause problems for the rather obsessed ponies in Pony Resources. Such as the scandal involved when a member of the evening dining crew wed a member of the morning cleaning crew and totally tangled a perfectly good family tree. Celestia had regaled Luna with that story, and many more, to give her a head start on dealing with PR. The more of the report Luna read the more obvious it became that the ponies in Pony Resources were clearly terrified of making a bad decision and hiring an unsuitable pony for the job. Indeed, from Celestia’s tales it seemed they treated the very word ‘decision’ with the care most ponies would treat poisonous insects or snakes, preferring to imprison the paper they were written on in stout containers and await their natural demise and shipment to the filing section, which might as well have tombstones on the filing cabinets. Their fears were only escalated by the fact that while Nocturne Stallions made up the majority of the Night Guard, there was not a single instance of any Nocturne Mare entering service to the crown or, as far as PR could determine, taking any publicly visible employment outside the home at all. It didn’t help matters that a large percentage of the bureaucracy tended to walk on eggshells in regards to Luna, treating her like an unexploded bomb that could go off at the least little jar. Given that apparent attitude, it came as no real surprise to Luna when their final recommendation was that Goose Down not be assigned to Luna’s personal staff at this time, but should continue working as general cleaning staff until such time as she should prove herself. The way they phrased it left Luna with the impression that they might, just maybe, consider Goose’s great-granddaughter for the position, if she was very diligent. If they had left it at that Luna might have been inclined to go along with their recommendation. After all, Goose did not need to be in her service for her to offer aid via dream therapy. Unfortunately for Luna’s blood pressure, but fortunately for Goose’s employment prospects, the recommendation not to assign Goose to her staff was further justified due to the pony in question suffering from mental instability. A reference was made to Goose’s Ouranophobia. Luna became more than a little vocal, expressing herself in words that a Princess really shouldn’t have known, and that would have made the bureaucrats break out in an icy sweat once they realized they had just suggested to the former Nightmare Moon, that one of her servants should be rejected from their position because of a fear of open spaces. After all, there was an empty spot on the moon now, and many bureaucrats would fit into the space vacated by a princess. ******************************** Hideous. Deformed. Abomination. Ugly! Those were all descriptions that Lamina, Hoofmaiden to the Diarch of Equestria, Lady of the Moon, General of the Stars, etc, etc, had applied to herself in self-loathing. That was a before. Before Celestia healed her in kindness and forgiveness. Before her beloved Princess Luna took her into her household, also in forgiveness. Before her common-sense lacking mate, Pumpernickel blundered into her heart and life. These days Lamina had a much brighter outlook on life, even if she tended to still project a rather dour expression to the world at large. She would never dream of applying such descriptors to herself. The thing draped over the slightly over-sized dressmaker’s ponyquin, that was custom-designed to match Princess Luna’s every measurement, was something else entirely. Lamina’s hooves itched with the urge to cover the blank white, tightly woven, cotton in delicate embroidery, anything to relieve the monotony it presented. She cringed at the thought of it being draped over the lovely black hide of her mistress. She lifted a hoof toward the garment that was causing her such distress. Surely a little highlight here and there would not hurt? She let her hoof drop and averted her eyes from temptation. The princess’ orders had been clear and allowed no misunderstanding. She had wanted purely functional, and that was what she had gotten. All Lamina could hope for was that her lady would reconsider once she actually saw the tent of a garment she proposed to wear. ‟Unforgivable!” Lamina staggered slightly as she was bombarded by a sudden aural assault. The original cry of anger was followed by words that drew a blush to her face. It was not that they were particularly foul. She had heard far worse. Rather it was the fact that they were emerging from the mouth of her perfect princess that was causing her embarrassment. Lamina whirled, facing the door that led to the hallway between her sewing room and Princess Luna’s office. This had not been the Royal Canterlot voice. The princess did not use that in her private quarters, or at least not often. This had merely been the shout of a very annoyed pony. Lamina did not think twice. She was running at full speed by the time she reached the door. When the loyal pony dashed into the office she found Princess Luna stalking back and forth, her legs stiff and her head held high, nostrils flaring. A crumpled ball of paper floating in the air in front of her. Vases and various other priceless nicknacks were vibrating on their stands and shelves from the force of her angered tread. ‟My Princess. What ails you? Should I send for the guard?” ‟Nay, good Lamina. I am well. Twas was no more than a momentary upset.” Luna assured her worried hoofmaiden, even as she levitated a form from her desk along with a quill. She affixed her signature to the document, and with a flare of magical flame sent it to the appropriate office. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down and then turned toward Lamina. ‟As we discussed with thee earlier, another pony is joining our household. The mare, Goose Down, who we talked of earlier. I trust you will make her welcome.” Luna hesitated for a moment and added. ‟Thou have told me that it is common for Nocturne to share a common sleeping room. At the time we insisted that the young mare should have her own quarters. We now feel that we were perhaps mistaken. Please move that which needs to be moved from those quarters to your’s.” "Of course. I’ll do that right away. Do you know when she’ll be moving in, my lady?” Lamina said, keeping her expression tranquil while inside her, a very loud voice was screaming, "My husband! Mine! Back, you big-winged stallion-thief!" She’d brought up the shared sleeping quarters before due to a feeling of responsibility, but had been relieved when the Princess had insisted that the young filly deserved her own quarters. In the time since Lamina had been adopted by Rusty Pin she’d grown somewhat used to sleeping on her own, and now that she was a married mare she had savored having private time with her husband without the need to find a secluded nighttime cloud as was the norm for Nocturne pegasus. Not that she had anything against aerial high jinks, but sometimes there was no time or energy for such activity. The one thing Lamina was not worried about was that sharing a sleeping room with a young attractive filly might cause Pumpernickel’s attention to roam. The big lug was far too smart, too honorable, too scared to death she’d kick his balls up into his throat, to ever dream of letting his eyes, or any other body part he was particularly fond of, wander. As she turned to leave, Lamina could not help but puzzle over what had happened to change the Princess’ mind. Before she had gone more than a few steps Princess Luna had added more requests to Lamina’s to do list. "Have Optio Pumpernickel check with the archivists and report to me at his earliest convenience (1). I wish to know how long it shall be before I may inspect my misplaced belongings. The garment I requested is prepared, correct?" Lamina winced slightly but answered in the affirmative. ‟It is ready whenever you have need of