Chapter 11
Kind Hospitality
The cover of the trees was thinner over the stretch of road where the four travellers were now, and the moonlight shone down upon them in silvery blotches, interrupted by the shadows of the branches and the leaves. Loyalty continued to fly overhead, her own shadow passing through the moonlight like a fish moving through shallow water.
“Are we there, yet?” Trixie demanded. “Trixie’s hooves are beginning to ache.”
Loyalty laughed. “Are you there yet? Of course not. You’ve got tons of self-discovery left ahead of you four.”
“Oh joy, I can hardly wait,” Dawn muttered.
Twilight shot her a curious look. Breaking Dawn had kept her distance from Twilight and the others since they had passed through Vanity Fair. She was walking on the other side of the road from the rest of them, keeping as much distance as she could without losing her way. “Don’t you want to get your memories back?”
“Considering how the memories I’ve already got back have only made me miserable, not really,” Dawn said sharply. “Did you ever consider that we lost our memories for a reason? That there are things we aren’t meant to remember? Some things should stay buried.”
“That might be true if we erased our own memories, but I don’t find that very likely,” Chrysalis said. “More likely somepony else stole our memories from us, and I don’t appreciate that one bit.”
“Say that again once you’ve remembered who you are, and you have to look at yourself in the mirror,” Dawn growled.
Twilight’s expression softened as she walked over to where Dawn stood. “What did you remember, Dawn?” She reached out to put a sympathetic hoof upon Dawn’s shoulder.
Dawn recoiled as though she had been burned. “Don’t touch me!”
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t know,” Dawn yelled. “I just know that…that the sight of you makes me feel so ashamed that I want to crawl into a hole and die, and I hate it!”
Why would looking at me cause Dawn to feel that way? Did we know each other? Where we enemies? Twilight couldn’t understand it. Breaking Dawn was mean-tempered, combative, sullen, but she wasn’t evil. What would they have done to one another that Twilight’s presence would affect her like this?
Loyalty, who had gotten some way ahead before she realised that the four of them weren’t following, circled back towards them, “Come on, girls, what’s the hold up?”
“Dawn’s scared of getting her memories back,” Trixie said, her voice both smug and snide at the same time.
Dawn gritted her teeth. “I’m not the one who was sobbing after she got out of Vanity Fair.”
“Trixie did not sob!”
“Oh yes, Trixie did too sob!”
“Don’t do this, guys,” Loyalty urged. “It isn’t the best idea to make a fuss in this part of the forest. Or in any part, but just after the first test especially.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Is it another test?”
“Not exactly,” Loyalty said. For the first time since they had met the cyan pegasus, she sounded frightened of something.
“Stop fighting, both of you,” Chrysalis said. “We should keep moving.”
Neither of them listened.
“If you don’t want to get your memory back, why don’t you leave?” Trixie demanded. “Go back to the Town of Flaws and leave us alone!”
“Why don’t you leave me alone, you insufferable cryfilly!” Dawn screamed.
“Trixie is not a cryfilly and Trixie is not afraid!” Trixie yelled. “Trixie has the magic sword from Generosity!” She drew the jewel-encrusted blade and brandished it about in her mouth for a moment before sheathing it again. “See how magnificent it is. With this sword, Trixie can overcome any hardship!”
“Oh, really?”
Twilight froze, for the last speaker was not a voice that had grown tediously familiar amongst their company. It seemed, in fact, to be a voice associated with the giant tail that had just snaked out of the woods to wrap around Trixie’s neck like a stole, stroking gently at her cheek.
Trixie’s face had turned almost white.
“Oh, you’ve done it now,” Loyalty murmured.
Chrysalis hissed angrily, Dawn lowered herself as though ready to charge.
“What is this?” Twilight demanded.
“What am I? Oh, how rude of you, tut-tut.” The voice that slipped out of the trees was urbane and civilised, but the creature that followed out of that voice was anything but. Twilight stepped back a pace as she beheld the bizarre fusion of a cat and a spider, possibly with a little bit of a monkey thrown in. The beast had six hairy legs, which presently padded across the ground towards the road but which ended in monkey’s paws tipped with gripping claws that Twilight imagined would help it to climb trees without much difficulty. It’s body was big and round and covered in dark brown fur, with plenty of room for a belly large enough to swallow all four ponies and the changeling – and wasn’t that a thought that just had to occur to Twilight’s brain? The tail, which was currently still wrapped around Trixie’s throat, was that of a cat, except for the fact that it ended in a scorpion’s poison tip, a tip which was hovering not far from Trixie’s eye.
