//------------------------------// // Ch.19 - From Cloudsdale With Love // Story: The Witching Hour // by Chaotic Ink //------------------------------// Celestia’s sun shown down on Equestria without much interruption from the few clouds that silently and lazily moved across the sky. A gentle spring breeze blew over the hills and valleys of the land, and if one had asked any flying creature, they would have told them the day was perfect for flying. Two such creatures, a pair of pegasi, a mare and a stallion, were doing just that. The soft breeze also helped ease the burden of the suitcase they had held up between them. They had finally made it past Canterlot Mountain and their final destination was in sight. “Dear, don’t you think it might have been a better idea to send a letter ahead this time? You know, incase they’re gone for another weekend?” The stallion asked. “I wanted this visit to be a surprise, and a little hiccup is not going to stop that.” The mare said as if she were stating the obvious. The stallion sighed tiredly. “Yes dear, but last time we flew this whole way, only to immediately come home as soon as we saw they were gone. Do you really want to do this a third time?” “Oh, stop complaining; you don’t hear a peep out of me about it.” The mare said with a dismissive wave. “And don’t you think it might be a bad idea to make another surprise visit? You do remember what happened last time, right?” The mare gave him a mischievous smile. “The princess got a good laugh out of it.” The stallion face-hoofed. No matter how long he lived he would never understand the mare next to him. “Besides,” the mare continued, “I doubt there will be any guards around this time.” “I’m not worried about guards dear; I’m worried how Sapphire will take it. Last time she nearly had a panic attack; a few more surprise visits at the wrong time and she’s going to become paranoid.” “That’s you; Sapphy’s made of stronger stuff than that.” ‘Let’s hope so’ the stallion thought as they began their decent into the small town. ----------------------------- Windrunner pushed herself off a tree as she made a sharp turn. Her lead pursuer hit the tree with a little less grace, but never the less stayed on her tail. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Midnight tangling with most of the others. Her fire was keeping them at bay, but for how much longer the pegasus had no idea. They had been gathering wood deep in the forest when they had been set upon by the creatures Midnight called “timberwolves”. Almost immediately the pack had split them up with most of them going after Midnight while the rest had tore after the pegasus. As soon as they gave chase Windrunner had flew and run around the clearing they were in, refusing to leave Midnight but unable to get close enough to help. As she made her third unsuccessful pass at Midnight’s group, she spotted something on the edge of the clearing: a patch of dry-looking dirt. A smirk appeared on her face as she jinxed towards it, causing one of her pursuers to over shoot her. As she passed over the patch, she whipped around and blasted the spot with a flurry of wind from her wings. Almost immediately a small dust cloud kicked up. It wasn’t as large or thick as ones she could whip up back in the desert, but it was enough to stop and confuse the wooden wolves. Flying above the cloud, she picked out a target. Without hesitation she dived down on it as it stumbled around in the small dust cloud. The timberwolf hacked and coughed as it inhaled the dust, trying to find its prey. Unfortunately for the wolf, its prey found it first as the pegasus slammed down into it, splintering it into a pile of sticks and leaves. Before she could celebrate, the pegasus heard Midnight call out to her. “Windrunner; move!” The pegasus took off again, and a ball of blue fire enveloped the cloud. The remaining timberwolves burst into flames as the fire ball overtook them. As the dust cloud dispersed, Midnight appeared on the other side of it, piles of burning wood on either side of and behind her. “That was fun,” she said with a small smirk. “These timberwolves don’t like us, do they?” Windrunner asked as she landed next to the kirin. Ever since they had returned from Appleloosa, Midnight had been secretly training the pegasus by going down her previous cutting-path that led deep into the Everfree to cut trees and in the process run in to dangers she could pit Windrunner against. What Midnight hadn’t expected was a timberwolf pack jumping them the very first day out. Windrunner had proven herself capable of dealing with such surprises and used her dust storm talent to blind, confuse, and ultimately defeat the timberwolves. Midnight had left the wood piles alone, thinking they could use them for training again somewhere down the line. As it turned out, the wolves hadn’t taken kindly to being treated like gym equipment, and had come back almost every day. Today, Midnight finally had enough and had gone full flamethrower on the wolves, especially as they had somehow doubled their pack