//------------------------------//
// Awkward Explanations 
// Story: Cold Days and Warm Hearts 
// by moguera 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 12: Awkward Explanations

"Dawn!  Dawn!  Where are you?"
Scootaloo spread her wind-sense as far as she could.  When Dawn's absence had gone on, she'd started to realize he hadn't simply stepped out to use the restroom.  However, she decided to wait, hoping he hadn't gotten himself into trouble.  Then she'd felt it, the sensation of falling across level ground, as though the whole world had tilted on its side.  She wasn't the only one who noticed.  Apple Bloom's head had snapped up as she stared in shock in the direction of the pull.  Even Rumble, Spike, and Sweetie Belle hadn't missed it, the three of them shifting uncomfortably against the strange feeling that they were on the verge of falling over.
It hadn't even taken a second for Scootaloo to realize that, whatever was going on outside, Dawn was involved.  He could be in danger!  That Terra Heart guy could be here!  She'd immediately bolted out of the shelter and taken to the air, not bothering to put anything on, not even her scarf.
It was dark out.  Here in the park, the lamps were extinguished at night.  The sky was covered with a rich blanket of stars to accompany the silver crescent of the moon.  But the light they afforded was barely enough to see.  Scootaloo was depending almost entirely on her wind-sense to keep from running into anything as she searched for Dawn.  The frantic need to know if he was okay kept the cold at bay.
Then she felt him coming, his wings moving the air around him as it came into contact with the air around her.  Orienting on him, Scootaloo launched forward as Dawn approached, slamming into him and knocking the two of them out of the sky.  They landed heavily in the snow, which fortunately cushioned the impact.
"Dawn!" she exclaimed, searching for any sign of injury, "Are you okay?  What was that?  Are you being attacked?"
The vivid blue-green color of Dawn's eyes shined in the faint light of the stars, his normally slit-shaped pupils having dilated, actually making them appear closer to a normal pony's eyes at the moment.  They vanished from view as Dawn blinked once before answering all her questions in order.  "I'm fine.  That was Arkenstone.  No, I wasn't being attacked."
Scootaloo let out a relieved breath and settled against Dawn's stomach.  "Thank goodness.  That scared me.  Wait!"  She froze before looking back down at Dawn.  "Arkenstone?  What's he doing out here?"
"Chaperoning," said Dawn, as though that explained everything.
"Huh?"  Scootaloo opened her mouth to ask for further clarification when she came to an unpleasant realization.  It was cold out.  She wasn't wearing her jacket, her scarf, or even her boots and she was now lying partially buried in snow.  As her body finally clued into the realization, she began to shiver uncontrollably.
"M-m-m-m-mayb-b-b-b-e we sh-sh-should g-g-g-g-g-g-o back," stammered Scootaloo through chattering teeth.
Dawn nodded and flicked his wings, blowing the snow off their bodies.  Scootaloo was still feeling seriously cold.  As shaky as she was, she wasn't sure if she could get her wings working properly.  Laying in the cold snow had made them feel numb.  Dawn seemed to clue into this and wrapped his forelegs around her barrel, over her shoulders and under her own forelegs.  He lifted off the ground, holding Scootaloo against his chest as she wrapped her forelegs around the back of his neck and held on tight.  Dawn's body felt warm against hers, even through the insulation of his jacket and scarf.  But her back was still icy cold.
Dawn flew quickly through the air, bringing them back to the quinzhee in a matter of seconds.  He let Scootaloo down, allowing her to scamper back through the flap as he followed at a more sedate pace, making sure it was tightly closed behind him.  Scootaloo rushed across the low area of the shelter and jumped up onto the cushions of the raised space that her friends occupied and settled there, still shaking.
In the meantime, Dawn shed his jacket, boots, and scarf.  Settling next to Scootaloo, he worked some of the cushions they had brought into a small pile between them and the wall of the shelter.  Then he took the heavy blanket he'd brought to sleep with (not having a sleeping bag of his own yet) and wrapped it around the two of them.  After that, beneath the blanket, he wrapped his forelegs around Scootaloo again, pulling her back up against his chest while his wings slid around to cocoon her from the front.  It was similar to the way Fluttershy often held him.
Scootaloo sighed and allowed her body to relax as she felt Dawn's warmth seeping into her.  Simply being inside the quinzhee was much better.  The place felt like an oven compared to the chill of the outside.  Tucking her head beneath Dawn's chin, Scootaloo heaved a happy sigh as her shivering began to subside.
"What the hay was that all about?" demanded Apple Bloom after they'd settled down.
"Arkenstone," huffed Scootaloo, "He's 'chaperoning.'"
"Oh!"  Bloom's cheeks colored and she was joined by the rest of the group (sans Dawn) as they considered exactly why they were probably being chaperoned.
"Is he gonna be okay out there?" asked Spike, changing the subject.
"He'll be fine," said Dawn, "He's drawing on his earth pony magic to protect himself from the elements."
