> A Strange New Pony in Town
>  by Dark Dienen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


 The Strange New Pony in Town



By


Dark Dienen, Alticron,Freelancer



Art By


2135D



Proofread and Edited By


Icudeadnow





Prologue






It was yet another beautiful, summer day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the entire town was abuzz with its usual bounty of life; colts and fillies joyfully laughed and shrieked as they played in the streets, vendors and stall owners vocally advertised their produce and wares with vigor from their roadside stands, and many a wandering mare or stallion found themselves caught between these competing sides, though not minding in the slightest.

All in all, it was just another pleasant day in the small town. But, even on a pleasant day such as this, as fate and fortune seemed all too happy to have it, Mayor Mare still found herself stuck in her office, sitting at her desk, and hard at work with her duties as usual.

“You want to put in a statue of Princess Celestia doing that? Really?” She muttered, staring over the ‘blue request for expansion of a business premises’ form before her with a look of bewilderment, “At the risk of having an angry Twilight Sparkle on my case, I think not.”

With that, the form was promptly struck with a red ‘denied’ stamp, signed in black ink, and then shoved firmly into the ‘rejected’ box.

It wasn’t like she didn’t have a choice in the matter of being there, the hay, as her name basically announced to anypony and everypony who heard it, she was the mayor of Ponyville, and frankly could’ve knocked off and gone home at any time that she wished, or just not come to work at all.

But, in the same way as the title of mayor had its perks, so it logically had its pains, of which there were far more than she would’ve liked to admit; construction requests to approve, town council bills to sign off on, rates to check and readjust if needed, and various kinds of forms for this and that, the other to stamp, all formed a bare few of such pains.

Yes, she might’ve had the ability to choose to be there, but the paperwork basically demanded her to be there, no ‘ifs’, ‘buts’, or ‘maybes’ about it.

These pains though, she’d always like to think to put her mind at ease, were simply a necessary self-annoyance for the future betterment of everypony. After all, It was through them and constant good management that the town, her town as she somewhat liked to believe, had come to grow and prosper over the years, gaining more than its share of importance and respect throughout Equestria as it had done so.

Well, mostly due to her efforts… the presence of the Elements of Harmony probably formed some of that respect. She couldn’t help but smirk at that particular memory; if Ponyville hadn’t been on everypony’s map before, then it sure as hay was after that Summer Sun Celebration.

The Mayor’s office itself, if somepony new in town were to be looking for it, was a small room tucked away on the second floor of the town hall, connected to the main building by an equally small waiting room. Said joining room, nowadays, formed the office of one Ruthann Inkedquill, or just ‘Ruth’ as she insisted on being called, a chocolate brown and silver Earth pony who served Mare’s secretary mare.

Mayor Mare’s office itself, upon inspection, wasn’t exactly the place of elaborate splendor that a visitor might’ve expected from one of her station… but then again, this was the Mayor of Ponyville’s office, not the Mayor of Canterlot’s. Besides, most earth ponies preferred beauty through simplicity.

A simple but more than adequately large desk sat in the middle of the room, said desk being flanked by a number of bulging shelves, filing cabinets, and the occasional wall-mounted painting or award, and backed by a single window overlooking the bustling Ponyville market district.

And it was at this desk that Mayor Mare presently found herself. Allowing a soft yawn to escape her muzzle as she signed off on another building submission, and replaced yet another snapped quill, the middle-aged mare momentarily stopped her work to glance up at her office clock…

…and then sighed upon seeing that it only read a quarter past four.

“Hmmf, I swear that clock has it in for me.” She muttered to herself, sitting up in her chair and stretching out a few stiff kinks. A small moment of Heaven.

Once the last cracks and groans of her middle-aged body subsided, the earth pony turned to reface her still lingering adversary, the adversary that had turned her humble office into a jail cell, the adversary that would’ve driven each and everypony in her position to the brink of rage upon seeing it.

A heap of colored papers, scrolls, and alike that presently called her desk home, all asking her permission for one thing or another.

“Why do you only ever seem to get higher?” She grumbled, her question gaining no answer from the pile of parchment as she reached for it yet again, “Huh, oh well, I guess I’ll just rest when I’m retired.”

And that, as fate would have it, was when a rapid chorus of knocks resonated from her door; the sudden intrusion of sound caused the earth pony to jump, and almost send the stack of papers tumbling for the floor.

Years spent saving such piles of work allowed Mare to grab them in time, but only just.

Mare huffed in mild agitation as she set them aside. 

Now who could want me at this hour?

"Ehem, Come in!" she called; running a quick hoof through her mane to make sure it was somewhat neat. Admittedly, having ponies come knocking without an appointment wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but at four fifteen in the afternoon? Really?

After a few more short seconds spent waiting, mare received her second startling in the same amount of minutes.

The door ended up being practically thrown open with the rough force of a hurricane, and an all too familiar grey and blonde pegasus came happily flying in, proudly dressed in her signature mailmare uniform.

Mare couldn’t help but wince as said mailmare narrowly missed crashing into the doorframe, then her polished oak shelf, and a metal filing cabinet, before finally landing a little shakily in the middle of the room.

Still, she kept her composure, and smiled warmly at her visitor all the same; Equestria had enough bitter politicians as it was.

"Why hello there, Ditzy.”

"Hi Mayor Mare,” Ditzy replied with an equally wide smile as she approached the desk, “Whatcha doing cooped up in here on a day like today?”

What with being the unfortunate end of more than a few ‘Derpy!’ shouts during her day to day routine, a little kindness always went a long way with the mailmare.