The creature’s head was large and round, with large ears and eight arachnid eyes. Its mouth was lined with thing, razor sharp fangs which flashed in the moonlight.
“My name is Any Hardship,” Any Hardship purred. “You summoned me by speaking my name. Now then, which of you is going to vanquish me? Is it you, perhaps, sword-bearer?”
Trixie whimpered.
“Well?” Any Hardship asked, taking her tail away from Trixie’s neck but making up for it by bending down to stare into her eyes. “Didn’t you boast that your sword could overcome me? Or did you think it was polite to talk about me behind my back?”
“Easy, Hardship,” Loyalty said. “They’re with me. They didn’t know what they were saying.”
Any Hardship turned her head to look at Loyalty. “Oh, really? Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place. Off you go then, the four of you. Good luck on your quest, but let that be a lesson to you: mind your tongue in the forest.”
For a moment, everypony stood stock still, unable to believe that it was so easily done.
[i[Is this it? Are we clear?
Loyalty breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Any Hardship. Now-“
“You know, on second thoughts, I think I’ll eat you anyway,” Any Hardship snarled, smiling viciously in anticipation as her tail swung down to impale Dawn in the middle.
“Run!” Loyalty yelled, as Dawn dived out of the way. “Everypony down the road, now!”
Chrysalis spread her wings; they batted wildly as she flew into the air, barely avoiding the jab of Any Hardship’s poison tale as it slammed into the ground. “The sword! Use the sword!”
“R-right,” Trixie stammered, drawing the sword that Generosity had given her with her teeth and swinging it with all her might against the monster’s leg…where it bounced off, leaving not so much as a scratch. Trixie squealed in terror, still holding the blade.
“What?” Dawn yelled. “It’s a magic sword, how can it be so useless!”
“Magic?” Any Hardship whispered, turning his head to affix Dawn with all eight of his unblinking eyes. “Don’t you know: there is no magic in this world.”
He bared his teeth, and with a hiss he fell upon her. Dawn’s green eyes were wide with fear, her legs trembled.
“Dawn, move!” Twilight cried, but Dawn seemed frozen in place as the monster pounced upon her.
Loyalty yelled as she dived out of the sky, kicking Any Hardship in the side of the head. The monster roared as she rounded upon her assailant.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Loyalty called. “Try me, you big jerk. Here!” To the four she called out, “You guys can’t fight her, not yet. Run down the road; I’ll hold her off and catch up later.”
“We can’t just leave you,” Twilight called.
“I’ll be fine,” Loyalty said nonchalantly, kicking Any Hardship again. “I’ll meet up with you guys in no time.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Chrysalis said, hovering just above the road as she took off down it. Trixie wasn’t far behind her, still clutching her sword despite the fact that it had proven to be little use so far. She may have started behind Chrysalis, but she was running faster, and very nearly outpaced the larger changeling.
Twilight hesitated, her legs frozen in place as she watched Loyalty dart nimbly around the larger Any Hardship, buzzing about the monster’s head like a fly around a pony.
“I told you to run,” Loyalty yelled, kicking the nightmarish creature again and dodging a retaliatory swipe of one massive paw.
But Twilight couldn’t move. She could only watch as Loyalty fought for them. The cyan mare owed them no friendship, no undying faith. Despite her name, nothing obliged the pegasus to fight for them, risk her life while they fled with tails between legs. How could she abandon a stranger who was fighting her battle? Is that the kind of pony I am?
Even if it is the kind of pony I was, it isn’t who I want to be. I won’t run away.
“I’m not leaving you,” Twilight shouted.
Loyalty hesitated in mid-air. “Don’t be stupid, you’ll only get yourself killed!”
“Look out!” Dawn shrieked as Any Hardship’s paw zoomed towards Loyalty, gripping claws glinting in the moonlight. Loyalty tried to zip out of the way but she was too slow; the claws scraped along her side, making Loyalty cry out in pain as she was turned around and knocked out of the sky to land in a cloud of dust by the side of the road.
