//------------------------------// // Playing With Fire // Story: The Shadow of the First Star // by moguera //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Playing With Fire Twilight trotted down the stairs with a smile on her face. Her mind whirled with all the amazing things she had heard the previous night. While an ordinary pony might have found a few of Oceanus's stories engrossing, Twilight was practically giddy at all that he had to share about far away lands and strange cultures. Her mind floated to the heavenly kingdom of the Lung Dragons and the all-Unicorn kingdom that flourished beneath them. She had been shocked that there could be a place where only Unicorns lived without Earth Ponies to tend the land or Pegasi to guide the weather. But it seemed that the Lungs themselves took care of both, earning the reverence of the ponies who lived below them. The lavender Unicorn was so excited at the prospect of all the new things that she might learn that she only barely noticed that there was no sign of her guest. It wasn't until she came into the kitchen and spied a letter on the table that she was mindful of the fact that she hadn't yet seen Oceanus today. Reaching out with her magic, Twilight unrolled the scroll to see what message had been left for her. As she suspected, it was from Oceanus. Twilight, I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly. I've been summoned for an important task that I cannot ignore. Because of this I had to leave immediately. Since you were asleep, I didn't want to wake you and cause any problems. I would have liked to have waited until you woke up in order to say a proper farewell, but this just could not wait. I hope to see you again. Oceanus PS: Have Spike to continue practicing with creating his mist. I will send additional instructions when I have the time. Twilight blinked, surprised to find herself tearing up a little. Had she already gotten so attached to the other Unicorn, even though he had warned her that something like this would happen? Taking a breath, Twilight relaxed. She had known this was coming after all. However, she wondered if she would ever see Oceanus again. He had made it clear that a Ranger's business took him all across Equestria and beyond. The only reason he had been in Ponyville at all was because he had been ordered to go by Princess Luna. Twilight realized that there was a substantial chance that last night was probably the final time she would see her old foalhood playmate. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by a low grumbling noise as her little brother dragon and Number 1 Assistant came down the stairs himself. "Good morning, Twilight. Hey, where's Ocean?" Twilight shook her head. "Sorry Spike, he had to leave last night after we went to bed." She tilted her head to indicate the letter on the table. "Oh," said Spike flatly, "Ranger business?" "Ranger business." Silverbrook let an explosive sigh escape him. All around him, the shimmering cocoon of Soul Silver rippled as the flames washed off its surface. Faced with an onslaught of fire, Silverbrook had only barely managed to activate his weapon before the flames engulfed him. As that attack abated, Soul Silver lowered its defense, allowing him to finally get a good look at his assailant. The Unicorn was bright yellow, a color that matched up nicely with her orange eyes. Her blue mane and tail had streaks of white running through them, not unlike the color of the flames she had just sent barreling at Silverbrook. Since she faced him dead on, Silverbrook wasn't at the proper angle to see what her cutie mark looked like. He had more pressing concerns at the moment anyway. He had half expected to see her frustrated with the fact that her flames had failed to scorch the flesh off his bones. But instead, she seemed amused, looking like a foal with a new toy. Her expression was unquestionably gleeful and she laughed loudly and freely. "Excellent! I was afraid things would be too easy. This makes coming up to this lifeless pass worth my while." Yep, definitely like a foal with a new toy. Silverbrook grit his teeth. The ambient temperature in the area was rising. From the glow suffusing his peripheral vision, he was aware that the blast of flame the crazed mare had used by way of introduction had set the brush around him on fire. While using Soul Silver to keep the flames from consuming him would be simple, he was getting more than a little uncomfortable with the increasing heat. "Explain yourself. Just what are you doing up here?" he asked. The mare rolled her eyes. "Boring," again with the childish tone, "I finally have somepony to eat up some time with and he wants to play twenty questions. I have a much better game." Silverbrook groaned. "And I suppose that I'm supposed to try not to die while you try to turn me into a pile of ash." An immature giggle escaped from the yellow Unicorn. "Ooh and he's smart too. This means I won't be bored after all." A jet of blue-white flames raced up from her horn, leaping several meters into the sky before she lowered her head and brought the tongue of flame down like a descending sword. Immediately, Soul Silver leapt to its master's defense, forming a spherical barrier that the flames splashed harmlessly against. Even before the barrier retreated as the attack ended, Silverbrook was already striking back. "". Thick tendrils of the heavy liquid lashed out, whipping toward the Unicorn in a metallic blur. The attacking tentacles slammed into her and the ground around her, pulverizing stone and sending fragments flying in all directions. However, the mare was unscathed, as though the attack had passed through her. Instead, she rippled as though she were nothing more than a reflection on the surface of a lake. A mirage, Silverbrook realized a little too late. She was using the heat from her flames to distort the refractive qualities of the air to displace her image before his eyes. As he looked around for his opponent, Silverbrook was even more aware of the oppressive heat. He realized that the fires around him were blazing much too intensely. They ought to have turned red and yellow as there was nothing currently burning that should have been able to fuel the flames at their initial blue-white intensity. But instead, the area around him was awash with bluish light. The reality of the situation hit Silverbrook almost immediately. She's set up a spell field. Even though he was no Unicorn, Silverbrook had an excellent grasp of Unicorn magic, both because of his own unique interests in the ill-defined area of his own study, which was close to Unicorn magic in its own way, as well as his training as a Ranger. All Rangers, regardless off which of the three tribes they belonged to, were taught the nature of the special abilities and talents of the other two races of pony to ensure that they could act in support of one another when they needed to, or fight against them if they had to, although Rangers, as a rule, were not to turn their martial skills against other ponies. However, it was best to be prepared for unusual circumstances. Circumstances like