"Earth ponies can do that?" asked Rumble, his ears perking up.  The rest of the group looked speculatively at Bloom.
"Don't look at me," said Bloom, waving her hooves frantically, "Ah ain't anywhere near to doin' stuff like that."  She paused for a moment, then frowned.  "So that was what Ah was feelin' then."
Dawn nodded.  "He's training, the same way you are."
"Ah guess that makes sense."  Bloom settled back down on her section of blankets.
"So...so..."  Scootaloo had to stop as she yawned, her eyelids beginning to droop.  "Now what do we do?"  Now that she was warm again, her energy levels were beginning to fall.
"I think that it's maybe time for bed," suggested Dawn softly, all too easily noticing Scootaloo's condition.
"Ah think Ah can agree with that," said Apple Bloom with a sleepy smile as she leaned up against Spike.
"Lights out then," said the dragon as he moved to close the shutters on the firefly lanterns.
The others prepared to go to sleep as well.  Dawn untangled himself from the blanket to take down the stack of cushions he'd made and laid them out like a bed.  Then he pulled himself and Scootaloo up onto it, wrapping both of them in the blanket again.  This time, Scootaloo rolled over so that she was facing Dawn as he wrapped his arms and wings around her.
"Dawn," she whispered.
"Yes?"
"This is amazing," she said, using her eyes to gesture to the walls of snow that surrounded them, "Thanks for sharing it with us."
"Thank you for letting me share it with you," Dawn said back.
Her smile widening, Scootaloo leaned forward and kissed Dawn slowly and gently on the lips.  Dawn returned the gesture, the two of them holding it like that for a moment before pulling back.
"Good night," whispered Scootaloo.
"Good night," Dawn said back.
Scootaloo tucked her head underneath Dawn's chin and let her eyes drift slowly shut.
On the other side of the shelter, Sweetie Belle and Rumble blushed furiously as they watched the two pegasi express their affection.  Sweetie was a bit envious that her friends were able to sleep together so easily without being nagged by the thought of the issue that had worried their families.  She and Rumble turned to eye each other, their blushes intensifying.
"That...that looks nice," said Sweetie after a moment's hesitation.
"Y-yeah," stammered Rumble in agreement.
Another awkward silence followed as the two of them struggled to think of what to say and do next.  Rumble gulped and decided to take the metaphorical leap.  "Do you...do you want to try that too?"
Sweetie's cheeks felt as though they might burst into flame.  "S-sure," she ventured.
Rumble hesitantly nodded.  They both got out their sleeping bags.  After a moment's contemplation, they decided to unzip both sleeping bags all the way down to the bottom and wrap both bags around the two of them.  The bags couldn't be zipped up like that, so there was a chance they would come loose during the night.  Sweetie laid up against Rumble's side, letting him rest a wing over her back.  The two of them laid cheek to cheek, reveling in the blissful feeling of their closeness.
By then, Spike had closed the shutters on all but the last of the lanterns, which he placed next to himself and Apple Bloom.  The two of them looked at their other friends.  Spike blushed and gulped.  “Well…I’m not sure what their families will think of this.”
“It’s fine,” said Bloom dismissively with a wave of her hoof, “They ain’t doin’ nothin’.”
“Wh-what about us?” asked Spike, shifting nervously.
Bloom turned and flashed a mischievous smile his way.  “What ‘bout us, hmm?”
“Um…well…”  Spike quickly reached over and pulled out his sleeping bag.  “I’m just gonna lay this thing out and…uh…”
Bloom huffed indignantly.  “Fer Pete’s sake Spike, get over here.”  She snatched the end of Spike’s tail in her teeth and yanked, pulling the dragon over next to her, dragging his sleeping bag along for the ride.  A second later, Bloom had crawled inside the bag and was mock-glaring out of it at Spike.  “Are ya gonna get in or not.”
“But Twilight said-“
“We ain’t gonna do nothin’ like that,” snapped Bloom, rolling her eyes, “Now hurry up and get in here with me.  Ah wanna cuddle with mah dragon.”
“O-okay…” stammered Spike as he carefully slid into the sleeping bag.  Bloom shifted and snuggled up against his chest.  Almost instinctively, Spike’s arms slid around her.  Reaching up, he carefully undid the bow from her mane and pulled it away, setting it aside.
“Thanks,” said Bloom, “This feels right nice,” she nuzzled into Spike’s neck, making him twitch, “Yer just the perfect temperature…nice and warm.”
“Thanks,” said Spike, allowing himself to relax a little.  Having Apple Bloom curled up against his body was a wonderful feeling.  Now that he was used to it, Spike didn’t think he’d have any trouble at all getting to sleep.  Reaching out, he closed the shutter on the final lantern, plunging the quinzhee into darkness as the silence of sleep stole over them all.



