//------------------------------//
// Ch.6 - Beach Daze 
// Story: The Witching Hour - Chaos is Change 
// by Chaotic Ink 
//------------------------------//

The warm sand felt good on her stomach; equally so as her hooves trailed through it. It wasn't like the sand out in the desert around Appleloosa; all gritty and uncomfortable. The sand here was as soft and welcoming as a comforter on a bed, most likely due to being formed from the sea only a little ways away. Her wings, spread out as far as they could go, twitched slightly in the late summer sun. Content and settled, she cracked open an eye. Squeaks and Autumn were playing down by the water, following the waves out and then running back in, screeching happily as they tried to out-pace the incoming water. Summer and Sapphire were resting on the nearby blanket, keeping an eye on the girls while either talking or reading a book or a magazine. Nearly out of sight, Orange was up on the walkway that was the barrier between the city and the beach, buying some ice cream for them all. She closed her eye and took in another deep breath of the salty air. Yes, Midnight thought, this was a good idea.

--------p------------p-------

"It's not a good idea at all!" Midnight snapped as she and Windrunner put down the last bed.

"You've been working all summer! What's wrong with a single week of vacation?" Summer snapped back from the doorway of one of the three new bedrooms the expansion had provided. Midnight, Sapphire, and Windrunner were finishing furnishing them with a simple bed, night table, and dresser each. Although the bedrooms and new bathroom had already been agreed upon before construction had begun, looking at them now Midnight wondered if she was getting ready to open a bed and breakfast or something of the like. 

Along with the bedrooms, the dining room was also finished and dominated by a huge table. The store front was now doubled in size (length wise)and the bathroom under the stairs was now larger and more comfortable to use, with its door opening up into the new room between the store front and the dining room. The room the bathroom now opened up to was the only one that stood empty as nopony really had any idea what to do with it. They already had a storage space for the wood and three new bedrooms and Midnight wasn't about to move her meat operations out the shed anytime soon. At this point, they had decided to just leave it alone until some need was found. 

"What's wrong is that summer is my busy time. I need to get as much wood cut down as I can before cold weather sets in and demand for firewood goes up." 'And I have my other job to consider. It wouldn't be fair to leave everything on Windrunner's shoulders for a week and Celestia certainly won't let the entire Bearer Guard leave their charges alone for so long. *sigh* I need to find more recruits.' 

Summer rolled her eyes. "Midnight, I've seen how much wood you have stored away. If you run out of wood this winter, then ponies around here eat it like termites." 

Windrunner gave a snort of laughter at this, but Midnight remained stern. "If you're so set on a trip to Balitmare then take Squeaks; I'm sure she'd love it."

"I'm sure she'd love it even more if she could see it with you. I know Autumn would love to spend time there with you, too. I bet a love for the beach would be something else you two would have in common."

Midnight flinched slightly at the mention of her sister. Her fight with a greed-fueled Spike had resulted in the entire town, as well as her three-year-old sister, learning exactly what her cutie mark meant. Midnight had been ready to bolt when she had realized this despite what all her friends and her mother had immediately said and done to try and persuade her that nothing was going to happen. The kirin hadn't heard a word until she'd made eye contact with Autumn. The filly was just as cripplingly afraid of dragons as she was of spiders, and Midnight fully expected her to never want to be near her ever again. Instead, she had asked if Midnight was like that to defend them. When Midnight had told her that was indeed the case, the filly had reached up, briefly nuzzled her, then went back to hiding in their mother's mane. That simple act had helped give the kirin enough courage to face her worst nightmare. 

The town, to her shock and bewilderment, had praised her for saving it from the rampaging dragon rather than forming into an angry mob to try and drive her out. None of them had made a comment about how she could be just as dangerous; in fact, a few of them had suggested making her part of the new police force to handle such threats in the future. How none of them had guessed the dragon was Spike, with both he and the other dragon having the same color scheme, none of them could be sure but they were determined not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Spike was in control of himself, the town was being rebuilt with funds from the crown, and nopony had gotten hurt, so there was no reason anypony had to know the details. 

Afterwards, Autumn had talked to her like they had been, but there was now a small distance she kept from her. Both Midnight and Summer had become distressed by this and the latter had redoubled her attempts to get the two of them to do things together to repair whatever damage Midnight's change had caused between them. The suggestion that a vacation together might help them become close again was, in Midnight's opinion, effective but unfeasible. 

"Mom... I'd love to, I really would... but I can't. I've got too many responsibilities here in Ponyville and I can't just up and leave at the drop of a hat."

Summer sighed. "It's great that you recognize you have responsibilities here in town but even Princess Celestia takes a break now and again."

Not from what Midnight had heard and she had heard it from the most reliable source there was.

"Can you really tell me, truthfully, that your business would go under if your weren't open for a whole week?"

Before the kirin could continue her side of the debate, Sapphire poked her head around the door frame. "How's everything going?"

"Sapphire, would the store go under if Midnight went on vacation for a week?" Summer asked before anypony else could say anything.

"Umm... well..." Sapphire stammered, surprised by the question. "If you mean this coming week, then no, it wouldn't. This is the time she's set as the "stocking up" period but she worked all through winter as well, cutting down trees. We've got plenty of stock if she wanted to leave for a week."

Summer nodded triumphantly. "See? You have no reason not to go!"

Midnight sent a glare Sapphire's way but couldn't put a lot of effort behind it. It wasn't her fault Summer had sprung the question on her, although she could have tried to stall a bit. "Not to go where?" she asked.

"Baltimare," Midnight provided. "Mom's trying to convince me to go on vacation with them, but I've told her I've got too many responsibilities," Sapphire caught the enfaces in her voice, "to go gallivanting across Equestria."

"How about when you went to that town down south?" Summer asked, nodding towards Windrunner. "You didn't seem to have an issue hopping a train there."

"That was for the weekend," Midnight countered. 

"Actually I was hoping to talk with Midnight for a minute alone, if that's alright," Sapphire said with a smile. A smile that seemed a bit strained in Midnight's opinion.

"Alright," Summer said reluctantly. "But this conversation isn't over young lady."

Midnight snorted after her as she left with Windrunner. "So what did you want to talk about?" she asked when she was sure that at least Summer was downstairs and out of earshot.

"Well, I just wanted to say, I think going on vacation is a good idea for you."

Midnight's wing flared slightly in surprise. "Sapphire, I can't, you know that! It's only me and Windrunner and Celestia-!"

"I know why you think you can't go but Midnight, you need to! I'm worried about you!"

Midnight's wings flared again, wider than before while a bit of heat rose to her face. Sapphire was worried about her?

Seeming to realize what she said, the pegasus turned away to try and hide the slight darkening in her own face. "Ever since the whole mess with Spike and the town finding out about your ability, you've been more and more reclusive. We all see it and I'm... we're getting worried that you might end up doing something drastic."

"Such as?" There was less accusation in her voice and more curious worry than Sapphire expected there to be, as well as a much softer tone.

"Well... we're afraid you might decide to leave again," Sapphire said quietly.

They stood in silence for a minute with only the wind and the chirp of a bird from outside the window for noise. Neither one of them made eye contact with the other. 

"You... you all don't need to worry about that," Midnight finally said. "Ponyville is my home now and I have too many ponies I care about here to leave." Sapphire finally looked back up at her. "But, Sapphire, I can't leave. It's only me and Windrunner right now and I couldn't leave her alone to go on vacation when something might happen! In the past few months we've been nearly taken over by  a creature that can kick the princesses around like a schoolyard bully, Twilight went nuts and brainwashed the town, Apple Bloom nearly infected the town with an ancient disease by her own hoof, and Spike just went on a rampage that caused thousands of bits worth of damage. What's next? The town... and the bearers... need me here more."

"What they need," Sapphire said, taking a small step closer, "what we all need, is for you to be the physically and emotionally strong pillar we all see you as. You curling up in a corner and acting depressed... that's just not you. That's not like you at all and it's scaring us; Squeaks and... and me especially. Hearing how you were when you were younger from Summer isn't helping either. And then there's Autumn; you and her were making such progress together that even after you changed she still nuzzled you. Do you really want all that time getting to know one another to amount to nothing now?"

Midnight looked down at the pegasus in an amazed silence. Poking at her feelings for Squeaks and Autumn was pretty much expected but to throw in her own feelings for the kirin as well... that just seemed to change the entire feel of the conversation. The only other time she had seemed so scared was right after the fight with the hydra, apologizing to her for letting the girls talk her and Berry into going into the swamp in the first place. There was almost a sense of... desperation in her words that certainly wasn't there before. How were things different? How had they changed? 

She had a brief flashback of right after her fight with Spike. Her mother was nuzzling her neck, trying to get her to calm down in the face of what was her worst nightmare. Sapphire had been doing the exact same thing. Her face felt like an oven now and, not for the first time, she was grateful her black coat prevented blushes from being visible. 

"I... I'm sorry if I scared you... all," Midnight said quietly, refusing to look Sapphire in the eye. "If you think it'll help at all, I guess I can go. But that still means leaving the bearers unguarded."

Finally, a smile emerged onto Sapphire's face. "Celestia can always have a few of her undercover guard stop in town for a few things. New dresses, a taste of local food, the whole "break from the city" thing your mom is doing for a week. Besides, your contract gives you holidays and a week's vacation."