Any Hardship hissed in satisfaction. “Excellent.”
He advanced upon the prone pegasus, only to stop in the middle of his advance: because Breaking Dawn had hold of the monster’s tail She was standing up on her hind legs, her forehooves wrapped around the tail above the stinger, tugging backwards on it.
Dawn grinned. “Now this is what they call holding him off. Twilight, get Loyalty out of here.”
Any Hardship hissed with fury, and with a flick of his tail he launched Dawn upwards with a startled cry to dump her head first into the middle of the road.
“Dawn!” Twilight cried, as Dawn lay there faintly moaning. Then, Any Hardship was rounding on her, the only pony left standing.
I can’t let him hurt Loyalty or Dawn while they’re in this condition. I have to keep her eyes on me. So Twilight did the only reasonable thing in the circumstances: she charged.
Any Hardship’s mouth opened to receive her, but Twilight skidded under the gaping maw and the bulbous head to kick at the closest leg she could reach. The beast hesitated to recover his balance, and while he wavered Twilight slammed her entire body into one of his other legs.
I have to keep him focused on me, keep him off balance. And then...and then…I really should have planned this further ahead, shouldn’t I?
No sooner had that cheery thought sprung into Twilight’s mind that she saw Any Hardship angling his tail to strike at her even though she lay beneath his belly. Twilight gulped hard.
Chrysalis emerged from out of the dark, hissing and spitting as she flew straight for the monster, baring her fangs as she aimed for right between his eyes. Behind her, Trixie, her eyes filled with tears of fright, grabbed Loyalty by the tail and began dragging her away up the road.
Chrysalis was in Any Hardship’s blind spot and it was clear from the way he was hissing and growling that the creature was not happy about the fact. He twisted his head this way and that, trying to spot her with one of his eight eyes, while Chrysalis hovered just out of sight of all of them.
Twilight prepared to go help her, when she felt a soft hoof upon her shoulder. It was Dawn, looking surprisingly well considering. “Come on, I’ve got an idea but I need your help.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to tie his tail around that tree so we have time to make a run for it,” Dawn said. “But I can’t do it on my own.”
Twilight nodded. “Let’s get on it.”
It was fumbling work without magic to help them and only their hooves to rely on, but they managed to grab the monster by the tail while he was preoccupied and wrap it round a sturdy oak before tying it in the most tangled knot that the two mares could manage with just their hooves. The first Any Hardship knew of it was when he tried to lunge at Chrysalis and was pulled up short.
“Run!” Twilight shouted as Any Hardship roared and raged, and they ran down the golden road as fast as their hooves could carry him, the sound of his furious snarling ringing in their ears.
“This is not the end!” he howled. “We will meet again, all of you, I swear it. You haven’t seen the last of me!”
“We have for now,” Dawn muttered as they ran.
They caught up swiftly with Trixie, still dragging Loyalty along the ground, and helped the injured pegasus onto Dawn’s back. Her wounds looked bleak, one of her wings was damaged and her side was covered in blood.
“Does anypony know how to treat this?” Twilight asked.
The other three all shook their heads.
Loyalty coughed, opening one magenta eye. Her voice was weak and hoarse. “Kindness.”
“What?” Twilight asked.
“My friend Kindness, she has a house not too far from here,” Loyalty explained. “She’ll take care of me, and you too, if you let her.”
“Until Any Hardship tears the house down to get at us,” Dawn said.
“You’ll be safe from him for a little while,” Loyalty murmured. She smiled. “Thanks for sticking around for me.”
Twilight smiled back. “Don’t mention it. We’d never leave our friend hanging.” She stopped dead in her tracks, her words reverberating around her skull, and Twilight gasped then winced in pain as memories flooded her head. Memories of another cyan pegasus, or was it the same mare? Flying, racing, causing a tornado around a manticore, just like Loyalty’s story. Saving her from falling. Saving somepony else…who? Parts the memory were shrouded in fog, as though this pony and this pony alone was all she could remember. And her name…
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight murmured. “Your name is Rainbow Dash.”
Loyalty chuckled. “Sorry, but no. It’s good that I remind you of someone awesome though.”
“Then you aren’t Razor Wind either,” Dawn said softly, her words tinged with melancholy.