these, thought Silverbrook wryly. A lance of flame rushed at Silverbrook from his right flank. Even though he had been looking left at the time, Soul Silver still reacted, putting up a barrier that the flames dissipated harmlessly against. Hoping to catch the mare off guard, Silverbrook again attacked as soon as her own offensive ended. Again Soul Silver's tentacles whipped harmlessly through a false image. "Oh I'm getting bored again," moaned the blue-maned mare again, "We're just doing the same thing over and over. Can't we try something different?" The Unicorn's voice echoed from all around. She could have been hidden anywhere within the spell field. The rising heat was a herald of the increasing intensity of the mare's spells. Silverbrook realized that if he didn't find her soon, her power of her attacks would surpass the strength of Soul Silver's autonomous defense, forcing Silverbrook to direct Soul Silver's defense manually. With his enemy hidden behind her mirages, it was unlikely that he would have sufficient warning to protect himself. "" Soul Silver launched its tracking tendrils across the battlefield, seeking his opponent. While the overall temperature of the area would make it difficult to locate her though her body temperature, Soul Silver would still be able to find the mare through the vibrations generated by her heartbeat and breathing. While his weapon searched, Silverbrook continued to cast his gaze around him, giving the impression that he was still looking for the Unicorn mare with his eyes alone. If he was fortunate, she would fail to notice the fact that Soul Silver's tendrils were moving along the ground, seeking her out. Two more attacks came, each more powerful than the last. By the time the second attack had dissipated, the protective shell around Silverbrook was glowing red and the interior was getting uncomfortably hot, even by the standards of the battlefield, which was taking its own toll on the Earth Pony stallion. However, Silverbrook's patience was finally rewarded as a tremor traveled up one of the tracking tendrils, finally telling him exactly where his target was hiding. Barking an order, Silverbrook sent Soul Silver's tentacles whipping in the direction his weapon had indicated. The air warped and his target appeared as she leapt over and ducked under the different strikes. Not wanting to give her another chance, Silverbrook pressed his attack. However, the mare proved to be more agile than he had anticipated and she continued to evade his strikes, even finding time to send a jet of fire whirling his way. Now that he knew where the attack was coming from, Silverbrook was able to set Soul Silver's defense to one direction to ensure that it matched his opponents position. It also allowed him to increase his defense's power so that her attacks didn't threaten to break through so easily. Even as the two of them exchanged blows, Silverbrook continued to follow her movements with a tracking tendril to keep the mare from slipping away into one of her mirages again. However, the Ranger was troubled that the Unicorn was able to evade his attacks so easily. It seemed that she was able to read the path of Soul Silver's strikes and avoid accordingly, which would have been difficult. On one hoof, since Soul Silver's strikes originated from a central mass and derived their power from their whip-like motions, which made it possible to read where the attacks were coming from. On the other, Silverbrook could compensate by striking with several tentacles at once. He supposed that if he wanted to, he could switch to blades, which could strike much more freely since the liquid nature of Soul Silver allowed its extensions to sharpen themselves well past the limits of what a normal metal blade could be sharpened to, which meant he wouldn't need to worry about the power of his strikes. But Silverbrook chose not to resort to blades. He had no intention of killing this opponent; not out of mercy, but out of a necessity to find out just what she was up to. The Unicorn was laughing uproariously as the two of them continued to battle, making it seem like she thought it was all a game. "Now this is exciting!" she exclaimed as she bounded over another tentacle before going into a roll underneath one that should have slammed into her head. Her cutie mark, a burning torch, was now plainly visible. Coming out of her roll, she oriented on Silverbrook and launched a sphere of flame. When Soul Silver's defense came up, instead of washing across the surface of the shield, the flame instead splattered and clung to the shield like gobs of burning jelly. She's combining evocation with conjuration magic, he thought as the blue and white flames began heating the liquid metal that made up his defense. Instead of allowing the substance to burn through, he instead retracted the defense and manipulated the flow of the liquid mass that was his weapon so all that flaming substance was gathered at one point before launching it at the tip of one of his tentacles straight back at the insane mare, sending it straight in like a spear, rather than swinging it around in an arc. The Unicorn shrieked, not in surprise or fear, but glee as she dodged the thrust, which instead slammed into the ground where she had been standing. As Silverbrook had anticipated, this splattered the mass of burning gunk, sending a rain of flaming droplets scattering all across the area. Even the mare, agile as she was, had no chance of evading them all. Several landed in her mane and on her coat, catching on her fur. She leapt back, her leap actually carrying her out past the radius of burning ground she had inscribed as her spell field. Coming to a halt, her horn flared and the fires that had caught on her body winked out, leaving singed and burned patches behind. Trying to take advantage of her immobility, Silverbrook launched another attack, Soul Silver's tentacle whipping out with fantastic speed, homing right in on the motionless Unicorn's flank to knock her tail over teakettle...only to instead slam into a solid barrier that flared at the edge of the Unicorn's spell field. Silverbrook's eyes widened as he realized that the barrier encompassed the whole spell field, which left him trapped in the middle of a fierce blaze. The heat was close to being unbearable. "That was so...much...fun!" said the Unicorn, carefully emphasizing the last three words of the sentence. Silverbrook had expected her to be angry after being injured by her own flames. A tantrum-like burst of emotion could be expected considering she washed been acting like a child playing a game. It would have been natural for her to have been upset by the fact that the game had resulted in her experiencing pain. Instead, she looked more enthused than ever. Then her expression began to darken, as though a sad realization was dawning on her. "It's too bad we can't keep this up," she said, "But I have to go. I'd like to say that we can play again sometime, but you aren't going to be able to play ever again." Silverbrook was confused by her words until he realized that the temperature was beginning to drop. Looking