"'Undercover guard'? What undercover guard?" Midnight asked, agitation returning. 

"Haven't you ever wondered why the princess has only stallions as guards in armor?" Sapphire asked with a sly smirk. "Yet she's got enough maids for at least two castles?"

Midnight felt her jaw drop slightly. "Son of a... why hasn't she said anything!?"

"State secret," Sapphire informed her. "Plus the visiting nobles wouldn't be so open about what their proposals, deals, and other legislative were really about if they thought the help was reporting directly back to the princess everything they said."

"Huh," Midnight said, not sure what else to really say to that. Then a smirk crossed her face. "Does Captain Shining know about this?"

"No, only Princess Celestia hires them. I only know about it because I was her personal aid for a time. Why?"

"Just... nah, don't worry about it," Midnight told her with a laugh. "Fine, I'll tell mom I'll go, but there is one condition," the kirin said with a sly smile.

"Yes?" Sapphire asked, suddenly unsure about the situation. 

"You have to come too. After all, you seem so concerned about my welfare that I would think you'd want to make sure I was feeling fine while we're there." The kirin chuckled as the pegasus tried to hide the sudden darkening of her cheeks.

------------f----------------

Midnight looked from her nest in the sand at the two mares on the blanket as they broke out laughing at some joke or another. Something about how Sapphire had acted that day during that talk had stirred something in the kirin. Why had she sounded so distressed at the idea of Midnight leaving? Why had she blushed so much and so often when she told her how worried she was about her? And why had she felt the way she had when Sapphire had gotten closer to her?

"Midnight, is everything alright?" Summer called, seeing the kirin staring at them. Sapphire looked around at Midnight and the kirin quickly turned to look back at the ocean.

"I'm fine!" she called back. "Tell Orange to hurry up with the ice cream!" 

Summer sighed as she turned her attention back to the magazine she and Sapphire had been reading. "Can't call it a total success so far, but she does seem better."

Sapphire hummed and nodded in agreement. After talking in private with Midnight and convincing her to go on this vacation, she had more or less avoided the kirin in one way or another. Every time they were close together Sapphire could feel heat rise back up into her face. It was embarrassing and sent the wrong message to other ponies. Sure, she liked Midnight but she didn't... like her. "So, is this another one of your company's models?" she asked Summer as another wave of heat threatened to cover her face. She really needed to get a grip on whatever was going on. 

"Yes she is. Oh, I have to tell you about the time...

-----------------------------

"And we'll build that one tomorrow, and that one, and that one!" Squeaks told Autumn as she examined the bag of beach toys her mother was carting along on her back. With their first day at the beach at an end, they had all begun heading back to the hotel when the girls had spotted a beach vendor along the path selling bags of beach toys. Each bag had contained things like toy boats, beach balls, shovels, and sand castle molds. These last things were the real reason both fillies had begun begging for a bag. Summer hadn't hesitated and now the two of them were talking about all the things they were going to build with their new toys. "Do you want to build anything, mom?" Squeaks asked unexpectedly.

"I... might just add on to whatever you two decide to make," she told her, smiling a little bit. She glanced over at Autumn who was also examining the bag's contents. When she noticed her older sister looking at her, she smiled back but quickened  her pace so that she was even with her parents' back legs. The kirin let out a silent sigh and resumed looking ahead.

"Things will get better," Sapphire said, coming up even with her. "They did after that first trip to the park."

"Yeah, but... I don't know. Things seem even worse now. There's a look in her eyes now, like I betrayed her or something and now all she sees when she looks at me is a hulking dragon time bomb that could go off at any second. No amount of stick towers or sand castles is going to fix that."

Sapphire hummed in thought for a second. Midnight was so worried about how to fix things with Autumn that she was ignoring the looks she was getting from other ponies they passed by. None of them seemed hostile, just surprised and maybe a bit cautious around the kirin. Maybe Midnight had been wrong about ponies in the cities and had been unintentionally exaggerating their actions. She'd seemed to have done the same with Summer, so why not strangers? "Fix? No. Open negotiations? It's a start. Just show her that, no matter what, you're still her sister and would never do anything to hurt her. And she's getting along great with Squeaky still, so maybe have her help out a bit."

Midnight let out her own hum of thought. "It's a start," she parroted. "I just... wait a second." The kirin came to an abrupt stop, looking around like she just realized where they were.

"Something wrong?" Sapphire asked.

"...No... but I can't believe I didn't recognize where we were earlier!" A grin was starting to spread onto her face despite the conversation they were just having. "I use to come this way all the time when I was living here! Well, I came up the other way, but I recognize that ice cream parlor!" She indicated the ice cream shop a little ways down from the hotel. "Long Line's Seafood Emporium is just a little ways past that!"

"Oh, that's right! You talked about going there often when we first met, right?" Sapphire asked.

Midnight didn't know why but when the pegasus said "when we first met", she could feel the heat rise to her face again slightly. Part of it was that weird feeling she'd been having whenever she was around Sapphire these days, but another part of it was a feeling of guilt. She'd threatened her with her tail blade at the time. Midnight realized another thing then: she'd known Sapphire for almost, if not exactly, a year now this week. Had it really only been a year? So much had happened that it felt like much longer.

"Is it any good?" Summer asked, bringing the kirin back out of her thoughts. 

"Best seafood I ever tasted," Midnight told her, already feeling her mouth begin to water. She could almost taste the lobster salad sandwiches and the shrimp scampi and the fried fish and chips (he had told her that where the recipe came from they called fries "chips" for whatever odd reason).

"Well, why don't we go there for dinner then?" Summer said. "Get a bit more authentic Baltimare cuisine." 

The kirin was jolted out of her visions of heaps of lobster-based entrees. "Wait, all of us?"

"Of course! You're making it sound so good that I think the rest of us want a taste." Orange, Squeaks, and Autumn nodded.

"But... you did hear me say seafood, as in shellfish and fish, right?"

"They have such things at the parties Orange and I go to, and at the Gala which you were at if I'm not mistaken." Summer countered.

"It's not exactly a five-star restaurant," Midnight tried again. It wasn't that it was a dump either, just not exactly... what they would be expecting. It was more or less a glorified shack with tables, chairs, a counter with stools, and occasional clientele that she wasn't sure she wanted her family rubbing elbows with. Due to her size and mysterious nature, patrons who frequented the place when she was living in the city left her alone for the most part. She didn't think they'd be afforded the same courtesy. 

"Do they sell alcohol?" Summer pressed.

"No! Well yes, but not on any scale like a bar!"

"Then I don't think there'll be a problem," Summer said with an air of finality, ushering the girls into the hotel so they could clean up and get ready.

"What's wrong?" Sapphire asked as they followed the others.

"It's just that Long Line's can get a bit... seedy at times and I don't want you all getting stuck next to a table of degenerates," Midnight told her. 

Sapphire giggled. "You really think they're going to mess with us with you sitting right there in all your kirin glory?"

"You'd be surprised," Midnight said darkly, two certain stallions swimming up to the forefront of her mind.

"Come on," Sapphire said, bumping her hip against Midnight's as she headed into the lobby. "How bad could it turn out?"

"You know you just jinxed it, right?" Midnight said flatly as she followed her inside. 

"We're not in Ponyville, so I'll take my chances."

-----------------------------

The kirin let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. To her unbounded relief, Long Line's Seafood Emporium had improved over the years since she had skipped town. Well, it looked cleaner at any rate and more like a restaurant with its various decorations over the previously bare walls. When their group entered the few patrons at the counter looked them over, then went back to their food.

"It certainly is... quaint," Summer said, looking the place over.

"Midnight did warn us," Orange told her.

The kirin in question wasn't sure whether to bristle or look smug. She chose to snort indecisively. 

"Should we sit down or...?" Sapphire started, only for a tan unicorn mare, a teenager really, with a red string of fate cutie mark to come out a door from behind the counter.

"Oh, hello!" she said, momentarily stunned by the group of ponies standing in the doorway. Usually only two or three ponies walked in at a time; six was unheard of, especially a family with foals.

"Hello!" Summer said back with a smile. "I'm sorry, but should we wait to be seated or...?"

"Oh no! Please, take whatever table you want!" the filly told them, levitating some menus over. "Just let me know when you're ready to order."

Summer nodded to her in thanks as they took the corner table.

"He's upped his game," Midnight said as she examined the menu. "That, or he's hired a cook."

"Makes sense; Canterlot castle buys from him exclusively now," Sapphire said as she and the rest also browsed their options. "I'd be more surprised if he couldn't hire." 

"How have things changed?" Summer asked conversationally. 

"Well, for starters, everything he used to serve was either in the form of a sandwich or just fried and slapped onto a plate. Now there's pastas and stuffings and dishes that just weren't here before." Midnight's eyes slid further and further down the menu. She was almost to the bottom when she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Faust he still has the lobster salad sandwiches." 

"Anything else you personally recommend?" Orange asked her.

"I personally prefer anything shellfish," Midnight responded from behind her menu. "But the fried fish smelled good from time to time. Just avoid the tilapia; no matter what he does that stuff still tastes awful."