In the morning, the group woke with scattered yawns.  The shelter was still comfortable and warm.  Dawn was naturally the first to awake, followed by Scootaloo.  However, the two of them were content to simply continue resting in their mutual embrace, enjoying the quiet of the morning.  They were simply too happy with where they were to move.  Training could wait for one day at least.
Apple Bloom was next to wake, the habits of a trained farmer asserting themselves as she woke up at the time she normally needed to in order to get started on the morning's chores.  The fact that she had no chores this morning made no difference.  Spike wasn't far behind her as she started nuzzling him affectionately.  He too was not unused to early mornings, having had to get up early plenty of times to help Twilight Sparkle with her various projects and library duties.
Sweetie Belle and Rumble were the last ponies to wake.  Neither of them were habitual early risers.  Much like her sister, Sweetie truly appreciated her beauty sleep and was loathe to wake up a single minute earlier than she had to.  Rumble was of a similar attitude, having never woken up early enough to even see his older brother off for the morning weather shift, since it was practically guaranteed (barring emergencies) that at least one of the sisters would be there to help him with breakfast and see him off to school.
It was rather ironic then that Rumble was the one responsible for waking Sweetie up; one of the feathers of the wing he'd draped over her back having slipped up to tickle the sensitive spot behind her ear, making it twitch.  At one point, Sweetie began to giggle, then chortle.  At last, she laughed herself awake, her eyes snapping open as she took in her surroundings.  The shelter was still dark, the packed snow keeping out the morning sun.  But Spike and Scootaloo had pulled back the shutters on two of the lanterns partway, allowing a small amount of light to fill the space.  It was more than enough light for the rest of the group to see Rumble accidentally tickle Sweetie awake.
Sweetie saw the amused looks of everypony looking on, realizing what they had just seen.  Her cheeks flared and she ducked her head with a squeak, burying herself within the sleeping bag as her audience let out good-natured chuckles and giggles.  The sound was enough to rouse Rumble, who blinked blearily and looked around in confusion.  "Huh?  What's so funny?"
His question only seemed to further encourage everypony's mirth.  It took a few minutes, but they managed to convince Sweetie to come out of hiding.  Afterwards, they set about collecting cushions, rolling up blankets and packing the few belongings they'd brought with them.  After that, they put on their warm clothes and made the trek out to the park's restroom, where they went through their usual morning routines, albeit in a rather unfamiliar setting.  Teeth brushed and manes combed (or spines straightened in Spike's case), the group went back to the shelter to collect their belongings.
After making sure that there was nothing left inside, Dawn swung his wing once, sending a gust of wind slamming into the quinzhee, blasting it into a white flurry of snow and flinging it across the park's field, leaving no trace of the structure behind, save for the single rock that had served as the base for the fireplace.
"Aww, what did ya do that fer?" asked Apple Bloom, giving the space the quinzhee had resided a forlorn look.
"Quinzhees aren't meant to be long-lasting structures," said Dawn, "The longer it is left, the greater the chance of it becoming unstable and collapsing.  I didn't want anypony going inside and getting buried by accident.  We can always make a new one."
"That's true," said Spike, "The last thing we'd want is for one of the younger foals to end up inside that thing if it collapses.  It's for the best."
"Still kinda sad though," said Sweetie, "I really liked that."
"We'll have to do this again sometime," said Rumble, nodding his head in agreement.
"There will be plenty more snow in the season," said Scootaloo, "We'll have lots of chances to do this again."  She froze as an idea occurred to her.  "I know, we can invite Rainbow Dash and the others and make a really big one.  We'll have a snow camping party!"
As the dreaded p-word left Scootaloo's mouth, the entire group went rigid, their gazes sweeping across the snowy expanse of the park, watching expectantly and warily for some sign, any hint of pink...



"Let me go!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, lunging against Mayweather's arms, which were securely wrapped around her collar from behind, "Somepony used the magic word!  I know it!  My ponies need me!"
"I'm going to use a magic word of my own," growled Mayweather as she used all of her strength in what was likely a doomed effort to keep the pink force of nature from speeding off, "Please stay put.  If somepony needs your input for a party, they'll come to us.  Besides, your ponies need you here."
"Aw...but..."
"Please," pleaded Mayweather.
"Okay," sighed Pinkie, finally going limp.



When they saw no sign that Pinkie Pie was about to come barreling out of nowhere, the group relaxed under the realization that they were safe...for the moment at least.
"That sounds like fun," Rumble said, addressing Scootaloo's earlier idea, "It would be awesome if we could share this with all our families."
"And everypony from school," added Sweetie, thinking about how fun it would be if they got the rest of the class in on it.  Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were unlikely to be wet blankets about the affair if they thought it was popular.  The fact that Diamond's temper and attitude had been improving ever since she had started taking lessons from Rarity made the notion more hopeful still...even if the extent of her improvement was that she no longer bothered the Crusaders and gave them as wide a berth as possible.
"Well..." said Dawn, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "I suppose we could.  But we can make a quinzhee only so large.  I think that the one we built here would be about as large as we should risk.  We'd be better suited building multiple ones."
