Her heartbeats came ever faster, and the chill of the forest felt twice as cold. She re-settled her wings and let her eyes roam the area. Her friends were doing the same, Fluttershy slowly began to make out details. Trees were barren as they were in winter, different sounds were heard all around them. Making them feel nervous that some sort of creature was stalking them. After all this was the Everfree Forest filled with all sorts of terrible creatures, creatures that could easily make a meal out of a pony. The thought of such a thing was making the girls feel uneasy, especially Fluttershy.
Skywind on the other hand seemed calmed, reserved, steady, showing no signs of any fear. Though he was alert, looking around for any signs of danger, listening for whatever was lurking about. A few crows perch themselves comfortably on barren branches, their beady black eyes watching their every movement. Skywind paid no attention to these birds, simply ignoring them as he continued to lead the girls to his brother’s cave.
One particular crow swooped in close, cawing so loud that it frighten Fluttershy. She jumped in shock at the fact that the bird had done such a thing. The buttered colored pegasus recoiled as more crows began crowing, almost laughing at her. She moved hoping to be near one of her friends, instead she bumped into Skywind, but Skywind was not paying attention to her, rather the road ahead.
“Oh um," Fluttershy nervously whispered, hoping she didn’t bother Skywind after bumping into him. The black Stallion's gaze turned back to her as she shivered in fear. Skywind shot his glance up to what she was looking at and noticed the offense from the crows. He protectively put his wing around her and brought her tight to him creating a glare. The birds ceased their crowing, few of them flying away, while the rest were silent.
Once the birds were silent Fluttershy noticed that Skywind’s wing was wrapped around her and she was pinned closely against him, she blushed deeply. She had seen this romantic move many times before, but had never experience it. In her opinion, it was the sweetest thing a male or female pegasus could do.
“Hey Sky.” Rainbow hovered in front of Skywind, ”Mind keeping your wings to yourself.”
“Huh? Oh, oh, uh I’m sorry.” Skywind apologized gently removing his wing from Fluttershy. His cheeks were blushing as he tried to compose himself from this awkward situation. ”Sorry about that.” Quite embarrassed that he did such a thing, not that it was bad or anything.
“I’m sorry I-I didn’t mean t-to bump into you.” A blush crossed Fluttershy’s face and she whimpered nervously as she kicked the ground with her hoof, not meeting Skywind’s eyes. Rarity merely sighed and moved a little closer. Fluttershy was glad for the touch when Rarity crossed necks with her and brought up a foreleg to hug her.
“Now don’t you worry about a thing Fluttershy.” Rarity said gently, ”After all it was just a little accident.”
Fluttershy backed up a little and cleared her throat, “I…I’m sorry again. I should really be more careful,” she said trying her hardest not to look in Skywind’s direction.
Skywind cleared his throat, ”Its alright and I’m sorry for what I did. It was wrong of me to do such a thing.”
“Oh I don’t think it was wrong dear. I thought it was rather sweet of you to do something nice for a lovely mare.” Rarity commented with a smile, making Skywind briefly look away, while Fluttershy blushed.
“It was something my mother used to do, when I was little.” Skywind confessed softly, ”She…. used to do that when I was scared, but its just a memory now.” The stallion said sadly, resuming his walk with the girls following close behind him. A few minutes passed and Fluttershy was lagging behind, not wanting to bump into Skywind again and make a fool of herself. Rarity stayed behind, nuzzling Fluttershy, ”Is something dear? You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“I feel awful bumping into Sky and….well I-I don’t know if he’s mad at me?” The shy pegesai answered quietly, ”Do you think I hurt his feelings?”
“I may not know Sky very well, given the fact that he has better manners than his brother, but I can tell you this: Skywind is the kindest, sweetest,and understanding stallion there is. And to see him angry at you is well….?”
“Bad?” Fluttershy added.
“I suppose so, but the point is darling is that Sky is not the type of pony to hold a grudge.” Rarity said with a smile.
“And how do you know that exactly?” Rainbow asked, wanting to hear her answer.
“I know a thing or two about stallions and seeing how Skywind has treated us with utmost respect, tells me that he is a stallion of good qualities.” Rarity said with a smile. Rainbow Dash merely rolled her eyes at the reason Rarity gave.
“Just between us girls Fluttershy, what did it feel like to be so close to Sky?” Rarity asked wanting to hear a response from the shy pegasi. Fluttershy squeaked at such a question and Rainbow groaned at how girly this conversation was going to be. So the cyan pegasus moved away before things got a little weirder.
“Let me guess Rarity is talking about Skywind.” Applejack said noticing Rainbow was walking next to her.
“Ugh I don’t see what’s so special about him?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. ”I’m mean he’s just a regular pegasus like any other I’ve seen.”