"What are scallops?" Autumn asked from her place next to Squeaks in the corner.

"They're shellfish like clams or oysters," Squeaks told her. Having dined at Canterlot castle, she had an idea of what she was looking at. That and the times Midnight had decided to send in an order when she got tired of squirrel and rabbit. "They're like wet marshmallows, only salty and made of meat." 

All four adults snorted in an attempt to keep from bursting out laughing at the analogy.

"What?"

"No... nothing Squeaks," Midnight chortled. Faust help them all when Cheerilee finally got around to teaching health. 

Autumn looked around at them all. "Are they good?" she pressed on, undeterred by her niece's description. 

"Yes sweetie," Summer said, getting control of herself and looking at where her youngest was pointing. "And they're mixed into angel hair pasta with a cream sauce. You like that, right?"

Autumn nodded.

"Then we'll get that for you. Hmm... the salad with anchovies looks good."

"I think I'll get the fish and chips," Orange said.

"Those "chips" are actually potato fries," Midnight told him, again from behind her menu. "Just giving you a heads up."

"Even better! I was going to ask if I could get those instead. I wonder why they call them "chips"?"

"I want the shrimp in the fet-oo-ceenee (fettuccini) that's covered in garlic and butter!" Squeaks said, turning her menu around and showing Midnight what she wanted.

The kirin heard a grumbling from Summer that sounded like "uses too much butter as it is" but chose to ignore it and nod in agreement at her daughter's choice. 

"I'll give the tuna salad sandwich a try," Sapphire said, putting her menu down.

They waited until the filly returned from the back before calling her over to place their orders. "Out of curiosity, is Long Line here today?" Midnight asked.

"Yes, he's in the back right now," the waitress told her, using her magic to move some yellow mane out of her face. "Did you want to speak to him or...?"

Midnight noticed how the unicorn seemed to take stock of her. Her gaze seemed to be a mix of curiosity and nervousness. She also didn't fail to notice the occasional look back their way from the patrons at the counter. "I don't want to bother him if he's cooking. I just want to say hi; I've been... out of town for a while."

The unicorn nodded. "I'll let him know. Can I get your name, if he asks?"

"Midnight Storm."

She smiled and nodded again, whisked the menus away in her magic, then returned behind the counter.

"How well did you know Long Line?" Summer asked as they settled in to wait. 

"Like I told Sapphire, I ate here as much as I could. Turned into a regular, actually. I knew him well enough that we'd talk for a while every time I came in. Didn't care that I was bigger than others or that I was a magicless unicorn or even how my eyes looked. He was really the only pony I could call a  friend before I got to Ponyville." Midnight grew silent as she thought about her time in the city.

"But then why did you leave?" Squeaks asked. "If he was your friend then shouldn't you have stayed?"

"Well Squeaks... it's complicated," Midnight said, just as the door leading to the back slammed open, making everypony in the establishment jump.

An old stallion was standing in the doorway, staring at their group; at Midnight in particular. He was blue with his mane, tail, beard, and mustache a seafoam green, almost like Lyra's coat, with sharp green eyes that told of a long, adventurous life. He was dressed in one of those fisherman raincoats, wore a captain's hat, and had an unlit corn-cob pipe clenched between his teeth. "Dump chum on my head and call me bait! It really is you, Midnight!"

The kirin gave him a sheepish wave. "Hey Long Line."

The stallion walked out from behind the counter and over to their table. He looked Midnight over once, then gave her a smart smack on her front leg. Everypony at the table, sans Autumn and Midnight, started to say something at the unprovoked action but Long Line spoke before the rest of them could. "Up and disappear for damn near two years and all you can say is "Hey"? Ought ta use your sorry flank as tomorrow's catch of the day!"

"Long Line, there are foals present," Midnight said flatly.

"And shame on you for bringing them here! You forget the barnacle eaters that like to eat here, too? Serves you right if they start cussin' like a sailor!"

Both fillies giggled and Midnight was sure she heard one of them say "butt-head".

"Excuse me!" Summer said hotly. "But what gives you the right to walk over here and hit my daughter like that!?"

Long Line turned to her, removed his hat, then bowed his head at her. "Forgive me miss, but when one of your favorite customers up and vanishes one day, only to reappear in the news and then back in your shop nearly two years later, one tends to forget themselves."

"It's not a big deal mom; didn't really even hurt," Midnight told her. "I guess you saw that news article, too?"

"Damn-," he caught the look the four adults gave him,"-darn right I saw it! Came back in to port a few days after the craziest seas you've ever seen to find your sorry hide smack on the front page along with all them other fine looking young fillies. Gone from fixing pipes and laying boards to saving the world; heck of a career change if you ask me."

"It wasn't by choice, I assure you," Midnight told him, as smile finally forming on her face.

Long Line gave her a quick once over like the waitress had, eyes lingering on her wings and tail. "I see those two nit-wits weren't talking crazy after all," he said, his voice going gentle all of a sudden.

"Yeah..." Midnight said, frowning. The whole table went quiet as the rest of them looked worriedly between the two.

"Bah, don't you give those bottom feeders any thought!" He told her, giving her a hard pat on the back and returning to a light-hearted mood. "You look even finer than the last time you were in here! I told you that cloak didn't suit ya one bit! Now's not the time to be moping about anyway! I'll get your order out here on the double and then we can talk, eat, and drink like the old days!" With a finale laugh and hit to her back, he got up and returned to the kitchen.

"He's... lively," Orange offered.

"He's a crazy old kook who doesn't care what any other pony thinks," Midnight told them. "Has a heart of gold, too."

"Did he say that you two drank?" Summer said, giving her eldest the stink-eye.

"He drank beer, I chugged lemonade," Midnight said nonchalantly. "The only beer I had was beer-battered flounder." 

-----------------------------

"...and now we're here on vacation for the week," Midnight said, wrapping up the summery of what had happened since she left Baltimare. It was the same short-version of her travels that she'd given her mother, only updated to include the most recent events. She even told him about what her cutie mark was and meant; she sort of felt he deserved to know after all this time. "Uh... Long Line?" Midnight asked, seeing that he'd had the same piece of food on his fork for a while now, forgotten as he listened to her story.

Realizing he'd been gawking at her for some time, the stallion gave an embarrassing cough and took a bite of his meal. "That's some tale," he said after he had finished chewing. "Quite an interesting life you've lived since you've left."

"Yeah," the kirin said, taking a slightly aggressive bite out of her sandwich. 

Summer leaned over and gave her a nuzzle. She hadn't liked hearing her daughter's tale the first time and to hear it all again just re-awoke the knot of guilt in her stomach from not trying harder to find Midnight in the first place. Sapphire looked just as ready to lean over and comfort the kirin but held herself in place. The girls and Orange looked just as distressed.

"Ponyville sounds like a great place though," Long Line said, trying to lighten the mood around the table. "After all the bottom feeders you've run into, I'm glad you found a place with such welcoming ponies; and that you've reconciled with you family." He nodded at Summer and Orange. For a brief second, Midnight could have sworn he made a quick glance at the young waitress, Honeysuckle. She was cleaning a table nearby and humming something to herself. "It's just too bad you didn't stay here longer; I was planning on asking you to be my new first mate." At her confused look, Long Line continued, "I just got the royal order for a sample of my catch the same day you left. If you'd stayed a week more, I'd have offered you the position. I figured the steady work and all the fish you could eat, as well as a stable roof over your head," he indicated the second floor of the place, "would have been too enticing to pass up."

"I don't know if it would have been enough to make me stay after... that, but I would certainly appreciated it," Midnight told him, a small smile once again returning to her face. "So, why don't you tell me how things have been going back here? It's obvious that Princess Celestia liked your food, but I'm surprised you cleaned this place up for your other clientele."

"And I wouldn't have if workers from Canterlot Castle hadn't come down here personally. Before you know it word got out and suddenly I was getting more than seedy dock workers and boat hooves walking in. Needed to spruce the place up a bit and then I'm looking like one of those tourist traps they call restaurants and I need a staff to work the place while I head out each day." He paused and took a swig of his beer. "Then again, Honeysuckle and Grill Mate are great ponies to have around; better company then them brainless barnacle-suckers from the docks." He took another swig.

"That's good to hear at least," Midnight said, taking another bite out of her sandwich. 

"Yeah. Hey, you wanna try something new for me?" Long line asked with unexpected enthusiasm.

"Uh, sure?" Midnight said, raising an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Octopus fritters!" he said proudly.

-----------------------------

"Are you sure mom?" Squeaks asked, looking over the edge of the cloud.

"I'm sure Squeaks," Midnight told the filly, pulling her back to the center of the mass of condensed water vapor. "And what have I told you about being afraid of falling?"

"If I keep thinking about it I won't ever fly?"

"Exactly. I'm never going to put you in a situation I don't think you can't handle. The worst thing that can happen today is that you belly-flop. Besides, I'll be right here the whole time." In an effort to relieve Squeaks, Midnight hopped off the cloud they were standing on and did a quick loop. "You can't let fear run your life; trust me, I've learned the hard way," Midnight told her, landing back on the cloud. "You, we, have to push the boundaries once and awhile."

"Like with those Octopus Fritters last night?" the filly asked.