"That's fine," said Scootaloo, "But let's worry about that sort of stuff later.  Let's get ourselves something to eat."  Her words drew a several sounds of agreement from her friends.
They adjourned to the Sugarcube Corner for a hearty breakfast, courtesy of Mayweather, whose maple-cinnamon oatmeal and buttermilk flapjacks had become a fixture of the establishment's breakfast scene.  As they ate, the group tossed around ideas and suggestions for the proposed gathering, soliciting the input of one eagerly enthusiastic Pinkie Pie, whether they liked it or not.  Though nothing definite was arrived on, they agreed to broach the topic to their respective families and see how they took the idea.
As they went their separate ways, Scootaloo turned to Dawn as he was about to head back to Caramel's house.
"Don't forget to ask your parents," she said, giving Dawn a serious look, "I think this is something you need to know about."
"Okay," said Dawn, feeling a bit unnerved, wondering just what kind of topic could be so awkward that it had Scootaloo so worried.



“So you believe that, whatever the Supreme Pontiff is up to, he will be finished around springtime,” said Celestia as she looked at Shining Armor from across the surface of the desk.
“That’s right,” said Shining, “At least, that’s when their temple in Applelossa is supposed to be finished.  But my hunch tells me that it’s the timetable for whatever trick they’re really up to.”
“So he wants to keep his followers’ impulses reined in until then,” muttered Celestia, “In order to avoid having anypony look at the Cult’s activities too closely.”
Shining nodded.  “I didn’t find anything with my scanning spell, but I know that it’s possible to hide things, even from that.  But, without any real evidence that they’re up to something there, there’s nothing we can do.”
Celestia nodded back before turning to the other alicorn in the room.  “Did any of the prisoners have anything to say about the temple that we can use as a pretext for a more thorough investigation.”
Cadance shook her head slowly.  It was rather ironic that, as the alicorn of love, she was especially well suited for coaxing cooperation out of unwilling individuals.  Ponies who could withstand hours or even days of torture would buckle in a matter of moments against the offer of sincere warmth and affection.  She had the ability to reach past pretenses and appeal to a pony’s desire to do the right thing and draw forth the truth from them.
“Unfortunately, they don’t have any knowledge that we can use,” said Cadance, “As far as they know, the temple is just a temple.  Though, they seem to believe that the Cult is building others in other locations.”
“Other temples?”  Celestia blinked in confusion.
Cadance nodded.  “They described the temples as sanctuaries where their prayers can be carried into the heart of the sun.  Though they seem to hold some ritual importance, none of the prisoners have described anything beyond what can be explained through basic ritual and religious interpretation.”
Celestia sighed.  “That is what I was afraid of.”
“There is something else,” said Shining Armor.  His horn flared with a burst of rose-colored light, conjuring a plastic tube.  Uncapping it, he slid a large roll of parchment out and unrolled it across the face of Celestia’s desk.  It was a map of Appleloosa and the surrounding area.
“On a hunch, I decided to investigate the temple from another angle,” explained Shining, “So I went to Applelossa’s town hall and searched through their records to learn a bit about the location.”
Both Cadance and Celestia looked at him in confusion.  “The location?” asked Cadance.
Shining nodded. “From what Braeburn told me and what I saw with my own eyes, the location of the temple is of critical importance.  They even went so far as to disrupt the street plans of Appleloosa in order to have it set in the right position at the right orientation.  In other words, where the temple is located is critical to whatever purpose it has.
“Because of that, I went to town hall to research the temple’s location.  However, the more I looked into it, the more I learned that there was something a bit bigger going on.”  He tapped Appleloosa’s location on the map.  “Where Appleloosa is now was only one of its potential locations when the town was first being founded.  In fact, of the three potential locations, it’s probably the second most appealing.”
“What do you mean?” asked Celestia.
“Well, the first place the settlers looked at was set near a desert oasis.  It was nice and picturesque, but not big enough to support a fledgling town.  The second location they looked at was where Appleloosa is now.  There was plenty of room, fertile land for the orchards, and it was in the path of a major wind current from Las Pegasus, making for easy cloud delivery.”
“That makes sense,” said Cadance, “That’s obviously why they settled there.”
“It is,” agreed Shining, “except that there was an even better location just a short ways away.  Over here…”  He tapped a blank point on the map.  “This is a broad mesa that they thought would be ideal for making the town.  The mesa’s top was extremely fertile and is in the path of the same wind current from Las Pegasus.  In fact, it’s even closer to Las Pegasus, which would make cloud and storm deliveries even easier.  They were planning on actually carving out the face of the mesa and building the town as a series of cliff dwellings, a pretty ambitious project, but one that would probably make the town a tourist destination in addition to an agricultural source.  The only downside would be that they’d have to get a bit inventive moving ponies and materials up and down the mesa.”
“That seems like a good reason for choosing the second location,” said Cadance.