“I really am Loyalty,” Loyalty explained. “Those other ponies, they’re who you think of when you think of loyalty the virtue. You’ve remembered them because you were loyal to me, when I needed you. Understand now?”
“I…kind of,” Twilight said.
“Enough talk,” Chrysalis snapped. “We should keep moving.”
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” Dawn asked, but Chrysalis did not respond. She just quickened her pace, until she was walking ahead of the rest of them without looking back.
They continued down the road, Dawn carrying Loyalty and thus lagging behind the others when they forgot to shorten their pace a little. They walked until their hooves were raw with no sign of the house of Kindness. Then it started to rain.
“Oh, this is terrific,” Dawn spat. “You’d better hope your friend’s house is nearby or you’re liable to get a fever, or worse.”
Loyalty grinned. “Don’t worry. If I know Kindness, you’ll see her any time-“
“Oh my goodness, what happened?”
“Now,” Loyalty whispered. “Hey there, Kindness; what’s up?”
Twilight saw what at first she took to be some sort of light coming down the path, but which she soon saw was actually a pony, another pegasus to be precise, with a coat of yellow and a flowing mane of lilac, with soft green eyes and long lashes. She had her forehooves to her mouth as she fluttered towards them, murmuring something that might not have been coherent even if Twilight had been able to hear it.
“Oh no! Oh my!” she said, ignoring the other ponies to focus on Loyalty. “Oh goodness, Loyalty, what happened to you?”
“I had a bit of a disagreement with Any Hardship,” Loyalty said. “I sure showed him.”
Kindness frowned. “You really shouldn’t be so reckless.”
“It’s not like I picked a fight with him,” Loyalty protested. “But I’m not feeling so great and it’s cold out here, so can my friends and I can crash at your place for a while?”
Kindness appeared to notice the other four for the first time. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry, where are my manners, letting you stand here getting soaked like this? Follow me everypony, my cottage isn’t very far at all.”
By ‘not very far’ she apparently meant just around the bend in the road, considering that they turned the corner and there it was, in spite of the fact that Twilight had seen no evidence of its existence before Kindness arrived. It was a homely looking cottage, with none of the opulent grandeur of the house of Generosity. But the light spilling out of the windows was soft and inviting, the smoke rising out of the chimney spoke of a warm fire within, and Twilight could swear that she could smell something delicious wafting out from the crack in the doorway.
“Welcome to my home,” Kindness said, pushing open the door and gesturing for them all to follow her. “Please, so long as you’re here, what’s mine is yours. Stay as long as you want.”
“That’s nice,” Dawn muttered, manoeuvring her way carefully through the door so as not to discomfort Loyalty. “Now, can you help our friend or not?”
“Certainly,” Kindness said. “Bring her in here.”
Twilight followed Dawn and Loyalty into a good-sized room with a light green carpet and a padded table in the middle, with bandages and medicines heaped in one corner. Together, Twilight and Dawn laid Loyalty on her belly on the table.
“Thanks, girls,” Loyalty murmured, closing her eyes. “Fix me up, Kindness.”
Kindness smiled fondly. “Thank you so much for bringing her here.”
“Just make sure you take care of her,” Dawn said, her voice a little hoarse. “She…she deserves...”
“She reminds us of both of somepony dear to us,” Twilight explained. “Which, I guess makes her important to us too.”
Kindness nodded. “I can take it from here. Why don’t you take your friends into the kitchen and get something to eat?”
“Where is it?” Dawn asked.
“Just follow the smell,” Kindness replied. She ushered them out into the front room, which was decorated with lots of hoof-made furniture and sculpture.
“How sickeningly rustic,” Chrysalis said.
“Don’t be like that,” Twilight said. “Kindness is being very…well, kind, to us.”
“She’s just cranky from whatever she remembered,” Dawn remarked.
“I am not cranky,” Chrysalis snapped. “I would never succumb to so petty a feeling.”
“What would you call it then?”
“Outraged.”
Twilight shook her head. “Play nice, everypony. Who wants something to eat? Trixie?”
Trixie didn’t say anything; she wouldn’t even meet Twilight’s eyes.
“We may as well keep our strength up,” Chrysalis said with a slight sigh.
