//------------------------------//
// Underlying Signals 
// Story: Fortune Favors The Bold 
// by TheEquestrianWing 
//------------------------------//

Bronze Star and the six mares soaked in the herbal bath for another ten minutes before they got out. Rarity decided to linger at the spa for a while longer, as she tended to make weekly visits there anyway. The others thanked Zecora for curing them of their Poison Joke, and then they left the building to continue going about their day.

Everypony except Bronze Star headed straight for home. Instead of returning to the embassy, the gold stallion went with Fluttershy to her cottage so he could pick up Arthur. The moment they stepped through the door, Bronze Star spotted Arthur at the table on the other side of the room. He was in his cage, but the door was wide open. He was perched upright and resting comfortable. The gold stallion was delighted to see that his pet hawk was all better. Arthur was just as pleased to see his master.

Bronze Star took a moment to inspect Arthur's wing. Other than a bit of tenderness in the feathers, there appeared to be no sign that it had ever been broken. Fluttershy briefly explained that she had used a special remedy to mend the broken bones. She had done this to heal Arthur as quickly and efficiently as possible without leaving any trace of his injury.

The young prince commended the yellow Pegasus on her work. While she was grateful for that, she insisted that she was just glad she was able to heal Arthur.

Before Bronze Star left, Fluttershy let him know that Arthur was already capable of flying again, but she advised him to have Arthur take it nice and easy for the next few weeks. She was concerned that if Arthur flew too much or too far too soon, he would get hurt again. Bronze Star assured her that he would not allow his hawk to overexert himself. He then bid the shy Pegasus a good day and departed from her cottage.

Although Bronze Star was glad that Arthur had made a full recovery, he could not help but be perturbed by the circumstances of how his pet hawk came to acquire the wound in the first place. He thought back to the conclusion he had arrived at back at the spa.

Could it be possible that somepony had broken into his bedroom at Canterlot Castle? Before today, he would have thought it extremely unlikely. Other than his mother's quarters, a vault in the throne room, and a private chamber used by the Firebrand Regiment, Bronze Star's bedroom was the most secure room in the entire castle. It was always locked, and the only people who had a key to the door were Bronze Star and Princess Celestia.

Then again, there were ways of opening doors without turning the locks.

As soon as he got back to the embassy, Bronze Star headed up to his room. He placed Arthur on a table and opened the cage, beckoning him to stretch his wings and get accustomed to his new home.

While Arthur explored the room, his master gathered some parchment, a quill, and an inkwell. Bronze Star then drafted a letter to Lord Bellerophon. The content of the letter focused on two main topics.

Firstly, there was the matter of the Firebrand Regiment's activities. Bronze Star wanted to know if the interrogation of Material Study and Raoul Jowl had produced any results. Knowing them, they had almost certainly gotten one or both of the stallions to talk.

Secondly, there was the matter of what might have happened in his bedroom. In this part, he briefly explained how Arthur's wing had been broken. Then he covered his theory that Arthur had been attacked by an intruder. As such, Bronze Star requested that his mentor have his bedroom searched for any sign of a break-in. He bade him to pay especial attention to the filing cabinet.

Since Lord Bellerophon would need a key to get into his bedroom, Bronze Star instructed him to borrow his mother's key. In case she asked why, Bronze Star suggested that he claim that the young prince had left something in the room, and that he needed his mentor to send it to him. He was confident she would be content with that.

Bellerophon would need a separate key to open the filing cabinet. Bronze Star informed him that the key to the filing cabinet was hidden behind a few books in the third shelf of his bookcase. He asked the palomino Pegasus to examine the filing cabinet closely and determine if any of the documents had been removed or replaced.

Once he was finished writing the letter, Bronze Star rolled it up and fastened it with the royal seal. He addressed it to Lord Bellerophon, being sure to write "For Your Eyes Only" on the front. He wanted to get this letter to Bellerophon as soon as possible, so he decided to go to seek out Spike straightaway. He brought along Arthur for the sake of inclusion. Once the fierce bird perched himself on his master's shoulder, Bronze Star made his way to Golden Oaks Library.

As he suspected, Twilight Sparkle and Spike were there. He found them in the kitchen eating brunch. Initially, Bronze Star was confused, but it soon occurred to him that it was still the morning, and nopony in their group had eaten before getting cured of their Poison Joke.

Although he was in the middle of his meal, the baby dragon was more than willing to send the letter to Canterlot before he finished it. After all, it took him less than ten seconds to do so.

Once the letter was delivered, Twilight Sparkle offered for Bronze Star to have brunch with them. It was then that the gold stallion realized he was famished, so he eagerly accepted and joined them at the table.

Since ponies were herbivores, there was no meat on the table. However, hawks were mostly carnivores, so they had nothing Arthur preferred. Fortunately, Fluttershy had already fed him earlier that morning. He just remained on his master's left shoulder while he and the others ate.

Spike commented on how Arthur looked much better than he did last week. Bronze Star happily agreed. The baby dragon was sitting to the left of Bronze Star, meaning Arthur was within reach of him. Spike felt a little bold and lifted his right claw up to the hawk. He lightly stroked him on the back.

Normally, Arthur would try to attack anypony who touched him like that. However, he did not reject Spike's friendly gesture. If anything, he seemed to welcome it. Bronze Star smiled at this. Arthur's time with Fluttershy must have made him more open and easygoing towards others. Also while Bronze Star had never suspected Spike of hurting Arthur, this scene in front of him was all he needed to confirm Spike's innocence. If somepony really did attack his pet hawk, the perpetrator was certainly not the baby dragon.

After the two ponies and the baby dragon finished brunch and washed the dishes, Bronze Star planned to go back to the embassy. Just before he headed out the door, Spike covered his mouth and belched a burst of green fire. A letter from Canterlot was produced by the embers. At first, Bronze Star thought it was Lord Bellerophon's response to the letter he had just sent him. However, he quickly dismissed this idea when he noticed it was addressed to Twilight Sparkle. It turned out this letter was not from Bronze Star's mentor, but from his mother.

The young prince was still curious to know what was on the letter, so he asked Twilight to read it aloud. Since there was nothing private or personal in the letter, she willingly complied.

The letter was mostly Princess Celestia acknowledging her apprentice's accomplishments during her stay in Ponyville. In it, she applauded Twilight Sparkle for learning so many valuable lessons about friendship in the town in under two months. She mentioned that she was so impressed that she was impelled to pay the town a visit. She decided that she would do just that in a week.

Bronze Star was elated to hear this part. He had not seen his mother since the Summer Sun Celebration. That was by far the longest he had gone without seeing her. While he enjoyed living Ponyville, he missed her dearly. Now she was coming to Ponyville!