around, he saw that the flames around him were beginning to die. Then the realization hit him. The barrier wasn't merely a physical obstacle to prevent his attacks from breaking through. It had completely isolated this space, including the air. And now that the fire was burning through the oxygen in the enclosed space, it wouldn't be long before all that Silverbrook had left to breathe was a lungful of the poisonous byproducts. I have to break through this barrier right now! He out all of Soul Silver's offensive power into a single brute strike at the barrier aiming directly at the crazed mare standing beyond. She showed no sign of being surprised or concerned and instead smiled again at him. "My name is Pyre," she said, "I'd tell you to remember it, but that won't be an issue anymore." To Silverbrook's surprise, the barrier broke with ease. He had thought it would take a lot more effort on his part. If Pyre's goal had been to asphyxiate him, she should have made it much stronger. Then in a flash of insight, he realized what she was truly after. But it was too late. Silverbrook's world vanished in a flash of light as an explosion engulfed the entire area, the sound of it echoing across the range of mountains like thunder. Still miles distant, Oceanus's head shot up as he heard the sound of the explosion rip through the air. Looking up, he could see the plume of smoke rising in the distance. It was obvious that the blast had occurred at the area that was his destination. Forgoing any attempt at pacing himself, Oceanus launched into a full gallop, tearing off towards the site of the explosion as fast as possible. Rainbow Dash's head perked up as a low rumbling sound echoed through the air. It was barely audible to her, so the source was extremely distant. She looked around carefully to see if there were any dark clouds in the region. Ponyville wasn't scheduled for a storm anytime soon, so the presence of thunder clouds would have been very unusual. There were no such clouds in sight though, which allowed Rainbow to relax. Perhaps she had simply imagined it. Satisfied with her examination, Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to the task at hoof. She launched herself off the cloud she was using as a starting platform and began to work her way through her new routine. Moving with incredible speed, she worked her way through tight turns, corkscrewing dives, flips and loops. She pulled out of her latest dive well before she could get up to her top speed. She didn't dare attempt another Sonic Rainboom. Her last effort, while spectacularly successful, had landed her several hours worth of community service to make up for several dozen broken windows caused by the resulting shockwave. She might have considered practicing elsewhere, but pulling off dangerous maneuvers over the Everfree Forest was nigh suicidal and Applejack had barred Rainbow from ever practicing over Sweet Apple Acres after her last attempt at the Buccaneer Blitz had knocked several trees worth of apples off their branches before they were ready to harvest, costing the farm a good chunk of money. Her routine completed, Rainbow returned to her starting position, panting from the exertion. She had felt herself slipping in a few places and wanted to go over the routine again. If she could string this one together, the Wonderbolts were sure to notice. Even as she thought that, a melancholy sigh escaped her lips. Even after her performance in the Best Young Flyers competition and even being recognized by the Wonderbolts at the Grand Galloping Gala, Rainbow was conscious of the fact that there was still no sign that the team was interested in her. Am I not good enough? she wondered before shaking her head vigorously. That wasn't possible. She had been recognized as the best young flyer in all of Equestria by no less than Princess Celestia herself. She had performed the Sonic Rainboom, a trick that had been thought to be a myth. There was absolutely no way that she couldn't have been considered good enough for the Wonderbolts. Anyway, this is no time to be doubting myself. I need to go over my routine again until it's perfect. As usual, Rainbow decided to use her practice as a way to get her mind off her uncertainty. Gathering her confidence, she trotted to the edge of her cloud again and poised to jump off. Rainbow Dash crouched and spread her wings. With a powerful kick of her legs, she launched herself into the air and angled to make the first dive of her routine...only to be cut off by a pink and blue streak that flashed across right in front of her. Flaring her wings, Rainbow came to an abrupt halt, startled by the near collision. Her head whirled as she searched frantically for the disruption that she was certain had nearly killed her. There it was. A pink Pegasus with a blue mane swerved gracefully even as she hurtled through the sky at shocking speed. Rainbow's jaw dropped. She recognized that coat and mane, that swift yet majestically graceful flight, the cutie mark of two blue lightning bolts. The pink Pegasus hurtled through the sky so fast she was little more than a blur, and yet she also almost danced with her movements, drifting like a windblown leaf, never flying absolutely straight, but seeming to somehow drift to her destination while still being undeniably fast. Rainbow Dash recognized the movements of her absolute idol, her highest ideal, the closest pony she had to a mother. The new arrival touched down on Rainbow's starting cloud, bracing herself before Rainbow Dash rammed into her at full speed, knocking her off her hooves. The two tumbled across the surface of the cloud for a moment before coming to. A rest as Rainbow wrapped the new arrival up in the tightest hug she could manage. "FIREFLY!!!" The older Pegasus laughed as she returned the embrace, gently nuzzling Rainbow as she did so. "Oh Rainbow, I'm so glad to see you. I know that I haven't visited in a long time. I'm sorry. I didn't come sooner." Ash she listened to her surrogate mother, Rainbow felt her eyes tearing up. To hide this, she buried her head in Firefly's chest and hugged her tighter. "It's cool," she said, "You're here now." In spite of her best efforts, Rainbow couldn't suppress a sniffle. "I missed you." "My girl," whispered Firefly running her hoof through Rainbow's mane, "My beautiful, beautiful girl." Finally, Rainbow was able to force herself to let go and the two of them got to their hooves. For a moment, they simply stared at one another. Finally, Rainbow found the words she had been wanting to say. "Welcome home." Firefly smiled. "I'm happy to be here. I was a little worried when I heard that you had started living on your own. But then I heard some of your accomplishments. I am so proud of you." Rainbow blushed more fiercely than she ever had before, looking away modestly. Suddenly, she thought of something. "My friends!" she exclaimed abruptly, "I've gotta introduce you to my friends. Oh my gosh! I never even told them about you! Why didn't I even think about that? I'm so sorry Firefly..." Firefly held up a hoof, forestalling Rainbow's tirade. "It's all right. I