size in less than a week. She'd rather have no wolves to train Windrunner with than have them both drowning in a sea of them. “I’d even take a manticore just for a bit of variety.” The kirin grumbled. “Will they be able to revive from that?” Windrunner gently kicked some of the burning embers. “Not in my experience. At least we’ll get a bit of a break for a few days.” Turning back towards the tree they had cut down, she picked up her harness that was attached to the tree. Taking the cue, Windrunner picked up and slid her axe back onto her foreleg (a timberwolf had yanked it off earlier), then slid into her own harness. “So, are we coming back for another tree after this, or…?” “No, this is it for today. We’ve still got to chop this one up and bundle the pieces, and by then it should be almost dinner time.” Both ponies took off; the tree trunk sliding behind them as they maneuvered between stumps to get out of the forest. ----------------------------- Sapphire sat at her usual spot at the counter reading a magazine while waiting for a customer to come in. Spring was going to probably be their slowest season, since hardly anything was done with firewood around this time of year. Sure, ponies still bought it during early spring in case of a cold snap, but during the second half of spring there were no camp fires yet and the weather was perfect out so there was no need for wood for heat. And, since there was little chance a customer was going to come in, Sapphire had allowed Squeaks to stay up front with her. Normally the filly would be out with her friends, but apparently they were all busy with something. Pinchy had, again, been grounded for bad grades, Dinky was having a day out with her overworked mother, and Twist was helping her family with chores at home. This left Squeaks at home with nopony to play with and very bored. There was one upside, however: Sapphire had let her have one of the personal watermelons they had bought. Earlier in the week Midnight had bought a large watermelon for them all to share, and Squeaks had fallen in love with the fruit almost immediately. She had enjoyed the fruit so much that Midnight had gone back out and bought her several “personal” watermelons, which were somewhere between the size of a soccer ball and soft ball. The fruit had an unexpected effect as well. Even though she didn’t like sucking blood, Squeaks was still a bat pony, and that meant she had occasional urges to suck on something. The personal watermelons were perfect for scratching that particular itch. Their rind was thin enough for her fangs to puncture through and the watery juice inside was sucked out very easily. Sapphire smiled as she looked at Squeaks out of the corner of her eye. The bat filly had a look of pure bliss on her face as she suckled the fruit. Midnight had already said she was going to buy some each week just for her, and there was little doubt Squeaks was going to enjoy her first summer with them. On top of that, Squeaks and Windrunner were getting along rather well after only two weeks. Of course, Squeaks had been completely shy and avoided the new pegasus as much as she could when Windrunner first arrived. But when she couldn’t, Windrunner was as gentle and respectful of Squeaks and her boundaries as either of the other two adults could have hoped for. It had only been yesterday that the bat filly had finally been comfortable being left alone with the pegasus. As she turned the page in her magazine, she heard the bell for the front door ring. “Welcome to Storm’s Firewood, how can I…” As Sapphire looked up, the words died in her throat. Squeaks looked up from her watermelon to see Sapphire’s eyes the size of pinpricks. Then two red forelegs reached over the counter and enveloped the pegasus. “SAPPHY! It’s so good to see you!” “M-Mom!?” Sapphire choked out as her mother continued to try and suffocate her over the counter. “What are you- ack!? Choking!” “Whoops! Sorry dear!” Over the counter came the owner of the front legs. She was a pegasus with a red coat and a mane and tail that matched Sapphire’s. She wore small glasses and had a green neckerchief on her head. “Thank you,” Sapphire said, still sounding a bit choked, “but what are you doing here?” “Do I really need a reason to come visit you?” “I just saw you for Hearth’s Warming!” “Just saw us?” She turned to the stallion on the other side of the counter. “’Just saw us’ she says. Last time I checked ‘just saw you’ means somewhere around last week, not nearly five months ago young lady!” “Okay, you have a point, but why didn’t you send a letter first? Did you forget what I told you the last time you paid me a surprise visit?” “Did something happen last time? I don’t recall,” Sapphire’s mother said in a tone that said, quite clearly, that she knew exactly what happened and what was said last time. “Mom.” “Ruby, stop messing with the poor girl.” “I am allowed to have fun at our daughter’s expense if I want, White; as her mother I have that right.” As Ruby turned to continue talking with her daughter, something