Twilight Sparkle was excited to learn this as well, but this news also made her somewhat anxious. Bronze Star noticed the lavender mare seemed a little uneasy, and he asked her if anything was wrong. She told him that she was concerned that Ponyville was not prepared to receive a member of the Equestrian Royalty. Bronze Star would have pointed out that he enjoyed living in the town, but that argument would have been pretty useless, seeing as how he was there as a civilian. Still, he did not want Twilight to needlessly worry. So he assured the magic student that one week would be plenty of time to get Ponyville ready to welcome Princess Celestia.

Of course, they would not be able to prepare the town by themselves. They would need a lot of help from the townsfolk. Aside from that, the citizens of Ponyville needed to know that the leader of their nation was coming to the town.

Twilight Sparkle and Bronze Star decided to tell the rest of the town right away. They started by heading over to Town Hall together. To their luck, Mayor Mare and the whole of City Council were assembled there at the time. The lavender mare and the gold stallion informed them that Princess Celestia would be gracing the town with her presence in exactly one week.

This news had the expected effect on the town's policymakers. They were absolutely thrilled. However, they also shared Twilight's apprehension as to whether the town was prepared to properly greet Celestia. They started outlining plans to make arrangements to improve the town.

The mayor and City Council wanted to make Celestia feel genuinely welcomed to the town, but they did not know very much about her on a personal level. Fortunately, Bronze Star and Twilight Sparkle were able to provide them with several useful ideas on how to properly receive the princess. After all, they knew her better than the rest of the town put together.

Twilight Sparkle filled them in on Celestia's appreciation for protocol, thorough effort, meticulous detail, and similar concepts. Bronze Star apprised them of Celestia's fondness for flowers, cake, music, fine apparel, and similar subjects. Essentially, she handled all the formal matters, whereas he took care of the informal ones.

Although Twilight Sparkle knew her teacher very well, her knowledge what the white Alicorn liked and disliked paled in comparison to Bronze Star's. He was able to disclose a sizable amount of information to the mayor and City Council about his mother's preferences. While they were grateful to learn all of this, they were curious as to how an ambassador from Canterlot knew so much personal information about Equestria's supreme leader. Thankfully, Bronze Star was prepared to explain himself. He simply told them that he had a seat on Celestia's Council, and that he was a member of her inner circle. As such, he spent a great deal of time with the Princess, and he knew her on a personal level.

In actuality, both those claims were true. Of course, the primary reason he knew Celestia so well was pretty obvious. But he was unwilling to share that reason with anypony else just yet.

Later that day, the mayor called for an assembly in the town square. Nearly everypony in town showed up for it. The mayor opened the speech by sharing the news that Celestia would be arriving in seven days. She paused for a minute to give the audience a chance to embrace the news. Naturally, everypony was ecstatic to hear this. There was an air of enthusiasm and cheerfulness throughout the area.

Once the crowd got used to this idea, the mayor enlightened them that this was supposed to be a casual event. All the same, she also declared that she expected everypony in the town to play a part in the arrangements. She then proceeded to distribute various tasks and assignments to certain groups of ponies.

The next week was spent preparing the town in anticipation of Celestia's arrival. Three days before she was due to arrive, Bronze Star had his weekly meeting with the mayor and part of City Council. This meeting only lasted about an hour, as not that much had happened in Canterlot lately. About half of the meeting was just the council discussing the preparations for Celestia's visit. They wanted to be sure that they were doing everything right, and they felt the best way to ascertain this was by consulting the gold stallion. After briefly reviewing the checklist and the records, Bronze Star guaranteed that they were on the right track. At this rate, the town would be totally ready to welcome Celestia by the time she arrived.

For almost the entire week, it seemed as though nopony in Ponyville could think about anything other than Celestia's upcoming visit. That may have indeed been in the case. Or at least it would have been, if not for a certain farmer and a certain politician.

Despite how obsessed everypony else appeared to be over Celestia's impending stopover, Bronze Star and Applejack managed to focus on other things. Primarily each other. They met at either the embassy or the apple ranch at least once a day. They were still just friends, but they were both well on the way to viewing each other as more than that.

Before they went that far, they wanted to get to know each other's family. Applejack already knew some things about Bronze Star's aunt, and she planned to become better acquainted with his mother once she appeared in town. He still did not know that much about her siblings and grandmother, but she was confident that that problem could easily be remedied. She proposed that sometime before his mother came to town, they choose a specific date for when he would have dinner at her place. After contemplating their options, they settled on the night before Celestia was supposed to arrive.

Now everypony in Ponyville had something to look forward to. Bronze Star was looking forward to officially meeting Applejack's family, Applejack was looking forward to officially introducing Bronze Star to her loved ones, and everypony else was looking forward to Celestia's appearance in town.

Two days later, Bronze Star got up as early as he always did. Typically, most of the town was still asleep at this hour. However, on this particular day, the majority of the town was up and about. This made sense, considering the fact that Celestia was supposed to arrive the following day.

On that day, he did not have anything prepared until the evening, so he decided to check up on the town's progress. Twilight was unofficially in charge of the arrangements, so Bronze Star stopped by Golden Oaks Library first to see what she was up to. He found a lot of books scattered across the floor. Spike was in the process of picking them up.

Twilight was doing very little other than beckoning him to work faster. She mumbled "Oh! Hurry up, Spike! This place isn't gonna clean itself."

"It also didn't mess itself up," Spike muttered irately as he stacked one book on a short stack of books.

Twilight ignored that and reminded him "Princess Celestia will be here tomorrow!"

"I thought this was just an unofficial casual visit," Spike calmly pointed out.

"There's nothing casual about a visit from royalty," Twilight Sparkle countered, "I want this place to be spotless, and you've barely made a dent in the clutter."

"Well, at least he's getting something done, Twilight," Bronze Star cockily uttered.

"I'm getting things done!" the lavender mare insisted, "I'm supervising. That's just as important as the actual work."

"True," Bronze Star coincided, looking around the room, "But do you really need all these books out at the same time?"

"Well… maybe not," Twiight tentatively replied, "Maybe."

"Maybe you should, ugh, start reading them one at a time—" Spike proposed as he tried stacking the books higher and higher. He accidentally lost his balance and tumbled into another pile of books.

He lightly groaned in annoyance and discomfort. Twilight approached him with a feather duster and duster both the baby dragon and the books off. As she did this, she declared "Everything's got to be perfect. No time for fooling around."

"You know, this would be an awful lot easier if there weren't two of us here getting under each other's feet," Spike proposed somewhat heatedly.

"Great idea," Twilight Sparkle concurred, "You clean, I'll go see how everyone else's preparations are coming."

"Or maybe I should..." Spike hurriedly began. But before he could get in another word, the female Unicorn was making her way out the door. He groaned agitatedly at this.

As she passed by the young prince, Twilight Sparkle turned to him and asked "You coming, Bronze?"

"Sure," he responded candidly. He actually was interested in the preparations. He was just as determined to give his mother the right impression as Twilight was.