it, Ma’am.” ******** Renowned in song and verse, the click-clack of the railway track has inspired those of an artistic bent for generations to create raucous songs celebrating the romance of the rails. To a weary traveler, however, they are a soothing lullaby that can lull to sleep even the most fidgety of toddlers given enough exposure. It was no wonder that the sleep-deprived Sweet Savage(2) was asleep almost before the train to Ponyville left the Canterlot station. Sweets, as he preferred, very strongly, to be called, welcomed the warm embrace of Morpheus as an escape from a level of embarrassment that had threatened at times to cause spontaneous combustion. As an unusually tall pegasus pony with a more than respectable wingspan, and a newly minted member of the Royal Guard, Sweets was used to attracting stares from mares. What the temporarily suspended Royal Guard was not used to were those stares being accompanied by laughter and giggles. At least, not since middle school when he was a tall gangly blank-flank who was all ears and hooves. The ridicule he was currently facing was not as blatant as it had been back then. adult ponies had much more sophisticated ways of expressing their ridicule than the young and foolish. Nonetheless, it seemed every pony he saw was hiding a smirk and a laugh behind a raised hoof as he walked by. It was all the fault of the accursed sports novelty he had been ordered to wear without fail. The oversized artificial unicorn horn had been designed to slip over the more conventional horns of the unicorn ponies who followed the Thruster’s sports team. The variation that had been designed for the non-unicorn fans was sadly lacking in quality. The connection to the headband was not the strongest. To be fair it had never been meant to last past the day it was purchased. Constant wear, not to mention running to catch a train, had stressed the flimsy material and as a result, the hated faux horn tended to droop below eye level while swaying from side to side with every step he took. The thing was downright obscene. Closing his eyes and causing the world to go away for a little while seemed a marvelous idea, at first. Unfortunately, sleep did not offer the solace Sweets had hoped. His restless dreams were disturbing. The worst was the one that found him back in kindergarten, trying to squeeze his adult bulk behind a foals desk, while the familiar tormentors from all those years ago pointed and laughed. Second runner up was the one where he was informed by a chortling Princess Celestia that the whole thing had been the result of a bet with her sister, and he had won her an entire ‘bit’ by parading around in unicorn drag for a week. Sweets’ thrashing, moaning, and outbursts of demands to be left alone, soon created a large empty section in the railway car he was riding as various ponies decided that the other cars on the train were preferable to one containing an oversized mono-colored black pegasus with bizarre taste in headgear and a penchant for talking to himself. As a result, there was no one else in the car when they pulled into Ponyville to wake him with a noisy exit, and he continued to slumber fitfully as the crew went about the task of unloading the cargo car. ************** Bon Bon was not currently a happy pony, and she was not shy about letting the train crew know it. ‟But you can’t just leave me in the lurch like this. Can’t you at least help me get it to my shop?” she stamped a hoof in frustration while her cerulean eyes flashed in anger as she gestured at the wooden packing crate that was almost as tall as she was. ‟Sorry, ma’am. We’re way behind schedule.” the conductor apologized while making a production of checking a large pocket watch. Seeing the near panic that replaced the anger in her big, suddenly moist, eyes he relented, slightly. ‟If you want, I’ll take the top off for you. Then you can transfer the contents to that hand truck,” he said, gesturing to a small heavy-duty cargo cart pushed to the side of the platform. Bon Bon felt like screaming. There was over a half a ton of sugar and other ingredients in the crate. It would take at least a dozen trips. The sun had long since set. By the time she got everything home, it would be well past midnight, and she had planned on making an early start in the morning on preparing Pinkie Pie’s commission. She’d be lucky to have everything inspected and shelved by the time the sun came up. She could not even make a quick trip home to bring Lyra to help her, due to the adorably crazy unicorn being Celestia knows where hunting her imaginary ‘humans.’ This whole affair was threatening to turn into a disaster. Bon Bon knew she tended to get a bit high strung at times, but this situation with her delivery was just one in a string of bad luck. She had counted on having a little bit more help with the project when she’d accepted it. If only she hadn’t forgotten that her niece was spending this weekend with her friends. She had not wanted to deny her niece the enjoyment of playing with her peers and so hadn’t even mentioned the large commission she’d received to Twist. Lyra would have been happy to help, but she was in a dangerously preoccupied place at the moment with her current obsession that humans were returning to Equestria. The last thing Bon Bon needed in her candy kitchen was a distracted Lyra. Bon Bon shuddered at the thought of the potential havoc Lyra's help might cause and in memory of the last time she had let Lyra loose in the kitchen while distracted. Her best pot was never the same, and the aftereffects of the sugar explosion and the resulting cleanup had turned into hours of, her eyes glazed a bit as she remembered lovingly licking the mess off of-- Bon Bon broke out of that train of thought with a hard shake of her head. Focus on the sugar on the loading dock, not on how nice a sugar-coated Lyra tasted, she told herself sternly. She couldn’t even farm some of the work out to the Cakes, apparently, Pinkie Pie had commissioned an equally large order from them. Whatever party Pinkie was getting ready for, it was going to be massive, and considering some of the ponies Pinkie associated with, the guests could include anyone, up to and including the Princesses. Bon Bon’s contribution didn’t just have to be done on time, it had to be perfect. The caper to this sequence of unforeseen roadblocks was that the usually reliable train had arrived late and the station porter was home sick, leaving no one to help her with her order. Bon Bon was spiraling into a full blown panic attack when the loud bang of the crate’s lid falling onto the station platform startled her. ‟There you go, Miss,” the conductor called back over his shoulder as he hurried away, checking his watch once again and increasing his speed. Bon Bon was left alone on the platform as a gust of wind scattered an abandoned newspaper so the pages fluttered past and through her legs. She once again stifled a curse as she went and got the hand cart. ‟Soonest started, soonest done,” she muttered to herself, but even her mother’s old homily didn’t do anything to lift her spirits. ************* The conductor hurried through the various cars, making sure all was in readiness so he could signal the engineer to get underway. The unexplained delay in Canterlot had put them way behind schedule. Time Keeper prided himself on keeping meticulously on schedule and it always rendered him a bit impatient and high-strung when reality got in the way of his perfect schedules. Which was why he said a very nasty word when he trotted into the last passenger car and saw the big black pegasus sprawled out across a couch that had never been intended to contain quite so much pony. How could he have forgotten the weird pony? It had been all the passengers had talked about during the trip. He, himself, had gone out of the way to avoid the car, excusing this behavior with the excuse of letting an obviously tired passenger catch up on his sleep. It had nothing to do with the way he’d almost gotten his head knocked off when he’d shaken the stallion at the start of the trip while asking to see his ticket.