Midnight shivered as she remembered the taste. She had actually liked the first few of them; a mixture of some type of cream sauce and octopus tentacles wrapped up in a light dough covering and fried, but after that the cream sauce was too rich and it made the tentacles feel slimy and unpleasant to chew. Thankfully by the tenth one Long Line had taken the hint and took away the rest. Nopony else had even dared to pick one up.

Long Line had been a good sport about the results, saying he'd try again with a less rich sauce and offering her a beer to wash away the taste. It helped, for the most part; she'd never liked beer to begin with. The taste test over with and dinner consumed, he'd surprised them again by refusing to be paid. "It's all on the house tonight. Consider it a "welcome back" dinner for Midnight." They had all thanked him graciously and promised to dine there again at least once before their vacation was over.

The next morning they returned to the beach after having breakfast at the hotel's diner. The pancakes there didn't match up to Summer's Fruit Salad ones, but they were enough to get the last of the fritters' taste off of Midnight's tongue. They had first built a sand castle, then buried Orange in the sand ("Midnight, do NOT bury his head!") and now she and Squeaks were having an impromptu flying lesson before lunch and a trip to the famed Baltimare Open Air Market. 

Midnight had remembered from her previous stay that, even at night, thermals were far more prevalent over the ocean, making it a great training spot for new flyers. As such, she had found a rogue cloud, guided it over to them, and flew Squeaks up to it, making sure not to block the sun for anypony else on the beach. That in itself was weird. Her mother had told her that she and her father had agreed that she needed to stay a secret since most ponies would freak out at the sight of her. In every city she'd been to, including this one, there had been ponies that had done so when they found out what she was. Now ponies were just eyeing her with mild curiosity as far as she could tell. Could it be she just had really bad luck all those years and simply ran into the most panicky of ponies, reinforcing her parents' fears? It was one theory. Then again, there were some beach goers who were moving away from their spot while shooting glances up at her.

Looking back down again she saw her baby sister looking up at them from where she was making another sand castle. She had wanted to bring along Autumn but both Summer and Orange shot the idea down. Autumn was too young and her wings too underdeveloped. The kirin had (finally) conceded and the pegasus filly was forced to watch her sister and niece practice from the ground. The free reign over the sand toys was a decent consolation. 

"Alright," Midnight said as she recovered from the memory. "Today, we're going to practice gliding. To start with, extend your wings out as far as they'll go." As an example, Midnight extended her own giant, black, leathery wings. In her mother's shade, Squeaks did the same, stretching out her own dark orange wings. "Gliding helps save energy over long-distance flights and helps you get back to the ground safely in case you've gotten hurt. One of the most important things you'll need to learn about this is how to feel the air currents as you descend. If you misread them, you could come down a lot faster from a lot higher than you intended to. Do you feel the air currents?"

"Mmm-hmm," Squeaks hummed, concentrating on the air going over her wings. It felt nice and she could feel her wings lift slightly.

"Those warm-ish updrafts are called thermals; they're what you need to look, well, feel for when you glide. Those updrafts keep you aloft. Now, keep an eye on my wings." The kirin launched herself off the cloud again and out over the water.

Squeaks watched her mother glide, her eyes concentrating on her wings. She noted how they twitched and seemed to "feel" the air, even bulging upward as what she took to be a thermal caught the membrane. She also noted how the wings would fold and extend when she turned to come back to the cloud. Still gliding, Midnight swept under the white fluff and came back up the other side, settling down gently back into her previous spot. "Alright, now you try." 

"Do you want me to turn back after a certain point or...?"

"Just keep going until I say so. Don't worry, I won't let you go out to sea."

Squeaks nodded, backed up, then took a running leap off the cloud. Forcing herself to look straight ahead and not down, the bat filly extended her wings out as far as they would go, keeping them as stiff as could be. She could feel the wind in her wings, felt it pushing her up and away from gravity's hold on her.

She got maybe three full seconds of hang time before dropping out of the sky like a rock. 

She let out a squeak of surprise as she fell, landing rump-first into the ocean. Having already learned how to swim in Ponyville's lakes and ponds, she had no problem getting back to the surface. As she did so something large crashed into the water a little ways away, revealing itself to be Midnight when the kirin's head broke the surface and whooped. 

"I counted about three seconds of hang time! Great job Squeaks!"

"But I didn't go far at all!" she said back, unhappiness quite clear in her young voice.

Midnight swam over and nuzzled her. "Squeaks, you're still learning. I half expected you to fall first thing but you proved me wrong. Flying takes a lot of practice and you're going to fall a lot before you fly, so take each victory as they come, no matter how small. Trust me, before you know it you'll be hopping from cloud to cloud in no time and having a good laugh over times like this."

"Really?" Squeaks asked, still sounding unsure.

"Really. What, you think I was born and just began flying around the nursery like a pro? Remind me to tell you about all the times I face-planted on our roof."

Squeaks giggled.

"Anyway, you remember what I taught you back home? About swimming with your wings?"

Squeaks nodded and flapped her wings harder, showing how she'd been treading water with them the whole time and splashing her mother. 

"Good. Onwards to shore and hopefully we'll get a few more practice runs in before we head to market, even if it is the same as the one at home."

-----------------------------

During her short stay in Baltimare, Midnight had never really gone to the market, which in her opinion was just a larger version of the one in Ponyville. As much as she had slandered it before, more so to get Filthy’s and Diamond’s goat, Barnyard Bargains had been more within her limited price range, allowing her to save up for meals at Long Line’s. Now, as she followed the others past the various vendors and stalls, she could see its appeal.  To tourists and well-off ponies, anyway. There was more than just food being sold; every conceivable thing one would want while visiting a beach town/city was there for sale as well. And it was all ridiculously expensive. What would get you a dozen apples at AJ's cart barely afforded two at a stall here in the city.

Summer, of course, was eating it all up despite the prices. Thankfully, she wasn’t dropping their bits for over-priced food (she had more business sense than that) but she was still falling for tourist traps. Sunglasses, sun hats, knick-knacks commemorating one’s stay in the city, Summer was getting her hooves on them all. “This is our first family vacation,” she argued in defense of her spending. “We need these for the memories!”

“Isn’t that why you bought me a whole new roll of film before we left?” Orange asked. For once, he and Midnight were in agreement about something. Both of their saddle bags were filled with various knick-knacks, picture frames, various other items, and even a souvenir coconut. Midnight might have been more forgiving about the last one if the skull-splitting fruit was locally grown and hadn’t cost ten bits. Squeaks or Autumn could have done a better job painting the damn thing.

Speaking of which, Sapphire, Squeaks, and Autumn hadn’t been spared, either. Both fillies now sported huge sunglasses that covered most of their faces, sun hats that shaded most of their bodies and almost completely enveloped their heads, and their saddle bags  were just as full as their respective parents'. Sapphire was also sporting the same look, albeit her decorations were more appropriately sized. Her saddle bags weren’t as full, but that was only because Summer had saved her bags for last.

“Oh, again with the details!” Summer huffed, waving a dismissive hoof. “You’ll thank me for thinking ahead later.”

“And for the wasted bits when she tells me to throw most of this stuff out in a few years,” he whispered to the two other mares. Midnight grunted in agreement and Sapphire merely shrugged. The whole thing was rather amusing to her.

“At least she’s doing it out of a desire to remember good times with those she cares about,” she offered. ‘And it’s getting you two to agree with each other for once’.

One of the large, orange sun hats purposefully poked one of Midnight’s legs. “Mom, how much longer are we going to be out here? My bags are starting to get heavy,” Squeaks said.

Thanks to said hat, it was impossible for Midnight to see her daughter’s face, but she could imagine it with the first inklings of a foal who was tired and wanted to do something else.

“Can we go back to the beach?” Autumn whined to her parents, the sun hat that was taking over her head rotating back and forth from Summer to Orange.

“See? This is what I’m talking about!” Summer said, motioning to the two fillies. “When they’re older they’ll both look back and say “gee, I wish we’d done that instead of spending all day at the beach!” As I said before, you’ll thank me later.”

A general groan went up from everypony except Sapphire.

“Oh, enough! A few hours at a market during a week-long vacation isn’t going to be the end of you! Now come along; there are some more stalls over this way.”

They all obediently followed. Deciding to head off a foreseeable problem, Midnight leaned down and forced her face through the hat canopy. “If you two promise to bear with this just a little while longer, then I promise to get you both banana splits for dessert tonight.”

“Really!?” Both fillies exclaimed.

“Midnight…” Orange said warningly.

“Seriously Midnight; you can’t keep bribing them with sweets!” Sapphire scolded. “You’ll spoil them!”

The kirin lifted her head up and rolled her eyes. “When was the last time I spoiled them?”

“After Spike’s birthday party,” Sapphire deadpanned.

“Alright, but before that.”

Sapphire opened her mouth to respond, but stopped short. When was the last time she’d spoiled them? “I… well… that is…” The pegasus snorted at the triumphant look on the kirin’s face. “Well, it seems like you do!”

"But I don't; guess I'm just brilliant like that,” she said, spreading her wings out, smiling smugly .

Which promptly beaned a nearby mare in the head. “Whoops! Sorry about that!” Midnight apologized, quickly folding them back in.