Twilight led the way into Kindness’ kitchen – following her nose, as she had been told –and the others all followed her, even Trixie.
The kitchen was large and spacious, with a number of pots and pans bubbling away on a stove in one corner, while in the other half of the room a table lay groaning under the weight of victuals laid upon it: fruit, vegetables, cakes, cookies, tea, juice, ice cream, milkshakes, a mouth-watering array of things to fill the hungry stomach. Sitting alone in the far left corner of the table sat a zebra with a painted face and a distended belly, shovelling food into his mouth at an astonishing rate. He barely glanced at the four ponies as they walked in, and made no move to greet them or to introduce himself to them, but merely kept on eating at such a pace that Twilight would have thought he had been starving, or else feared that all this food would disappear before his eyes.
“How rude,” Twilight murmured.
“Never mind that,” Dawn said. “We’d better get stuck in before he eats everything.”
Dawn trotted over to the table – it seemed to get longer as she approached, so that the distance between the four ponies and the zebra was greater than it had seemed at first – and sat down, making short work of an apple and then immediately starting on another.
“Do you have to eat like an animal?” Twilight asked as she sat down opposite her and began to butter a slice of bread. “There’s plenty for everypony, you know.”
“When my memories of Razor Wind came back, one of things I remembered was being hungry,” Dawn said in between mouthfuls. “At least I think I did. But, since we don’t know where our next meal is coming from, I think we ought to make the most of the one in front of us.”
“I agree, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like a pig,” Twilight said.
“If Kindness minded, she would have kicked the zebra out already, don’t you think,” Dawn said, gesturing to the zebra who was getting crumbs everywhere as he devoured a plate of cookies with vigorous abandon.
“I just think we should hold ourselves to higher standards,” Twilight said primly. “Especially since our next meal is coming from here, in all likelihood. Remember Kindness said that we could stay as long as we wanted.”
Dawn’s mouth slowed to a halt as she frowned, pondering. “I guess so. Okay, I’ll make an effort if it will get you off my back about it.” Dawn’s pace of eating slowed to nearly match Twilight’s, although it was still a little faster and a little rougher too.
“Thank you,” Twilight said. “You know, that was a pretty good idea of yours out in the forest.”
“Thanks,” Dawn replied. “Couldn’t have pulled it off without you.”
“Or me,” Chrysalis remarked pointedly.
“I hadn’t forgotten,” Dawn said defensively.
“And of course, it was Trixie who dragged Loyalty away from the fighting,” Twilight said. “Thank you, Trixie.”
Trixie, who sat at the bottom of the table, a little away from the other three, said nothing. She wasn’t eating, barely picking at her food. Her head was lowered, and her silver mane had fallen across her face like a curtain, hiding it from view.
“Trixie?” Twilight asked. “Trixie, what’s the matter?”
“It’s your memories, isn’t it?” Dawn said, standing up and walking down the table towards Trixie. She sat down and put a hoof around Trixie’s shoulder. “Whatever you remembered, I’m guessing it wasn’t great? Come on, let it out or it will eat you up.”
You’re being unusually nice Twilight thought as she, too, rose to her hooves. “Trixie, whatever it is we promise not to judge you for it.”
Trixie sniffed, then sobbed as she brushed the mane out of her face. Twilight could see that she was crying. “Trixie betrayed her best friend,” she wailed. “She asked Trixie for her help when she needed it most and Trixie said no! Trixie abandoned her. Tri…I wasn’t loyal at all.”
Twilight was taken aback. She couldn’t imagine such a thing. When she thought of the memories she had recovered, the memories of Rainbow Dash, great warmth issued out of them to balm her soul. She couldn’t imagine ever betraying her. What kind of a pony was Trixie, that that was the memory she had recovered?
Chrysalis snorted. “Pathetic.”
Twilight scowled. “I said we wouldn’t judge her.”
“Who are you to speak for me?” Chrysalis demanded. “I will speak for myself and I think she’s a gutless coward!” She stood up. “Pardon me, I seem to have lost my appetite.” She talked away, slamming the door behind her.
For a moment, the only sound was the zebra eating away.
Twilight looked at Dawn. Dawn gestured with her head for Twilight to follow Chrysalis.
“You’ll be okay?”
Dawn nodded. “We’ll be fine.”