by the door leading to the back caught her eye. From the moment Sapphire had started getting hugged, Squeaks had begun backing towards the kitchen door. To start with, there were customers up front, and from day one Midnight had told her that when customers were up front she had to head to the back. Secondly, they were strangers, which she was always weary about. Finally, even though Sapphire was calling the strange pegasus “mom” she still sounded a bit angry. For Squeaks, this meant that there was a chance the pegasus was a bad pony, and she wanted nothing to do with her. Now, though, the pegasus named Ruby had seen her and was just staring at her. Squeaks remained frozen on the spot, fangs deep into her watermelon as a form of comfort as they just stared at each other. After a few seconds a smile began forming on Ruby’s face; something that only freaked out Squeaks even more. By the time Ruby’s smile had become a full-blown grin, Sapphire realized too late what was coming next. “Mom, don’t-!” “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Ruby shot past her daughter, giving Squeaks only enough time to drop her watermelon and her eyes to shrink to pinpricks before being scooped up into the pegasi’ forelegs and brought into a bone-crushing hug. “You are just the cutest thing!” Squeaks did her best to cover her ears. The volume and high-pitch of Ruby’s squeeing was actually causing pain to her sensitive ears, but the vice-like hug she was receiving was pinning her front legs, leaving her only defense to be folding her ears down as hard as she could. In fact, it felt like her ears were the only parts of her body that weren’t trapped in the confines of the unwanted hug. “Sapphire’s told us all about you in her letters home but she never told us just how adorable you are! Those ears, those wings, and even those fangs! I could just keep squeezing you and never let go!” Ruby gushed. As the mare squeezed the bat filly again, Squeaks could see over the mare’s shoulder and locked eyes with Sapphire. The filly looked as scared as if she’d just been caught by some savage beast from the Everfree. This finally got the blue pegasus to act. “I bet you’d look even more adorable in a new outfit, maybe with a new teddy bear too, and-!” Ruby suddenly found Sapphire’s hoof plugging her mouth. “Mom, enough. Squeaky has very sensitive ears and you shouting like that is practically scaring her to death right now.” Sapphire removed her hoof and allowed Ruby to look down at Squeaks. The little bat filly did indeed have the look of fear and pain on her face. “Oh… oh, you poor thing; look what I’ve done!” Ruby proceeded to kiss the top of each ear. “I’m so sorry; I just couldn’t help myself!” Both Sapphire and White Out rolled their eyes. At that moment they all heard the side door open and shut. “Squeaks, Sapphire, we’re back!” the voice of Midnight called out. Almost immediately Squeaks redoubled her efforts to get out of Ruby’s grasp. Now fearing the scared filly might actually hurt herself trying to get away, Ruby set her down. Almost as soon as her hooves touched the floor Squeaks bolted through the kitchen door. “I better start damage control. Again.” Sapphire shuffled past her mom and followed Squeaks through the kitchen door. ----------------------------- Midnight had just walked in the door when Squeaks came, almost literally, flying out from the front and bolted under her, attaching herself to whichever of Midnight’s legs was farthest from the door she’d just came through. “Squeaks, what in the world…?” Looking up from her daughter to the front she saw Sapphire enter with a pained look on her face. “What is going on?” “It’s nothing really serious; my parents just dropped by and my mom… well… she gave Squeaky a really bad scare.” As if to emphasize her point, Midnight could feel Squeaks shaking against her leg. “She was really loud…” the filly croaked out, her ears still folded tightly back against her head. “I’m sorry Squeaky,” Sapphire said as she bent down to look at the filly at eye level. “I didn’t think my mom would visit out of the blue like that. I would have prepared you for her beforehand if I had.” She straightened back up. “I also would have given her a list of rules to follow. This is the second time she’s done this,” she said with a scowl on her face. Before Midnight or Windrunner could respond an unfamiliar face stuck her head through the front door. “Sapphy? Is everything alright? How’s Squeaky?” Midnight did her best to hide the grin working its way onto her face. “Sapphy?” Sapphire gave her a look. “Something funny about that, Middy?” The smile on the kirin’s face fell. “Point taken.” She turned to look back at the mare she suspected was Sapphire’s mother when she felt Squeaks quickly shift to another leg and something fumbling with her wing. “She does have big wings!” Ruby said, opening Midnight’s wing to its fullest extent and flapping it gently. “Oh, for… Mom!” Sapphire yelled. “Uh, do you mind?” Midnight said, pulling her wing out of the strange pegasi’ grasp. “Oh, don’t