would love to meet your friends. But first, there's somepony that I would like you to meet too." Rainbow blinked. "Huh?" Firefly chuckled. "He'll be along shortly. He was only a little bit behind me when I decided to go and surprise you. I'm afraid he only got the hang of flying recently, so he's a little on the slow side right now." Firefly scanned the sky in the direction she had come from before she saw who she was looking for. "Oh look, there he is." Looking at where Firefly was pointing, Rainbow Dash spied what appeared to be another Pegasus, a colt. She recognized the movements of a beginner. He flapped his wings occasionally, but was clearly doing his best to take advantage of natural updrafts and wind currents to keep himself aloft and moving at a decent pace. It was the sign of a Pegasus who had learned to fly but hadn't quite developed the strength needed to really fly. He was more gliding than anything else. Rainbow observed him as he got closer. From his size and the fact that he could fly, somewhat, she guessed he was a little older than little Scootaloo. As the colt got close enough for Rainbow to get a better look at him, she found her eyes widening. He was like no Pegasus she had ever seen before. He was certainly tall for his apparent age, his gangly limbs reminding Rainbow of Fluttershy when she was a filly. His coat was primarily brown, but in multiple shades that formed a rippling pattern that almost resembled scales. As he got closer, she noticed that the pattern gradually became more defined as it raveled down his legs, until she realized that from about halfway between the knee and the fetlocks wasn't a pattern, it really was scales. And that was one of the more subtle aspects of his appearance. In place of his mane was a row of slightly curved spines the color of unpolished steel that started out as short bumps at the crest of his head before extending to a full two hoof-lengths towards the middle of his neck before gradually shortening again to vanish between his shoulders. The colt's tail, at least, was the same as a normal pony, consisting of streaks of varying colors of gray that reminded Rainbow of the illustrations she had seen of the heroine of her favorite book series, Daring Do. But that was about the only resemblance. The most eye-catching feature of the colt's anatomy were unquestionably his wings. They were massive for a colt his size, easily dwarfing the wings a normal Pegasus would have at his age. Most importantly, they weren't feathered, but leathery and bat-like. They were a shade of gray so dark that it was almost black. Boy, with the surface area on those things, he must get some pretty good lift, she found herself thinking idly. That probably explained how he had been able to keep up with Firefly so well in spite of having only learned how to fly a short time ago. Wherever the two of them had come from, Rainbow wagered that it was probably a fair distance, given how much Firefly liked to roam about. Flaring his wings, the colt flapped hard to cut off his speed before landing awkwardly on the cloud. His gray eyes, the color of clouds before a heavy rainstorm, flickered nervously between Rainbow Dash and Firefly. Rainbow was surprised to note that his pupils were vertical slits, like Spike's. He almost looked afraid that they were going to attack him, or at least afraid that Rainbow would. There was practically an unspoken request for reassurance every time he shifted his gaze to Firefly. Unsure of how to approach this unusual situation, Rainbow stared wide-eyed at Firefly. The question was obvious. Forget who this colt is, WHAT is he? Rainbow winced internally even as that question occurred to her. It was disrespectful at the very least and she had the feeling that it was probably the kind of question that Firefly and the colt got asked a lot...without much tact if the colt's frightened behavior was any indicator. "Rainbow Dash, meet Zephyr." Firefly gave the colt a wide and encouraging smile. "And you could say that he's your little brother." Rainbow's jaw hit the ground...beneath the cloud they were standing on. "What?" It was the only word she could force out of her mouth. She didn't feel angry or intruded upon. After all, even though Firefly had technically been her mother, the pink had left Rainbow in the care of a foster home for extended periods of time while she left for her work. What that work had been, Rainbow had no idea. When she had been a foal, Firefly had given her a different answer every time Rainbow had asked that question. All Rainbow knew was that it had something to do with how Firefly had found her in the first place. All she could feel was complete bemusement. "Zephyr," said Firefly in a gentle tone, prodding the colt slightly, "This is Rainbow Dash. Say hello." The colt gulped nervously before staring straight into Rainbow's eyes for an unsettlingly long second. "H-hello," he stuttered out. He snapped his eyes away quickly. "Um, hi," replied Rainbow. She gave him the best smile she could manage at the moment before turning to look back at Firefly. "Now what?" It was getting close to noon, so Firefly naturally proposed lunch...in town. Rainbow Dash had to double check that idea. As normal as it seemed, Zephyr was clearly not a normal pony. Besides, she really wanted to know where this had come from. In spite of her reluctance, Firefly insisted and they descended from the cloud to land in Ponyville itself. From there, the three of them trotted to an outdoor cafe that Rainbow Dash occasionally ate at. The food was nothing absolutely spectacular, but it wasn't overly expensive, which suited Rainbow well. Even though she was the weather manager for all of Ponyville, it wasn't the most lucrative of professions. As Rainbow expected, the trio received quite a few odd looks as they proceeded through town. There was certainly no hiding Zephyr's unique appearance. More than once, Rainbow found her eyes wandering over to him herself. One thing she noted was that the colt was quite lucky to be lanky. With those long legs of his, he was able to walk while keeping his unusually large wings from dragging on the ground Arriving at the cafe, the three of them sat around a table and ordered their meals. While they ate, Rainbow glanced at Zephyr before turning her face to Firefly and biting the bullet. "Okay, I know you probably get this a lot, but..." Firefly nodded as Rainbow's voice trailed away. Zephyr merely stared at his food, eating mechanically. "Zephyr is a half-breed. Specifically, he is a Pegasus-Sky Dragon cross. Rainbow glanced back at Zephyr. To her shock, this revelation wasn't as much of a surprise as she expected it to be. It explained a lot: the wings, the scales, the spines that reminded her of Spike when he had suddenly transformed into a rampaging hoarder that one time. "Huh, that makes sense," she said. Firefly blinked. "I was expecting you to be a little more surprised." Zephyr was also looking at Rainbow with a fair bit of confusion in his expression. Rainbow chuckled. "You wouldn't believe some of the downright bizarre stuff I've seen and been through. Finding