Shining shook his head.  “But there was another reason why the third location was more appealing.  The fields where the orchards were planted in the second location is also where the buffalo have their traditional stampeding ground.  At the time, the settlers had no idea that it was so important to the buffalo that they were willing to go to war over it.  But, since they viewed the buffalo as a potential source of trade, they figured it was better to avoid slighting them, especially when there was such a good location available that was of no real importance to the buffalo.”
“But they went and built in the second location anyway,” Celestia mused, putting the pieces together, “Even though the third option offered greater advantages and fewer drawbacks, they still went with the second option…and you think this is because of the temple.”
Shining nodded.  “My hunch is that somepony in the Cult was actually involved in choosing the location of Appleloosa’s settlement, probably specifically for the purpose of building the temple out there.”
Celestia frowned darkly and her horn flared, the golden sheen of her magic washing across the map Shining Armor had laid across the table.  The image of the map suddenly zoomed out until the whole of Equestria was visible.  Appleloosa’s location was marked out by a single crimson dot.
Shining and Cadance stared at Celestia as she, in turn, stared at the map in silent contemplation.  “Aunt Celestia?” prodded Cadance, “Is something wrong?”
“There’s something…familiar about Appleloosa’s location,” murmured Celestia, her eyes narrowing, “But I can’t seem to recall why…”
Blue dots suddenly blossomed on the map, one centered in Manehattan, another in Trottingham, three others in equally major cities near the edge of the country.
“What are these?” asked Shining.
“Components of an array,” said Celestia, “In fact.  They are the reason our largest border cities were founded where they were founded.”
“What array?” asked Cadance, “What were you trying to do?”
“It wasn’t me,” explained Celestia, “It was Starswirl the Bearded.”
Twin gasps emerged from the other two.  Celestia continued unimpeded.  “Shortly after Luna and I dealt with Discord, Starswirl asked to study the Elements of Harmony, which he did…extensively.  After nearly a decade of research and investigation, he came to us with a proposal.  He believed that he could use the Elements of Harmony as the basis for a spell array, which could project a field of harmonic energy around the borders of Equestria, a barrier that would protect us, not only from disasters like Discord, but the ire of other nations that might seek to threaten Equestria in the future.  He aimed to create component anchors for the array in five specific locations.”  She gestured to each of the blue dots.  “Each location would correspond to one of the Elements.”
“But there are six Elements,” Cadance pointed out.
Celestia nodded.  “The sixth component anchor of the array would be set at its center.  Right here…”  Her hoof landed on Canterlot.  “At the time, me and my sister were living in our home, where the Everfree Forest is now.  When Starswirl presented his plan, I agreed to move my seat from the castle to the side of the mountain, where Canterlot would be built.”
“Why build cities at all?” asked Shining.
Celestia chuckled.  “That was the genius of his plan.  You see, he figured that, if any of our rival nations realized what we were up to, they might attack in order to get to us before the barrier came up.  Thanks to the pegasi still being a mostly militarized society and the nobility having their own forces, we could have, theoretically, met any attack against our nation with equal force.  But the cost would have been high.  So Starswirl proposed that we found cities in those locations, not only to hide the true reason we needed ponies to build there, but also to ensure that the materials and marepower necessary to construct the anchors would be available.”
“But I’m guessing it didn’t work out,” said Shining, “I mean, we definitely don’t have some kind of magical Harmony Barrier protecting Equestria from invasion or we wouldn’t need Arkenstone and the others.”
“No it didn’t,” agreed Celestia, “Ultimately, we came to the realization that, even with the power of the Elements of Harmony, there was no way to support the cost of maintaining a barrier of that size.  The Elements weren’t meant to work that way anyway.  Fortunately, the cities we founded in those locations flourished anyway.  Many of them were well-situated to begin with, which was fortunate.”
Cadance hummed and examined the map more closely.  Appleloosa’s location didn’t match up to any of the anchor points on the array, but it didn’t even lay in the path of the circle inscribed by the whole formation.  “I see, so you thought that the Supreme Pontiff picked Appleloosa’s location because of the array.”
“At first,” said Celestia, "but the location is wrong.  The anchor points to the array are already established and there is no way for it to work by planting one of the anchor points there.  Perhaps it is simply a false lead.”
“Probably,” agreed Shining Armor, “Maybe we’re just overthinking things.”
“Or,” said Cadance darkly, “We’re overlooking something.”
“Perhaps,” agreed Celestia, “But what?”



“So…you need to ask us about…sex?”  Fluttershy blinked as she stared down at her son.
Dawn found himself fidgeting under Fluttershy’s gaze, scuffing a hoof nervously against the floor.  “Well…yes.  Scootaloo told me that her mom had talked to her about it before she joined us for the sleepover.  She thinks that the others talked with their families about it too.”