mind me dear. And you’re big, too! Just like Sapphire said you were!” At this Midnight looked over at Sapphire, who shuffled her wings a bit. “I write home, and I mentioned you and Squeaky in a few of them. And I made sure to mention what you were and were not comfortable with!” This last part was aimed at her mother, who was currently inspecting Midnight’s tail. “Can you really chop down trees with this?” “Yes,” Midnight said with a growl in her voice as she pulled her tail away. Sapphire’s mother or not, the mare was getting on her nerves. “Oh, fangs, too! Can I touch them?” “Ruby, that’s enough.” White came through the door, pulling the suitcase behind him and a disappointed look on his face. “Sapphire’s already angry, you’ve scared the filly, and you’re invading this mare’s personal space. You could at least get accustomed with everypony first before doing all this.” “But honey, look at them! Squeaky is so cute and Midnight is so unique!” Ruby waved her hoof at the two of them for emphasis, but it did not sway the look on her husband’s face. Sure, she joked around at his expense a lot, but she could always tell when he’d had enough. She dropped her hoof and trotted over to stand next to him. “*sigh* I’m sorry everypony. My name is Ruby Skies and this is my husband White Out. We’re Sapphire’s parents.” White Out gave an expectant cough. “And I’m sorry that I dropped in unannounced and started poking you without asking.” She bent down so she could see Squeaks. “And I’m especially sorry that I hurt and scared you. I got a bit carried away.” That was the only part that sounded sincere. Sapphire finally visually relaxed. “It’s alright mom. I should have known something like this would happen again and I should have said something earlier.” Midnight gave a silent snort of annoyance, but said “Same here. I just feel uncomfortable when ponies do that.” After a few seconds of silence Midnight bent down and looked at Squeaks. “I believe you have something to say as well?” The bat filly stayed quiet a few seconds longer, but eventually popped her head out and let out a quiet “apology accepted” before ducking back behind her mother. Ruby looked like she wanted to run over and cuddle Squeaks again, but she stayed next to her husband. “I know! How about we treat them all to dinner, as a way to say we’re sorry?” Ruby said. White Out raised an eye brow. “How we’re sorry?” “Oh, you and details!” Ruby shoved him playfully. “So, where are we sleeping for the night?” “The night?” Midnight and Sapphire asked together. “Of course! You two didn’t think we were just day-tripping now, did you?” “Well, “Midnight said, “we kind of gave our last bedroom to Windrunner, and I doubt you’d like to sleep on the couch-” “They can sleep in my room; I have no problem being on the couch for a night,” Windrunner spoke up, much to Midnight’s chagrin. “I can show you to it.” “Oh, wonderful! Thank you dear.” As Ruby and White Out followed Windrunner upstairs, Sapphire turned towards Midnight and Squeaks. “I’m sorry; I never imagined she’d come here. And I’m sorry I never told you about the letters; it’s just that we really don’t get to spend a lot of time together anymore.” “I can see why,” Midnight said, her eyes returning to the stairs. “She’s just gets easily excited and forgets herself sometimes; please don’t be too mad with her.” “You seemed mad at her.” “Well, she did something like this before already,” Sapphire said, sitting down at the table. Midnight and Squeaks joined her. “Back when Princess Celestia made me her personal aid, mom and dad came to the castle for a surprise visit. I still don’t know how, but she managed to slip by all the guards in the castle and made it to Celestia’s balcony to say hi to us. Thankfully, the princess has a good sense of humor, but I swear I nearly had a heart attack when I saw her standing there.” The pegasus sighed. “She hardly takes anything seriously and it’s just really aggravating when she acts like that at inappropriate times.” “She’s kinda like Pinkie Pie,” Squeaks spoke up. Midnight and Sapphire chuckled. “I think Pinkie is a bit more hyper than that. And, hopefully, showing mom around Ponyville might tire her out a bit.” “And let us get used to her a bit better.” Midnight said. ----------------------------- Ponyville was its usual busy self as the six of them walked through town. This was good, as it kept Ruby preoccupied with the goings in the markets instead of focusing on Midnight and Squeaks. Windrunner was also keeping Ruby blissfully occupied with her own questions about Cloudsdale and cutie marks. “So that’s what your mark means?” Ruby nodded. “Yep. Sometimes it isn’t so easy to tell what they mean, like Sapphy’s, but others say it plain as day!” Ruby indicated her mark once again, a sculpture of a pony made out of clouds. “It’s also thanks to this little beauty that I met White Out. One day I was contracted to sculpt the walls of some of the departments of the weather factory, and while I was crafting one of the walls in the snow wing, I accidently knocked one