out that my new little brother is a half dragon is actually pretty tame by comparison." She found herself frowning as something occurred to her. "I'm not sure how other ponies are going to take it though. Ponyville is a pretty welcoming place. But there are some ponies here whom I'm not sure would handle this well." "And what ponies are these?" asked Firefly with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I know there are a couple of fillies who like to tease others in general. A couple of my friends' younger siblings keep getting picked on by those two because they don't have their cutie marks yet. I'd hate to think what they might try to do to Zephyr." "Hmm, if it's only one or two ponies, they'll be easy to avoid," mused Firefly. Rainbow was about to point out when a different question occurred to her. "Wait a minute. Are you two staying in Ponyville?" Firefly nodded. "So you're staying?" Firefly smiled. "Yes. No more trips, no more disappearing on you like I did when you were little. We're here to stay." "Awesome!" exclaimed Rainbow as she leapt straight up in the air. Then the train of thought that had prompted this question returned to her and she settled back down. "But if you're staying, then Zephyr will be going to school with those fillies." "No he won't," replied Firefly. There was something mischievous in her tone now. "Zephyr finished school a while ago. Didn't you Zephyr?" At her prompting, the colt nodded. It was clear that he had some idea of what was about to happen as there was a sort of resignation to his expression. "What do you mean?" asked Rainbow, "I mean, yeah he's not exactly a foal anymore, but he's obviously still school-aged. Why wouldn't he be in school?" Firefly was grinning now. "Why? Because...Zephyr is actually only one year younger than you." "Oh," said Rainbow. That made sense. After all, it had been years since she had been in school, so it only made sense that if Zephyr was just a year behind her then he would be finished with school as well. That would put him at an age where most ponies would be looking for a good job if they didn't already have one...then the reality of what Firefly had just said hit her. "WHAT!!!?" Oceanus arrived on the scene barely half an hour after the explosion. A the blast had turned the immediate area around ground-zero to charcoal. The concussive force had trigged a small rockslide that had buried a portion of the area. Oceanus exhaled a quantity of his mist over the area, searching. I believe that Silverbrook was the one who had been sent here. Given his starting point, he clearly got here earlier. But what happened? His mist wound its way through the fallen rocks and Oceanus was able to detect the presence of a heavy liquid substance. It must have been Soul Silver. Trotting over, Oceanus began to use his magic to shift the rubble. His levitation skills were still subpar, but he managed to shift quite a bit before he had to utilize his other assets. With a final tug, the last of the large boulders resting on top of the sphere of silver liquid fell away. Finally free of any threat, Soul Silver retracted its defense, allowing Oceanus to see Silverbrook. The silver stallion had indeed seen better days. Patches of his metallic coat were gone, his flesh seared. A good portion of the gold mane had been scorched off and his tail was practically a stub. "Rough day?" asked Oceanus casually. Silverbrook grunted before slowly and carefully getting to his feet. "I've had better," he groaned. "What happened?" "I came to check the seal and found a damn psychopath!" snapped Silverbrook, swinging one leg to encompass the large burned area. "Fire Mage eh," observed Oceanus, "Unicorn?" "Indeed. And crazy stuff aside, she knew what she was doing." "Really?" Oceanus raised an eyebrow as he looked more carefully at their surroundings. Silverbrook nodded. "I've rarely ever seen a Unicorn set up a spell field so fast. And that was before she trapped me in it and hit me with a backdraft." Silverbrook had had plenty of time reflect on what he had been hit with. By allowing the flames to burn low before breaking the barrier, Silverbrook had unwittingly triggered an explosion as the fresh oxygen of the air outside the barrier ignited the nearly spent flames with renewed vigor. Even Soul Silver's automatic defense hadn't been enough to completely shield him from the blast. "I'll get started on treating those injuries," said Oceanus carefully as he prepared to create more of his most. But Silverbrook shook his head. "We need to check the seal first. That crazy mare was in the cave with it before she tried to cook me alive." Oceanus nodded and the two of them instead began to climb up to the cave entrance, which had fortunately not collapsed in the explosion. They didn't have to travel very far in, daylight still visible behind them as they reached the seal. The tunnel opened up into a larger enclosure that was almost perfectly circular. In the center of the enclosure sat a single conical boulder. Inlaid on its surface we're countless sigils and runes inscribed with an ebony metal; Orichalcum, a metal even rarer than truesilver. No deposits had been found in five millennia. Neither of the Rangers were surprised. In all likelihood, nearly all the Orichalcum in the world had been used in this particular seal and the five others like it. These six were the only seals that could not be allowed to falter, even for an instant. The metal the enchantments were written with was itself nigh indestructible, ensuring that the seal would remain strong for all perpetuity. What it held imprisoned was just that important. Oceanus frowned as he paced around the stone, examining the runes and the enchantments. Carefully, he allowed his magic to pass over the seal itself. There was indeed something off...but he couldn't tell what. The seal wasn't compromised at all. So there was no danger of it breaking. "I can't tell what this Unicorn you fought did?" said Oceanus, "But the seal is intact and as strong as ever." "So now what?" asked Silverbrook. "If I can't tell what she did, then it is likely something that is outside my experience or knowledge. We aren't taking any chances though. I'm calling the Archmage to come and examine this personally." "Come in," said Twilight cheerfully as she set another book on its shelf. Looking over, she saw the door open to admit Pinkie. "Hi Pinkie. What's up?" Pinkie tilted her head and gave Twilight a confused look. "We'll, there's those books on the really high shelves and then there's the light in the ceiling. But I thought you would have known that, so what are you asking?" Twilight pressed her hoof to her forehead and made a mental note to be more careful with her word choice around Pinkie...again. Half the time, she wondered if Pinkie did stuff like this on purpose. Sometimes the party pony's jokes ranged a little too far from common understanding. "I mean, is there something you wanted?" Pinkie's eyes widened. "Oh! That's right. I wanted to talk to Ocean and thank him for giving me all that wonderful advice to help with Far." Twilight sighed, hating to disappoint