(3) The drunk hadn’t even woken up after lashing out with a huge hoof that had just barely missed the conductor’s chin, just rolled over and started snoring after mumbling something about just five more minutes, sarge. ‟Hey! Ponyville! Last stop on the line!” he called out at the top of his voice from the doorway. To his relief the big black stallion shifted, lifting his head to look around in a dazed manner as if trying to figure out where he was. ‟Unless you want to go back to Canterlot, you’d better stir your hooves, Mac,” Time Keeper said, tapping the face of his watch for emphasis, prepared to duck back into the other car and slam the door shut if the passenger objected. ***************** Sweets stumbled out of the train onto the Ponyville platform, still trying to gather his thoughts while blinking sleep gunk out of his eyes. His meager bits of luggage was tossed out behind him. After an embarrassingly long moment, Sweets realized that his vision problems were not due to his sleep numbed eyes. It was well after sundown and the only light was from the moon overhead. He felt a touch of annoyance when he realized this meant he would be spending the night outside. Ponyville didn’t have a hotel that was open twenty-four hours. There would be no one on duty to check him in. The same went for the bed and breakfast type establishments along with a few boarding houses. It was far too late to check into any of them. He gave a sigh at the thought of bedding down in the town park, it wouldn’t be the first time, by a long shot, that he had needed to sleep outdoors without even the comfort of a campfire, but familiarity did not make the prospect anymore acceptable to the bed-loving stallion. A thump from further down the platform informed him that he was not alone, and he twisted his head to stare in that direction. He blinked a couple of times as he tried to decipher what he was looking at. The blurry image resolved into that of a pale colored mare, or rather, the rear end of one. She was bent over the lip of a large crate as she rummaged around inside it. There was a pile of packages beside the crate, but to a pony who had grown up around cargo haulers, it was clear that she’d already removed all the contents that were an easy reach for her. She was up on the tip of her rear hooves as she tried to snag the items in the bottom of the packing crate. In doing so she supplied him with a living version of a frequently used pose common to the calendars just about every cart repair shop in Equestria sported. The view was such as to cause a bachelor joy, and to remind him of why his fellow Royal Guard mates had nicknamed Ponyville MILB central. Shaking his head to get rid of the prurient images it was producing, or as many as it was possible for a young stallion in the prime of life to lose, Sweets trotted down the platform toward the mare, hoping for directions to some lodgings that would still be open at this time of night. Sweets had barely covered half the distance when a startled cry jolted him. He saw the mare teetering on the edge of the crate, her rear hooves flailing in the air as she tried to regain her equilibrium. Without thinking about it he lunged forward and grabbed hold of the base of her tail with his mouth and started to haul her back out of the crate. The unknown mare let out another surprised cry. Sweets was oblivious to the mare's protesting neigh. The most wonderful scent he had ever smelled flooded his nose. Drool pooled in his mouth and he drew in a deep breath, sucking in a huge quantity of that alluring smell. Oh, wondrous ambrosia. Surely no mare had ever perfumed the night air with a scent half so tantalizing. It flooded his nostrils, blocking out all other smells. There was no other odor in the world except for the one worming deep into his nasal passages as he drew in deep drafts of air. His brain fogged and all rational thought fled as he mouthed the now soggy tail between his lips. In an instant, he was transported back in his mind to his first love. A beautiful teenage filly who worked behind the candy counter at the local canteen. He had been heartbroken when she had hooked up with his cousin and had sworn he would never love again. A month later there was a new filly with a soft heart working the counter and he’d turned ten and was much more mature and worldly. The scent of cooking sugar continued to tickle Sweets nose, along with the heady aroma of freshly mixed chocolate. Those were the strongest odors, but there were so many more flowing under the stream of those prominent scents. Cinnamon, vanilla, truffles, preserved fruit, thick cream and butter, peppermint. His drool soaked the mare’s tail, and his stomach rumbled. It had been more than a day since his last piece of candy, and he was starting to go into serious withdrawal. ‟What the hay!?” a startled and frightened voice broke him out of his scent induced euphoria. He opened up the eyes and saw, past the three wrapped candies that made up the mare’s cutie mark, her frightened gaze. Her forelegs were hooked over the edge of the crate and she was looking at him like he was some sort of monster. The fact that he was currently sucking on her tail might have had more than a little to do with that. He quickly released her and stepped back, but before he could offer an explanation, or come up with one, she bolted, her hooves drumming in a panic on the thick planks of the railroad station’s platform. Sweet’s stared after her, his eyes wide and panic-stricken as Newspaper headlines flashed in his head. News Flash: Royal Scandal! Disgraced Guard Assaults Innocent Mare in Tail-Sucking Incident in Ponyville. Next Stop - The Moon Sweets' heart lurched more violently than his rumbling tummy as he sat down with a solid thud. He was doomed, doomed. To make matters infinitely worse he had just realized that the filly he had just frightened half to death was Bon Bon, the candy maker. The pony he was supposed to approach as his cover for staying in town and keeping an eye out for trouble related to the foreign Alicorn and his Human companion. He hadn’t even made it into the town proper, and he’d blown it just about as bad as it was possible to do so. ************** Bon Bon was halfway to her candy shop, her heart pounding in panic when she dug in her hooves and skidded to a stop. What was she doing? She’d left all her supplies back on the platform. She’d left her future back on the platform. She had to go back. She shuddered at the thought as she recalled the horrific sight that had sent her fleeing in panic. That huge black shape, the feel of his mouth sucking on her tail as his hideously deformed unicorn horn swayed back and forth just above his muzzle. ‟Yo, Bon Bon? What’s the problem?” An annoyed voice from above called out, causing the candy maker to let out a loud squeal and jump straight up, all four legs extended stiffly. Bon Bon was just about to resume her panicked rush when she realized the voice had come from Rainbow Dash, who was laying on a small hovering cloud just a few feet above her head. From the mussed appearance of her mane and her drooping eyes, it was clear the pegasus pony had just woken up. Bon Bon almost wept in gratitude. Rainbow Dash! She could fix this, she could save Bon Bon’s supplies and future. ‟Thank goodness, Rainbow Dash. I need your help desperately. There’s a horrible monster on the railway platform. He attacked me.” Rainbow Dash bolted upright, her drowsy eyes growing bright with the thought of daring-do in the offing. ‟You can count on me,” she declared, ready to spring into action. She adopted what she thought of as a totally cool heroic pose, wings spread, rearing up on her hind legs, mane fluttering in the wind. ‟Oh, thank goodness. Please Rainbow