So, Twilight followed Chrysalis back out into the hall. She found the changeling sitting on the staircase, kicking her hooves forlornly on the lavender carpet, her head down and her eyes closed.
“Chrysalis,” Twilight said nervously. “Do you want to talk?”
“No,” Chrysalis replied.
“Well, too bad,” Twilight said sharply, sitting down in front of Chrysalis and staring at her intently. “What’s going on with you? You’ve been different ever since we regained some of our memories.” She paused. “From the way you talked to Trixie, I’m guessing you aren’t upset for the same reason she is.”
“Certainly not,” Chrysalis spat. “I would never abandon my people. Except that I have, haven’t I?”
“You don’t know that,” Twilight said. “None of us remember how we got here. What do you mean, your people?”
“My changelings,” Chrysalis declared. “I am their Queen, that is what I remembered when we rescued the pegasus Loyalty; I am a Queen.” Her tone softened, becoming melancholy. “I am a Queen and I have abandoned my folk though they depend on me.”
“I told you we don’t-“
“Whatever the reason I am here the fact remains: I am here,” Chrysalis said. “I am here and my children are elsewhere. Always they have stood by me, and always I have provided for them, but now I am away and who knows what they may be suffering in my absence.”
Twilight frowned. “You care about them. You sound like a good queen.”
Chrysalis chuckled. “I try to be, from what I recall. Though I fear I was not always as successful as I would like. The details are hazy at best, but I remember creeping into the heart of a fortress of my enemies to find food for my subjects.”
“Did you find any?”
“No,” Chrysalis admitted, after a moment’s hesitation. “I was caught and expelled from the fortress.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that,” Twilight said.
“Thank you,” Chrysalis said quietly. “We must get out of here, Twilight Sparkle, and soon; while I still have subjects to return to.”
Dawn approached Trixie slowly, sitting down beside her so close that she could feel the warmth from Trixie’s coat, and slowly put one hoof round Trixie’s shoulders.
“It’s okay,” Dawn whispered. “We all have regrets. Like I said, we all have memories we’d rather not recall.”
“But you haven’t remembered yours,” Trixie wailed. “Trixie remembered a friend she let down!”
“What do you think that I remembered?” Dawn demanded.
Trixie looked at her, eyes wide. “But, you said…”
“Twilight said that she remembered a lot of happy fun times with her friend Rainbow Dash, I never said that,” Dawn replied. “Yeah, there’s some of that in my head now; but there’s also years of being a leech, of being a user, of taking from Razor and giving nothing back because I knew she’d never call me on it. Compared to that, what you did doesn’t sound so bad, does it?”
“It doesn’t make it right,” Trixie muttered sullenly.
“No, it doesn’t,” Dawn conceded. “I tell you what: when we get out of this forest we’ll go find our best friends and we’ll apologise and promise to make it up to them. We’ll be better ponies from here on, ponies like Twilight may be.”
“You think she’s better than us?”
“She must be, I guess,” Dawn said. “She’s the only one who doesn’t have any bad memories yet.” She fixed Trixie with a stern glare. “If you tell her I said that, I’ll kick your flank.”
A little later that evening, Twilight found Dawn in one of Kindness’ guest bedrooms, tucking Trixie in.
“Is she going to be okay?” Twilight whispered.
“As much as any of us will,” Dawn replied, leaving the room and closing the door so that they wouldn’t disturb Trixie. “How did it go with Chrysalis?”
“She wants to get out of here,” Twilight said. “But I suppose that’s true of all of us. Thank you for being nice to Trixie, I didn’t expect it of you.”
Dawn smirked. “Just because I’m not nice doesn’t mean I can’t be.”
“You don’t seem to hate me so much either,” Twilight pointed out.
Dawn’s face fell and she scowled. “I’ve found another pony I dislike more.”
“Hey,” Twilight said. “You were there for Trixie, now let me be here for you.”
Dawn looked into her eyes. “Good of you to offer, but there’s nothing you can do that you aren’t already doing. Just lead us out of here.”
“I will,” Twilight swore. “But tonight we rest.”
“Yeah,” Dawn said. “Tonight we rest.”