her friend. "Sorry Pinkie. He had to leave last night. Apparently he got some important Ranger mission and had to leave right away. I'm sorry you missed him." "Oh," said Pinkie, her joyous expression leaving her face for a moment. But she was smiling again soon enough. "That's too bad. But I hope we get to see him again. He was really neat." "I hope so too," said Twilight in a consoling tone. But not likely, she thought. Twilight was about to turn back to her work before she noticed something unusual. Turning around, she studied Pinkie carefully. There was something off about her, but Twilight couldn't put her hoof on just what. Pinkie Pie was still Pinkie Pie. Right now she was scanning some of the shelves around Twilight's library. She was still smiling, but it seemed smaller than usual. Her posture also somehow seemed to be more...relaxed. Pinkie was normally so overflowing with energy that any thought of her standing still didn't last more than a few seconds before she was literally bouncing off the walls. "Pinkie Pie, are you feeling alright?" asked Twilight carefully. "Yuppers," replied Pinkie, turning around to face her lavender friend. "You just seem, different." "Wellllllllll, when I was with Far the other day, I took him out to the garden so that he could relax outside. It worked really well and he ended up sleeping for most of the day. And it was such a nice day that I thought I might just sit and watch too. I think I might have ended up napping a little bit, but I really had fun, even though we didn't really do anything." Twilight blinked as she tried to come to grips with what Pinkie had just told her. Sitting still and quiet had always seemed physically impossible for the pink pony. The idea that she had spent most of the previous day literally doing nothing was as foreign as the idea of Discord suffering from OCD. "And you're sure you're all right?" "Yep," chirped Pinkie, "In fact I feel really good. Normally because I'm so busy planning parties or throwing parties or planning to throw a party while I'm throwing a party that I planned, I just tend to lose track of things. But yesterday I realized that sometimes just doing nothing and relaxing can be the most amazing thing." "And do you feel like throwing a party now?" asked Twilight nervously. Pinkie mulled it over for a moment. "Nope," she said with surprising finality, "I tried to think of a reason to throw a party, but they all seemed kind of silly. I even thought of just throwing a party for the hay of it, but that seemed silly too." "Really?" While Twilight was relieved that Pinkie wasn't about throw a party on the spot, she was a little off balance with the idea of Pinkie not wanting to throw a party. To say that Pinkie Pie never ran out of reasons to throw a party was an understatement. Half the time, she made up reasons just so she could throw a party. "I feel okay about it though," said Pinkie in her usual bright tone, "I know that we'll have a really good reason to party sometime. And when that reason comes along, I know our party will be even more special and super awesome. " A light clicked on in Twilight's head. Ah ha! She's learning to pace herself. Twilight was amazed at this revelation. "And it's all thanks to you and Ocean," said Pinkie, "Because you taught me that there are TONS of different ways to make a pony happy and that a party isn't always one of them. And you helped me remember that throwing parties isn't what makes me special, it's doing what I need to to make other ponies happy. So long as other ponies are smiling, I'll never feel down!" Twilight found herself laughing in relief. "I'm glad to hear that, Pinkie." Twilight turned back to her work while Pinkie pulled a book of jokes from a nearby shelf and set about reading it, pausing to occasionally giggle at the punch line. They continued like this for a few minutes before another knock on the library door stirred them. "Come in," Twilight called out again. The door opened to admit Rainbow Dash, who staggered across the floor before sitting down and staring blankly at a bookshelf. Following her into the library were a pair of other Pegasi. Twilight overlooked them for a moment in order to find out what was going on with Rainbow, who was currently sitting and staring vacantly into space. Twilight walked over and carefully prodded her friend. "Um, Rainbow?" "Oh, hey Twilight," replied Rainbow without looking at her, "The world sure is an amazing place, huh?" "Sorry," offered the older pink Pegasus mare who had come in behind Rainbow Dash, "I think we broke her." Rainbow Dash managed to finally shake off her torpor and come back to reality. "Sorry Firefly, but that really threw me for a loop." The older mare laughed as the colt that accompanied them glowered up at his caretaker. Twilight observed this with some degree of confusion. "I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, would you mind introducing me to your friends?" Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to do just that before being bowled over by a pink streak of pure happiness. Pinkie Pie ground to a halt right in front of the two ponies. The mare leaned back a little, nonplussed while the colt dived behind her and cowered in a way that was reminiscent of Fluttershy. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! It's really nice to meet you since I've never met you before, which is rare since I know everypony in Ponyville, which means that you're not from Ponyville and that means you're new in town! And as Ponyville's number one most welcoming pony it's my job to officially welcome you to Ponyville!" Twilight rolled her eyes. Well that didn't last very long, she thought, remembering Pinkie's now all too brief bout of serenity a few moments ago. The older mare appeared to be enjoying it though. "How very nice to meet you dear. I'm Firefly and the boy behind me," she said as she shoved the reluctant colt in front of her, "Is Zephyr." "H-hi," ground out the poor colt. While Pinkie was bouncing in circles around the pair, Twilight was finally able to take notice of the colt's unique features. Her eyes widened at the sight of Zephyr's draconic traits. Pinkie appeared to be completely oblivious to the colt's unique appearance, instead content to jump around excitedly while babbling about the wonders of meeting new ponies (although that may very well have been her version of tact, by refusing to treat Zephyr any differently, no matter how strange he looked). "Since you guys are new in town that means it's time for one of my super-patented-ultra-awesome Pinkie Pie parties!". Twilight rapped a hoof against her forehead as Pinkie jumped higher than before, crowing with excitement. Here we go again. While Firefly looked amused and happy with the prospect of a party, the young colt seemed to be terrified of the idea. Of course, that may have had more to do with the fact that Pinkie was bouncing around acting like a loon. But in either case, he looked like another pony who wouldn't take one of Pinkie Pie's welcome parties very well. Then, to Twilight's surprise and shock, Pinkie screeched to a halt in midair