“That’s alright,” the mare reassured her as she turned to see what hit her. “Didn’t really hurt at all anyway.”

It was only then that Midnight recognized her. The tan coat, the yellow mane, and the weird ribbon cutie mark. “Hey, you’re that waitress at Long Line’s. Honeysuckle, right?”

The mare nodded. “Yep, that’s me. You’re that friend of Long Line’s from last night, right?”

“Also correct,” Midnight said with a nod. “What are you doing out here right now? Isn’t the restaurant open today?”

“It’s open,” Honeysuckle confirmed, “but we’re low on some of our ingredients. Long Line gives me a small budget and sends me out here to get them when that happens.” She opened her saddle bags with her magic to show them the small collection of vegetables within. “I wish we could get more, though. Everything in this market is so expensive!”

Midnight rolled her eyes. “An expert fisherstallion Long Line may be, but a smart shopper he is not. Give me a second.” Turning away from them, the kirin walked up beside her mother, who was looking over some seapony figurines. “Hey, mom? Can you do your big girl a big favor?” she asked in as sweet and sincere voice she could make. 

Startled, Summer looked up at her. “Sure, what is it?”

“Can you hold this,” she pulled off her sun hat and placed it over Summer’s own. “And this,” Midnight pulled off her sunglasses and set them on the brim of the sun hat. “And this.” Summer let out an “oomph!” as Midnight took off her saddle bags and placed them on her unsuspecting mother. “Thank you!”

“Wha… wait a minute! Where are you going!?” Summer called out after the retreating kirin.

“I’m going to show Honeysuckle here how to save a few bits. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

“Midnight!”

“Don’t worry Summer, I’ll make sure she gets back,” Sapphire said, starting after the quickly fleeing kirin and the unicorn who was trying to keep pace. 

“Typical,” Summer snorted, levitating Midnight’s saddle bags over onto Orange. 

-----------------------------

"So, how did you meet Long Line?" Honeysuckle asked as they made their way out of the market. Sapphire, having just caught up with them, removed her saddle bags and dropped them on Midnight's back as she had done to Summer.

The kirin raised an eyebrow at her. Sapphire just smiled innocently back. Shrugging, Midnight answered Honey. "I met him shortly after I first arrived in town. I was just following the seaside trail and caught a whiff of the restaurant. Mind you, it was more of a shack two years ago. Anyway, I followed the scent to it and went inside. Met Long Line and became a regular after that." Midnight shrugged. "Not exactly a grand tale of adventure."

"How did you meet him?" Sapphire asked. 

"The same as Midnight, I suppose," Honeysuckle said. "After I came to town I was walking along the seaside trail and noticed a Help Wanted sign propped outside the emporium. I went in, applied, and next thing I know I'm the waitress," Honey said, also shrugging. "I was lucky enough that he also offered me a place to stay on the second floor."

Sapphire eyed the filly up and down for a second. "I don't mean to pry but you seem kind of young to be wandering around on your own. I mean, Midnight and I aren't much older but..."

Honeysuckle fidgeted slightly and quickened her pace a bit. "Yeah, um... let's just say things weren't going well at home."

Midnight and Sapphire shared a glance. That certainly sounded familiar. 

"Well... look at it this way," Midnight told her. "You've got a job with a great boss, live in a great city, and you don't even need to worry about what you look like, being a normal unicorn."

'You'd be surprised,' Honeysuckle thought. Then what Midnight said last really registered with her. "Wait, I didn't see anypony giving you funny looks last night."

"It... hasn't been as bad as I first thought it was and ponies that work the dock are used to seeing strange things, so I've heard," the kirin confessed. "But I've seen the way ponies have been looking at me since we got here. Nothing hostile, just... untrusting, like I might take a bite out of them when they aren't looking."

Sapphire pushed herself up against Midnight comfortingly and the kirin gently leaned into her as they both came to a stop.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Honeysuckle said after nearly a full minute of silence. "If it's any consolation, I think griffons are scarier looking than you are."

Midnight gave a dismissive snort. "It's not like I'm out here trying to win a popularity contest," her face softened slightly, "but thank you."
Honeysuckle nodded and they set out again. 

"So, Honeysuckle, what does your cutie mark mean?" Sapphire asked a few minutes later, trying to get rid of the funk. "Do you help find special someponies for others?"

"Oh, no," Honeysuckle said, a slight blush blossoming on her cheeks. "Actually, I can sort of "see" connections between ponies; they just happen to appear as red strings to me. Like, the connection between Long Line and Grill mate is a normal sized string with simple knots connecting them. That means they're simply friends or good co-workers. Connections between family members and best friends are usually a lot thicker and have really sturdy knots, while lines between lovers mostly have sturdy knots but thin lines."

"I wonder why," Sapphire said aloud. "You'd think they'd have the strongest."

Honeysuckle shrugged. "Friendships and family bonds are simple and straight forward; it takes real effort to break those bonds from the outside. Lovers aren't as on guard for such things. They're invested in the relationship, hence the strong knots, but simple things can severe the line itself and lead to a break up. I can only really see the strings if I concentrate and I usually don't like to pry," the unicorn finished quickly. 

"Any chance you could show us?" Sapphire asked with genuine curiosity.

"You mean, read the relationship between the two of you?"

Midnight's and Sapphire's eyes flew open, looked at each other, then each took a small step apart. "Uh, sure, I guess," Midnight said, failing miserably at acting nonchalant about it. "I don't see a problem with-." 

"HEY, IT'S THE FREAK!"

Midnight froze in midsentence with her mouth hanging open as her eyes shrunk to pinpricks.

Sapphire and Honeysuckle looked to where the yell had come from and saw two stallions walking up to them. One was a steel blue unicorn with a navy blue mane while the other was a bottle green earth pony with a seafoam mane. "Holy shit, can you believe it actually came back!?" The blue one said to his friend.

"Wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it," the green one said. "Even ditched its crumby cloak, too."

"Um, excuse me," Sapphire said, recovering from her confusion and replacing it with instant dislike and annoyance. "Just who are you two?"

"Arbor Knot and Bimini Twist," Midnight said, surprisingly calm. She slowly turned her head around to look at them as well. Her face had gone completely impassive but Sapphire could still see the hint of a fang out of the corner of her mouth. Her wings were slightly flared and her tail was twitching.

"Aw, it remembered our names!" the blue one, Arbor Knot, said mockingly.

"Can't be that smart if it's come back," the green one, Bimini Twist, added. "This freak bothering you two ladies? We can get rid of it for you." The two of them waggled their eyebrows at Sapphire and Honey.

The two mares cringed in disgust. 

"Midnight isn't a freak or an it, so stop calling her that," Sapphire said in a tone that suggested she was talking to something revolting. "Second of all, she's our friend and we're with her by choice." She moved closer to the still kirin.

Honeysuckle did the same. "Long Line kicked you out of the restaurant; why would I want to associate with either one of you?"

Both stallions snorted. "You're kidding, right? Who in their right mind would be friends with that?" Bimini asked. "And so what if the old coot threw us out? Just because he doesn't like us doesn't mean you have to, too."

"That thing's nothing but a freak of nature," Arbor continued. "Probably crawled out of a sewer and started living on the streets after its gator mom tried eating it."

Sapphire felt Midnight stiffen, but still the kirin did nothing as the two hecklers continued their insults. The pegasus could feel her own anger rising as they went on. Why was Midnight taking all this? She expected her to be flipping out on them by now. A silent vibration went through Midnight's body and Sapphire looked up to see the kirin baring her teeth at the stallions. The rest of her body was going into threatening mode as well; her wings flared out more, her tail began to arc up, and another low growl reverberated through her.

"Uh-oh! Better look out Arbor, it's mad," Bimini said.

"Oh, I'm so scared! Please don't eat me Miss Freak!" Arbor teased, then burst out laughing with his friend.

"If you think that is going to intimidate us, try again. Lay one hoof on us and you'll be in the slammer so quick your messed-up head would spin."

"I've had enough of this," Sapphire said, turning away with a snort of disgust. "Come one Midnight, Honeysuckle, let's find that store we were looking for."

Bimini's face darkened as she did so. "Hey, don't think you can just walk away and ignore us, bitch!" he yelled after her, making as if to follow.

He took three steps before being bowled over by a large, black, furious hybrid. "IF YOU EVER," Midnight roared, literally, in his face, "EVEN LOOK AT HER AGAIN, HER OR HONEYSUCKLE," she amended, "I'LL RIP YOUR THROATS OUT BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN THINK TO CALL FOR HELP! I'VE FOUGHT A HYDRA, DRAGON, AND EVEN WENT HOOF TO CLAW WITH DISCORD. DON'T THINK I WON'T TRASH YOUR SORRY HIDES WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!"

"D-D-Do something!" Bimini yelled at Arbor from under the enraged kirin's hooves. Panicking, Arbor shot a spell at Midnight, only to see it splash against her as if it was nothing but mist. Seeing this, the unicorn turned and bolted back down the alley they came from, howling about how a demon from Tartarus had escaped and was on the loose. His only ally having turned tail, Bimini shot a kick at Midnight's leg, one she barely registered, then scrambled to his hooves and took off after Arbor.

Midnight didn't chase them; she only stood there, panting heavily while still baring her fangs down the alleyway. 