Dash, can you go get Twilight Sparkle to get rid of it?” ‟You bet, just leave it to me . . . Wait? What?” Rainbow did a face-plant onto the soft cloud as she fell out of the heroic pose she had adopted. She struggled back to her feet, all trace of coolness temporarily vanished as she looked down at Bon Bon in indignation. ‟Why would you need, Twilight? You’ve got me,” she fumed, and then not waiting for a reply, she streaked into the sky, her backwash causing the cloud she’d been resting on to shred into wispy tatters. Bon Bon danced back and forth on her hooves. Part of her wanted to run as fast as she could to Golden Oaks Library to get Twilight Sparkle, but the other part of her was terrified that Rainbow Dash would destroy her supplies while fighting that perverted monster. The rainbow-hued pegasus pony did have a bad habit of leaving a lot of insurance claims behind. In the end concern for her ingredients, and her future outweighed her fear. Telling herself that Rainbow Dash was, after all, one of the Elements of Harmony, and would be able to handle a mere pony-shaped monster, she headed back toward the railway platform. At a very appropriate pace. Or walk. While keeping an eye out for any shadows. Of which there were many, because it was night, after all. With lots of strange noises, she had never heard before. It looked to be a very long walk. **************** Rainbow Dash was fuming, and she muttered to herself as she rocketed up into the air. ‟What am I? Chopped carrots? I’ll show her. I can handle a monster just as well as Twilight.” Having reached a good height, Rainbow did a barrel roll and curved over in a dive toward the railway station far below, her target a black blotch in the middle of it. No need for a Sonic Rainboom, though that would be beyond cool. Her target wasn’t much bigger than a pony, a good high-speed buck would send it back to wherever it had come from. Rainbow stuck her front hooves out in front of her and braced her body for the shock of impact, which would be coming in 5, 4, 3– ‟What the heck, Jake?” she cried out as the black blot refined into the shape of a large black Alicorn. With a huge effort, that made her feel like her wings were about to tear off, she diverted her path just enough to skim over-top of the figure on the platform, just as he reared his head at her shout. ‟No!” was that Rainbow had time to cry out as she found Jake’s horn directly in her path. She twisted frantically to the side to avoid being impaled. The gleaming black horn missed her chest, but thrust between her right leg and shoulder, just missing her neck. There was a sudden jerk, far less than she was braced for, and she was tumbling down the railway platform heading straight for a large crate, an over-sized unicorn horn clutched between her legs. She hit hard enough to rock the crate up on one side where it hovered for a moment before slamming back down onto the platform, shoving Rainbow out of the way as it did. The pegasus pony lay against the side of the crate, her eyes whirling as her jarred brain attempted to re-boot. She was barely aware of the object she was holding between her front legs. A sudden gasp of dismay, caused her to look to the side. Bon Bon was standing there, looking twenty percent paler than normal. ‟Oh no, oh no, oh no!” the candy maker chanted as she dashed toward the fallen hero. ‟Hey, no problem. Just give me a minute to get myself together,” Rainbow said in a groggy voice as she waved a warding hoof toward Bon Bon. The beige pony ignored her completely, rearing up to place her forelegs on the lip of the crate and peering inside. She let out a huge sigh of relief and dropped back down to all fours. ‟Thank goodness, nothing seems to be damaged,” Bon Bon said. Any issue Rainbow might have taken with Bon Bon being more concerned about her crate then her was derailed when she caught sight of what was dangling from the hoof she’d waved at the candy maker. ‟Hey, what is this?” she questioned herself. ‟Is this? It is. A stupid Thruster’s horn!” she finished in disgust. On the good side, that meant that Rainbow Dash hadn’t ripped Jake’s horn off his head. On the downside, that meant it wasn’t Jake. Meaning she was all alone with Bon Bon on a lonely railway platform with an over-sized mare molester. Or at least, if it had been anypony other than Rainbow Dash, that is what they might have thought. The brash pegasus had different priorities. ‟What the hay, dude?” Rainbow demanded, waving the faux horn at the big black pegasus who was sheepishly standing just a little way away, shuffling his hooves and looking a lot like he wished he was anywhere else but here. ‟What the big idea? A pegasus wearing a Thruster horn. You ought to be ashamed,” Rainbow shouted. Her annoyance was partly fueled by the scare she’d gotten when she’d thought she’d torn off Jake’s horn. Finding out she’d been fooled by some idiot of a pegasus stallion who was walking around flaunting the symbol of the hated Thrusters only added fuel to the fire in her belly. The black stallion was paying very little attention to the fuming Rainbow Dash. Instead, he was directing a guilty look toward Bon Bon as she glared at him from behind her shipping crate. ‟Sorry, Miss Bon Bon. I didn’t mean to scare you. I came all the way from Canterlot just to meet you, after all.” ‟Yeah, yeah, a likely story. What about this?” Rainbow demanded, fluttering up to eye level with the stallion and again waving the fake horn she had just retrieved in front of his face, this time from inches away. Sweets winced slightly and drew back a bit. ‟Lost a sports bet,” he mumbled. Rainbow Dash paused in her rant, blinked slightly. That put a whole new complexion on things. Wearing the hated symbol of the Thrusters out of choice was one thing. Any Pegasus who did that was a traitor to her wings in Rainbow’s eyes. Losing a humiliation bet and actually being pegasus enough to abide by the stakes, even when nowhere near anypony who could call you on it, that really showed character in her book. ‟Oh, man. I bet it was that last game. I heard about that. The High Flyers were so robbed. I tell you, that ref must have been blind. You poor sucker. How long you got to do it for?” ‟A week,” Sweets answered distractedly, looking around the hovering Rainbow Dash, trying to catch Bon Bon’s eye, with little luck. Rainbow persisted in shifting herself so she was always right in front of him. ‟Is that why you were on the train? Bet that’s part of the bet. Can’t fly for a week? Man, that sucks rotten apples.” ‟Uhuh,” Sweets replied intelligently, taking a quick step to the right. Unfortunately, Bon Bon had just taken a quick step to her right, and all he saw was that wonderful smelling tail and her cutie marked flank. Bon Bon had never felt so humiliated in her life, well, except for the time Lyra . . . Bon Bon shook off that painful remembrance as she glared at Rainbow Dash’s back as the scatter-brain pegasus actually started talking sports with the jerk who had molested her, and scared the Tartarus out of her with that whole monster-in-the-night act. Beneath her anger, however, she was feeling a bit puzzled. Having gotten a good look at the stallion, sans horn and before Rainbow Dash stuck her big plot in Bon Bon’s face, she was troubled by a sense of familiarity. The only problem was that she was sure she had never seen him before in her life. Bon Bon had a well-trained memory She might not have been in Pinkie’s league, but she never forgot a face. Even if she’d been a total ditz, a pony that big and black was somepony that would stick in your mind, but for the life of her, she could not remember where she had seen him before. He knew her name, he said he’d come from Canterlot to see her, but he hadn’t had time to say why. Why would a city stallion come all this way to see her? Now it had been Lyra . . . A sudden realization struck Bon Bon like a lightning bolt. Of course, his picture