“You have noticed that he’s much bigger than Big Mac and his brother is a fire breathin’ dragon.” Applejack pointed out, ”Oh and you don’t seem to like him at all.”
“I don’t trust him or his brother. I mean come on, don’t you find it weird a pegasus calls a dragon his brother.” Rainbow pointed out.
“I do, but Sky and his brother haven’t cause any sort of trouble since they got here.” Applejack explained calmly, ”Still I don’t think he’s such a bad fella.”
“Ugghh, don’t tell me you like him too?” Rainbow groaned at such of thought, though Applejack had something else to say.
“I didn’t say I like him. I just said that he was a good fella.” Applejack corrected her answered.
“Yeah right.” The cyan pegesai smirk, making the earth pony roll her eyes at her friends ideas.
Minutes passed by as Rarity continued to talk with Fluttershy about her ideas in the season fashion. The shy pony merely listened to her friends words, thankful that they were discussing fashion instead of Skywind. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were silent since their little dispute about their thoughts on Skywind and his brother. And Twilight was politely asking question after question, curious about Skywind’s life, though Skywind could only give simple answers to questions he could only give. Even Spike asked questions though they mostly revolved around dragons, to which the pegasus answered truthfully.
Then came the one question Skywind was almost not prepared to answered, ”How exactly did you become brothers with a dragon?” Twilight asked with great curiosity. For a moment Skywind was silent, pondering on how to answer the unicorn’s answer. At first Skywind thought about question, ”Best not to answer that question.” Skywind thought to himself, but the more he thought about, the more he wanted to to answer. After all the girls did help his brother, ”I suppose I could tell them a little bit about myself.” He thought to himself.
“Sky?” Twilight asked.
“Tell you what, after we get my brother’s chest. I will tell you and your friends everything about myself.” Skywind taking a glance at Twilight.
“Really! Are you sure you're okay with that?” Twilight asked with a hint of excitement, though she wanted to be sure if Skywind was comfortable.
“Sure, I mean I don’t see any problem.” Skywind said with a smile, ”Besides you girls did help my brother so I guess I could talk a little about myself.” Making the lavender unicorn smile, even Spike smiled at the idea. Everypony and dragon stopped as they have finally arrived to their destination.
The cave was big though small enough for one to make their home. Snow covered the the mouth of the cave, giving it a menacing look, almost as if the cave was a living creature. Fluttershy shiver at the menacing glare it gave off, huddling closer to Rarity, ”I must say Sky, your brother certainly has...Odd tastes for a home.”
“Not exactly the type of home he would live in, but it was the only place he could use for the winter.” Skywind said entering the cave as the girls followed close behind him.The ground was smoother, easier to traverse, but they kept their slow, careful pace. The ground was littered with claw marks, claws that belong to a very large creature. Given the size of the claws, the ponies could tell right away that they belonged to Shen-lung.
“Its dark, but at least its dry in here.” Spike said out loud, his voice making a slight echo within the cave.
“It could use a little cleaning,” Rarity commented, “And maybe a little decor wouldn’t hurt.”
“Its just a cave, Rarity.” Rainbow Dash said, ”What did you expect?”
“Maybe a little color here and some furniture over there and….”Her hoof stepped on something, feeling wet and squishy. The alabaster unicorn froze from where she stood, ”Aaaaaaah!”
Everypony screamed at the sudden cry from Rarity, running around each other. Their screams echo around the cave as they all were trying to find safety. Skywind was startled by Rarity’s cry, and took a defensive stance. Looking for the source of the problem. Looking towards Rarity, he almost laughed at what he found.
“What is it!? What did I step on1!? Is it bad!?” Rarity was panicking, covering her face with her good hoof, dramatically wailing in fright, ”Please don’t tell me.”
Skywind came towards Rarity and smiled in reassurance, ”You stepped on fruit.”
“It must be something horrible? I just can’t…Wait what?” The unicorn asked as her panicking and dramatic wail came to an end.
“Fruit,” Skywind said once more, ”You stepped on some fruit.”
“Fruit?” Rarity repeated, noticing most of her friends were behind Skywind. The stallion nodded, telling her to see what she had stepped on. Slowly as she could, Rarity brought her hoof to her eyes to see that she indeed did stepped on fruit, fruit that was giving off a foul stench.
“Ugh! Of all the things.” The unicorn said with a frown, shaking her hoof from the sticky substance, ”Why do I have to suffer from this…and I just had my hoofacure”
“At least you didn’t step on any leftovers.” Skywind said with a bemused smile.
“Leftovers?” Everypony and dragon said in unison.
“heh..heh uh, what do you mean leftovers exactly?” Spike nervously asked.