Mare chuckled at the younger mare’s question, “My dear, this town doesn’t exactly run itself.” She replied, indicating to the now, once again, teetering tower of scrolls and alike, “But enough of that; now then, why don’t you tell me what’s brought you here? It must be important."

“Well, I was just making the last of my rounds when a cloaked pony flagged me down on Mane Street… and asked that I give you this."

The earth pony felt her eyebrow rise as Ditzy began digging around in her mailbag, said eyebrow managing to rise even further when, much to her surprise, the pegasus actually pulled out a rolled up scroll and placed it on the desk in front of her.

What with the mention of a ‘cloaked pony’, most of her had initially believed that this supposed scroll was simply, more than likely, a prank pulled by the likes of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, or some other cheeky local mischief up to no good… but if this was some kind of prank, then it sure seemed legitimate enough.  

It wasn’t a conventional scroll that lay before her hooves, by any means, or at least not by most pony standards anyway; the parchment itself looked to be far too rough, was colored an unusually dark yellow in color, and, if her eye was correct, was at least double the thickness of regular paper.

And just why did it feel so… cold?

“He said it was important that you got it today.” Ditzy went on as Mare examined it, her mismatched golden eyes betraying her own curiosity.

Gingerly holding it up between her hooves as Ditzy looked on, and not entirely sure what to expect, Mare huffed and unfurled the parchment.



Greetings and salutations to you, Mayor Mare, Mayor of Ponyville.

I would assume, no doubt, that time is of the essence in your line of work, so I will be quick in my request. My name is Xarzith Ixen, and I am looking to move to Ponyville in the near future.

I am interested in buying a block of vacant or cleared land on which to build a house, which I will be looking to fund and oversee myself. I request this not in offence to your town’s current dwellings, but I simply have needs, which they would not be able to fill.

As you probably would’ve already guessed from what you’ve read, I have been searching your town of late for possible options, and I believe that, in my hunt, I saw the perfect block just past your town's library, made vacant of the former resident by the dragon greed-growth rampage your town was subjected too not so long ago. Forgive me if the way that comes across offends you.

I will be spending the next two days getting my things in order, after which I hope to meet with you face to face to discuss my potential purchase. I would like you to think my proposition over and give me your answer once I come see you.

May your fire always burn brightly.

Xarzith Ixen



Mare re-read the letter a few times over once she’d finished the initial reading, her sharp eye for detail, trained and honed from hours spent reading the fine print at the bottom of thousands of legal documents, scrutinizing each and every written word.

It seemed sincere enough from a glance, and the request to purchase land was hardly something unusual… but something about it was still biting at her nerves.

Xarzith Ixen. It was perhaps the most unusual name she’d ever heard in her life, and that was saying something, given her many experiences with the likes of creatures that came through Ponyville every other week.

Then there was the knowledge of Spike’s rampage, an incident which she, the elements of harmony, and both of the princesses had made sure to keep low in terms of media coverage.

And then there was the whole ‘house needs’ thing.

Strange.

“Hmm… you wouldn’t have gotten a look at this… hooded pony, by chance?” Mayor Mare asked, looking up at the patiently waiting pegasus, “Did he say anything to you other then ask you to deliver this?”

Ditzy put a hoof to her chin, “Well… I didn’t see a lot of him, but I think he was a unicorn, he was maybe a bit taller than me, and his coat was really, really white… oh! And he was wearing these black coverings over his hooves!”

“Coverings?”

“Yeah! Kind of like those boots that Rarity wears in winter time,” Ditzy nodded, indicating her hooves for effect. “But his were a lot less fancy than Rarity’s. I remember because I kept thinking that he was silly for wearing them, since it’s not winter.”

And it also happens to be rather warm at that.

“Well… that’s… something at least,” Mare said simply, her mind mulling over the words. “Thank you for your help Ditzy, you may go now.”

With a final parting smile, the grey pegasus was quickly gone and out the door, once again narrowly missing the doorframe as she flew off. Mare couldn’t help but chuckle softly to herself as she slumped back in her chair.

Still, the situation as a whole left an undesirable taste in her mouth.

"Well now, this is all more than a bit odd." The Mayor sighed to herself, her mind trying to paint a face with Ditzy’s descriptions. All that it tossed up was somepony who looked to have done something unfortunate and was running from the law.

She shook the stray thoughts from her head; perhaps the long hours of work were finally catching up with her.

With yet another tired sigh, the earth pony headed for her bottom drawer, the long un-oiled rollers squealing in protest as she pulled it out; her hooves soon enough plucked a map of the town from its cluttered depths, and then spread the parchment across the top of her desk. As the scroll had promised prior, there was indeed a vacant piece of land located a short distance behind the library, although ‘vacant’ actually translated to ‘presently covered in a pile of rubble’ and ‘heavily uneven due to giant footprints’. If Mare’s memory served her right, it had been one of the first homes to fall to Spike’s greed during his… growth spurt, given its close proximity to both the library and Sugercube corner, the two places between which his rampage had ‘technically’ began.

"Ruth, would you be a dear and make sure I don't have any appointments two days from now? I'm expecting somepony to arrive to talk business, although he hasn’t designated an actual time. His name is Xarzith Ixen."

"Will do Mayor Mare,” was the reply from just outside the door, followed by the tell-tale scratching of a quill in the appointments book. “And that is… a rather odd name."

Mare just chuckled and shook her head. "Thank you dear, and on that matter our opinions are the same."

Well… this afternoon had just gotten somewhat interesting.

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1






Waiting.

It was one of the most hated pastimes known to ponykind, a pastime loathed no matter if the pony in question was a foal or a grown adult. Understandably then, to be told one had to wait for an entire two days, for a meeting that would more than likely last barely an hour, if that, would’ve normally resulted in at very least a spate of utter fury from said pony.