must have been in one of Cello’s letters to her daughter. He must be one of her matchmaking efforts, and this one had decided to take a more active role. That’s why he was looking for her. Bon Bon knew that Cello regarded her as the obstacle that was keeping her daughter from marrying a suitable stallion, meaning one she’d picked out, and carrying on the family name. She had likely made it clear to the tail sucker that he’d have to win Bon Bon’s approval if he had any hope of marrying into the Heartstring family fortune. Well, that sure wasn’t going to happen. He could just hop on the next train to Canterlot. She took a quick step to her right, intending to get around Rainbow Dash’s hovering form and tell the molester just how high a cliff he could jump off of. Unfortunately, the over-sized lummox had also shifted to his right and all she got a good look at was his well-muscled flank and his lollipop cutie mark. That last made her pause. Not because he shared a complimentary cutie mark with her, she had long ago learned that such things were meaningless. Almost all the stallions at BKC had candy theme cutie marks, and Lyra was worth ten of them. No, her sudden interest in the Duffus's cutie mark was far more pragmatic. He wouldn’t have it if he didn’t have at least some talent in regards to candy, at this point she was willing to take anything she could get. Bon Bon gave a little hop, and landed on Rainbow Dash’s back, forcing the pegasus mare to the ground and leaving the candy maker eye to eye with a surprised stallion. He started to open his mouth, and Bon Bon cut him off with a hoof while saying. ‟Shut it! I don’t want to hear it. I know why you’re here. There is no way you have any hope at all once I let Lyra know about how you molested me.” Sweets had no idea who Lyra was, but he had no trouble accepting the ‘no hope’ part if she started spreading the molesting story. He was too recently out of guard training to start offering excuses or explanations for his actions. Sergeants tended to take a dim view of either. Better to let the pony in charge lay out the facts of life without interruptions. It was a lot less painful in his experience. ‟Hey, squashed pony here,” Rainbow complained from under Bon Bon but was ignored by both parties. ‟However! I might be willing to let this slide, if you can show me you’re worth it,” Bon Bon said in her best, don’t touch the candy, voice. ‟Anything,” Sweets said with great fervor. Bon Bon gave a nod of satisfaction. She didn’t trust this pony any further than she could throw him, but she had leverage on him. If he wanted to see dime one of Lyra’s inheritance, he was going to have to make her a very happy pony. Not that she had the least intention of putting in a good word for him with Lyra. That didn’t mean she couldn’t string him along for as long as she was in need of a strong back. She wasn’t particularly proud of what she was doing, but she was desperate, and it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve a little punishment. ‟Fine. You can start by unloading that crate onto that hand truck, and helping me take these supplies to my shop. You can sleep in the yard. For the next few days, you are going to help me make candy, day and night. When we are done, if you have impressed me, maybe, I say, maybe, I’ll listen to what you have to say. Until then when I say jump, you say how high.” Sweets was a little impressed. For such a little snip of a thing, she had the whole drill sergeant thing down to a tee. He wasn’t entirely sure how she’d found out he was here to offer her a contract with the palace, he knew there was no way she could know the real reason. Maybe Princess Celestia had arranged things? Whatever anything that did not end up with him being named a mare-molester was fine by him. Without a word, Sweets started unloading the crate under Bon Bon’s watchful eye, after she stepped off of Rainbow Dash. The only sour note for the disguised Royal Guard was that Rainbow made a big production of fluttering up and securing the hated horn to his head as best as could be managed. The blue pegasus moved back a few yards and examined him critically. You’d better go see Rarity tomorrow. If you have to wear that thing, at least you should try to make it look less ridiculous. If anyone can do it, Rarity can,” Rainbow Dash said in a voice that contained a fair amount of doubt. ************** Shadow Dash had just finished dropping off his baby sister at work and was looking forward to hooking up with a few old friends in the guard room when a voice from behind him changed his plans. ‟A moment of your time Sergeant,” a familiar voice requested. Shadow Dash paused and looked behind him, seeing the familiar large bulky shape of recruit, now Optio, Pumpernickel. Pumpernickel focused on keeping his face as stoic as possible as he looked at his old training instructor. Opportunities like this did not come along every day, and he intended to milk it for all it was worth. ‟What can I do for you, Sir,” Shadow Dash asked as softly as someone with twenty years of experience screaming at the top of his lungs could manage. ‟The Princess would like a word with you. If you have a few minutes to spare?” Shadow frowned at Pumpernickel’s official tone of voice. It was unlike the stocky nocturne pony. Shadow had never imagined that his new rank and position would go to Pumpernickel’s head. There had been no sign of it the day before when he’d asked his favorite ex-recruit to escort his baby sister home from the palace. That meant there was serious, official, business ahoof. I don’t suppose this is Princess Celestia we’re talking about, sir?” ‟No, sergeant,” Pumpernickel said in a flat tone, giving nothing extra away. Shadow Dash arched an eyebrow as he followed after Pumpernickel. He had never met Princess Luna, unlike her older sister. He had also not grown up in a culture that venerated her. While he was a Nocturne, he had not been adopted into his night-pony family till he was ten years of age. He respected her, she was one of his Princesses, but he did not hold her in the same awe as his family, especially his baby sister. Goose had spent most of the last few days in near hysterical joy, obvious to those who knew her, at the prospect of working near her perfect princess. For that matter, he hadn’t even believed Luna was a real pony, until she had escaped from the moon and tried to take over Equestria. Shadow Dash frowned internally while keeping his outward expression bland. He really hoped this meeting was not due to the interference he had engineered to keep Goose out of Guard training. Her heart would have been broken when she washed out. She would have without a doubt, likely on the first day. Her handicap would have allowed for nothing else. Shadow was not normally one for bending the rules, but for family, he was willing to add a bit of situational to his ethics. That same attitude had once led to his first meeting with Princess Celestia. They had both discovered the other raiding the royal pantry, Celestia pursuing a big slice of chocolate cake, Shadow purloining a jar of Zap apple preserve. Of course, Celestia, unlike Shadow, had a perfect right to raid her own pantry. (4) It might have been the end of his career in the guard if he had not confessed the preserves were for a pregnant friend , who had developed some very specific cravings. Celestia had been more than sympathetic, in fact, she’d sent another dozen jars to his friend’s residence in Cloudsdale. Which, given the foal’s unusual colors when she was born might not have been the best idea in the world. Though the filly seemed to have taken no harm from it otherwise, quite the contrary, considering some of the things she pulled off in the last year or so. Shadow broke out of his reverie when he noticed that Pumpernickel had led him down several flights of stairs into the sub-basement. An area used for long term storage of things that