of the pieces I was working on right into a worker pony’s head! Of course, I went over to apologize, and the rest,” she giggled and saddled up to White Out, “is history.” “Wait, ‘snow’?” Windrunner asked with a look of confusion. “Oh, that’s right; you grew up in the desert. Snow is basically frozen rain that falls during the winter months.” “But, how do you make all that water freeze?” “Technically, we don’t. The snow freezes in the clouds by the time winter rolls around,” White Out said. “Then… why do you need a snow wing?” White Out’s chest puffed out slightly. “Because technically we can’t control snow in its natural state. You see, first we collect snow from the previous season and condense it into small plates of ice. Then, we sculpt large snowflakes out of them, which we call “guide-flakes”. They use to be carved using pegasi feathers, a tradition started by our founder to infuse our magic with the snow so we can control it, but nowadays we use magic-infused carvers. When we’re ready for a snowfall, we release the guide-flakes into the clouds, which allow us to control the snow that forms naturally in them. I learned how to do it when I was young, and when this appeared, I knew it was what I wanted to do.” He motioned at his flank, which was adorned by a snowflake. “It’s a big, year round operation; you should visit it sometime.” “Some of our friends where just in Cloudsdale,” Midnight spoke up, “I think they said they saw it. They sounded impressed.” “Midnight!” The group turned to see two ponies walking up to them. “Speaking of which, here comes one of them now. Hey Derpy! Enjoying your day off?” The wall-eyed pegasus and her unicorn daughter caught up to them, both with big grins plastered to their faces. “You bet! It’s been ages since I was able to spend a whole day with my little muffin!” She bent down and nuzzled Dinky, which the filly returned. “We were just talking about the weather factory and I remembered that you went to Cloudsdale to compete in the Young Fliers Competition. Did you visit the weather factory while you were there?” Midnight asked. Derpy shook her head. “No, I didn’t go see it, but I remember Rainbow Dash and her friends went to see it; you should ask them.” “You participated in the YFC?” Ruby asked. “How did you do?” “I got second place!” Derpy said, beaming along with Dinky. “Second!?” Ruby shouted. “That’s wonderful dear! Do you happen to know who came in first? Me and White Out missed it.” “Rainbow Dash,” all the Ponyville natives present said together. “So that’s the filly that saved the Wonderbolts, another competitor, AND created the sonic rainboom! So it’s true she’s from Ponyville as well?” They all nodded. “I was wondering why Gust and Nimbus were sulking when they came to work Monday,” White Out noted. “Guess it’s a bit of a blow to the home town when the Wonderbolts need saving.” “You’re not from Cloudsdale?” Windrunner asked. “Nope. Born and raised in Van Hoover, but I moved to Cloudsdale to work.” “Well, tell your coworkers she was born and raised in Cloudsdale; that might lift their spirits a bit.” Midnight told him. “We still on for Wednesday’s game night?” she asked Derpy. “You know it! I’ve already got my dress for the Gala done, so that’s out of the way.” “Wait, you’re going to the Grand Galloping Gala too!?” Ruby exclaimed. “Yeah,” Derpy said, scratching the back of her head with a hoof. “First prize was a whole day with the Wonderbolts, and second prize was only an evening with them, but that evening is the gala! I kinda don’t really envy Rainbow Dash that much now.” A gentle tap on her leg caused the pegasus to look down at the filly at her side. “Mom, if we don’t hurry, we might not get our snacks and get a good seat at the park!” “You two go on,” Midnight told them. “We didn’t mean to interrupt your day together.” “That’s alright; it was nice to see all of you! Bye!” “Bye!” They all called after them as she and Dinky walked back out into the crowd. “It’s good to see those two having a day together.” Sapphire said with a smile. “Yeah, it’s been so long since- oof!” Something impacted the kirin’s side, causing her to stagger a little. Looking to her side, she saw it was none other than Spike who had run into her. Oddly enough he was also wearing a top hat, cape, and a fake mustache while carting a fake mouse. “Hey Spike, what’s the rush?” “Oh, sorry Midnight!” the young dragon said as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” “And why are you running, and in those clothes?” Windrunner asked. “REVENGE!” he crowed, laughing evilly while twirling his mustache. Midnight raised an eyebrow at him. “Revenge?” “I’d tell you more, but I have to get back to the library before Twilight gets back. MUUHAHAHA!” With another evil laugh, Spike ran off into another alleyway, only for them to hear him trip on his cape again with a loud *oomph!