Luckily, for Mayor Mare anyway, the mere idea of having time to just sit, wait, and do nothing was almost non-existent.

Since receiving Xarzith’s letter, she’d managed to push herself through the review and signing off of another two hundred and eighty four request forms, a personal record.

Given the pure amount and complexity of the fine print alone, plus their own individual subtle derivatives and connotations, which a reader could only figure out if they were to read close enough… huh, well, one would be inclined to say that such an amount of work in such a space of time, likely would’ve either broken a lesser pony, or driven them flat out crazy. Seriously. One of them for example, a residential application for a new road-side flower garden, even had a clause whereas if a passing mare picked a flower from said garden, she owed the owner a kiss.

Fine print, Discord’s favorite language.

All of this work was done in order to achieve a single goal; to push all stray questions and thoughts of the mystery stallion from Mare’s mind.

Still, the work eventually dried up all the same, and it was at that point in time which Mayor Mare presently found herself; leaning back in her chair as the day passed by outside, her steadfast companion being a cup of coffee as she now patiently waited for her mysterious guest in the comfort of her office.

Two items of interest currently lay on her desk. The first was the official zoning map of Ponyville town site and the surrounding areas, with each block of land colored according to its classification as suburban, semi-rural, or rural. To most ponies such an item would’ve been considered a virtually useless thing to have on hoof… but when each land classification had its own building code, and a grouchy somepony was trying to sue your flank for allowing their neighbor to build a wall they felt was far too high, it was a lifesaver.

Sitting directly next to said zoning map was the deed belonging to the block of land recently brought into question, along with a stack of all the relevant paperwork needed for Xarzith to buy it. She wanted to say there wasn’t much there… but that would’ve been a blatant and outright lie; after all, she’d gathered all the damnable forms together herself.

“Xarzith Ixen,” She murmured between mouthfuls of caffeinated liquid, running the curious name off her tongue. “Ugh, I swear, if this turns out to be some kind of prank…”

She snorted and shook her head of the thoughts before they progressed any further; neither second guessing nor questioning the unknown ever got anypony anywhere.

Still, given its nature, that didn’t mean she was suddenly at ease with the whole situation, as it stood then and there. There was just so much left unanswered and unexplained, and the letter honestly raised more questions than it could ever answer. So much mystery surrounded the letter and the as of yet faceless sender; why now? Why Ponyville? Why that particular block of land? Why build his own house instead of purchasing an existing one?

And just who was this character?


………………………………………………………………………………………….  


Out at the front desk, Ruth was alternating between her usual paperwork, taking bites out of a hay and salad sandwich, and making sure that nopony who came in could disturb the Mayor, the middle-aged Earth pony humming quietly to herself as she did so.

If somepony were to enter, and glance upon the quaint brown and silver mare at work, they might’ve said there was no way that this pony could even hurt a fly… nothing could be further from the truth.

There was a saying amongst the Ponyville populace that if there was one pony you didn’t want to be on wrong side of, bar perhaps the likes of Twilight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash, it was Ruthann Inkedquill. Having previously worked as an assistant to the mayors of Canterlot and Detrot, before apparently deciding it was time for a change of scenery after the mid-life crisis set in, it was readily assumed and accepted that Ruth had seen, heard, and dealt with it all before.

By those in Ponyville who had connections in Canterlot, It was even rumored that the upper-crust unicorns of the capital were outright terrified of her. Apparently, it was something about how she’d dragged a particularly self-important noble out of the Mayor’s office by his tail, and then used her back hooves to send him sailing out into the street, all the while threatening to break his horn off and use it against him in… questionable ways… should his high and mighty flank ever turn up again.

Needless to say, you did not lock horns with Ruthann Inkedquill. Ever.  

Upon finishing the last of her sandwich, Ruth’s ears were greeted by a sudden and unexpected knock, prompting a slight groan from her muzzle.

Upon looking up to investigate the invasive sound, however, Ruth’s annoyance morphed into something stuck between curiosity and confusion.

“Hi there… um, I’m assuming that this is the Mayor’s office, right?”

Ruthann blinked a few times at the sight of pony standing in the office doorway… or the stallion standing in the office doorway to be exact, given his tone of voice.

Though with the cloak he was wearing, nothing was a certainty.

He stood perhaps a little taller than the average stallion, say an inch or two, if her estimates of the common stallion served her right; not quite the likes of Earth ponies such as Big Macintosh, but perhaps very close to the size of Prince Shining Armor (Mare’s Weekly loved having photos of him), with an apparent build to match if his bulging saddle bags were anything to go by. Either way, he was still a rather respectable size for a pony.

Where his cloak allowed it to be revealed, his coat appeared to be a very pearly white in color, kind of like drifts of snow almost, but slightly lacking the ‘luster’ of Rarity’s… then again, that unicorn put on enough product each morning to fill Ponyville Lake twice over.    

Ruth shook her head. "Ehem, it is sir… but I’m afraid the mayor isn’t seeing anypony today, she’s preparing for the arrival of a business guest in the next few hours." she told the pony as he proceeded to cross the room, using a hoof to wipe a few stray crumbs from her muzzle. “Uh… sir…”

“Hehe, sorry… see, that’d actually be me.”

It was then, as he stopped in front of her desk, that the concealing hood finally came off.

Ruth's mouth dropped open, and almost reached the floor, as she looked at the unicorn stallion in front of her. Her initial once over had been correct in one assumption, as his pelt was indeed almost as white as snow… but that was not what her eyes were presently glued to.