might, someday, be useful. ‟You know, trooper, I could start to think that you leading me into an old disused section of the castle might have something do with those fifty mile runs in full pack I used to send you on,” Shadow remarked in a casual tone as he looked around in interest at some of the artifacts they were passing. He couldn’t help but think that there were museums that would give their eyeteeth for a chance to display some of the dust magnets that were just so much clutter here. ‟Of course, now that I think on it, you were one of those weird recruits who actually pushed yourself harder than the instructors did. So I guess you’re not planning on beating the hay out of me somewhere nice and private.” ‟I have nothing but fond memories of you, sergeant. You have nothing to fear from me. ” Pumpernickel said in his best professional dealing with a civilian tone. ‟Oh, like that’s not ominous as all buck,” Shadow muttered to himself. His bad feeling about this situation was growing by leaps and bounds. Behind him, Pumpernickel’s lip twitched slightly. As they progressed, other ponies began to make an appearance, dressed in smocks and with dust masks over their muzzles. One of them broke away from the group and approached them. ‟You’re going to need these,” she said, her voice muffled by the mask. She held out a similar mask to the sergeant, and one to Pumpernickel once Shadow took his. ‟Thank you, Lamina,” Pumpernickel said. ‟Is Princess Luna still in the same room?” ‟Yes. She’s sure that all the contents from her old research lab are in the one location. From the looks of things, they were just crammed in with no attempt made to categorize or sort. She has had some rather pithy things to say about the archivist who was responsible.” the masked mare answered. ‟They are long past even our Princess’ reach. Which is more than I can say for some,” Pumpernickel said in a flat tone. Shadow Dash let out a low laugh. ‟You’re spoiling the effect, sir. One broad hint at the beginning of the trip that I’m in deep griffin shit was more than enough. You weaken the whole effect with constant not so subtle hints. Should just let my mind fill in the blanks. If you don’t mind a bit of advice from your old sergeant, sir?” ‟Not at all. I find I’m never too old to learn valuable lessons, Sarge,” Pumpernickel said in a dry tone. ‟And that’s me put in my proper place. Very well. Lead on, sir. Lead on.” Shadow was almost cheerful as he followed his former trainee down the increasingly dusty corridor. He had no regrets over what he had done. He was confident that Goose would not suffer for his crime, and that was all that mattered in the end. The corridor they were following went on for some length, and the old Trainer arched an eyebrow as they passed evidence that up till recently it had been sealed, not just once but six times, to go by the remains of recently removed false walls made of foot thick stone they passed. Evidence of just how spooked those ponies had been a thousand years ago when they had sealed off this section. Not a reassuring thought when you took into account that they had to have known Luna, or her alter-ego, far better than any pony in this day and age. Eventually, the corridor opened up into a large room stuffed full of old crates and miscellaneous objects obscured under a heavy coating of dust. The limited free space was made even smaller by a unicorn powered vacuum that was sucking up the worst of the dust and a whole bevy of other ponies milling around in what looked like sheer chaos. Every pony in sight was heavily shrouded with dust cloths and masks. Despite that Princess Luna was easy to pick out. She was at the center of the chaos. A pattern soon emerged as Shadow watched her. Ponies circulated around the princess, some bringing objects for her to look at, others taking their objects to designated areas on Luna’s directions. ‟Pardon, Princess. I have Sergeant Shadow Dash here as you directed,” Pumpernickel said in good parade-yard form. All motion in the room stilled and Shadow found himself the center of attention. The majority of the looks were simple curiosity, the one from Princess Luna caused some very important bits he was quite proud of to shrivel. Luna blinked as she noticed the middle-aged pony’s expression and made some effort to moderate her current mood, or at least the outward expression of it before she scorched a hole in his hide. She’d been fuming all evening over the injustice done Goose, and some of that anger had become directed toward the young pony’s family. There had been some supplementary information that had not been included in the main report, about how Goose’s family had dealt with a transgression of hers many years ago. Reading about it had not made her happy. Nothing would be served by lashing out at the pony in front of her, however, no matter how much it would relieve the churning anger in her gut. Princess Luna turned her head away from Shadow and stamped a couple of times on the floor. ‟Attention, please. We are most pleased with your efforts. You may take a short recess while we deal with another matter. Please avail yourself of the refreshments laid out in the cleared room at the end of the hall.” There was a general stampede of Ponies toward the exit, raising even more dust as they went until visibility was reduced to almost nothing. The mask over Shadow’s muzzle let him breathe, but his eyes began to water as the small particles floating in the air irritated them. Luna hissed in annoyance as her visibility was cut to next to nothing. Her temper was already riding on a razor’s edge as it was. She decided to vent a little of her current annoyance on a non-breakable target. As Shadow tried to cope with the dust storm, he became aware that the cloud of dirt was becoming infused with a soft blue aura with small sparkles spread out through it. Slowly the dust thinned, spiraling inward to a point just a few inches in front of Princess Luna’s horn. He could feel a tugging at his hide as the dust that had coated him was drawn into the inward turning spiral. As he watched a small black ball formed in the air into which all the inward moving dirt was draining. At the same time, the air was becoming noticeably cleaner. Book pages riffled in the wind and his mane began to flap slightly. He tucked his wings tight against his body to keep them from catching the breeze. The ball in front of Luna’s horn grew and grew till it was nearly two feet across, a roiling mass of dust, hair, and who knew what else. The air was clear, with no more dust floating in it. Despite that, the heavy layer on most of the nearby surfaces was still fairly thick, with the coating on the various books and crates being virtually untouched by the magic. This puzzled him until he realized that the princess likely did not want to risk causing damage to any of the artifacts in the room. A handy spell, and one he’d have appreciated access to on those long-ago days when he’d been assigned rug beating duties by his adopted mother. The hard-bitten sergeant soon realized that Princess Luna was not satisfied with merely clearing the air, however. As Shadow watched, not really understanding what he was seeing, the glow around Luna’s horn grew slightly brighter and her eyes narrowed as she focused on the object in front of her. The glow permeating the dust ball grew more intense as well. For long moments there were no apparent results, and then Shadow realized that the ball was shrinking, compressing. It was already fifty percent smaller than it had been, and still decreasing in size. It was no longer a cloud, but a solid mass of debris. A wave of heat washed over the old trooper’s face, and his eyes widened as he realized it was coming from the ball in front of the Princess’ horn, which was flickering with red. The flammable portions of the dust were combusting. There was no other visible sign of fire. Whatever spell was compacting the