The two of them swiftly departed from the library. As they passed through the streets, they surveyed the actions of their fellow Ponyvillians. They were chattering amongst themselves, but they all seemed to be working diligently.

Bronze Star and Twilight Sparkle kept trotting until they reached the park. They noticed that Golden Harvest and Berry Punch were in the process of putting up a banner by the path. The gold stallion and the lavender mare stopped to get a look at the banner. It was an excellent sign… with one very minor exception. It was meant to say "Welcome Princess Celestia," but the last two letters had been cut off.

"What happened to the rest of her name?" Twilight Sparkle inquired.

"We couldn't fit it all in," Golden Harvest enlightened her.

"You can't hang a banner that says 'Welcome Princess Celest,'" Twilight peevishly remarked, "Take it down and try again."

After that, she continued down the path. Golden Harvest and Berry Punch seemed somewhat astounded by Twilight's demands. Bronze Star could see that they were bothered. He proclaimed "Don't worry; it just needs to be wider. Other than that, it's perfect."

Bronze Star then left the two mares to redo the banner, and he galloped in the same direction as Twilight. Once he caught up with her and they were trotting side-by-side again, he informed her "You know, funny story. A couple years ago, Lord Bellerophon actually referred to my mother as 'Celest' this one time."

Twilight raised an eyebrow in interest and said amusingly "Really?"

"Yeah, it happened on this one day when both of them were in a really good mood," Bronze Star recounted, "It was the only time he ever addressed her in an informal manner. Or at least the only time I witnessed such a thing. Every other time I've seen the two of them in the same place, he's always called her 'Your Highness,' 'Your Majesty,' 'Your Grace,' 'Princess Celestia,' or 'Princess.' Still, I often wonder if my mother likes him as more than her chief of staff."

"Well, I've always thought that the two of them have seemed very close," Twilight Sparkle professed, "All the same, Lord Bellerophon is perhaps the most formal and by-the-book individual I've ever met."

"Most of the time, he may seem like that," Bronze Star accorded, "However, he calls me 'Bronze Star' or just 'Bronze' all the time. So he must have some regard for casualness."

"I guess so," Twilight commented.

The two of them advanced further down the path. They saw Bon Bon watering some patches of flowers in another part of the park. She paused when she noticed the lavender mare and the gold stallion were watching her.

"That looks perfect," Twilight complimented her, "Keep up the good work."

The beige mare smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgment.

Twilight and Bronze left her to her work. As they headed away from the park, Bronze looked back at Bon Bon and remarked "I wonder where Lyra is?"

"I believe she's assisting with the musical accompaniment at Town Hall," Twilight thought aloud, "Why do you ask?"

"I was expecting her to be with Bon Bon," Bronze Star explicated, "From what I've seen, they're almost always together. How about that? We've been here so long that I'm beginning to make notes of who's with who."

"Do you suppose Bon Bon and Lyra are best friends?" Twilight Sparkle queried.

"Either that or… they're 'friends' like me and Applejack," Bronze Star theorized.

Twilight lightly scoffed at that and remarked "They could be. If they are, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not one to pass judgment."

"Neither am I," Bronze Star said in agreement.

After confirming that the park was amply prepared, Bronze Star and Twilight Sparkle made their way to Sugarcube Corner next. When they got there, they found Carrot Cake and Cup Cake busy with gathering trays and platters of food in the front room.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cake," Twilight Sparkle greeted the bakers, "How's the banquet coming?"

"Uh...it would be coming a little better if..." Mrs. Cake stated nervously. She gestured to the tables against the walls. There were plenty of delicacies on all of them. However, many of them were conspicuously half-eaten. The reason for this quickly became evident.

Pinkie Pie was gorging down a chocolate cake. As she slurped the icing on the top, she mumbled "Mmm..."

"Pinkie!" Twilight Sparkle yelled in shock as she approached the pink mare, "What are you doing? Those sweets are supposed to be for the princess."

"I know," Pinkie nonchalantly replied, "That's why I'm tasting them. Somepony needs to make sure that everything is tasty enough to touch the royal tongue."

She then donned a fake golden crown and announced in a somewhat formal tone while approached a yellow cake with buttercream frosting "And I, Pinkie Pie, declare that these treats are fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess."

At this time, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were both in the other room. Bronze Star walked over to the pink mare and clearly vocalized "Ahem."

"Oh, or a prince," Pinkie Pie added in, turning to the gold stallion, "Sorry, Bronze; I didn't mean to leave you out."

Bronze Star just smirked and coolly stated "No worries, Pinkie. Truthfully, I try to eat as healthily as possible most of the time. I do that so I can keep up with my combat training and all. Thankfully, I don't have to follow the exact same diet as the military, so I can still eat sweet foods."

"That's great," Pinkie Pie happily remarked, "I can't imagine not being allowed to have cupcakes at least two or three times today. Would you care for one?"

Bronze Star scoffed and answered her with "No, thank you. I just had breakfast an hour ago. However, my mother has always had a weakness for cake. I like confectionaries, but nowhere near as much as she does. I'm certain she'll enjoy all of these. So make sure you save some for her."

"You got it," Pinkie Pie asserted.

She was about to tuck into the yellow cake, but before she could, a familiar soft voice gently called out from outside the building "Twilight, Pinkie, Bronze, you won't believe..."

The three ponies turned to the front entrance and saw Fluttershy enter a moment later. When the yellow mare noticed they were standing so close together, she halted in her pace and stated timidly "Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, am I interrupting?"

"No, not at all," Pinkie Pie assured her, "Come on in and make yourself at home."

She then picked up the yellow cake with her tongue, slurped it into her mouth, and swallowed it whole. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes, and Bronze Star chuckled in amusement. Once Pinkie finished consuming the cake, she turned to the Pegasus and queried "What's going on, Fluttershy?"

"You won't believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree Forest," Fluttershy informed them. She turned to her right and cooed over her shoulder "Come on out, little guy. It's okay."

A moment later, a small creature crawled out of her mane. It was shaped like a blue ball, and it had large green eyes and a pair of wings. It purred and chirped as it slowly flew out of Fluttershy's hair. A moment later, two similar creature followed it. One of them was yellow and the other was brown.

Fluttershy seemed mildly surprised by the presence of these two. She gasped and muttered quietly "Three?"

Despite her surprise, Twilight Sparkle seemed intrigued by the tiny winged creatures. She walked over to the yellow Pegasus and remarked "They're amazing. What are they?"

"I'm not sure," Fluttershy answered her, "I'm also not sure where these other two came from."

"I'll take one off your hooves," Twilight Sparkle offered, approached the yellow one, "I've never seen anything so... adorable."

She gently nuzzled the yellow creature with her forehead. Then she professed "Besides, it'll be nice to have a companion for Spike so he won't bother me so much while I'm studying."