Fluttershy and Caramel shared an uncertain look.  Even though he would be out for the night, unsupervised with his special somepony, it had never occurred to them that the topic of sex might come up.  Dawn and the others were young, but not so young that they weren’t at that age where some less well-raised foals started…experimenting.  Fluttershy remembered hearing horror stories about the consequences for ponies who started up sexual relationships at Dawn’s age.  But it had never occurred to her that Dawn might be at risk.  She had assumed that his Master had taught him about such things.  But it seemed that she had been mistaken.
Caramel, who had trusted Fluttershy’s judgment and had followed her lead, was just as thrown off by the idea.  They were both aware that Dawn was incredibly mature for his age, but it occurred to neither of them that this gap might have existed in his education and experience.  “You do know what sex is, right?” asked Caramel nervously.
“I do know that it is the means by which ponies conceive and produce offspring,” replied Dawn, “that it is a biological process like any other.  But that was about all I learned.”
“Um…I see…”  Caramel was actually starting to feel a little bit faint.  I’m soooo not ready for this conversation yet.  He figured he wouldn’t have to actually have it until he and Fluttershy got around to producing a foal through their own actions.
Fluttershy didn’t seem to be any more ready than he was though, as her cheeks were presently scarlet.  Her body was quaking and she looked more than a little frightened at having to speak with her son on such a topic.  Ironically, Caramel figured that Fluttershy would probably have the easiest time discussing sex as a biological action, given all her experience with animals.  But it was clear that discussing sex in the context of a relationship was a terrifying idea to her.
“Hey ‘Shy,” said Caramel softly, drawing his fillyfriend’s attention.
“Y-yes…?” she asked, looking at him nervously.
“You and your friends have a spa appointment today, right?”  At her nod he smiled.  “Why don’t you meet up with Rarity and talk with her for a little bit.  I’ll handle this.”
“A-are you s-sure?” asked Fluttershy.
“Not entirely,” Caramel admitted, “But I’ll give it my best shot.”
“O-okay then,” said Fluttershy.
Caramel leaned in and planted a long kiss on Fluttershy’s lips, feeling her sigh against him, he smiled.  “Go and have a nice time with your friends,” he whispered.
Fluttershy nodded and took her leave, leaving Caramel with a still somewhat bamboozled Dawn.
Once they were alone, Caramel settled onto the couch and looked nervously at Dawn.  "So...I guess your Master didn't have a lot to say on the subject."
Dawn shook his head.  "I'm afraid that it didn't come up, save for once.  He never went into detail.  Perhaps he meant to later, but his death made that impossible."
Caramel sighed.  "Oooh boy.  This is a tough one.  Let me ask you a question then.  How do you feel when you're with Scootaloo?"
"Um...happy...?" ventured Dawn.
"Well that's good," said Caramel with a chuckle, "But I'm actually asking about something else.  Whenever you're with her, does your body ever feel a certain way."
Dawn was silent.  The silence stretched on for several minutes, making it clear that the colt was in deep thought.  Caramel started to wonder if Dawn was asexual.  It was a possibility.  Maybe he's simply a late bloomer...  However, as the colt's wings started to twitch and flutter, Caramel go the impression that Dawn was beginning to hit upon what they were talking about.
"To be honest," said Dawn finally, "I don't always pay attention to that sort of thing, as it seems minor and easy to dismiss.  But...when we hold each other...when we kiss..."  He squirmed slightly.
Oh yeah, we got lucky with this one, thought Caramel, If this hadn't come up, this poor kid was likely to find out about this stuff at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way.  He got the distinct impression that they were avoiding an impending disaster.
"In a sense, what you're feeling could be called sexual desire...or lust," explained Caramel, "Your body is responding physically to your attraction to Scootaloo."
"Is sex an extension of that then?" asked Dawn.
"Sort of," explained Caramel, "It's difficult to explain because the concept means a lot of things to different ponies.  This is gonna take some explaining..."
"Have I done something wrong?" asked Dawn, taking in Caramel's frustrated visage.
Caramel's eyes snapped wide open.  "No!  Not at all!  You haven't done anything wrong."  He sighed.  "If anything, this is our mistake, Fluttershy's and mine.  We assumed you'd already learned about this stuff from your Master.  We never really thought to bring it up with you or actually check on that.  We really just...weren't prepared for this...at all..."
"I'm sorry," said Dawn.
"Don't be," replied Caramel, "It's not your fault and we'd need to have this conversation sooner or later, possibly with your little brother or sister.  You could say that this is good practice for us."
Dawn raised his eyebrow.  "If you say so..."
"I'll try my best," said Caramel, "This is probably going to be embarrassing and awkward as hay.  But, no matter what, I don't want you to be afraid to ask me any questions.  I just hope you understand that, when it comes to the act itself, I don't speak from experience."
"Why?" asked Dawn.
"'Cause I've never done it," admitted Caramel.
"What about mom?"
"Her neither," replied Caramel, "We're both virgins."
Dawn tilted his head as he regarded them.  "Will you...?"