before descending onto the floor in front of Firefly and Zephyr. "That is, if it's okay with you," said Pinkie in a plaintive manner. I guess she learned something after all. "I would love a party Miss Pie," replied Firefly with a warm smile, "But if you don't mind, please don't go overboard. Zephyr is a little shy with new ponies." She reached over and rubbed her young charge's back encouragingly. Pinkie sat down and seemed to think things over for a moment before grinning at the two of them. "Okay!" And then she was gone the swinging door of the library being the only indicator of her ever having been there. "Whew," gasped Rainbow Dash as she came to stand next to Twilight, "I'm a little surprised Twilight. Was Pinkie being...restrained?" Twilight nodded cheerfully before turning back to Rainbow's two companions. "Sorry about that," she said, "Pinkie Pie means well, but she can be a little much." "I was kinda saving her for last," Rainbow admitted sheepishly, "I didn't think that she'd be in the library of all places." "It's all right dear," replied Firefly, "You have some very unique friends." "That's an understatement," said Twilight and Rainbow in perfect unison before looking at each other and laughing. "In any case, it's very nice to meet you. I am Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville's librarian." Twilight extended her hoof to Firefly, who shook it gently. "I'm very happy to see that Rainbow has a friend like you," said Firefly, a mischievous lilt in her voice, "Luna knows I've been trying to get her to read more books. But she just wouldn't have any of it." "I know what you're talking about," agreed Twilight before grinning slyly at Rainbow, who was beginning to blush, "But as luck would have it, Rainbow Dash has come around to the joys of reading...haven't you Rainbow?" Rainbow's blush intensified and she stared sheepishly down at her hooves. "Um, yeah," she admitted. "Oh wonderful!" exclaimed Firefly before wrapping Rainbow Dash up in an enthusiastic hug, "I'm so proud of you!" Twilight tilted her head inquisitively. "Miss Firefly, are you Rainbow's mother." The two parted, with Rainbow Dash once again looking a bit sheepish. It was Firefly who answered the question. "In a sense I am. I was Rainbow's official caretaker during her foalhood. But my work meant I had to travel a lot, so I was gone a great deal of the time. So yes, I am technically Rainbow's mother, although I'm afraid I haven't been a very good one." "That's not true!" exclaimed the blue Pegasus as she leaned against Firefoy and nuzzled her, "I know that you couldn't be there all the time. But you're an awesome mom and I know you always had good reasons." "I can't quite agree with you, but it makes me happy beyond words to hear that you feel that way," replied Firefly before returning the affectionate gesture. Twilight had to suppress her impulse to squeal at the sight of the happy pair. Instead, she turned her attention to Zephyr, who had apparently lost interest in the conversation and was perusing the library shelves. Twilight trotted quietly up behind him. "You're a half-dragon aren't you?" she asked gently. The poor colt yelped in surprise at suddenly being noticed and spun around before backing up against the wall, his ears back and the whites of his eyes showing. Even Rainbow Dash was shocked by the display, which went well beyond Zephyr's previous Fluttershyesque shyness. This was pure fight-or-flight. Zephyr was beyond nervousness and self-consciousness and now looked terrified for his life. It was the look of a cornered animal. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you like that!" Twilight backpedaled both physically and metaphorically to give the poor child some space in hopes it would calm him down. Firefly trotted briskly by her and came to stand next to Zephyr, gently rubbing his back and nuzzling his neck. Gradually, the colt's panic began to subside and he calmed under the care of the older Pegasus. "I'm sorry about that," she admitted to Twilight and Rainbow, "And you are right that Zephyr is a half-dragon. That's a rather sensitive topic for him." "Wait a minute," protested the rainbow-maned Pegasus, "You told me that pretty easily and neither of you seemed to have much of a problem with it." Firefly sighed. "That was alright because you weren't able to recognize Zephyr's parentage right away. Unfortunately, very few recognize him as a half-dragon until sompony tells them. And in his experience, when he is recognized right off the bat, it's generally for the worst of reasons. On one such occasion, he was nearly killed by an overzealous dragon hunter." Twilight gagged. "Oh Celestia," she whispered. It was a horrid notion. Firefly shook her head and gently unfolded a wing and wrapped it around the shivering colt. "There are some ponies with a strong dislike of dragons and some who extend that dislike to anything associated with them. Naturally, a half-breed like Zephyr tends to get the worst of both worlds." Twilight nodded and leaned down to direct an encouraging smile at Zephyr, who looked away from his caretaker and up at the lavender Unicorn with fear-filled eyes. "I'm sorry about that," she said gently, "I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, there's somebody I'd like you to meet and he should be getting back very soon." The mostly brown colt blinked, his eyes betraying confusion and curiosity. Rainbow quickly figured out what Twilight was talking about. "You mean Spike, right?" Twilight grinned at her brash friend. "He's been out practicing, but he should be back soon for lunch." She turned to face Firefly and Zephyr again. "You three are welcome to join us, of course." "We'd love to, but we just came from lunch," admitted Firefly. "I was taking them around to introduce them to everyone," explained Rainbow, "I was thinking of taking them to see Rarity after you, but now I think that Fluttershy might be better to start with." Thinking it over, Twilight agreed with Rainbow Dash. While there was nothing wrong with Rarity, after the scare the colt had just been through, he would probably feel much more at ease with the similarly shy, but exceedingly sweet Pegasus. It surprised her a bit that Rainbow would be so considerate. While she couldn't say that Rainbow Dash was thoughtless about others' feelings, she was notorious for being more than a little thick-skinned. Not that Zephyr's all that difficult to figure out, she found herself thinking wryly. She had already noted the similarity between his behavior and Fluttershy's on several occasions already. The only main difference was that while Fluttershy's shyness was simply general nervousness about meeting new ponies, Zephyr's was born of fear of whatever torment he had been through. Digging through the recent events, Twilight remembered the interest with which the colt had been studying the bookshelves. He had been so engrossed that he had forgotten the presence of the three other ponies in the library until Twilight had accidentally scared the living daylights out of him. Leaning down, she smiled encouragingly at Zephyr. "Do you like books?" Zephyr's gray eyes blinked up at her. "Y-yes." "Would you like to look at some of them? Since you're staying in Ponyville, you're free to check them out whenever you like." "Okay," Zephyr said in his usual soft tone before pulling uncertainly away from Firefly, who let him go with an encouraging smile before looking over at Rainbow. "By the way, Rainbow, do you mean to tell me that Fluttershy is here in Ponyville too?" Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, she looks after the animals around here." Firefly's eyebrows went up. "Really?" She thought it over for a moment. "It's fitting now that I think about it." The three of them began to plan out the tour of Ponyville that Rainbow wanted to take her newly arrived family on. Naturally, they would go to see Fluttershy first. After that, they would swing around through Sweet Apple Acres so that they could meet Applejack before coming back into town to meet Rarity. Finally, they would go to the Sugarcube Corner and get reacquainted with Pinkie Pie (and in all likelihood arrive in time to be swamped by the resulting party). Twilight looked up from their conversation when the door to the library opened. Spike came trudging in, looking worn out from his morning training. Twilight noted that he was a little late for their usual lunchtime and figured that he must have lost track of time while practicing with his mist. "Hi Spike." "Hey Twilight," responded the little dragon, a hint of hoarseness in his voice. "Yo," said Rainbow Dash casually to which Spike responded in an equally casual manner. That left Firefly, who was staring at the baby dragon with undisguised awe. "Oh my." Turning to Twilight, she asked, "Is this who you were talking about?" Twilight nodded eagerly before turning to look at Zephyr, who was still engrossed with the bookshelves, once again completely oblivious to what was going on around him. He really likes books, she noted with some amusement. And here she thought she was the only pony in Ponyville who could lose herself in books for hours. It looks like she was about to be in good company. "Zephyr, there's someone you should meet." Following Twilight's gaze, Spike noticed Zephyr at the same time Zephyr noticed Spike. The two of them completely froze at the sight of each other. Then to the surprise (and secret glee) of the other ponies in the room, Zephyr slowly began to approach Spike. His usual wariness was completely gone, having been replaced with an expression of pure wonder. Spike was staring with similar interest, although his expression also showed some shreds of confusion, as though there was something that about the colt that he recognized but couldn't quite put his claw on. Zephyr paused with only half a meter between the two of them, staring intently at Spike, who was staring just as intently back. "Hi," said the little dragon lamely. "Hi," answered the half-dragon automatically, as though conversation was an afterthought. "Are you a...dragon?" Spike was used to being a novelty and was actually quite proud of his status as a dragon, especially with his roll as Twilight Sparkle's primary assistant. His natural tendency to brag kicked in and he drew himself up, affecting a rather haughty pose. "That's right." He then took an opportunity too look more closely at Zephyr. "And are you a...what are you exactly?" Spike finished with a deadpan tone as he realized he had absolutely no idea of what he was looking at. "Zephyr is a half-dragon," explained Twilight as she came up behind her assistant while Firefly trotted up behind the colt in question. "Really!" exclaimed Spike before turning to look back at Zephyr with wide eyes, "Cool!" Of all the responses to the revelation of his mixed parentage that Zephyr had been expecting, that clearly hadn't been one of them. The colt sat down, too surprised to keep his balance, his eyes staring off into space even as he addressed Spike. "You think I'm cool?" Spike nodded eagerly. "Yeah, you're amazing! You have those wicked looking spines and those cool scales and those wings...oh man! I wonder if I'll have wings like that when I grow up!" Zephyr blushed and looked utterly stunned by Spike's praise. Twilight was sure she knew why. Here he was in an unfamiliar place and a complete stranger was praising the very traits that had probably earned him a substantial quantity of scorn if not outright hostility in other places. Firefly was beaming as she turned her gaze from Zephyr and back to Twilight. "There's probably a good story behind this handsome fellow," she said, indicating Spike, who drew himself up again. Twilight laughed and gladly related the story of how she had come to have a dragon as her assistant and younger brother. Silverbrook sighed as he lounged in the cool water. He was resting in a basin that Oceanus had carved with his magic and then filled with water provided by his mist. The magical water's healing properties worked slowly, but faster than it would have taken to simply allow Silverbrook's wounds to heal naturally. They also cleansed the burned sections of his skin of any threat of infection and necrosis. His throat and lungs felt better too, after he had dunked his head a few times to get the full effect of the pool and drunk a bitter but fragrant tea that Oceanus had brewed from a collection of herbs the Unicorn carried in his saddlebag. Oceanus, having finished the active parts of Silverbrook's treatment, had gone back up to the cave entrance to check on the progress of the Archmage's examination. So he was waiting there as the much older black Unicorn emerged. The Archmage had been in the cave for over two hours, examining the effects of Pyre's work in minute detail. When he emerged, the sun had moved past it's zenith and was beginning its progress towards the western horizon where it would finally descend. Oceanus perked up and looked questioningly at the Archmage as he trotted out into the sunlight. "Well?" In his usual manner, the black Unicorn seemed preoccupied with some stray thought or another. But he answered quickly and concisely all the same. "I can't discern the actual mechanics of the spell our intruder friend laid on the seal because it is incomplete." "Incomplete?" Oceanus's tone betrayed his confusion. By all rights, an incomplete spell should have dissipated after it had been interrupted. In other words, it's traces should have been gone by the time the Archmage had arrived, even as quick as his response had been. "Do you mean to say that she failed to finish the spell when Silverbrook arrived." The Archmage shook his head and turned to look back into the cave. "No. What I meant is that the spell itself is meant to be part of a larger working." "A larger working, how so?" "Laid across the other five seals," answered the Archmage in an irritable tone, as though this should have been obvious to the younger Unicorn. "To what purpose?" Kaleidoscope stared at Oceanus as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "It should be obvious. There could only be one reason to tamper with these seals. Clearly our friend means to release the First Star back into the world."