His own eyes were a little lighter than crimson in color, in a way mistakenly giving the impression of a rather chronic lack of sleep, and set into a fairly young face; late teens or early twenties perhaps. Admittedly, red eyes weren’t unheard of, but such a color was considered one of the rarer ones at best, and Ruth couldn’t help but find them surprising as well as somewhat unnerving.  

Something that was, apparently, supposed to be akin to a light blue mane emerged from between his ears and ran down the length of his neck, but it just seemed… a little off. Ruth couldn’t confidently put her hoof on it, but its style and the way it hung just seemed a little unusual or unnatural. Perhaps it was just her imagination.

His horn though was what really caught her attention, what with being the most peculiar of his features, without a doubt; not only was it curved back where a common unicorn’s was a perfect lance, but it was two-toned; white with a blue tip.  

"Well, name’s Xarzith, and I’m guessing that Mayor Mare’s been expecting me?"

Ruth’s jaw worked itself up and down. “Bwah?”

“Umm… you know; the letter? Xarzith Ixen?” The young stallion just grinned sheepishly, indicating to himself with a hoof. “Appointment concerning me trying to buy some land here in little old Ponyville?”

“Ah, yes, my… ehem… apologies for that,” Ruth murmured as quickly as she could, making a hasty scrawl in her appointments book despite her initial, and still ongoing surprise at the visitor. “One moment, sir.”


.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................


*knock*knock*

Mayor Mare had been spending the passing minutes looking out her window when the knock at her door came, her mind, at that particular moment in time, lost in its own little pleasant fantasy world while her trusty cup of coffee sat nestled in her front hooves.

As such, and as one could’ve expected, she didn’t react well nor gracefully in the slightest to the sudden input of noise into her thought patterns… in short, about a quarter of the steaming coffee, which had previously been awaiting her thirst idly in the cup, ended up splashing outwards as she almost jumped out of her fur coat, said coffee soaking the fur around her front hooves.

But before she could say anything more on the matter though, or even grumble out any choice Words for that matter, Ruth’s head appeared in the doorway.

"Mayor, a mister Xarzith Ixen is here to see you."

“Ah, yes,” Mare replied through slightly clenched teeth, hurriedly shaking the hot liquid from her hooves. “Please show him in.”

I hope by Tartarus this doesn’t stain.

“Of course. If you would please step this way, sir,"

Mare’s eyebrow rose as the mystery stallion, whose letter had been doing her head in for almost two days now, finally entered the room, the oddity of a pony slowly walking towards her desk before taking the seat opposite of her, neither his red eyes nor youthful grin ever leaving her.

Mare couldn’t help but scrutinize the pony from behind her glasses. What with the rather formal nature of the corresponding letter, as well as its material, this Xarzith… didn’t exactly fit with the pony she’d initially expected; the style of writing and suggestion of wealth had suggested somepony, well, perhaps a bit older than the one before her. This one looked barely out of his younger years.

And what’s with the cloak and hoof coverings? she wondered, momentarily glancing between the respective items of black clothing. 

Ugh, Rarity would have a fit.

Well, he was certainly a character either way, if that smirk of his was anything to go by.

"It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mayor Mare."

“Yes… likewise, Mr. Ixen,” Mare cleared her throat, warily shaking his extended hoof. “Though I must say, with all due respect, you’re not exactly…”

“What you expected?” The white stallion finished as he took a seat. “Eh, I get that a lot.”

Mare’s ears flattened as he smirked and rolled his eyes; ugh, youth these days.

“I’m sure you do,” "Whatever the hay that means," Mare muttered, crossing her front hooves as she returned on formality. Being Mayor didn’t mean you couldn’t be laid back, but there was a proper time and place for such things. “Now then, Mr. Ixen, on to business. I’ve thought your proposition over for the last two days, and seeing as the land in question is not currently in use…”

“Bit of an eye sore, huh?”

Mare just huffed at his sense of humor. “More like a rather painful reminder if anything… ehem, and being situated in a residential area anyway, I see no reason not to sell it to you. The current price is eighty thousand bits non-negotiable. As I am required to do so by law, I must inform you that there will be various fees to go with everything you intend to do, all of which you are required to pay within the set deadline or you risk forfeiting your ownership of the block. Do you understand everything I have said thus far?"

“Perfectly,” The unicorn replied, apparently content to gaze around her office. “And trust me, money isn’t an issue."

“Just covering my flank from the law here, Mr. Ixen,” Mare assured; a pony his age not caring about fees draining away his hard earned bits? This stallion was proving to be quite an oddity.

“Anyway, that’s good to hear,” the Earth pony said flatly, pulling the pile of forms to the center of her desk.

If Mare wasn’t mistaken, and the stallion’s change in facial expression represented what she thought it did, then Xarzith regarded the pile of paperwork with just as much vigor as she did.

Sweet buck it all.

“Ehem, now, I have all the relevant paperwork here and ready for you to sign it. First and foremost is the land contract; this simply states that you’re buying the land from the Ponyville Council for the intention of personal residence, and not something like a future business premises… though I would think it’s a bit more then I think you wanted.”

Xarzith’s head tilted sideways in apparent confusion, his cyan mane following suit. "How so?"

"Well… It is a full acre of land… and you’re only one resident, so you alone will be responsible for all aspects of its maintenance, various utility rates included. Just a forewarning.”

“Hehe, thanks, but I’ll be fine.” Mare just rolled her eyes again.

Gingerly, she slid the green form out in front of him, along with a bundle of grey ones. “Alright, here is the respective deed and your utility agreements,” and then a copy of the zoning map. “And these are the relative zoning rights and restrictions for the block… just so you know what you can and can’t build.”