Skywind smiled finding his brother’s chest safe where it was, ”Ah here we are.” Inspecting the chest’s condition. The chest was good and well taken care, but it was a little old and not as big as the usual chests would be. Thankfully the chest was undisturbed, except for the time he looked earlier.
“Sky?” Spike asked.
“Huh oh…the leftovers would be his food from well…you know.” The stallion answered a bit nervous of the answer, hoping that were no…leftovers of his brother’s previous meal that he sadly did not had the chance to tidy his brother’s cave before the girls came along with him.
“Y-y-you mean the a-a-a-animals that he’s e-e-e-eaten.” Fluttershy stuttered in fear. The others were now looking around, hoping not to see anything that may look like leftovers or worse. Thankfully the cave floor was not littered with…..bones or any remains of the sort. Just a few feathers here and there and a large and if not spoiled pile of fruit.
“Nice to know your b-brother eats other things besides meat.” Spike said nervously.
“Well my brother can eat just about anything, though a part of his diet still revolves around meat. So lets be glad he cleaned his cave, otherwise we be seeing something unpleasant.” Skywind said.
“Do you need any help with that Sky?” Twilight asked politely.
“I got it” Skywind answered politely, ”Besides I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Trust me, it would be easy if I helped,” The unicorn insisted as the horn began to glow. Suddenly the chest was wrapped in a purple aura. Skywind not familiar with magic that unicorns possessed back away as the chest levitated into the air.
“H-How…What is…W-What’s happening?” Skywind stammered.
“What? Oh this.” Twilight pointed to the chest. ”It’s nothing a little magic can’t do.”
“M-Magic?” Skywind repeated slowly, almost at a loss of words, ”You mean magic still exists a-and that our kind can use magic.”
“Well of course we can use magic, darling. What did you expect?” Rarity answered, finally able to walk on her hoof after her little accident.
Skywind slowly walked towards the chest, fascinated at how it levitated a few feet from the ground. He was familiar with some level of magic from back home with the dragons, but to actually see this type magic made him wonder if magic still existed.
“I...I had thought that magic was gone from this world. The stallion said, still examining the aura that surrounded his brother’s chest.”
“Who told you that?” Spike almost laughed at the idea, ”Everypony knows that magic exists in all of Equestria.”
“Well I uh…..really didn't know that actually.” Skywind answered with a frown.
“You're kidding right?” Spike arch a brow, ”Everypony knows that since they were born.”
Skywind sadly shook his head, “Sadly I don’t.”
“You're not making any sense Sky.” Applejack said a little confused at Skywind’s response. The rest of her friends were also confused as well.
“I really don’t know anything about Equestria’s history or its magic.” Skywind said with honesty, ”Believe me I really don’t know.”
“Wow, who would have thought a pegasus like him would not know anything about Equestria.” Spike said. Twilight was about to scold Spike, when Skywind spoke.
“I really don’t know anything about Equestria or its history. I didn’t think there would been any other ponies beside me,” Skywind said truthfully, ”And to be honest I thought I was the only one.”
The young mares looked to one another, trying to process the words Skywind was explaining to them. From what they could gather, Skywind knew nothing about Equestria or its inhabitants. He was a visitor to them, but to him he would view himself as an outsider. An outsider that traveled in the unknown to search for his brother. A pony that they all wanted to know more about and maybe his connection with dragons.
Twilight was the first to asked, but Skywind had spoke before her, ”I have a feeling you girls would like to know more about me,” They nodded, ”And I will answer any questions you girls ask, but first lets get to some place warm.”
To which they all agreed, now that they had Shen-lung’s chest. It was about time they return back home, before dark. After all no pony would want to travel in the Everfree forest after dark. With the chest safe, Twilight, her friends and Skywind left the cave and were now heading to Ponyville. Where Skywind will find that he is not alone and also a very big surprise.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Hours later….
“So there are three different kinds of ponies that live in these lands?” Skywind asked with great curiosity.
“Exactly three different types of ponies.” Twilight answered with a smiled. Happy to answer and explain, Skywind’s eager questions. The girls and Spike had made it back to Ponyville without any trouble or any surprise parties given by their favorite party pony. But then again there were no ponies up at late at night, so that made things easier Skywind since did not want to be overwhelm.
Twilight first explained about Earth Ponies. The Earth ponies play an important role in pony society, since they have an affinity for growing things. Unlike pegasus ponies or unicorn ponies, earth ponies don't have magic or flying. But, they make up for the abilities they don't have by being some of the toughest, leanest and strongest, members of society, while at the same time living peacefully, gracefully.
Most Ponies are generally plain in appearance, much resembling regular horses, except their coats and manes can come in an almost infinite variety of colors and patterns. Some wear saddles for clothing, which can range from simple to overly fancy. Many are more down to earth in their appearance, they wear less extravagant clothes or they simply wear nothing.