Fluttershy accepted this proposal. She looked across the room at Pinkie Pie and offered "Pinkie, do you want the other one?"

Surprisingly, Pinkie Pie was not moved by the endearing creatures. If anything, she appeared disgusted and agitated. She spat angrily "UGH! A parasprite? Are you kidding?"

"Ugh?" Fluttershy repeated in confusion.

"A para-what?" Twilight Sparkle queried.

"I believe she said 'parasprite,'" Bronze Star noted, "A most interesting name."

As Pinkie headed towards the entrance of the sweet shop, Fluttershy stated "How could you not like..."

Pinkie Pie abruptly cut her off with "Ugh. Now I gotta go find a trombone."

"A what?" Twilight said in perplexity.

"A trombone, you know," Pinkie Pie replied. Then she did a basic yet somewhat accurate imitation of a trombone. After that, she trotted out the door.

"Ahhh, typical Pinkie," Twilight drily commented.

"Well, at least we got her to stop eating the baked goods," Bronze Star brightly pointed out.

"That's certainly a good thing," Twilight said in agreement.

The blue parasprite returned to Fluttershy's mane, and the yellow parasprite purred and rubbed its face against Twilight's forehead. The brown parasprite was currently hovering in the air on its own.

"Would you like this one, Bronze?" Fluttershy proposed.

"Sure," the gold stallion replied, grinning deviously, "I've been having some trouble getting my hooves on meat for Arthur. Maybe this parasprite could tide him over."

The lavender Unicorn and the yellow Pegasus seemed horrified by the implication of that statement. He got a good laugh when he saw the expressions on their faces. Then he told them assuredly "Relax, I'm joking. I doubt Arthur would eat something as unusual as a parasprite. Aside from that, I wouldn't let such a grim thing happen to this little guy."

"That's a relief," Fluttershy commented, easing down considerably. There was a short pause, and then the yellow mare pronounced, "Well, I should probably get back to picking flowers for Princess Celestia."

"Alright, Fluttershy," Bronze Star acknowledged, "Remember that her favorites are tulips, daffodils, and marigolds."

"Okay, Bronze; I'll keep an eye out for those," Fluttershy proclaimed, "I'll see you guys either later today or tomorrow."

"See you later, Fluttershy," Twilight told her friend.

The yellow Pegasus then left Sugarcube Corner and made her way back to the border of the Everfree Forest. The lavender mare and the gold stallion left shortly after; their respective parasprites had crawled into their tails. They had a lot of things left to accomplish on their agenda before they could head back home.

"Where to now?" Bronze Star inquired.

"I'd say Carousel Boutique," Twilight suggested, "Let's see how Rarity's ensembles are progressing."

"Sounds good to me," Bronze Star coincided. He snickered and thought aloud "I heard she somehow got Rainbow to model some of her costumes. Could you imagine that? Rainbow of all people in a formal getup?"

Twilight simply giggled and remarked "That I gotta see."

Soon the two of them arrived at Carousel Boutique. There Rarity was in the process of suiting Rainbow Dash up in a rather extravagant dress with a very flamboyant wig to match. The white mare was working quickly, but the cyan mare was impatiently trotting in place, as if she was anxious to move.

"Stand still, Rainbow Dash," Rarity beckoned her friend.

"Ugh, I caaan't, I need to flyyy!" Rainbow Dash moaned in annoyance. She tried to fly off the podium she was standing on, but Rarity seized her by her wings and held her down, "This is waaay too boring for me."

"Do you want to look nice for Princess Celestia or not?" Rarity snapped crossly.

Truth be told, Rainbow Dash did want to leave a positive impression of herself on Princess Celestia. However, she was beginning to wonder if doing so would be worth it if she had to go through this fitting.

"Wow," Twilight Sparkle remarked in admiration, "Rarity, those outfits are gorgeous."

"Mmhmm; thank you, Twilight," the white mare stated appreciatively. She glared at Rainbow Dash out of the corner of her eye and scathingly uttered "Nice to know someone appreciates my talents."

"Ugh, sooo boooring," Rainbow Dash groaned peevishly.

Bronze Star got a good look at the cyan mare's current apparel. He placed his left front hoof over his mouth and attempted to suppress the urge to burst out laughing. He more or less succeeded, but he did get out a little bit of chuckling.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the gold stallion and murmured heatedly "You think this is funny, Bronze?"

"Actually, I do," Bronze Star disclosed, sniggering gleefully, "Nice outfit, Rainbow."

"Do you not like it, Bronze?" Rarity asked in worry.

"No Rarity, it's not the outfit itself I'm laughing at," Bronze Star asserted, "It's the way it appears on your 'model.' I'm sorry, Rainbow, but you just look SO ridiculous in that getup."

"I thought as much," Rainbow Dash bluntly remarked, "Don't you breathe a word of this to anypony."

"Relax; I won't," Bronze Star assured her, "I mean, just imagine what kind gossip would circulate through the town if this got out. I can see it now; somepony goes up to a neighbor and whispers to them 'Rainbow Dash always dresses in style.'"

At that, Twilight and Rarity both chortled in amusement. Rainbow Dash growled and spat angrily "Bronze, if you weren't a prince, I would deck you right now."

Bronze Star was never intimidated by threats, but he was compelled to test the validity of Rainbow Dash's claim. He approached the podium, lifted his chin up, and declared "Well, don't let that stop you, Rainbow. If you want to take a swing at me, go right ahead."

Rainbow Dash was astounded by this. Normally when she gave people a warning, they left her alone or became startled. Bronze Star reacted in a much different manner. She could tell that he was not mocking her; he was taking her very seriously. He was actually giving her an opportunity to strike him.

After about thirty seconds of unpleasant silence, Rainbow Dash eased down and told the gold stallion "I wasn't being serious, Bronze. I'm not going to hit you; you're my friend. I'd never hit a friend."

"Well, I'm glad to know that," Bronze Star remarked, lowering his chin, "All teasing aside, you really don't look THAT bad in that outfit. Plus, my mother will be pleased to see that somepony of our generation has some regard for ceremonial getup. She'll probably think of you and Rarity as two people who have decent taste."

Rainbow Dash lightly grinned at that and remarked "Then maybe wearing this stupid costume will be worth it after all."

Rarity grumbled at hearing her work being referred to as "stupid." Twilight and Bronze just chuckled.

Just then, a chirping sound was produced from Twilight's tail. It did not go unnoticed by the white mare and cyan mare.

"Huh?" Rarity said in interest.

Rainbow Dash flew above the lavender mare and enquired "What's that sound, Twilight?"

Before Twilight could reply, the yellow parasprite crawled out of her tail. However, so did a pink one and a blue one. They all chirped softly as they landed on the magic student's back.

"Wow, what are they?" Rainbow Dash queried.