“And this one is registration of residence,” Mare explained, pushing forward the final yellow form, along with a quill and inkwell. “By filling this form out you apply to officially become a resident of the town of Ponyville, and thus accept the laws, rates, and community expectations that come with living here.”

“Huh?” Xarzith glanced up and regarded her oddly. “Um… quick question, what kind of community expectations are we talking about here?”

“Ah, of course, my apologies. There are a number of community events over the year that require everypony’s involvement in one form or another, a ‘whole town pitch-in’ if you would. These events include season changes like Winter Wrap-up, and celebrations or festivals like Nightmare Night. If you want more information on any of them, or what’s expected of you during these events, I would suggest seeing Twilight Sparkle; she’s the local librarian and chief organizing officer in that regard.”

“Hehe, thanks,” He smiled sheepishly, the quill once again beginning to scratch. “Just wanted to know what I was signing up for.”

Mare sat patiently for the next few minutes, either sipping her remaining coffee, or idly playing with her hooves, as Xarzith appeared to look over each of the forms carefully, and then fill in what information was needed. Her eyes, for the most part, spent the time darting between the scratching quill in his mouth, and his horn… which for some reason he wasn’t using.

Come to think of it, he hasn’t used it at all since this meeting began… meh.

"Um, I think I’ve filled everything out correctly.”

“Here, just let me take a quick look.” Mayor smiled, taking the form from him and hastily running her eyes over it line by line…

Or rather, up until her breath slightly caught in her throat. “Um… Mr. Ixen… might I quickly inquire as to your birthplace?”

“Oh, the Crystal Empire... why do you ask?”

She lowered the form. “Well, it’s just that from what I’ve read, and don’t take this the wrong way, but aren’t crystal ponies supposed to be, er, sparkly?”

The chance of this particular colt being a criminal on the run was minimal, but when you ran a small town in the middle of Equestria, you could never be too careful with outsiders moving in.

Much to Mare’s surprise, Xarzith just chuckled and shook his head at her question, cyan mane moving a little... unnaturally... as he did so. “Yeah, they‘re actually really, really sparkly. But you see, uh, the truth is that I grew up in the mountain’s surrounding where the city sits now, so I never got exposed to all that crystal magic that makes them sparkle… eesh, kinda’ glad too, my coat would probably blind ponies if it did.”

Mare nodded as she put the form aside. "Makes sense."

But… isn't that area a frozen wasteland? How the hay would anypony even survive in conditions like that?!

“That wouldn’t happen to be where your peculiar name comes from, would it?”

The stallion, along with his ears flopping back, suddenly went as rigid as a hitching post.

“Um, kind of; it’s drawn from my mother’s side.” He answered stiffly, seeming to suddenly find his hooves rather interesting.

Mare simply nodded in return and perused the matter no further; his behavior was giving the impression she was treading on an unsavory topic. “A-anyway. Now, this all looks to be fairly much in order… so, uh, your payment…”

“Sure. Here’s payment for everything, in full as promised,” The stallion went on after a tense moment, hefting his weighted saddle bags onto her desk, and spilling out the gleaming contents of the left one. “Um… I didn’t have a chance to get this exactly valued, but I think this should be roughly enough.”

All Mayor Mare could do in answer was sit and stare, her jaw working its way up and down a few times as her brain tried, and subsequently failed, to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

There, sitting on her desk like they were nothing but a consolidated mound of stray office paper clips, was a small pile of pale-bluish gemstones that scattered the light as it fell on them, each one measuring about the size of a bit in diameter.

Now, Mayor Mare wasn’t exactly a graduated geologist and mineral expert from the University of Canterlot, but with one of Ponyville’s primary sources of income being the gemstone deposits in the surrounding hills, the respective mining licenses of which she was responsible for… well, she had enough experience to tell a ruby from a fire opal any day, and thus could say with relative confidence just what the stones before her were.

“Bwah?!”

Eh… she could attempt to, anyway.

Ice diamonds. The same stone, the same rather valuable stone that was said to be the symbol of the Crystal Empire.

Jewelry and fashion magazines often called them the staple of the northern city-state, and it was common knowledge that they were sought after by the nobility like anything, given their limited supply….

It was kind of hard to get the crystal ponies to mine the very stone that had led to their enslavement, after all.

“Hehe, yeah, my mother’s got a knack for digging these things up back home,” Xarzith answered as he rubbed the back of his neck, apparently unsure. “Trust me though, those are the real deal…”

Mare just shook her head, trying to regain some sense of composure as she scooped the pile aside.

“I-I don’t doubt that, Mr. Ixen. I will of course need to get these properly valued and then exchanged before your purchase goes on the registry... but I’m quite confident that this will be more than enough. Besides, I’ll know where to find you should I be required to chase you down.”  

“Phew, that’s a big relief. Thought I’d be in hot water for a minute there.” Xarzith smirked as he rose from his seat, pretending to wipe sweat from his brow. He extended a hoof and shook her own once more. “Well, it’s been a pleasure and all, Mayor Mare, but I know you’ve got better things to do besides talking to me all day. I’ll show myself out.”

Mayor Mare could only nod dumbly in return.

First the strangest horn she’d ever seen, then casually saying he’d been raised in an apparent frozen wasteland, and now just dumping a sack’s worth of rather rare and expensive gemstones like they were naught but spare change… after this, she was going to need a drink, a strong drink and plenty of it.

Just before he reached the doorway, however, his head abruptly turned back. “Oh, one more thing before I go, do I have to apply for a lumber license or something if I wanna cut down some trees from the Everfree?”