*. “Was that a dragon?” Ruby asked. ----------------------------- “I’ll have a Caesar Salad with the Broccoli Soup please.” Ruby said finally, giving her menu to the waiter. “Very well, I’ll have your orders out in about a half hour.” The waiter said before disappearing. The group had settled on one of the more popular restaurants in town, which Midnight wouldn’t had minded so much except they had been forced to sit at a booth. An unforgiving, unmovable, tight seating arrangement for something her size, nor did it help that Windrunner and Squeaks were squeezed in next to her. The other side didn’t seem comfortable either, with Sapphire squeezed in between her parents. Pile on the facts that they all had wings and that Midnight was sitting on her tail, and it was little wonder they all had some degree of discomfort on their faces. The kirin was sure she wouldn’t walk or fly right for a few days. “Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Ruby turned, as best she could, to her daughter. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, Sapphy dear.” Sapphire gave her mother a questioning look. “What is it?” With a completely serious look, Ruby asked, “Have you found a special somepony yet?” Sapphire face-hoofed. “No mom, I haven’t,” she said with the air of one who’s answered the same question many times over. Ruby, however, would not be detoured. “Well, why not? Don’t you want somepony to spend your days with doing whatever, enjoying each other’s company, making a family?” At that last suggestion, Sapphire’s face went beet-red. “MOM!” “Ruby dear, seriously.” White Out scolded. “What? I’m just asking if she has a special somepony and pointing out the benefits of having one!” “This isn’t the place or time to ask her that.” White Out’s eyes darted around quickly, noting that already there were several heads turned in their direction. “How is this a bad time or place? All I did was ask a question and you’re the ones flipping out!” As Sapphire and her parents broke out into arguing once again, Squeaks looked up at Midnight. “Mom, are we ever going to act like that?” Midnight leaned back and prayed that dinner would come soon. “Squeaks, if I ever start asking you questions like that, especially in public, I give you full legal authority to silence me anyway you see fit, since I’ll have lost my mind.” ----------------------------- The peace of sleep couldn’t come quick enough to the residents of the Storm Household, nor could morning delay itself enough. When Midnight woke up Sunday morning, all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. Unfortunately, she had house guests and, even though she disliked the idea immensely, part of her felt that she should run some interference for Sapphire. There was little comfort in the fact that the pegasi’ parents were only staying until late afternoon. Entering the kitchen, she found everypony else already there. Squeaks was busy eating a bowl of cereal and keeping an eye on Ruby incase the pegasus leapt at her again. Windrunner had some toast and OJ, while Sapphire dug into a bagel. White Out was chewing slowly through an english muffin while Ruby slathered jam on a croissant. All the adults save Windrunner had coffee in front of them, and the aroma was enough to raise the kirin’s mood. “So… what are everypony’s plans for today?” She asked as she poured herself a mug of the hot brew. “Me and Twist were going to meet up at the playground today.” Squeaks said. “Pinchy’s still grounded and Dinky’s spending another day with her mom.” “Rainbow came over a little while ago and asked if I wanted to race and help her try out stunts, if we won’t be busy with the tree that is.” Windrunner said after taking a swig of her juice. “I can handle the rest of it.” Midnight assured her. “I’m going to run some errands this morning.” Sapphire said with an unusual flatness in her voice. “I can go with you!” Ruby said, a large smile growing in her face. “How about I go with her; you know, have some father / daughter time?” White Out suggested. “You could stay here and keep Midnight company.” Out of the corner of her eye Midnight saw Sapphire giving her an apologetic look, but the kirin merely shrugged. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem, but you two,” she pointed at Squeaks and Windrunner, “should be back in time to say goodbye.” “Of course!” Windrunner agreed. Squeaks nodded as she continued to work on her food. Breakfast ended soon after that, and even sooner both Squeaks and Windrunner were out of the house. Sapphire and White Out were a bit slower to leave as they needed to get on saddle bags and go over the mare’s list of things to do and get. It wasn’t a long list, but Sapphire said that the sooner she got the things done on it, the better. “Let me know if you meet any nice ponies while you’re out!” Ruby said with a wave before they left. Sapphire cringed slightly. “Will do mom,” she said as she left through the front, White Out close behind. ----------------------------- “You’re letting her get under your skin.” White Out said as they flew over the town. “I know she’s acting a bit more hyper than usual, but she does mean well.” “Dad, all she’s done since the two of you have gotten here is embarrass me in front of