"The better question is, where did they come from?" Twilight Sparkle stated in perplexity, "I only had one a minute ago."

"Uh, I'll take one," Rainbow Dash offered, swiping the yellow one.

"Me too," Rarity proposed, smiling at the tiny creatures, "Oh, they're perfect."

Rarity took the blue one and Twilight held on to the pink one.

Just then, Pinkie Pie appeared at the entrance of the emporium and urgently queried "Does anypony know where I can find an accordion?"

Bronze Star was the only one who heard her. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were fawning over the parasprites and showering them with affection.

"Girls! Hello! This is important." Pinkie Pie pleaded the three mares. When they did not respond, she muttered irately "Durgh! Thanks a lot."

She then turned to the young prince and asked him hopefully "What about you, Bronze? Do you know where I might find an accordion?"

"You're asking the wrong pony, Pinkie," Bronze Star illuminated, "While I enjoy listening to and studying music, my own knowledge of singing and playing musical instruments is practically nonexistent."

"I understand," Pinkie Pie declared, "Oh, well; I guess I'll just keep looking. Somepony in this town is bound to have one."

She then headed back outside in search of an accordion. Bronze Star was a little curious as to what she aimed to do with it, but he decided not to ask.

After confirming that Rarity's ensembles were in perfect condition, Twilight Sparkle and Bronze Star left Carousel Boutique. The two of them spent the rest of the morning and some of the early afternoon checking up on the rest of the arrangements. They ended up going all over town. After what happened at Sugarcube Corner and Carousel Boutique, they decided to keep a close eye on their parasprites in case anything strange happened again. Luckily, nothing of the sort did. The parasprites seemed very well-behaved and attached to them.

The last stop Twilight and Bronze made was at Sweet Apple Acres. While Mr. and Mrs. Cake were managing the desserts for the banquet, the Apple family had been tasked with every other part of the feast. Applejack and Granny Smith had been cooking almost nonstop for the past two days. They wanted to make sure that all the food was ready by the time Celestia arrived, but they also wanted to ensure that everything was still nice and fresh once tomorrow came around.

Twilight Sparkle and Bronze Star were pleased to see that the buffet had been excellently and wholly prepared. They knew they could count on Applejack not to let them down, as she was perhaps the most trustworthy of their Ponyville friends. Twilight decided to head back to Golden Oaks Library and assist Spike with cleaning up the place. Bronze Star would have stayed at Sweet Apples Acres longer, but he had a few things to get done at the embassy. Aside from that, he would be returning to the ranch later that night anyway.

After ascertaining that all the arrangements were in order, Bronze Star got back to the embassy. Once he arrived, he went straight to his room. He found his pet hawk gliding along the ceiling. In the past week, Arthur had regained enough of his wing strength to fly around his master's bedroom for a prolonged period of time.

When Bronze Star entered the room, Arthur flew over to his master and rested on his shoulder. The gold stallion smiled at the hawk and told him "Hey, Arthur, guess what I've got?"

Arthur cocked his head and gazed at the gold stallion inquisitively. Bronze Star looked over his other shoulder and flicked his tail upward. A moment later, the brown parasprite rose out of it, chirping lightly. Arthur had a mixed reaction to the spherical creature. He seemed captivated and dubious at the same time.

"I brought a little 'friend' for you," Bronze Star declared.

He said 'friend' that way because Arthur was not the type that made friends very easily. He did not even mingle with other birds very often. That was not to say he was totally adverse to the concept of making friends. Since his master seemed somewhat fond of the parasprite, he was willing to give the small creature a chance.

The brown paraprite grinned at the hawk; Arthur merely nodded in acknowledgement. Just then, there was another chirping sound. Bronze Star gazed over his shoulder and saw a red parasprite rising out of his tail. He raised an eyebrow and said in bewilderment "Hmmm, odd. One of this guy's friends must have snuck in when I wasn't looking."

Bronze Star was intrigued by the red parasprite's sudden appearance. However, he was not compelled to question where it had come from. He had more important matters to attend to.

"Well, I've got some work to do," Bronze Star informed his Arthur, "You can just… interact with our new acquaintances. Please try not to maim them, maul them, or bruise them."

Arthur nodded in understanding. However, he was mildly suspicious of the two parasprites, so while he did interact with them, he also kept a close eye on them.

Bronze Star went over to his desk to get his work done. He started by looking over the latest news update from Canterlot. It had arrived just that morning. Nothing of precedence seemed to have happened in the capital city over the course of the past week. Bronze Star found this somewhat ironic. Ponyville had a reputation as a calmer and more serene town, yet in the past couple months, it had witnessed many more interesting and exciting events than the capital city had. That was another reason why he found civilian life as enjoyable as royal life.

Bronze Star was finished with all his work by four o'clock. Dinner at Sweet Apple Acres was not until seven o'clock. However, Applejack had suggested getting there a little early so that he could talk with her family before the actual meal. As such, he decided to get there at around six-fifteen. It was about a fifteen-minute walk to Sweet Apple Acres, so he planned to leave the embassy at six on the dot.

He spent most of the next two hours reading books and watching Arthur mingle with the parasprites. At around five o'clock, he thought about putting some outfit on. Then he recalled that Applejack had insisted that he did not have to dress up just to impress her family. This was supposed to be an informal gathering, after all. In the end, he decided just to bring his knapsack, as he was in the habit of carrying it around everywhere he went.

Five minutes before six o'clock, Bronze Star stepped into the bathroom to wash his face and comb his mane. Then he went back into the bedroom, picked up his knapsack, and slung it around his neck. After that, he headed out the door and called out to Arthur and the two parasprites "You three get along while I'm out."

After signing out of the embassy, Bronze Star headed outside and swiftly made his way to Sweet Apple Acres. He had not misjudged the distance between the embassy and the ranch; when trotting at a normal pace, it took him exactly fifteen minutes to get from one to the other.

Bronze Star had already been to Sweet Apple Acres several times in the past few weeks, but he had never set hoof inside the main building. Although its exterior resembled that of a barn, he was hoping that the interior did not.

When the gold stallion reached the front door, he slowly raised his right front hoof. Then he took a deep breath and firmly knocked a few times.

Fifteen seconds later, the door was answered by Apple Bloom.

"Oh, hey there, Mr. Streak," she greeted him warmly, "Come on inside."

He smiled and entered the dwelling. Straightaway, he noticed that the inside of the building was that of a typical house, much to his relief. He turned to the yellow filly and commented "Nice place you got here."

"Thanks," Apple Bloom said in response as she shut the door behind him.

The front room of the house was empty. The gold stallion inquired "Where are the others?"

"Big Mac's outside, and Applejack and Granny are in the kitchen," Apple Bloom informed him, "They should be finished soon. I'll let 'em know you're here."

"Okay," Bronze Star acknowledged, "Should I just stay here?"