dirt was also containing the smoke. The coal glow spread till the entire sphere was a dull red. It continued to shrink. The red glow shifted in color, becoming paler and paler until it was a white incandescent that caused him to advert his light-sensitive eyes. Princess Luna let out a deep sigh, a release of breath signifying an end to her display. Shadow risked a look and was relieved to see that the much smaller ball was back to a dull shade of red that was rapidly fading. Luna’s magic faded and the small sphere dropped to the stone flagging, and shattered like glass, revealing an interior of glossy black, not unlike obsidian. Many recruits were inclined to think that the main qualification for drill instructors was sadism and a loud voice. The truth was that a good DI had to be able to read other ponies like a book, even ones they had met only moments before. Knowing to an inch how far you could push a recruit was a mandatory requirement. The sadism and loud voice were only icings on the cake. If Shadow Dash had been less experienced, he might have been inclined to take the display he had just seen as a, ‟look, I can squash you like a bug. Respect me or else,” move. Such an act would have had the opposite effect. Respect was earned. It was not something you could gain from intimidation. There was a big difference between fear and respect. Because he was experienced, he looked deeper and realized that Princess Luna was seriously stressed. Her display had very little to do with intimidating him and much to do with releasing pent up emotions through physical activity. It might have been magic, but the slight sheen of sweat on her upper lip showed it had used up a fair amount of energy. Crushing a ball of dust, in this case, was no different than bucking a heavy bag for a few hours. Something he had done more than once after a particularly stressful day of trying to jam common sense into a herd of recruits. ‟Tell me about Goose Down, Sergeant,” Princess Luna suddenly asked, turning to look at him with her dark violet eyes. Shadow Dash’s was stunned by the impact of her gaze. He had thought himself immune to her presence, unlike the other Nocturne who had been raised to worship her. He’d been wrong. He felt like a foal caught passing notes in class. Without a thought, he dropped to both front knees and bowed his head. ‟She’ll do you proud, your Majesty.” ‟That is not what I asked, sergeant. Tell me why you interfered in her attempt to sign up for guard training. Tell me about her fear.” Shadow went still. He had expected to be called on his interference. He had not expected to explain Goose’s handicap. ‟Her difficulty would have kept her out of the guard. It will not cause a problem with her current job, Ma’am. She will serve the palace with all her heart and soul.” Luna’s eyes flashed with anger. She was about to demand a straight answer when Pumpernickel coughed. She turned her burning gaze in his direction, and he winced slightly. ‟Your pardon, Princess. I still had some dust in my throat.” For a moment Luna looked like she was about to snap at him, but then she once again took a deep breath and turned back to the older nocturne. ‟I have already taken your sister into my service, Sergeant. I merely wish to understand somepony I am responsible for.” She gritted her teeth, and nearly spat out the word, ‟Please.” Shadow Dash blinked his eyes. Goose had been taken on as part of Luna’s personal household. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. Another muffled cough from Pumpernickel recalled him to himself, and he cleared his own throat. ‟Where to start?” he said, half to himself. ‟I think if you will indulge me, Ma’am? at the beginning.” ‟We have time. I wish to understand your sister. I need to if I am . . .” Luna trailed off for a moment, before continuing, ‟Start where you feel is best, good Sergeant.” The sergeant took her at her word, and started, as he had suggested, at the beginning. ‟Goose was born to fly. Our Mom always said that when she was pregnant with Goose, she didn’t kick, she flapped. Her wings were big for a newborn. They would have been big on a five-year-old foal.” The hard-bitten drill instructor’s expression turned somber. ‟The older aunts, and our grandmother were not happy. Mares you see, don’t need to fly. They are to keep to hearth and home,” he said, using what was an obvious quote. ‟Except to breed,” Lamina remarked from the sidelines in a slightly bitter tone. Her face showing the remembered pain from a time when it was assumed she would never have that ability. ‟Well, yes,” Shadow Dash agreed with an uncomfortable expression on his face at having a discussion about his sister take off in that direction. He quickly returned to his story. ‟There was even some talk about clipping her wings before they caused her trouble. My adopted mother did not agree with them, loudly.” Shadow Dash paused a moment to chuckle slightly in remembrance. ‟Mother was not senior, not then, but she made the older aunts and her own mother back down on that sort of talk. ‟Not that they stopped talking about the problem. We were just lucky they didn’t find out what happened the first time Mother took Goose to the park. Goose could barely walk, but those wings of hers snapped out the first time a gust of wind blew. She was in the air before mother could blink, and thirty feet up before mother caught her. She wasn’t flapping, just riding the wind. It came naturally to her, as easy as breathing.” ‟I wasn’t there. The only ones who knew besides my mother were the twins, my youngest brothers. They’re ten years older than Goose. They were with mother that day, and she swore them to secrecy. Colts are lousy at keeping secrets from big brothers. That’s how I found out,” Shadow said with a wry smile. ‟My only reaction at the time was pride that my little sister was so gifted. I hadn’t been raised in Nocturne society. I was over ten when I was adopted. Even today I don’t always react like a Nocturne. I didn’t understand that what I saw as a magnificent gift, my mother saw as a source of potential heartbreak for Goose.” ‟It is shameful that a child’s special talent should be repressed instead of celebrated,” Princess Luna's voice was as firm as steel, and nearly without emotion. Before Shadow could respond, Pumpernickel spoke up, ‟In this day and age, you are correct, but for so many generations the Nocturne hovered on the brink of extinction. Our mares were precious above all other treasures and we protected them fiercely. It was a necessity for so long, it has become embedded in our culture.” Luna closed her eyes momentarily in mental pain. ‟My fault,” she murmured. ‟Nightmare Moon’s fault,” Pumpernickel snapped, his voice fierce. ‟You are not her. You are our Princess Luna, and your every action changes us for the good. Two years ago it would have been unthinkable for Goose to leave her home, to seek employment, self-sufficiency. She is only the first. There will be others,” he finished in a tone free of the least doubt. Luna knew that Pumpernickel truly believed what he said, and that heartened her, but, he was wrong. While it was true that it had been Nightmare Moon who had decimated the night ponies, she had only existed due to Luna’s weakness, her greed, and selfishness. All of Nightmare Moon’s sins were hers. Arguing with her Optio would be futile, and a waste of time. While he was mistaken in regards to her faults, he was right in his intent that living in the past solved nothing. She had a duty to make recompense and amends. Not with some huge expression of power and/or generosity. That way would lead to frustration and the chance of backsliding. Her redemption must of necessity be a thing of small deeds, day by day, week by week, one step in front of another. Luna lifted her head and directed her gaze toward Shadow Dash. ‟Pray. Continue.” ‟Well, Ma’am, as I was saying. My Mother was dismayed by Goose’s precocious