The two other mares gave her a minute to calm down before getting close to her again. "Who were those two... those two..." Sapphire paused to try and come up with an appropriate description of the two.

"Those two plot-sucking wastes of life are Bimini Twist and Arbor Knot. Those two where, are, the reason I left Baltimare in the first place," Midnight said with a snort. After a few more seconds she whipped around and began walking away. "We still need to show Honeysuckle that store," she grumbled. 

Sapphire and Honeysuckle looked at each other, unsure if they should tell the kirin to forget about it and head back. With Midnight quickly moving back in the direction they were originally heading, they had little choice but to follow her.

-----------------------------

Midnight, Sapphire, Honeysuckle, Grill Mate, and Long Line sat around the center table of the restaurant later that night after dinner. Midnight had told Summer and Orange to take the girls back to the hotel while Long Line told them some of the more... interesting stories that had happened to him out at sea and in the restaurant. 

"Are you okay?" Summer had asked before they left. "You've seemed a bit down ever since you came back with Honey."

"I'm fine," she lied. "Just some old memories cropping up. I'll be fine with all the others here."

"Alright. We'll see you back at the hotel. Don't stay out too late."

"Like a set of bad bits, those two," Long Line said heavily as Midnight rejoined them and took a sip of her rum and coke. "Surprised folks haven't driven them out of town by now."

"Why hasn't anypony done anything about them?" Sapphire asked angrily. "If some ponies acted like that back in Cloudsdale, they'd be kicked out tied up to thunder clouds!"

Long Line shrugged. "You ever hang out in the seedier part of Cloudsdale?"

"Cloudsdale doesn't have a seedier part," Sapphire defended. 

"They have a shipping port up there?" Long Line asked, to which Sapphire nodded. "Then they do. Every city has an underbelly, though I'll meet you halfway and say that the docks up there are a lot more policed than down here. Plus you can't just have anypony wander in." He took a swig of his beer. "From what I've heard, their work ethic runs just about as hard as their attitudes.  Nopony wants to be the one to make two of the best dock workers to git the Tartarus out of town but at the same time it's what everypony's hopin' for. I hoped I was givin' somepony the courage enough to do it when I finally banned 'em from my restaurant; no dice." He took another swig of his beer. "Figured they were the reason you left," he told Midnight. "Them two bottom feeding plot-suckers walked in here one day sputterin' about how you were some demon of Nightmare Night or the like and how we needed to 'round up a posse and hunt you down. Mind, we all had a good laugh at 'em and I told 'em to get the buck out of my place if they wanted to keep talking about you that way. Then you never showed up again."

All eyes drifted over to the kirin and she took a deep breath. "They cornered me one night, trying to get me to go out with one of them. I said no, of course, but they just kept pushing me. Finally Bimini grabbed my cloak and pulled at me, asking what the hay I was hiding. It came off, they saw what I was, then ran the other way. Well, Arbor ran; Bimini had the balls to take a swing at me before he took off." 

"Turds," Grill Mate gruffed over his whisky. "Only pieces of shit like them would do something like that. Would have thrown them out myself, literally, if you hadn't done it first boss."

"Would have done it sooner if I had any sense," Long Line growled. 

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Honeysuckle asked over her hard(ish) lemonade. Long Line believed she was responsible enough to handle a little bit of alcohol. 

"Seriously," Sapphire piped up. "Midnight, they tried to-!"

"The police will say they only harassed me and slap them with a fine," Midnight told her. "As much as I hate to say it, I agree with them. If they had gone that far, they'd have been in the hospital or dead. They're not harmless but they're also not dangerous, just scum. At this point let's just enjoy the rest of our vacation and avoid the docks and alleys as much as possible."

"They try anything again, you three let me and Grill Mate know," Long Line said. "'Bout time I changed up my chum and bait."

They all got a laugh out of that.

"Must be nice, not having to deal with folks like that in Ponyville," Long Line said.

Midnight cocked an ear his way. The way he had said that, not to mention the mention of Ponyville coming out of left field, was rather odd. "Anypony in Ponyville tried that and they'd be railed so hard out of town you'd swear they'd been made into a trolley car," she told him, the alcohol slurring her speech slightly. Summer was going to give her the stink eye when they got back.

"Good... good," Long Line said casually.

The kirin saw him shoot a quick glance over at Honeysuckle as he did so.

-----------------------------

"They really are majestic," Summer said as the dolphins swam past the observation window/wall. Both Squeaks and Autumn squeezed their faces against the glass to try and get a better look at the sea mammals. It was the middle of the week and, as planned, they were at the famous Baltimare Aquarium. Midnight and Sapphire stood a little ways back from the rest, allowing a few more foals and their parents to get close to the glass. They'd be seeing the dolphin show soon enough as it was. 

"So, do you know what you're going to say?" Sapphire asked in a low voice.

"Only thing left to say," Midnight whispered back. She shot a glance at the foals. If what Honeysuckle had said was true, then this last, desperate play was all the kirin had left in order to be on good terms with her baby sister again. It both worried and irked her.

The previous day Honeysuckle had joined them on their trip to the jetty a little ways past the main path and hotels. Long Line had given her the day off, saying that she needed to recover emotionally from what had happened. According to him, that meant spending time with friends, with strong hints that Midnight and Sapphire were just the ponies for the role. When the unicorn had told them this, Midnight knew the fisherstallion was up to something. She doubted it was anything nefarious and he'd done stuff like this before (he got two ponies to date using nothing more than a few scrapes of paper, a tuba, and several over ripe bananas) but the goal was lost on her. 

Honeysuckle got along great with Summer, Orange, and the girls. Here, Autumn's rumored outgoing nature shined. She took to Honeysuckle like a duck to water, chatting her up about anything and everything. 

What had set the upcoming event at the aquarium was when Honeysuckle, after insistent questioning from Autumn, had told the rest of them what her cutie mark meant. Autumn, Squeaks, and Summer had all asked enthusiastically that she read their lines and, slightly intimidated by the attention and requests, she agreed. Summer and Orange had the typical strings and knots of a loving couple and Autumn the typical strings between parents and foal. Squeaks was evidently confident enough in her own relations to ask Honeysuckle to read the string between Midnight and Autumn.

"I'm sure they have the same relationship any sisters share," Summer had said quickly, trying not to let her granddaughter inadvertently air the situation between the two and make things even more awkward. 

"But, they've been-" Squeaks started.

"Why don't I try the string between Midnight and Orange instead?" Honeysuckle offered, waving her horn before the bat filly could protest further. A quick scan and the unicorn found herself in another situation. While the string on Oranges end seemed normal enough, the string on Midnight's looked... mauled. How it was still attached was beyond her. 

"Oh, hey, horseshoe crabs!" Midnight called out when Honeysuckle stayed quiet on her findings. "Mom, go take the girls over and take a look at them!" Quick to catch on, Summer herded the girls towards the water, where there were indeed several of the rock-shaped crabs at the water's edge. Orange followed them while Sapphire stayed behind.

"Don't worry about it," Midnight told her. "It's not really a secret. However, I would like you to do a quick read between me and Autumn, now that she's not in ear-shot." Seeing the confused looked on Honeysuckle's face, she explained the situation they were in. 

"I see," Honeysuckle said when Midnight had finished. "But how can I possibly help?"

"I just want to know how bad things are between us. If the string is alright, then I we can just take our time again. If it's not... well..." the kirin trailed off.

Without a word, Honeysuckle's horn flared gently with her magic. The other two mares watched as her eyes zipped around under her eyelids, presumably taking in the imaginary string's condition. Finally, the unicorn's magic faded as she opened her eyes. Any hope of good news died away when Honeysuckle took one look at Midnight and quickly looked away. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "The string is there and it's knotted on her end... but it's a very loose knot and the string is very thin."

Numbly, Midnight nodded and turned to look at her baby sister. From that moment on she had agonized over what she needed to do in order to, again, try and get back into the filly's good graces. It had been late the previous night that she'd come up with what she would say to her and, for Midnight, it felt more like a last chance gamble than a almost-certain solution. She'd talked her plan over with Sapphire, Summer, and even allowed Orange to add in his two bits. They all agreed that it was probably the best way to approach the situation.

Looking back towards the glass wall, she caught her mother's eye. The older mare nodded, then turned back towards the glass, waiting for the other two to get close before doing her part to help her daughters. "I think we should get ourselves some good seats for the show," she announced. "The earlier we get there, the better seats we'll have."

"Can we sit in the splash zone!?" Autumn asked excitedly.

"We'll see," Summer told her, moving to leave. 

Before Autumn could follow her mother, however, she was blocked by a large, black wing. "Before we all head up I'd just like to have a quick, private word with my little sister, if that's alright," Midnight asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Of course," Summer said before Autumn had any sort of chance to protest. "We'll wave to you when you get in. Come along Squeaky." The two fillies watched their group separate, but neither put up as much of a fuss as the adults had feared. Soon enough the other four were out of sight, unintentionally taking the other ponies in the area with them. Apparently they all wanted good seats to the dolphin show.

"What do you-?"Autumn started, only to have her mouth covered by a black hoof.