"Sure, make yourself at home," the filly in the bow proposed, "Be right back."

She then left the room to speak to her grandmother and older siblings. Bronze Star went over to a couch against the wall opposite the front door and sat down. He waited patiently for the others to arrive. While he waited, he took a moment to study the living room. Its design was old-fashioned and distinctive, but its structure was formidable and durable.

About three minutes later, Apple Bloom returned with Applejack, Big McIntosh, and Granny Smith. The orange mare grinned at the gold stallion, trotted over to him, and sat down beside him. She gave him a light hug, which he gladly returned. When they pulled apart, she remarked "Well, when I recommended comin' early, I knew you'd get here well before seven. But I wasn't expectin' ya to get here almost a whole hour before dinner."

"I didn't come TOO early, did I?" Bronze Star inquired, slightly concerned.

"Oh no, not at all," Applejack assured him, "We've already gotten the meal well underway; we're just letting all the food simmer until seven. Your early arrival is a good thing, sugar cube. It means more time for us to talk."

"That's certainly true," Bronze Star coincided, "With that in mind, how about we go ahead and get to the talking?"

The others gladly accepted this suggestion. Granny Smith sat down in a rocking chair next to the couch, Apple Bloom sat down next to Applejack, and Big McIntosh sat down on the floor in front of the couch. Once they were comfortably settled, Granny Smith opened up the conversation.

"We're very pleased to have you over, Mr. Streak," the elderly mare declared, "We don't have guests very often."

"That's a surprise," Bronze Star commented, "This has to be the most beautiful place in the entire town. As well as the most productive and beneficial."

"Well, thank you kindly for that," Granny Smith stated gratefully, "We Apples take pride in our work. We've been tendin' this farm for generations. In fact, we were the very first of many families to settle in Ponyville."

"Yeah, I did a lot of research on the town's history before I moved here," Bronze Star informed her, "From what I read, it was because of your family that Ponyville was established in the first place."

"What you read is true," Granny Smith affirmed, "I'd know; I was there when it happened."

Bronze Star was a little stunned to hear that. He saw no reason to doubt Granny Smith's claim, as he was very good at telling the difference between truths, lies, and senility. However, Ponyville had been founded well over a century ago. Even if Granny Smith was a young filly at the time… he could not imagine how old that would make her today. He thought about asking her, but he felt it rude to ask an elderly mare for her age. Instead, he chose to change the subject.

After a short interval of silence, Bronze Star leaned back against the couch and asked "So, are you four the only ones who live here?"

"Eeyup," Big McIntosh replied, "Been that way for a long time."

"Does it ever get lonely here?" Bronze Star presumed.

"Sometimes," Applejack bluntly remarked, "But we always get by without complaint. Our friends and neighbors can be good company."

"Plus, we have what you'd call one of 'em extended families," Apple Bloom disclosed.

"Yeah, Applejack mentioned that once," Bronze Star recalled, "She told me that you had your last family reunion on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Indeed we did," Granny Smith affirmed, "Our kin numbers into the hundreds, and each and every one of them showed up for our most renowned tradition."

Bronze Star whistled in amazement. "You guys have hundreds of relatives?"

"Eeyup," Big McIntosh responded.

"And I know the names of every single one of them," Granny Smith proclaimed.

Bronze Star found that statement somewhat difficult to believe. He raised an eyebrow and said a little slyly "Is that a fact?"

"Yes, and I'll prove it to you," Granny Smith contended.

"Uh-oh," Applejack muttered under her breath.

"What?" Bronze Star whispered in interest.

A moment later, Granny Smith announced "There was Honeycrisp, Adams Pearmain, Winesap, SweeTango, Newton Wonder, Chelmsford Wonder, Paula Red, Knobbed Russet, Jonathan Washington, Brina Washington, Topaz, Pink Pearl, Summerfree, Pinova, Crispin Haralson, Kanzi Haralson, Cameo, Ambrosia…"

Bronze Star quickly realized what Applejack meant. Once Granny Smith started listing the names of the Apple family, she did not stop until she was finished. No amount of begging or coercing could sway her. The gold stallion was sorry he had challenged her claim.

Eventually, Granny Smith wrapped up her recollection with "And last but not least, Esopus Spitzenburg."

Bronze Star and her grandchildren had almost nodded off by this point. Fortunately, they had managed to stay awake. Once Granny Smith was finished, Bronze Star sat up straight again and thought aloud "That's very impressive, how you can remember all those people. You really DO have a massive family."

"No kiddin'," Applejack concurred, "Some would argue that we're the largest clan in Equestria."

"It sure seems that way," Bronze Star observed, "At the very least, your family is definitely much larger than my own."

"Oh?" Granny Smith stated in interest, "How big is your family?"

"It's just my mother, my aunt, and me," Bronze Star enlightened her, "I also have a couple of cousins, but I don't see them as often."

"What about your father?" Apple Bloom enquired in interest, "Is he still around?"

"No, he isn't" Bronze Star replied, "Then again, he was never around. I never met my father; he left shortly after I was born. I don't know anything about him. My mother won't even tell me his name."

"Wow, that's rough," Big McIntosh declared.

"You're telling me," Bronze Star remarked.

After a brief interval of silence, Granny Smith asked the gold stallion "Does your entire family live in Canterlot?"

"Yeah, the capital city has always been my home," Bronze Star informed them.

"How did you come to get into politics?" Big McIntosh questioned.

"That's a bit of an interesting story," Bronze Star explained, "You see, everypony in my family is involved in a prominent cultural organization. My mother occupies a major position in the government. In fact, her profession is so important that you could say she IS the Equestrian government at times. At any rate, when I was fifteen, I started looking for my first job. I was split between joining the armed forces and working for Princess Celestia. My mother convinced me to pursue the latter. So I applied for a job at Canterlot Castle. My mother put in a good word for me as a reference, but I did most of the work by myself. Soon after, Celestia's chief of staff, Lord Bellerophon, took me in as an intern."

"How did that work out?" Apple Bloom inquired, clearly fascinated.

"It went very well," Bronze Star pronounced, "Within a year, I was occupying a place in Princess Celestia's administration. A couple years later, I became an official legislator. I was one of the many people Celestia spoke to whenever she drafted new laws or wrote amendments to existing laws. In addition to that, I would analyze public polls, draw up statistics, convey messages to the Princess, and much more."

"Sure sounds like a look of complicated work," Apple Bloom commented.

"It isn't so complicated if you have the right skills," Bronze Star asserted, "Also, a moment ago, I mentioned that when I was still searching for a job, I could not pick between the military and the government. As it turned out, I did not really have to make a choice. Because I was employed at Canterlot Castle, I had the option to receive military training on a type of scholarship program. I entered that program shortly after I became Lord Bellerophon's intern, and I've been in it for almost the entire duration of my political career. That's ten years' worth of military training. So while I've never really been in the armed forces, I know all their codes and protocol, I am aware of their respective chain-of-command, and I have the qualifications to join any of them."