my friends and pester me about finding a coltfriend!” Sapphire said as she scanned the buildings. “A ‘coltfriend’ and a ‘special somepony’ are two different things.” “Not to her it isn’t!” Sapphire shot back. “Has she ever, even once, thought that maybe I never want one?” White Out nodded. “She said she hopes to never hear you say that. She said it would be the saddest thing you could say to her.” Sapphire raised an eyebrow. “And why’s that?” “Well, because-” “Hold on dad; this is one of the places.” Sapphire interrupted him, then glided down towards a building. Following her, White Out saw it was a construction company. “I’m only going in for a minute, so just wait out here for a bit.” After he nodded, she went in. From the window, White Out could see his daughter approach the stallion behind the main desk. After a few exchanges and a passing of some papers she had pulled out of her saddle bags, he saw her face droop a little, then it recovered and she came back outside. “What was that about?” he asked as she got ready to fly again. “Just an estimate on something Midnight said the house needs. It was a bit higher than she hoped.” “So, what now?” White Out asked. “There’s one more company here in Ponyville who might do it for less.” Sapphire took off with White Out right behind her. When they got up to altitude she turned to him. “Sorry; you were saying something before?” “Yes, well, the reason your mother feels the way she does is because… well, she thought just like you did at one time.” This nearly made Sapphire crash into a cloud. “Wait, are you telling me mom, miss ‘I ALWAYS need somepony in the same room as me’, the pony that is almost literally breathing down my neck for me to get a special somepony, used to think she wanted to be alone for the rest of her life?” White Out nodded. “I know it’s hard to believe…” ‘Try IMPOSSIBLE’ Sapphire thought. “… but she really did think like that at one point. She told me that all she used to ever think about was her work and how nothing else was important. Scoring one of the contracts to touch up the weather factory was supposed to be her ticket to bigger and better projects that would get her noticed all over Cloudsdale, and perhaps even further. Then one day she got distracted in the snow wing and… well, we know the rest.” He landed on a nearby cloud before continuing, Sapphire landing next to him. “Apparently I had some weird effect on her because after that, I kept working my way into her head. Mind you I did ask her out and she accepted, more as an apology than actual interest, but she told me after we got married that suddenly her work wasn’t that important anymore. She said that after she met me, she began to realize how empty her life felt. Nopony at home to say good night or good morning to, nopony to share in her accomplishments, nopony to simply spend time with. I was the somepony to fill that emptiness, and eventually you came along and helped cement it.” “But I’m not lonely; I’ve got Midnight and Squeaky and now Windrunner to do all those things with. Why do I need to have special somepony when I already have great friends?” Sapphire argued. “Well, what’s the difference between a special somepony and a best friend?” “Umm… benefits?” She asked, feeling a bit embarrassed. White Out nearly fell off the cloud laughing. “W-Well, that is a difference, but is that the only thing?” Sapphire sat back and tried to think of what her father could possibly be eluding to. “I… I can’t think of anything else.” White Out sighed. “Alright, tell me this: would two best friends want to have a baby together?” “No.” “Would you sacrifice a cushy promotion just so your best friend can peruse their passion?” “I don’t think so…” “Would you be willing to do whatever it takes, whatever it takes, to see them truly happy, even at the expense of your own happiness?” “No, I wouldn’t.” “Love, Sapphire, is the difference. Love and everything that comes with it is what separates your special somepony from your best friend. You would do anything for them if it means their happiness, and they would do the same. They accept you for who you are, flaws and all, and they still want to spend the rest of their lives with you. Yes, you’d be intimate but not for the pleasure; you’d be intimate because it shows just how much you love and trust them, because how close you want to be with them. Your mother says the two of us are the best things to happen to her in her whole life, and when she pesters you to find a special somepony, it’s only because she wants you to experience it too. In her own kooky sort of way.” Sapphire stared at her father for a minute. “Dad… that’s the best I’ve ever heard anypony explain it. Why can’t mom just explain it like that?” White Out chuckled. “Because your mother is absolutely horrible with words. Why do you think she has me write stuff whenever she finishes a project or accepts awards?” “Laziness?” They both laughed as they took off again. ----------------------------- They returned to the house a little while later after Sapphire had