"Er, well… no… but I wouldn’t really suggest such a thing. The Everfree Forest is a rather dangerous place, and we do have a local construction firm if you need building materials… why?"

Xarzith chuckled, his cyan tail flicking from side to side. “The license? Heh, funny story, but not a very nice or appropriate one. As for the lumber… eh, let’s just call it a personal thing.”  

And with that he was gone.

Mare just stood there for a few more seconds, her mind storing all that had happened for later recollection if need be as she watched the doorway, before virtually collapsing back into the embrace of her chair. With a final long sigh escaping her muzzle, she went for the bottle of hard cider in her bottom drawer.

What was it with Ponyville and attracting all manner of weirdness?
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“Well, that went about a thousand times better than I expected it to,” Xarzith sighed to himself, allowing his gaze to lazily drift about as he trotted down the street, though keeping most of his face concealed beneath his cloak’s hood.

As one might’ve- no, probably should’ve expected, the sight of a mysterious, black cloaked stallion parading down the street, and rather casually at that, was met with more than a few odd looks and murmured glances from the locals….

But then again, this was the town of Ponyville; hundred hoof tall dragons and annoyed bear cubs the size of small mountains were apparently, if the stories were anything to go by,  considered the ordinary, every-other day visitor. Suffice to say, they generally all just muttered a few words, and then went back to their business.

“Kinda wish there were more towns like this one.” Xarzith huffed with a slight flick of his blue tail.

It was kind of like something out of a foal’s storybook really. Nopony seemed to have a bad word to say to their neighbor, nopony seemed to act aggressively towards others, or acted with their own interest solely in mind, they all just seemed to get along like everypony was best friends with everypony else. The marketplace bustled with ponies aged anywhere from fillies and colts to older stallions and mares, no one minding the other, but rather embracing the presence and atmosphere that each brought with them, joyful shrieks and amused chuckles echoing to prove so.

It was like… harmony.

If this was proving to be the average day in Ponyville, then living here was becoming a more and more attractive prospect.

Given Ponyville’s middle-of-no-where location, and his subsequent expectation of it being like a green midland version of Appleloosa, the stallion had to admit that this town was so far proving to be a rather pleasant surprise. It was far from the backwoods backwards town he’d initially expected it be, as were to town’s ponies, if he was being honest.  

Still, that may be subject to change. He thought sourly, a snort and a tiny bit of mist escaping his nostrils. He quickly stopped and shook his head of the unpleasant thoughts. No need to go there… hmmf, what to do? What to do?

As if on cue, Xarzith’s stomach growled like an agitated manticore whose tail had just been stepped on, the sound earning him a few looks from a couple of passing ponies due to its volume.

“Hehe, alright, alright, no need to get noisy on me. I can take a hint,” He chuckled, patting his barrel before heading off again. “Find some lunch, I guess.”

The stallion’s subsequent quest for food, as well as his keen nose, led him on a winding hunt through the gravel streets of Ponyville, his cloaked appearance drawing the occasional murmur or whisper, but nothing more… he was pretty sure somepony even mentioned the name ‘Trixie’… just who in the hay was that?

Said hunt, eventually, brought him before perhaps the oddest looking building he’d ever seen, though the description of ‘oddest’ didn’t mean it was an unpleasant sight. If anything, the sight caused his tail to flick in excitement as he stared up at it, barely noticing the other ponies who walked passed him.

Brown walls resembling layers of chocolate, white trimmings giving the impression of icing and frosting, and even what were apparently supposed to be mock cherries and sweets for decoration. It literally looked like some kind of giant desert. From within came a thousand different telltale scents and smells of various freshly made baked goods, all of which wafted into his flaring nostrils as they drifted out into the street, and prompted a few drops of drool to fall unceremoniously from his maw.

“Sugarcube Corner huh?” He grinned at the apparent name, marching up and pushing the door open. “Tch, I wonder if they do gem cakes.”  

It ended up being a stupid question, as the stallion quickly discovered upon entering the establishment, dropping his hood, and admiring what was on hoof. There was a wide- no huge variety of displays of sweets all over the place, including gem decorated desserts, literally in every direction he looked. Most of them he didn’t even recognize the type of.

What he did recognize, however, and subsequently rolled his red eyes at, were the odd looks he was getting from the other customers… of which there were virtually none, thankfully. Said other customers consisted of two ponies, one a purple unicorn with a streaked mane, and the other a pink, pink, and more pink Earth pony, as well as young, pale-purple dragon.

All of whom were presently sitting at a window table in the corner of the room, having apparently been sharing treats and talking amongst one another before he’d come in and caught their attention… or more than likely either his concealing cloak or his unusual horn. He just ignored them and went about examining what was available.

“Can I help you there, dear?”

He glanced up to the counter at the vocal intrusion. A blue pony with a two toned pink mane was presently looking his way, an empty cake dish and a cleaning cloth grasped in her hooves; a bit on the heavy side perhaps, or possessing ‘curves in all the right places’ as one might otherwise say, but a seemingly nice enough pony nonetheless.

“Just browsing for now…” He answered, aware that the previous three onlookers were still staring in his direction. “Um, you wouldn’t happen to take gems as payment, would you? Kinda all I got at the moment.”

The older mare just smiled and nodded. “As long as they’re authentic, my dear, then yes; we happen to have a customer who quite enjoys them on his sweets, isn’t that right, Spike?”

With a glance over his shoulder, as well as a raised eyebrow, Xarzith noted the dragon in question was blushing and nodding at his mention; so this was supposed to be the dragon that’d gone on a greed-fueled rampaged through Ponyville? With said rampage subsequently resulting in his block being vacant?