Caramel's cheeks flushed bright red.  "Uh...someday...maybe...That's kinda hard to say right now.  We've come really far in our relationship, but sex is a big step..."
"So sex is part of a relationship then?" asked Dawn.
"Um...yeah...for some ponies..."  Caramel sighed.  "It's really hard to explain because there are so many ways that different ponies view it."
"Perhaps simply start with how you view it," suggested Dawn, "That is probably the simplest way.  I can learn other perspectives another time."
Caramel pursed his lips for a moment.  It was a fairly sound suggestion.  "Okay then.  So you understand that sex is a physical act, right?"
Dawn nodded slowly.
"In a sense, you could say that sex is like kissing.  But it takes things a lot further..."  Caramel braced himself.  Here we go...



"So you're saying that his Master never taught him about that!" gasped Rarity, "That's terrible!"
Fluttershy sank until her face was nearly completely submerged in the herbal bath, trying her hardest not to show her blush.
"It probably wasn't intentional," said Twilight, from where she reclined at the edge of the tub, "It's possible that Dark Wing was going to teach Dawn about it, but died before he got a chance to."
Fluttershy slowly rose above the water level.  "Maybe..." she said, but her tone was uncertain.
"What's wrong?" asked Twilight, regarding Fluttershy carefully.
"Oh...well...I don't want to say anything too bad about the stallion that raised Dawn, but..."  Fluttershy sighed.  "I'm starting to think he didn't think of Dawn the same way Caramel and I do."
"You mean...as a son?"  Twilight thought about this for a moment.  "But he raised Dawn from near-infancy.  It's hard to imagine that he wouldn't plan on teaching Dawn those sorts of things."
"Oh, but you should have heard how he taught Dawn about Hearth's Warming," said Fluttershy.  She began to relate the story Dawn had told her to her friends as Rainbow Dash and Melon Cream (whom Rainbow had invited), joined them.  Applejack was still getting a hooficure and Pinkie Pie was currently ensconced in the steam room.
For a moment, they were silent when Fluttershy finished.  "That's...cold," was all Melon could say.
"That can't be right," said Twilight, "There has to be more to it than that."
"I don't know," said Rainbow Dash, "But it makes sense, sorta..."
The four others in the tub gave Rainbow a confused look as she idly splashed some water with a cerulean hoof.  "Think about the kind of things Dawn's been through," explained Rainbow, "He's smart and he's pretty well-educated for a colt who's been living in the forest for a year.  But what does he have trouble with?"
That made them think.  It was rare for Rainbow to be so insightful.  But it was clear that she was onto something.  In the past, the vast majority of Dawn's issues had stemmed from a great deal of emotional inexperience; from his dangerous habit of lashing out at threats in a cold and calculating manner, which had to be curbed, somewhat brutally, by the intervention of Red River and Storm Front; to his near falling-out with Fluttershy over the affair with Foal Protective Services.
"You see," said Rainbow as she saw understanding spread across their faces, "All the stuff he got from his Master, it's all martial arts stuff or tricks for living in the wilderness...survival stuff.  It's all really practical.  It’s almost like he took Dawn and stuffed him with stuff that he thought would be useful…”
“But neglected things that might have been too abstract or too tangential to Dawn’s immediate needs,” finished Twilight.
“Th-that’s terrible,” gasped Melon, horrified by the notion that Dawn’s education could have been so severely neglected.
“It would certainly explain a lot though,” mused Twilight, stroking her chin with a hoof.
“But isn’t it strange?” asked Fluttershy, “D-Dawn hasn’t been taught those sorts of things or about…eep!…sex.  But he and Scootaloo…they still have such a healthy relationship.”
“Well,” said Twilight slowly, “I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Dawn hasn’t been considering any kind of sexual attraction to Scootaloo.”
“What does that mean?” asked Melon.
“Having spent some time with martial artists lately, I can kind of understand how it works,” explained Twilight, “He’s been trained to have control over his mind and body.  As far as he knows, sexual attraction is just some kind of physiological event that he doesn’t actually allow to influence his actions or feelings.”
“But then, how can he and Scootaloo even have a relationship?” asked Melon, “You’re suggesting that he doesn’t allow any kind of attraction he might have to her influence him.”
“Because it’s possible to have a romantic attraction to a pony without having a physical attraction,” Twilight pointed out, “Besides, Dawn may be physically attracted to Scootaloo and might not be aware of how it’s influencing him.”
“That last part sounds…”  Melon was unsure to phrase it.
“Yeah,” agreed Twilight before turning to Fluttershy, “It’s a good thing you found out about this when you did or Dawn could have ended up making some serious mistakes in the future.”
“Oh dear,” whispered Fluttershy, almost inaudibly.
"Still," said Rarity, trying her hardest to comfort Fluttershy, "Now we know about this little problem and can correct it.  I trust that is what Caramel is doing now."
Fluttershy nodded slowly.