"First, why don't we get comfortable? I didn't get a chance to get a good view of the dolphins yet," Midnight told her, guiding her back over to the glass and laying down there, making sure the filly was laying down as well and comfortable against her side. She was, but she was still stiff. A frown crossed the kirin's face as she stared into the tank. As she did so, two dolphins swam by, one a calf and the other an adult. More than likely it was a mother/child pair, but it still felt to Midnight like a reflection of the two sisters watching them. Once they swam away, Midnight finally readied herself. "Autumn, I wanted to talk with you about us; our relationship," Midnight said, glancing down at her sister.

The filly looked back up at her, her face reflecting several emotions. Fear and uncertainty was there, as expected, but at Midnight's words a hint of guilt made its way into the mix as well. The kirin would have been lying if she said she was unhappy to see that.

"To be blunt, Autumn, I'm not happy with how we're getting along. We were doing so well before... well, before, and now you don't want to even stand next to me anymore."

The filly tried to say something, but was once again blocked by her sister's hoof. 

"Let me say my peace first. Now, to be fair, I really can't relate to this situation. I'm not trying to interact with a half-spider-half-pony thing and if I was, I'd probably act a lot like you're acting now. The difference, though, is that after a few month's I'd probably get used to them. Even if you're younger than I am, nearly two months of knowing each other should show you that all I want to do is be the best big sister for you that I can be. But, all you do now is push me away, and it really hurts me to see you do that."

Midnight paused for a second here before continuing with a sigh. "Autumn, before you were born, I ran away from home. Growing up, I was told many times that the ponies of Equestria would be scared of me; going out into the world alone showed me that was mostly true. Anytime anypony would discover what I was they would either run away in fear or try to hurt me, just because of the way I looked. Would you like anypony treating you like that, simply because you looked different?"

Realizing her sister had truly asked her a question, Autumn slowly shook her head.

"Exactly, so you can imagine how badly it made me feel to have ponies act like that. Deep down I guess I knew mom didn't feel that way, but I still couldn't escape the feeling that on some level she did. That hurt the most. I'm not out to win a popularity contest, but even the chance of my own mother..." Midnight shook her head slowly. "I was so happy when we reunited, got back together again," she clarified, "because it meant that somepony didn't care what I was or what I looked like; what mattered was that we were family. Sure, other ponies in town didn't mind how I looked either, just look at Sapphire, but this was my mom. That mattered so much more. Then I found out I had a little sister and I thought things would only get better. Another pony who wouldn't care what I looked like and only saw her big sister. I think we both know things didn't exactly turn out that way."

The guilty look on Autumn's face grew as her older sister's became suddenly more stony.

"What's even worse now, Autumn, is that I'm tired. Tired of hiding, tired of feeling wrongly ashamed, tired of being treated like some sort of boogey-monster. Yesterday I was willing to do anything to try and get back in your good graces. Now... now I'm tired of walking on eggshells around you and trying to suppress my wyvern half. I'm a kirin, I was born this way, and there's nothing I can do about it; it's who and what I am. I can't keep reaching across the gap between us alone; I need to be met half-way. If you can't even do that..." Midnight trailed off, then let out a soft snort and shook her head. "Anyway, that's all I have to say. I just wanted to let you know how I feel before it gets too much later."

The two of them fell back into silence and resumed watching the dolphins again.

"You turned into a dragon," Autumn finally said simply. "You turned into a huge, fire-breathing dragon! You could have eaten us up in one gulp!" Tears began forming at the corners of her eyes. "You were so scary and mommy wasn't moving! I thought you were going to hurt us!"

Before the filly could really start crying, Midnight pulled her in against her chest and nuzzled her. "Again, I'm sorry I scared you like that. You know, the first time I changed, I was just as scared of myself as you are." That stopped Autumn's crying short.

"You were?"

Midnight nodded. "I had no idea I could do it. I thought I was losing control of myself and that really scared me. What if I hurt somepony when I changed or worse? How could I live with myself if something happened? So, for the next twelve years or so, I lived in fear of the power I had. I lost the only friend I had back then and I thought mom might not want me around anymore." Amazingly, a small smile worked its way onto her face. "Then, when I was between cities, I decided to try and transform again. Despite my fears, I remembered being in control of myself the whole time I was a wyvern. So I found a canyon away from any pony settlements, concentrated, and changed right there. And you know what? I was completely in control of myself the whole time. There wasn't any second, primal mind waiting to take over the moment I changed, just myself. I can't tell you how much of a relief that was. After that I only changed two more times. Once to protect Squeaks, Sapphire, and the rest of our friends from a hydra and then to protect you, mom, and the rest of Ponyville from Spike's rampage. If I can promise you anything Autumn, it's that when I become a wyvern, it's because I'm protecting you from something that really does want to hurt you."

Autumn squirmed. "It's still scary."

Midnight nodded. "I can imagine. Just try to keep that all in mind next time it happens. Which, hopefully, it never will again." Twice in less than a year wasn't a good omen, but with any luck it meant they were in for a nice, long, uneventful time ahead to balance everything out. Hopefully.

"You promise? Not to turn into a dragon again unless something even scarier is after us?" Autumn finally asked after another minute of silence.

"On my honor as your big sister, I promise," Midnight told her, bowing her head.

"Good," Autumn said, still sounding a bit hesitant.

"Come on," Midnight said, standing up and stretching a bit. "Mom and Squeaks probably have seats by now."

Autumn nodded and followed Midnight away from the glass wall.

-----------------------------

"So," Sapphire asked as they each settled into their respective beds later that night. "How do you think the talk went?" She'd avoided asking how things went until then so that the kirin could make a proper assessment of just how well her plan had worked.

The kirin wriggled down under the sheets before answering. "I... think something good came out of it," she told her. "Autumn seemed to stay around me more afterwards."

"Well, as you like to say: baby steps."

The kirin grunted. "That's still the problem. You only take baby steps for so long before you have to start walking and as I told Autumn I'm tired of waiting. Something has to give."

The two mares fell into silence, neither one knowing what to say next. Their solitude was broken when the door connecting the two hotel rooms opened slowly and Squeaks stuck her head around it. "Hi mom," the thestral said quietly.

"Hey Squeaks, what's up?" Midnight asked her. "Shouldn't you and Autumn already be asleep?"

"Autumn is, but I can't," Squeaks told her, coming fully into the room.

"Any particular reason why not?"

Squeaks made it to the side of the bed. "Because something's wrong with you and Autumn again and I can't figure out how to help." 

"Oh, Squeaks." Midnight helped her up onto the bed and drew her up next to her. "All I need you to do is be there for the two of us." The kirin nuzzled her daughter.

"Isn't there anything else I can do?" the bat filly asked again, nestling in against her mother.

"Try to understand Squeaks, this is between your aunt and I; only the two of us can make things right. Like I said, the best way you can help is just to be there for us, like you're doing right now." Midnight nuzzled her again. "Time for bed young lady."

Squeaks nodded, yawned widely, then allowed herself to be covered by Midnight's wing. 

Midnight looked over at Sapphire to see the pegasus wearing a soft smile. At least some things were staying the same; that was something she could hold onto. "Good night Sapphire."

"Good night, Midnight."

-----------------------------

Midnight trotted along the sea-side path, the trinket her mother had sent her to get jingling slightly as she did so. The last rays of the sun were barely visible between the buildings she passed while the moon and stars shone brightly over the ocean. It was their last night in the city. As the kirin walked along the path and admired the night sky over the water, she couldn't help but think back on how the past two days had gone. If she was forced to say whether or not her gamble had been a success or failure, then she'd have to say success. If she was allowed to be a bit more vague, she'd say that things were different for the better but it wasn't a complete change. As long as Summer was in sight, Autumn was willing to include Midnight in whatever she was doing. That very morning had seemed like a repeat of when they first played in one of Ponyville's parks, with Autumn practically ignoring Midnight as they built the biggest sand castle they could. The second Summer made to leave, however, Autumn would either follow her away or latch onto her father. Midnight simply took it as the best she was going to get for the time being and continued to teach Squeaks how to glide whenever playtime with sister was over. 

She was brought back to the present when she saw Long Line hovering near a corner of an alleyway several blocks down from his restaurant. Noticing the kirin at the same time she noticed him, he motioned for her to come over but to stay quiet. The look on his face told her that this was no game. With a few quick beats of her wings she flew up and over him, landed, then turned and came up to his wither. "What's up?" she whispered.

"We might finally have some muck on our two mutual  disgusts," Long Line told her, motioning around the corner of the alley. 
Midnight looked, and immediately every hair stood on end. Down at the other end of the alley, Bimini and Arbor were blocking Honeysuckle in. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but the looks on their faces said it all. Their faces had lewd looks about them, giving away their intentions as blatantly as if they had been saying them out loud. What was worse was the look of understanding, disgust, and fear clear on Honeysuckle's face. Midnight could relate; this was the exact same situation those two had put her in before she had left town. "Why aren't we doing anything!?" the kirin hissed at Long Line, fully prepared to charge to Honeysuckle's rescue. 

"I've already sent Grill Mate to go get the cops," Long Line told her. "With any luck they'll get back before they do anything really serious and we have to step in. If the cops see what we're seeing the whole thing will be cut and dry instead of having to sort out who did what and possibly letting them go."