Really?

“Oh my! Where are my manners? I’m Mrs. Cake, dear, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner."

"Xarzith, and, hmmm, can I get two pieces of that savory roll?"

Mrs. Cake momentarily stopped. "That’s… quite an interesting name,” she said as she eventually went for the confectionary in question, a slight tone of curiosity coming through in her words; he could tell she was now staring at his horn. “That will be four bits, and would that be for here or to go?"

“Hehe, you’re not the first to say that,” Xarzith smirked somewhat awkwardly, going for his saddle bag. “And for her, plea-BWAH!”

Now, Xarzith often liked to think he didn’t scare that easily, a fact he based on his… not exactly normal upbringing, amongst other life experiences; but he couldn’t help but yelp as he suddenly found a pink face and a pair of sapphire blue eyes, and unnaturally wide ones at that, staring squarely back at him barely an inch from his face… from the inside his saddle bag?

“Hi!”

The stallion blinked. “Um… hi?” He replied tentatively, taking a nervous step back as an entire pony, somehow, jumped out… the same pony who’d previously been sitting beside the window…

What?

The pink mare apparently found his utter confusion amusing, as she just burst out into giggles while proceeding to bounce… literally, bounce… circles around him.

"You silly, hi isn’t a question, it’s a greeting!” She giggled. “Aaannnnyyy way, I don't know you! Which means you must be new! But if you’re new then you probably don't know anypony and that’s so sad so I'm here to say ‘hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!’ and be your friend! Sooooo, what’s your name?"

"I'm… Xarzith… Xarzith Ixen," The stallion managed, barely, to sputter out, silently feeling that he should’ve been looking for the nearest point of escape.

“Heehee, that’s a funny name! Silly authors and their OC’s…” She giggled, still cheerfully bouncing in circles. “Hmmm, Oh! Oh! I know! I should call you Xarzy. Now come on, you should come and meet two of my bestest friends!”

Xarzith only had a second, during which he could only blink, and momentarily look for something of an explanation from a now grinning Mrs. Cake, before he was forcefully dragged across the room by his tail, savory roll still grasped in his teeth… and then literally, and rather unceremoniously at that, shoved before the obviously confused purple mare and dragonling, the stallion quickly finding himself sprawled across the floor like a doormat.

Ok… just… what had just happened?

“Spike! Twi!” The pink mare bubbled, apparently oblivious. “I want you to meet Xarzith Ixen, but I think we should call him Xarzy! Xarzy, these are two of my best and closest friends, Spike and Twilight!”

“Pinkie! You could have least been gentle with him,” The mare, apparently named Twilight, snorted in her friends direction, the stallion feeling one of her hooves prop him up. “My sincerest apologies; Pinkie Pie tends to get a little excitable around new ponies.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” "Note to self, this ‘Pinkie Pie’ is a Faust damned crazy mare!" Xarzith muttered as he got to his hooves and glared at her, thanking Celestia his roll was still in once piece.

Apparently taking no notice of him, Xarzith looked away from Pinkie to find the dragon, apparently named Spike, staring up at him with an arched eyebrow, a small claw all the while rubbing at his chin like he was presently pondering one of the universe’s great many unknowns.

"Why exactly is your name Ice Fire?" he asked flatly.

Almost as soon as the words had left his mouth though, and before the stallion had a chance to answer the question in any way, a pink-purple aura grabbed onto his ear fin and pulled it, prompting the dragon to yelp.

"SPIKE! Where are your manners? His name is Xarzith." The purple mare snorted, drawing the drake alongside and scolding him like a pupil; Xarzith couldn’t help but blink at the sight of her horn… and wings! An alicorn?! "Once again, my apologies for what just happened. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my number one assistant, Spike."

Should I… be bowing or something?

"Well… umm, wow… nice too meet you, Princess Twilight,” He replied uneasily, surprised that any words at all managed to come out. “Name’s Xarzith, Xarzith Ixen.”

“Which just so happens to mean Ice Fire…” Spike muttered.

“SPIKE!”

Xarzith just chuckled at the squabbling pair. “Heh, I wouldn’t go flaming Spike here too much with my name, princess; he’s… technically right.”

The mare blinked in surprise, apparently not even hearing the snarky ‘told you so’ from the dragon beside her. "He is? How?"

Oh boy.

"Well… long story short, my name happens to be draconic in nature, and when a dragon hears me speak my name, or any other word in their tongue, they understand what the word really means… kind of like you would with a translation spell. In dragon-tongue, Xarzith means water-stone, or ice, and Ixen means fire."

"Oh, wowie zowie! That’s pretty neat!" Pinkie giggled, still happily bouncing in circles; Xarzith just shot her a glare.

Twilight, on the other hoof, just frowned. "I didn't even know dragons had a language of their own, or that Spike knew draconic for that matter… and just where and how the hay did you learn it?"

“It’s… something of a secret that dragonkind guard pretty jealously… heh, as crazy as it sounds though, my mother actually taught me. As for Spike knowing it... well, like I said, all dragons can understand their native tongue from the time they hatch... hmm, kiiinnnd of like how us ponies can understand what different neighs and whinnies mean by nature; here, I’ll give you a demonstration," He looked back at Spike, his heart rate now thankfully somewhat under control. 

"Zyak moxt ir dout ominak ui Spike bensvelk ominak ihk vi darastrix. Si clax coi wux re pony jimosa?"

The dragon just smiled and laughed. "Yeah, I like to think Spike’s a good name, and yeah, I am; Twilight’s like my big sister in that regard."