Next were the Unicorns have a long horn protruding from their forehead which glows when their magical powers are used. Although they are associated with their magic, a unicorn's horn is strong and sharp enough to have mundane uses. Unicorns are often seen using their intellects to compensate for their lack of physical strength. Most unicorn magic revolves only around their natural talents, which goes the same for earth ponies and pegasus.
Last was the Pegasus who's responsible with maintaining the weather. Pegasi demonstrate great speed and agility in the air in multiple episodes. Pegasi naturally walk, sit, and lay on clouds, but unicorns and earth ponies cannot do so. Pegasi wings are shown to have potential for tremendous strength; athletically-trained Pegasi can support most of their body weight on them. Some Pegasi use this ability to carry out an exercise regimen known as "wing-ups"
“Wing-ups?” Skywind interrupted.
“Sorry got a little ahead of myself,” Twilight said with smile.
“A little?” Rainbow smiled, ”Talk about a whole history lesson.” Spike chuckled at how Skywind must be overwhelmed with Twilight’s history lesson, even though it was a simple questioned.
The young stallion was amazed to find a small town filled with different ponies, though none were around for him to see. The town was much bigger than he had assumed. Filled with many different buildings, such as town hall where the ponies of Ponyville gather to discuss matters of great importance, Carousel Boutique was a boutique located in Ponyville and Rarity's home and workplace, in which she makes dresses for customers and friends. She lives at this boutique alongside with her pet Opalescence. Rarity explained to Skywind about her work in fashion. Most of her designing was done in the main workroom on the ground floor of the building. The room is stocked with materials and supplies such as mirrors, dress form mannequins, and movable screens. In the upper floor is Rarity's bedroom and Sweetie Belle’s room.
Rarity politely and graciously invited Skywind to visit her, promising him the fun activities they would have fun together. To which the pegasus accepted her offer, though he was nervous about the idea, but then again its not everyday a stallion like him could ever participate in such activities with other ponies.
“So you're a….fash uh...fashionista.” Skywind asked Rarity, not at all familiar with the word.
“And a very good one I might add.” Rarity said with a prideful smile, ”I make and design dresses that bring out the inner beauty in ponies. A gift that I wish to give and share with others.”
“So...ponies actually wear clothing?” Skywind asked curiously, though he had his own set of cloths that he wore occasionally back home.
“On very important occasions do we wear cloths, darling. Though it is quite normal to see a pony wear clothing and such.” Rarity explained. ”Oh and that reminds me, I should make something for you, Sky dear
“Me?” Skywind was surprised, ”You don’t need to trouble yourself, Miss Rarity.”
“Its no trouble at all, besides a stallion like yourself deserves to wear something nice for the winter.” Rarity said with a smile.
“Well...thank you, but I’m afraid I don’t have any money to pay.” Skywind said, remembering that he was broke.
Rarity smiled, “Consider it a gift.”
“That’s very generous of you, Miss Rarity,” Skywind said with a smile, ”But if I am to receive this gift of yours, surely there must be something I could do for you in return?”
“I can think of a few things you can do for me,” Rarity said with a smile, giving Skywind a wink.
“Ugh, now’s she flirting with him,” Rainbow whispered to Applejack who was snickering at the idea of Skywind helping Rarity.
“We’re here,” Spike declared though not so loud as to not wake any ponies who were sleeping in their homes.
A large tree stood in front of Skywind, ”You live in a tree?”
“A tree and a library,” Twilight answered smile, ”And I happened to be the librarian of Golden Oak Library.”
“And her number one assistant,” Spike added with a grin.
“So that makes you a Keeper of the Books?” Skywind asked as he continued to examined the tree.
Twilight blushed, ”Well I guess you could say that but-”
“Hey, Twilight are we going in or what?” Rainbow nearly shouted.
“I’m coming,” Twilight hissed though much more quietly than Rainbow, ”You coming Sky?”
“Of course.” Skywind answered as he finished examining the tree. The young stallion followed the girls as they entered the home of Twilight and Spikes. The chest was still carried by Twilight, so Skywind had nothing to worry about.
“Sky are you sure you’re comfortable about telling us about about yourself.” Twilight asked as she gently placed the chest on the ground.
“I have given some thought about it and I figured since I am going to be here for a while. I thought that maybe it would be good to know you girls better and…tell a little about myself.”
“Are you positively sure you're alright with this Sky dear.” Rarity asked gently.
“I’m sure.” Skywind answered with a small smile. ”By the way, is it usual this dark in your home.”
“Actually no.” Twilight answered noticing that her home was dark. ”Spike did you forget to leave the light on?”
“No I didn’t.” The young dragon answered.
“That’s odd.” The unicorn thought to herself. The door suddenly slammed itself shut and the lights immediately went on.
“SURPRISE!”