So they rested that night, and the next day, and the day after and the day after that. They ate lavish spreads for breakfast, lunch and supper, and each night they slept on soft feather beds. Kindness attended to their every need, no matter how early or late; she seemed happy to help, and whenever Twilight or the others asked if they were imposing she would insist how glad she was to take care of them, and how she wouldn’t hear of them leaving before they were ready.
And the more they stayed, the less ready to leave they seemed to get. Twilight sat, shovelling food into her mouth almost as fast as the zebra, who had been Kindness’ guest for more years than Kindness could remember, and felt unwilling to even think about taking her leave. Only Chrysalis seemed to want to venture out of the house, and she always found her anger and impatience easily brushed aside by Kindness’ soft-spoken intransigence.
Now it was Dawn’s turn to pick at her food, glancing uncertainly at Twilight, Trixie and Chrysalis.
“What’s the matter, Dawn?” Twilight asked in between great mouthfuls. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Not for food I didn’t work for,” Dawn replied. “We need to go.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Chrysalis said with her mouth full.
“Yeah, but not for us,” Dawn said. “For Kindness. She’ll let us mooch of her all year, I don’t doubt; but that doesn’t make it right just because she allows it. Almost the opposite.”
Twilight paused, feeling guilt began to settle on her stomach. Beside her, the zebra continued to eat messily.
“Kindness hasn’t said anything,” Trixie ventured.
“That’s the point,” Dawn shouted. “She never will say anything, but is this how you want to live your whole life, as a burden to another pony?. Come on, everypony, Kindness doesn’t deserve this. Let’s leave her to her peace.”
“What peace?” Twilight asked. “He’ll still be here.” She gestured with her muzzle towards the oblivious zebra.
“Exactly,” Dawn said. “Do you really want to end up just like him?”
Twilight looked at him: no, honestly she really didn’t.
“It won’t be very easy to convince her to let us leave,” Twilight murmured. “She likes having us.”
“She doesn’t like having us, she puts up with it,” Dawn said.
“How do you know?” Trixie asked.
“I don’t know exactly, call it a gut feeling,” Dawn replied. “Are we all agreed?”
“Yes,” Twilight said.
“I just want to get going,” Chrysalis said.
“No, you don’t get it, we have to want out for the right reasons,” Dawn said emphatically. “Do you want to get out of Kindness’ mane and stop hassling her? That is the question. Chrysalis? Trixie?”
Trixie hesitated. “Trixie supposed so.”
“Chrysalis,” Dawn said. “It has to be for her sake.”
Chrysalis frowned. “Very well, let us make the pony’s life easier.”
“Is something wrong?” Kindness asked as she fluttered into the room.
“No,” Dawn said brightly. “Nothing’s wrong. In fact things are great; that is why we are going to leave you alone now.”
“You’re leaving?” Kindness gasped. “But I don’t think you’re ready yet. I mean, it isn’t like you have to go, you can stay as long as you want. I don’t mind at all.”
“I know,” Dawn said. “We all know that. We aren’t leaving because we think you mind taking care of us; we’re leaving because we mind making you.”
“You’ve been very kind to us, these last few days,” Twilight said as she stood up. “Now let us be kind to you.”
Kindness smiled brightly, and as she smiled she and her entire house began to fade away. “Thank you,” she whispered. “And congratulations.”
And then she was gone, and the four ponies stood upon the road with bulging packs at their feet, food and blankets augmenting the gifts they had received from Generosity.
Twilight felt her head spin as more memories returned, of a yellow pegasus with a mild manner and a great heart.
“Fluttershy,” she whispered.
Chrysalis took out the scarlet cloak that Generosity had given her, and swaddled herself in it like a foal as she muttered something to herself.
“Twilight,” Trixie cried, her voice trembling. “You forgave me.”
Twilight blinked. “Forgave you for what?”
“Trixie doesn’t remember,” Trixie said. “Trixie only remembers that you forgave Trixie.”
“That was…nice of me, I guess,” Twilight said, although she had no idea what Trixie was talking about. “Dawn, how did you know that was what we had to do? What did you remember?”
Dawn stood with her back to the other three ponies, looking down the road to the further challenges that lay ahead. “I think I must have had an inkling of what I would remember when I realised what had to be done.”
“Why?” Twilight pressed her. “What did you remember?”
Dawn bowed her head. “That I was the zebra.”