"Except the Wonderbolts," Big McIntosh contradicted.

"Yeah, except the Wonderbolts," Bronze Star affirmed, "If I only had some wings…"

Applejack lightly chuckled at that. She was the only one there who knew Bronze Star's true form, so only she saw the irony in his statement.

The five ponies continued having their conversation for about a half-hour. They discussed various subjects, primarily those that pertained to their personal lives and professional lives.

At one point, Granny Smith looked up at the clock on the wall. After checking the time, she notified the others "Looks like it's about time for dinner. What say we move to the kitchen?"

"Fine by me," Bronze Star responded. Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big McIntosh nodded in agreement.

The five ponies got up out of their seats and trotted into the next room. Every part of the meal had been prepared beforehand, and they could each be found in another place. The drinks were in the refrigerator, the entrees were on the grill, the main course was on the stove, the second course was on the counter, and the dessert was in the oven. Apple Bloom, Applejack, Big McIntosh, Bronze Star, and Granny Smith picked up all these items respectively, and they carried them to the dining room. The table had already been set; all that was missing was the food. After placing all the parts of the meal in the center of the table, the five ponies got seated, and they quickly tucked in.

They did far less talking while they ate, but they did not have their meal in total silence.

Bronze Star noticed that the wall separating the kitchen and the dining room was covered in framed photographs. There was a different pony in each one of them. He gestured to the wall and inquired "Are those all pictures of your relatives?"

"Eeyup," Big McIntosh stated frankly.

"With some difficulty, we were able to find room for all of 'em," Applejack added in.

Bronze Star raised an eyebrow in intrigue and assumed "So your entire family is up there?"

"That's right," Granny Smith affirmed. She turned to the wall and declared "There's Honeycrisp, Adams Pearmain, Winesap, SweeTango, Newton Wonder, Chelmsford Wonder, Paula Red, Knobbed Russet, Jonathan Washington, Brina Washington, Topaz, Pink Pearl, Summerfree, Pinova, Crispin Haralson, Kanzi Haralson, Cameo, Ambrosia…"

"Oh, buck, no," Apple Bloom muttered glumily.

"Watch your mouth, AB," Applejack warned her sister. Secretly, she was actually thinking the same thing.

"Celestia forgive me," Bronze Star mumbled agitatedly.

Granny Smith spent a lot of the meal pointing out all the pictures and identifying them. The others decided to ignore her and keep eating. Unfortunately, it was hard to shut Granny's voice out of their heads. Aside from that, the pictures covered the entire wall, and the wall was quite wide.

On the plus side, she spoke a little more quickly than the first time she listed off the entire Apple Family. She was probably impelled to speed up so that she could return to eating sooner. When the others were about halfway finished with the main course, Granny Smith pointed to the very last photograph and ended her exposition with "And, of course, Esopus Spitzenburg."

"So I see," Bronze Star candidly perceived, "If your family gains any more members, you'll probably have to continue on the other side of the wall."

"That's what I've been saying for a while now," Applejack stated, "That may actually be the case soon. After all, our family's constantly getting bigger."

"I should say so," Bronze Star agreed.

The five ponies continued eating in relative quietness for a while. When they were almost done with the second course, Apple Bloom turned to Bronze Star and addressed him with "By the way, Mr. Streak, I have a question I'd like to ask you. I would have brought it up sooner, but you've been so busy lately that I never got a chance."

"Well, I'm not busy now, Apple Bloom," Bronze Star pointed out, "You can ask me anything. If it's reasonable, I'll answer."

"I believe this is very reasonable," Apple Bloom decreed. She was quiet for a few moments, and then she sighed and proclaimed "Last week, during that business with Zecora, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle both called you 'Bronze.' Later on, Spike called you 'Bronze Stutter.' It was almost as though they were confusing you for Prince Bronze Star. I mentioned this to you, and you assured me there was a reason for why they called you that. But you never told me what that reason was."

Applejack became a little nervous by her sister's keen observations. Bronze Star noticed this and placed his hoof on her side to gesture her to calm down. He was able to remain calm, cool, and collected. He had not forgotten his discussion with Apple Bloom. He had actually been expecting her to bring it up to him. Because of that, he had already conjured up an explanation.

"I assume you want to know the reason now?" Bronze Star conjectured.

"Exactly," the filly with the bow ascertained.

"Then I shall tell you," Bronze Star asserted. There was a tense interval of quietness, and then Bronze Star publicized "I have been working for Princess Celestia for ten years. She regards me as one of her top correspondents and policymakers. That's part of the reason she selected me as her ambassador to Ponyville. However, I'm not just a representative of the government and the Canterlot Royalty. I also have a seat on Princess Celestia's Council, and I'm a member of her inner circle. The only way you could ever get that close to the princess is if you get her to trust you completely. And believe me when I say; she trusts me with her life, as well as the life of her son. In fact, she has done that on a few occasions."

"How so?" Big McIntosh queried in interest.

"While almost everypony in Equestria has love and respect for Princess Celestia and her son Prince Bronze Star, the few individuals who don't can prove to be rather… dangerous, so to speak," Bronze Star expounded, "You see, every now and then, we catch wind of a rumor that somepony might make an attempt on their lives. Whenever that happens, we impose an additional layer of security to guarantee the safety of the royal family. We classify their schedules, surround them with more protection, seek out suspects, and – in the most extreme cases – we use a body double."

"What's a body double?" Apple Bloom queried.

"It's a person who either resembles or is dressed up to resemble another person," Bronze Star elucidated, "For example, if we ever suspect Prince Bronze Star is in danger, they would find somepony to take his place on certain occasions, primarily when he was scheduled appeared in public. Out of everypony who works at Canterlot Castle, I'm the one who bears the strongest resemblance to Prince Bronze Star. So I'm generally the body double for him. All they'd have to do is suit me up with a pair of prosthetic wings and an artificial horn, and I'd look just like him."

"Is it dangerous work?" Granny Smith queried.

"It can be," Bronze Star disclosed, "Every time I put on the wings and horn, I'm putting myself in jeopardy. Thankfully, I have enough military training to take on any challenge by myself, and the risk is well worth it to protect my leaders."

"That's very noble of you," Apple Bloom remarked, "But that still doesn't explain why the others called you 'Bronze.'"

"I'm getting to that," Bronze Star guaranteed her. There was another pause, and then he continued with "I already told Applejack and the rest of our friends all about this. There's still one more thing I told them that I've told you. You see, often times, I use 'Bronze Star' as my codenames. Most of the time, I do it during a time of crisis. Such as when the real Prince Bronze Star is in danger. Or when a mysterious apparition comes to Ponyville and the locals come down with a strange sickness."