finally completed her errands. The second construction company had asked for even more bits than the first, and White Out had treated her to a milkshake at Sugarcube Corner when he saw it was eating at her. She told him that Midnight was thinking of expanding the house since they no longer had any guest rooms, however right now all she wanted was estimates, and even those were looking pretty steep. At least, steep for a wood cutter. Sapphire’s other errands were more like a scaled down shopping list of a few things they either needed or wanted that couldn’t wait, such as a quick stop off at Berry’s for a pint of Mareabu rum and some mangos that happened to come to market that weekend. The whole while Sapphire and White Out talked and laughed and by the time they began heading back Sapphire realized that, for the first time in a long while, she wasn’t really dreading her mother’s comments or questions. It felt really good. The sight that greeted them when they returned was both odd and hilarious. As they came in to land by the side door they caught sight of Midnight and Ruby out by where Midnight cut up the trees into firewood. Landing, they saw Midnight a twitch in her eye as Ruby talked with hardly a break. Seeing the two other pegasi as they landed, they saw her mouth to them ‘help me’ as her ear began to twitch as well. Doing their best not to laugh out loud, they went to rescue the kirin. “… and so I told her ‘no, it is not a metaphor for what’s wrong for society, it’s just a sign for a dentist office’! Oh, you’re back!” “Yep. Errands are all done.” “Meet anypony while you were out?” Ruby asked. “Nopony special, but you’ll be the first to know when I do,” Sapphire said cheerfully as she walked past her to show Midnight what they had picked up. “What happened while you two were out?” Ruby asked leaning towards White Out. “Did a spell hit her by accident?” “No dear, I just did a bit of translating,” he said with a knowing smile. Back with Midnight and Sapphire, the pegasus was glad to see the kirin had stopped her twitching. “That bad, huh?” “You know, after you two left, I confronted her about all the pestering she was doing.” “Oh?” Sapphire cringed slightly. Had they gotten into a fight? “Yeah, and then she tried explaining to me why she did it.” “And?” “And I got the gist of it… at least… I think I did, but then she started asking me about any relationships I was in, and from there she just never let up!” Midnight’s eye began twitching again. “How did you survive childhood?” “You’d be surprised how tolerant children are of other children, adult variety or otherwise.” It took a cup of coffee and a mango for Midnight to finally relax again, and by lunch it was clear the mood in the house had changed since breakfast. The mix of mango and watermelon was enough to distract Squeaks from constantly keeping an eye on Ruby and the talk with her father had done wonders for Sapphire’s mood. “What exactly did you two talk about?” Ruby asked White Out after Sapphire had replied calmly to another one of her probing questions. Her voice had a touch of accusation to it. “I just told her what you really mean underneath all those teasing questions.” He said with a smile. “But now she just sits there and smiles! What’s the fun in it if she doesn’t get riled up a bit?” “Perhaps it’s her way of saying the fun’s over?” Ruby pointed a hoof at him and opened her mouth to say something, but after a few seconds closed it, crossed her forelegs, and grumbled angrily at him instead. She kept the treatment up all the way until they had to leave. Honestly hardly anypony complained. “Well, I guess that’s it then.” White Out said as he hugged his daughter. “Hopefully we’ll be able to see you again soon.” “Like, say, the weekend after the gala?” Ruby said hopefully. Sapphire turned towards her, a deadly serious look on her face. “Next time. Letter. BEFORE visit. No excuses.” She punctuated each line with a poke to her mother’s chest. Then her serious look broke and she hugged her too. “Maybe sometime next month. Cloudsdale can’t sculpt itself.” “You’re absolutely right!” Ruby said with a determined look on her face. “Without my careful guidance and skill, it might just start looking like that dreary Filly Delphia or Manehattan!” Midnight gave a loud snort. “Seriously though mom, a letter before-hoof would be nice, and not the night before!” “Oh… alright. Bye everypony!” She and White Out flapped into the sky and turned towards the general direction of Cloudsdale. “Hopefully next time we’ll really get to know you all!” With that the two of them ascended, and soon they were nothing but small dots in the sky. “Well… this was an interesting weekend.” Midnight said, turning to go back inside. “I just can’t believe that you understood what my mom was talking about. Dad had to sit down and explain it to me.” Sapphire said, following her in. “Well… actually I just said that because I thought she might overhear us and start all over again. I have no idea what she was trying to get at.” Sapphire let out a snort of laughter.