It was a good plan, Midnight had to admit, but the idea of letting things continue unabated without Honeysuckle in on the plan, thinking she really was alone in an alley without any help coming and at the mercy of two of the biggest sleaze-balls she'd ever heard of. Her fangs were already extending when Bimini pawed at Honeysuckle. That pushed Midnight over the edge. Without a word, she pushed past Long Line into the alleyway.

"Midnight, what are you doing!?" he hissed after her. "Wait for the cops to show up!"

She ignored him, marching down the alleyway, stopping a little more than half way down to them when she saw Honeysuckle spot her. She could hear the lewd comments each one of them were making now and she shivered involuntarily when similar words echoed from her memory. "Get away from her," Midnight growled.

The two stallions froze, front hooves still raised and mouths open in mid-sentence as they turned to see who had caught them. When their eyes fell on the angry kirin, they both rolled their eyes and snorted in contempt. "Look at that, Arbor, the freak thinks it's a hero. Get lost and mind your own business."

Arbor laughed. "Yeah, get lost! We're trying to get lucky! Hey, I'll bet that's why it's here, too! Remember how it acted the other day? It's probably likes the two of them!"

Bimini laughed as well. "Bet you're into that kind of thing, too," he said to Honeysuckle. "What, you need a freak to turn you on? I can be pretty freaking, too. In bed that is."

Midnight growled again, louder and more threatening. She took another step forward and flared her wings.

"You try anything and we'll do more than run you out of town again!" Bimini snapped at her. "Lay a hoof on us and you think the cops will side with you? Only a retard of a cop would side with a freak like you over us normal ponies. Then again, a cage is exactly the kind of place you belong!"

Midnight saw red. What she had told Autumn had been the truth; she was tired of feeling ashamed for being different. The year in Ponyville and the reprieve it gave her from the years of being treated as such, even if it had been by only a few ponies per city, had worn away her tolerance of such things. She was not going to take such things from anypony anymore and damn the consequences. 

She leapt forward.

-----------------------------

"How much farther, Grill Mate?" the sergeant huffed as he and his partner followed the cook towards the beach. The sergeant and his partner, a private with at least a few weeks on the force, were the first two police he'd run into after leaving his boss behind to keep an eye on what was going on in the alley. Grill Mate hoped they would get back before Long Line had to step in. The earth pony stallion had half-hoped he'd run into Midnight Storm in his search for the authorities; no matter how much manure those two could shovel out of their mouths, he doubted either of them could stand up to a pissed off kirin, especially one with a chip on her shoulder. 

"Not much farther now!" Grill Mate informed them. It wasn't either. One more turn found them on the sea-side path and towards Long Line, who was backing away from the alley. "Boss, I've got the cops! What... what's wrong?" Grill Mate panted as he caught the look on his boss's face. A weird mix of fear and impressed.

"Just learnin' never to piss off a kirin," he said. As if to punctuate this statement, a beat up Arbor Knot came sailing out of the alleyway and landed in a heap in the middle of the path. The thug scrambled to get up, only to be promptly flattened by his buddy, who had also been beaten and thrown out of the alley. 

Before any of them could say anything, Midnight Storm emerged from the alley, followed closely by Honeysuckle. "And if I EVER hear you've been down this way again, I WILL-!" She stopped mid-roar when she saw she now had an audience, two of which were officers of the law.

"Help us!" Arbor cried out when he saw the two police stallions. "That monster tried to kill us!"

"I'm pressing charges!" Bimini added. "Unprovoked assault and attempted murder!"

Midnight growled at them.

"That's a load of bilge!" Long Line yelled back. "You two were sexually harassing my employee!"

"Were not!" Bimini yelled.

"Were so!" hollered Grill Mate.

"QUIET!" the sergeant shouted, shutting them all up. "First things first; Grill Mate brought us down here because he said that he and Long Line saw Bimini Twist and Arbor Knot harassing Miss Honeysuckle."

"They're lying!" Bimini exclaimed. "Yeah, we were hitting on her, but we weren't doing anything illegal!"

"You cornered her in an alleyway and began pawing at her! Celestia only knows what you said!" Long Line yelled.

"Shut up old stallion!" Bimini shot back. "I bet you and that freak set this whole thing up! If you really thought we were doing something, why didn't you come in and stop us yourself!?"

"ENOUGH!" the sergeant once again cried out to bring order back. "Let's start with the obvious: why do you two look like you got on the wrong side of a manticore?"

"That thing did it!" Bimini yelled, pointing at Midnight. "It charged into the alley and started wailing on us!"

The sergeant looked over at Midnight and eyed her up and down. "This true miss?"

"No," Midnight told him. "I entered the alleyway, told them to stop, and when I insisted they listen, Bimini here took a swing at me. What I did was self-defense."

The sergeant eyed the two on the ground, taking in her version of "self-defense".

"They were harassing me, officers," Honeysuckle piped up from where she was standing next to Midnight. "I kept telling them to just go away, but they kept at it, even grabbing at my saddle bags."

"You lying bitch!" Bimini cursed.

"Quiet you!" the sergeant spat, stepping past them and taking a look down the dead end. "There are four ponies here all hoofing you two for the same crime. One of them came looking for us, which would be rather stupid if they were the ones committing a crime. Furthermore, if all you were doing was making a pass at this mare, you couldn't have done it in a worse place. Cornering somepony in an alleyway is harassment, you idiots."

Said idiots looked at each other as they stood up. That didn't sound well for them.

"What's more, Miss... um...?" He looked over at Midnight.

"Midnight Storm, officer," she said with a respectable bow of the head.

"Miss Storm was perfectly justified hoofing out the amount of beating she did. Seeing as neither of you are screaming in pain from a break and standing perfectly fine, I'd say your injuries are all superficial. Don't even try and start faking it now!" the sergeant barked, seeing the idea cross their faces. "You two are going down to the station as soon as we get statements from everypony. From there we'll see if either Miss Honeysuckle or Miss Storm want to press charges against the two of you. Either way, you're going to finally have a criminal record, Bimini Twist and Arbor Knot, which is enough of an excuse for no sensible business pony around here to hire you. Hopefully, this will teach you not to think you can do whatever you please without consequences. Private, cuff these two and get them back to the station! Get some back up to help you." 

-----------------------------

"Finally got the bastards," Grill Mate said after the sergeant had left with all their statements. Neither Midnight nor Honeysuckle had decided to press charges; from what Long Line and the police sergeant had said, it was unlikely that either pony was going to be working in Baltimare again and the beating the kirin had laid down on them was punishment enough.

"Too bad they didn't try it in Ponyville," Long Line said. "Bet they would have been tarred, feathered, then chased out of town by a bunch of ravenous foxes."

"Alright, that's it," Midnight said, turning on Long Line and giving him a measuring look. "What the hay are you up to? Ever since I've shown up you been going on about the place almost non-stop. And don't bother trying to deny it; I know you too well Long Line."

The earth pony sputtered, tried to defend himself, then fell silent. For a long moment, he just stood there silently, giving Midnight an equally measuring look. Then he dropped all pretences with a defeated sigh. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Subtlety is not your forte, my friend," Midnight told him, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

"Fine. If you must know... I was trying to give Honeysuckle some hints that moving out to the country might be better for her in the long run."

"Huh?" Honeysuckle said, confused. She thought Long Line liked her.

Long Line turned to face her. "Honeysuckle, ever since you came to town you've acted lost and overwhelmed. You've only looked more vulnerable as time's gone on. Then Midnight decides to come wandering back, no disguise what so ever and happy as a clam and from what I understand it's all because of this small country town call Ponyville. The two of you came to me with practically the same story of running away from home and if Ponyville could help Midnight find a new one, I figured it could help you as well. I'm not trying to get rid of you, Honeysuckle, not at all; I'm just trying to give you a chance at a better life. That's all a friend wants for another, right?"

The two mares looked at each other. It certainly wasn't what they were expecting him to say. "Well... that's kind of you Long Line, but why didn't you say something from the start? Even just an aside to me?" Midnight asked him.

He shrugged. "I thought one of you would take the suggestion the wrong way, like I wanted to get rid of Honeysuckle."

"I think we would understand," Midnight reassured him. "In the end, the decision is up to Honeysuckle." Midnight and the two stallions looked over at the unicorn, who fidgeted a bit at the attention.

"The city is a bit overwhelming," she admitted, "and I have gotten looks from other stallions... but is a country town really so different when you get down to it? And isn't such a close-knit community not very welcoming to strangers?"

"If they were I wouldn't be here right now," Midnight told her. "Ponyville is very welcoming and they look out for each other. There aren't any ponies like those two living there; Long Line's right when he said they'd be run out of town. A particularly nasty griffin didn't even last a day. In the end, it's your decision, though."

Honeysuckle looked around at the faces of her friends; the only ones who really cared about her since she lost her mother. She liked Long Line and Grill Mate a lot, but all her world had been since becoming the restaurant's waitress was the restaurant itself, her room, and the few places Long Line or Grill Mate would send her. Not a lot of ponies in the city were willing to meet her. The idea of a whole new town full of ponies willing to meet her...

"I'll... I'll think about," she said finally.

"Take your time," Midnight told her. "We aren't leaving Ponyville anytime soon."