Apple Bloom finally got the message. She smirked and pronounced "Oh, that makes perfect sense. So they like to call you 'Bronze Star' whenever there's trouble?"

"Correct," the gold stallion confirmed, "Fortunately, nothing of the sort is going on right now. So there's no reason to use my codename. Currently, I'm just plain old 'Ambassador Gold Streak.'"

"I get what you're saying," Apple Bloom acknowledged, "Sorry if I seemed like I was snooping. My curiosity tends to get the better of me."

"There's no need to apologize," he assured her, "Just don't tell anypony else about what I do. It's supposed to remain confidential. The only reason I'm sharing this with all of you is because you're family of somepony I'm close to."

Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big McIntosh understood this reasoning. They all gazed over at Applejack, assuming that she was this 'somepony' the gold stallion was close to. Indeed, she was.

The rest of the meal was spent in utter quietness. After dessert was consumed, Bronze Star helped wash and put away the dishes. Once they were finished, he checked the time and saw that it was almost eight o'clock. He announced to the others "Well, it's been a real pleasure getting to know you all. But it's getting late, and I need to get up early tomorrow to supervise the finally preparations for Princess Celestia's arrival. I better be heading back to the embassy."

"Okay, we understand," Apple Bloom avowed.

"Eeyup," Big McIntosh added in.

"We're awfully glad to have had ya over, Mr. Streak," Granny Smith told the gold stallion, "Before you go, there's something I want to tell you. Something I've been meaning to bring up all night but never got around to until now."

"What might that be?" asked Bronze Star

"I'd like to properly thank ya for what you did," the green mare illuminated.

"Umm, thanks, but what did I do?" Bronze Star queried in curiosity.

"Big Mac tells me you did a huge favor for Applejack," Granny Smith clarified, "When she lost her breath, you gave her air from your own lungs."

"Hmmm?" Bronze Star said, mildly confused.

"You know, remember when I overworked myself durin' Applebuck Season and passed out?" Applejack elucidated.

"Oh, yeah," Bronze Star comprehended, slapping himself for not catching on sooner, "And I managed to revive you with CPR. Don't think I could ever forget that."

"Well, I sure as hay won't," Granny Smith asserted.

"Me neither," Apple Bloom affirmed.

"Nope," Big McIntosh agreed.

"Can't say I blame you," Bronze Star coincided, "If somepony I cared about had a near death experience, I doubt I would ever get it out of my mind, either."

"It's not just that, my dear," Granny Smith disclosed, "You saved my granddaughter's life. If not for you, we would have lost her. In a way, the Apple family owes you a debt of gratitude."

"Well, I'm honored," Bronze Star declared. After a short pause, he smirked and cockily stated "I just hope Applejack learned her lesson and that she won't try to shoulder so much burden at once ever again."

Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big McIntosh chuckled at that remark. Applejack lightly rolled her eyes and disclosed "Relax, I don't plan to do anything as foolish as THAT in the near future. And if I do, I'll make sure you're in the area beforehand."

"I'll keep that in mind," Bronze Star said in mild amusement, "Just try not to work yourself to the point of complete exhaustion. We were very fortunate that the CPR worked once. We may not be so lucky if we have to go through that ordeal a second time."

"Well, at least you could use that as an excuse to put your lips against hers again," Big McIntosh jokingly commented.

Bronze Star and Applejack both blushed deeply at the red stallion's implication. Apple Bloom giggled at their reaction. Then she stated in a playful tone "Oh, quit it, Big Mac. You're embarrassin' AJ and her coltfriend."

The gold stallion and the orange mare blushed again. The latter gazed down at her sister and sternly averred "Apple Bloom, he isn't my coltfriend."

"You mean not yet," Granny Smith countered, "Just you wait, Applejack. I might be lookin' at the future right now."

Neither Bronze Star nor Applejack blushed this time. While they were a little skeptical about the legitimacy of Granny Smith's claim, they both found it interesting that she developed that theory. Even more interesting was the fact that she sounded totally serious when she presented it. Applejack turned to her grandmother and queried "Do you actually think that, Granny?"

"Yes, I do," Granny Smith confirmed, "I'm not just sayin' that 'cause this stallion saved you from certain death. There's something much stronger at work here. You two have the looks."

"'The looks?'" Bronze Star queried.

"Yes, Mr. Streak; the looks," Granny Smith explicated, "The way you look at Applejack reminds me of the way her grandfather looked at me when he and I first became acquainted. And the way she looks at you is a lot like the way I looked at him in return."

In response to that, Bronze Star and Applejack gazed at each other for a little while. They were not certain they could see what Granny Smith saw. Still, they could not deny that there was indeed something between them.

Ultimately, Applejack and Bronze turned back to Granny Smith. The latter of them freely admitted "You could be right, Granny. But let's not get ahead of ourselves so soon."

"Yeah, it may be best if we just wait and see how things play out," Applejack proposed.

"If that's your decision, I respect it," Granny Smith assured them, "Personally, I think you two would be good for each other. I know a fine match when I see it."

"Well… thank you for having faith in us, Granny," Bronze Star uttered tentatively.

"You're welcome, Mr. Streak," Granny Smith told him, "But it's not faith that determines if two ponies together. In the end, all it really comes down to is fate. Maybe two individuals are meant to be together; maybe they're meant to be with somepony else. Only time will tell."

Bronze Star did not know what to say to that. Neither did Applejack. They were not certain what the meaning behind Granny Smith's words were. Maybe she honestly believed they belonged together. Maybe she was encouraging them to listen to their feelings. Maybe she was giving them permission to court each other. Whatever the message, one thing was very evident; Granny Smith would approve of whatever relationship the two of them decided to have.

"Do you always speak such words of wisdom, Granny?" Bronze Star inquired.

"Only when they're needed," she responded, "You never know, Mr. Streak. There may be room for you on that wall in the dining room. One day we may put you up there with Honeycrisp, Adams Pearmain, Winesap, SweeTango, Newton Wonder, Chelmsford Wonder, Paula Red, Knobbed Russet, Jonathan Washington, Brina Washington, Topaz, Pink Pearl, Summerfree, Pinova, Crispin Haralson, Kanzi Haralson, Cameo, Ambrosia…"

Bronze Star was compelled to just leave right then, but he did not want to leave without saying good-bye and risk appearing rude. After all, the evening had gone so well so far. So he put up with Granny Smith's seemingly endless listing of the Apple family.

About twenty minutes or so later, Granny Smith finished with "And good ole Esopus Spitzenburg."

"I'll remember that," Bronze Star proclaimed. After a short interval of silence, he looked around at the four members of the Apple family and told them "Well, thank you all for your hospitality. I hope to see you all at the assembly tomorrow."

"We'll be there," Applejack declared, "You have a safe trot home."

"I will," Bronze Star asserted.