Rarity let out a soft chortle.  "Then I don't think we have anything to worry about.  Caramel is a perfect gentlecolt after all.  I am sure that he'll handle the topic with all due sensitivity."



"...And that's about all I can say on the topic," Caramel finished, hoping he hadn't merely succeeded in confusing Dawn even more.
"I...think I understand," said Dawnl slowly, mulling everything over.  His cheeks were slightly flushed.  At least that meant Caramel wasn't alone in feeling that this conversation was really awkward.
"You understand that you and Scootaloo aren't ready yet, right?" asked Caramel to make sure.
"Yes, and we probably won't be for some time," said Dawn, "A few years, at least."
"Good to know," said Caramel with a smile.
"Still...if sex is an expression of love, but I wasn't consciously attracted to Scootaloo like that then..."  Dawn looked at Caramel.  "What does that say about our feelings."
Caramel wrapped a foreleg around Dawn's shoulders and pulled the colt up against his side in a friendly hug.  "Sex, done right, is an expression of love.  It's okay that you haven't really been considering those feelings before.  If anything, that shows just how much you really care about her, because love should come first."
"I see..." said Dawn, "But why didn't my Master teach me about this?"
"It's hard to say," admitted Caramel, "He might have thought that you weren't ready to learn at the time."
"That's what I would have thought," said Dawn, "But lately, I've been noticing that my experience with him was lacking in some ways."  He looked up at Caramel.  "He taught me how to fight, how to survive, how to look after myself.  But I can't recall the same kind of warmth that you and mom show me.  I can't recall being taught about the feelings of others, about love and affection."  Looking down, Dawn's eyes started to tear up.  "Did he really care about me at all?  Was I nothing more than another student to him?"
"Even if you were just a student to him, you were clearly his most special one," said Caramel, gently ruffling Dawn's mane.
"Huh?"
"Think about it.  He took you in when you were barely more than an infant.  Regardless of the things he may not have taught you about, he still raised you to be a fine young colt.  He stayed with you, through every trial and hardship, all the way up until the very end.  Even then, it took dying to actually get him away from you."
Dawn blinked, staring ahead blankly and silently.
"I think," continued Caramel, "That he may have been trying too hard to not be a bad parent to you."
"What do you mean?" asked Dawn, his ears standing up as he turned his gaze to Caramel.
"You remember Scootaloo's father, right?"  At Dawn's nod, Caramel frowned.  "That's an example of a bad parent, one who sees their foals as nothing more than a copy of themselves, someone to be molded in their image.  He tried to control Scootaloo's life so that he could make her into what he had wanted himself to be.
"But there's another kind of bad parent, one who exists at the opposite extreme, the kind of parent who doesn't care about their foal and hardly gives them a second thought, who doesn't invest any of his or her effort in raising that foal.  That kind of negligence can be some of the worst parenting in the world.
"Ponies who want to be good parents try to find something in between those extremes.  They try to be attentive to their foal's needs and raise them right, while not trying to completely control them so that a foal can grow up to be her own pony.  There's no perfect fine line between the two, which might be the problem, because that's what I think your Master may have been trying to do."
Dawn simply canted his head.
Caramel felt a chuckle building in his throat.  "I think your Master wanted to give you the means to become whatever kind of pony you wanted to be, regardless of what his own thoughts and beliefs were.  The problem is, in order to do that, he'd have to be distant, he'd have to avoid teaching you certain things if it meant influencing you too much."
"I see," said Dawn.
"But," said Caramel, "I don't think he succeeded at that, because you wouldn't have been such a good pony otherwise."
Dawn froze and stared at Caramel in confusion.
The tan stallion laughed again.  "Think back to the first time you met your mother.  What did you do?"
Dawn's eyes narrowed in concentration as he recalled the memory.  "I fought off a group of timberwolves."
"Right," agreed Caramel, "The point is, she was in danger and you helped her.  The question is...why?"
Dawn's wings snapped open and then closed.  Caramel pressed on.  "If you think of it from a practical standpoint, based on your past experiences, you probably shouldn't have helped Fluttershy.  It put you at the risk of discovery.  What if she hadn't accepted your eyes?  She'd just be another pony on the long list of ones who attacked or rejected you on that basis."
Caramel smiled down at Dawn.  "But, even though it was a risk for you, with no promise of any real gain, you did it anyway.  You helped another pony, who you didn't even know.  I get the feeling you had to have learned that attitude somewhere.  You saw your Master helping others, didn't you?  You may have even helped him to help others."
Dawn nodded.
"You see," said Caramel, "Whatever else he may have taught you, at least your Master taught you to be a good pony.  That's something that I wouldn't be able to thank him enough for."
"And," he added, bending down to gently nuzzle the top of Dawn's head, "I get the feeling that, no matter what, he'd be proud of the pony that you've become."
Slowly, Dawn's lips stretched into a smile and he leaned into Caramel's embrace.  "Thanks...dad."