flying ability. That did not mean she did not understand that it was important to my little sister. She said nothing to her own mother or the aunties, and certainly not to the grannies. Instead each evening she had free she would take Goose for a walk in the park, well harnessed with a long leash.” Shadow Dash smiled broadly, his eyes distant. ‟I’ll never forget sneaking into the park and watching my mother flying Goose like a kite. Both of them laughing in glee as Goose rode the winds.” The grizzled sergeant’s expression turned unhappy, his face clearly showing how painful it was to remember the next part. ‟It couldn’t last. I don’t know if someone carried tales, or if Aunty Drusome just happened to be in the park that night. Whatever the reason, she was, and she caught mom flying Goose. She was not happy. ‟Mother was called to account by all the aunties and grannies. I don’t know what was said. It was mare’s business, and none of the stallions were consulted. The upshot was that there was a much tighter watch placed on Mother and Goose. They were not allowed out of the house without a chaperone. It meant an end to Goose’s flying lessons. She was only six at the time, and I honestly think they did not realize she no longer needed a tether or help from an adult to fly.” ‟She snuck out to fly on her own,” Lamina said in a flat tone, no hint of a question in her words. ‟With a lot of help from the twins, and some of the younger colts who thought she was getting a raw deal,” Shadow confirmed. ‟I wasn’t around much, but even if I had been, I can’t say honestly I wouldn’t have looked the other way. Her brothers always flew with her to make sure she was safe.” Shadow Dash’s expression, which had been showing fondness, turned regretful. ‟I can’t be sorry she got a chance to soar, but there are times when I think she would have been so much better off if she’d never had the chance to spread her wings.” He trailed off, his expression distant as he pondered, a might-have-been. ‟Her fear of the sky,” Princess Luna encouraged him to go on. The old night stallion gave his head a shake, his mane flopping in the air, as he brought himself out of the past and back to the room. He gave a long sigh and continued his story. ‟Goose’s brothers grew up, and gained other interests. Interests where a tagalong little sister was a handicap. All perfectly normal and if Goose was hurt by their seeming rejection, she’d have gotten over it once she started to have other interests of her own. Maybe, if the twins had not met those twin mares from Cloudsdale everything could have been fine in the end.” Luna shifted impatiently, her stance and look telling the sergeant to get on with it. ‟The twins snuck out one evening to fly to Cloudsdale to meet with their marefriends. Goose followed them. They were too busy thinking about their dates to notice. By that time Goose could out-soar any pony in the sky, but her speed was another matter. She fell behind and lost sight of them. It was early in the spring and the planting on all the farms had just been completed. The weather service had scheduled a week-long gentle soaking to give the new crops a good start. Most of Equestria was covered in low lying rain clouds. The twins had flown above them so Goose had as well. She had not paid any attention to her bearings and had no idea where she was. She couldn’t see the lights of the city through the clouds, and she had never had any formal training so had no idea of how to navigate using the stars. She was only eight, and she was lost in the sky. For three days.” Pumpernickel sucked in a startled breath. ‟Three days?” ‟Like I said. Goose could out-soar any pony flying, even at eight. There were strong thermals and they carried her high, higher than normal pegasus fly. Even most Night Pegasus would have a hard time matching her ceiling and then only if there was some reason to do so. No one noticed one small pony high in the sky. There was a frantic search when Goose was discovered gone. A missing child is a terrible thing for a family to deal with.” ‟Did she fall?” Luna asked. ‟No, a high altitude survey crew from Cloudsdale, checking out the storm, noticed her high in the sky. She was too far up for any of them to reach her. They had to call in a specialist team to reach her and bring her down. She was near catatonic. She wasn’t even aware she’d been rescued. She fought the recovery crew and they had to subdue her.” The hard-bitten stallion’s expression was bleak. ‟It was weeks before she started interacting with ponies again, and she’s never been able to even look at the sky without suffering panic attacks. She has constant nightmares to this day about being lost in the sky.” ‟Is that why she was segregated from the family? Given a room of her own to sleep in?” Luna asked, her tone of voice flat. Shadow blinked in surprise at the question, his brow furrowing in thought. ‟I didn’t know she had been. I had moved out of the family home by that time and only slept over on rare occasions. Thinking back, you’re right, she didn’t sleep with the rest of the family.” His voice was troubled and he was frowning. ‟What could they have been thinking?” he asked, more to himself than any of the other three present. ‟She was traumatized in part by being lost and alone. Segregating her from the family, even if only at night when everypony is asleep, would be counter-productive.” Luna’s expression softened slightly, and when she spoke her tone of voice was not nearly as censorious as it had been. ‟It would have the benefit of keeping her from making a public spectacle of herself if she were fearful of flying in the open sky,” she said in a leading voice. Shadow Dash shook his head violently. ‟No. I can’t believe that even the elders would be that cruelly calculating. I have to believe it was ignorance and not malice.” Despite his words, Shadow’s face was troubled, with an undercurrent of anger flickering in his eyes. His expression promised dire consequences if his trust in this was misplaced. Luna elected not to follow the matter any further. She glanced at Lamina and Pumpernickel and asked. ‟Do you think you’ll have any difficulty dealing with Goose Down’s problem?” The two newlyweds exchanged looks. A silent message passed between them and they turned back toward their princess. ‟We will welcome her,” Lamina said firmly. ‟Very well then,” Luna said. ‟We are agreed. Goose shall join my household.” She turned to look at Shadow Dash, who was looking much happier. ‟You will aid her in moving?” while her statement was in the form of a question, no one in the room thought for a moment it was. ‟It will be my deepest pleasure, Ma’am,” Shadow said, performing a low bow. ‟If I may be excused, I will attend to the matter post haste, Ma’am.” ‟Please. I wish your sister moved into her new quarters as soon as possible.” ************** (1) 'At earliest convenience' from Princess Celestia meant 'Hurry.' From Princess Luna, it meant a speed somewhat akin to 'Yesterday, at the latest.' (2)Sweets was a big foal, and after twenty-five hours, ten minutes and forty-two seconds of labor, it was understandable that his mother was a bit blurry when the nurses asked what she was going to name her newborn son and she gave them the title of the romance novel she’d been reading when the first contraction happened. Having a moniker like that hanging over his head had shaped Sweets life to a large degree, at least up till the point where he could move far away from anyone who knew it existed. (3)To be fair to Sweets, it had merely been a brush away motion with no intention to maim or otherwise inflict grievous bodily harm on another pony. (4) Sometime later, once his heart has stopped trying to jump out of his chest he became aware of a vague impression that Celestia had been acting as guilty as he had felt. Which was just plain silly. Why would the supreme ruler of Equestria feel guilty over raiding her own pantry?