Xarzith grinned and went on. "Zyak svabol ui dout fayivor gemstone? Si itov xarzith diamonds wer throdenilti astahii re zyak vorel."

"I like emeralds the most, I've never had a Ice Diamond before so I wouldn't know." Spike grinned, quickly turning to a stunned looking Twilight. “He asked what my favorite gemstone was, and said that he liked ice diamonds the most, because he thinks that they’re the most beautiful gemstone.”

Still smirking at the purple mare’s utterly bewildered expression, Xarzith dug out one of his remaining ice diamonds and then tossed it to Spike, the drake looking back and forth between the gem and its former owner. "Tenpiswo sone svern moxt ir coi ui vi regipre de ve ekess wux."

"Really, I can have this?" Spike asked, his reptilian tongue drawing across his lips at the gem in his claws. “You know… you’re actually a pretty alright guy… and by the way, Twi’s single, if you’re interested.”

“SPIKE!”

It probably wasn’t the right thing to do to a princess, but the two males, along with a still happily bouncing Pinkie Pie, still broke down in simultaneous laughter as the mare’s formerly purple cheeks suddenly turned bright crimson, Twilight herself shying away at the mild taunt of her lackluster love-life.

Eventually, and although he was still a little disturbed by the physical phenomenon known as Pinkie Pie, Xarzith found himself drawn into the small group, the stallion taking a seat beside Spike as he finally managed to enjoy his roll… in between bouts of casual chit-chat, of course.

And, as Spike had quietly warned, and as he himself had half expected with her curious nature, Xarzith eventually became the center of Twilight’s question time.

"So, why exactly is your name Ice Fire in dragon then?" Twilight asked, apparently content to try to find out anything and everything about the stallion. “No offense or anything, but It's a little odd to find a pony with a name in a different tongue, let alone a dragon’s.”

Xarzith, a little hesitantly, swallowed his previous bite, an uneasy feeling creeping into his gut. “Well, uh, two reasons; firstly, because a dragon, heh, kinda saved my dad’s life once; she let him take shelter from a blizzard in her cave, so he thought he’d honor her by giving me a dragon name… and partly because of my magic’s orientation.”

Twilight’s eyes rose. “Both your parents knew dragons?”

“They knew a dragon,” Xarzith answered uneasily, the stallion now not exactly liking where the conversation was going; thankfully, Pinkie Pie intervened before Twilight could continue.

"Sounds neat! Um... so, what is your magic like them?" Pinkie asked as she tilted her head, a cupcake, for some unexplainable reason, precariously balancing on the end of her muzzle.

“Yeah, I'm with Pinkie on that question,” Spike put in.

“A unicorn’s magic is always attuned to their special talent, so I’ll admit that I’m a little curious as well.” Twilight added, apparently not noticing Spike roll his eyes at the words ‘a little’. “Perhaps we could have a demonstration?"

"Oh! Oh! Can we? Can we? Can we? PLEEASEE with cherries and sprinkles and icing and…?"

"Pffft! Ok, ok!" “Seriously, this mare is something else entirely.” Xarzith muttered.

Letting out a slow breath, and willing it to do so, Xarzith's allowed his eye's to glow with his magic; a heartbeat later, three small bursts of magic, of what could best be visually described as resembling tongues of blue fire, flared into existence in the middle of the table, each dancing and flickering like they were the flames of invisible candles.



"Feel free to touch one if you want, they’re at most barely strong enough to chill a mug of cider."

Pinkie Pie, apparently content to throw all matter caution to the wind, put her hoof straight into the one closest to her. "Heehee! It's cold! Feels like I got my hoof in an ice box or a pile of snow."

After hearing that, Spike too put his hand into one of the flames. "Whoa! Hey Twi, you’ve got to try this, it's so.... so cool, like… literally."

Twilight, on the other hoof, seemed to hesitated for a moment as she carefully looked over her flame, as if she was studying it with uttermost interest and perhaps a little concern. After a long few moments though, she finally reached forward and stuck her hoof in, the mare blinking in surprise as she did so.

"Oh my! That is cold." She said, moving the appendage up and down. “Interesting… this isn’t by chance element based magic, is it?”

“Element based?” Spike asked, glancing between Xarzith and Twilight in his apparent confusion. “Like the Elements of Harmony?”

“No Spike, element based magic is magic linked to an element found in nature… like the passive magic of Earth Pony’s, for example, is linked to the earth, hence as to why they can work the land so easily, and how crystal pony magic is similarly bound to crystal or stone forming.”

“I wouldn’t say it is, Twilight.” Xarzith answered, unable to stop himself from smirking as Spike mouthed the work ‘egghead’. “Hehe… in all honesty though, I’m a little surprised you three aren’t… well… freaking out right now.”

Twilight regarded him oddly. “Why would we?” she asked, her hoof still lingering within the dancing tongue.

The stallion paused and chewed his lip, quietly unsure of whether or not to answer the question. “Heh, well… let’s just say that some ponies I’ve met before found it… a bit unsettling, to say the least… and, heh, well… this thing doesn’t help either.” He motioned to his curved horn with the last few words.

"Hey now, you turn that frown upside down, mister.” Pinkie Pie said firmly, surprisingly so in fact. “There will only be smiles while Auntie Pinkie is around."

"Besides, your magic’s kinda cool, no pun intended. I didn't even know there were different types of fire besides my flames and, well, you know… normal fire."

Twilight giggled and nodded. "And I happen to be the princess of magic, so to me magic is just magic, no matter what it looks like. Heehee, besides, I’m sure we run into more weird things in this town than any other part of Equestria… though I would like to study your magic if you’d let me, it’s not a type of magic I’ve encountered before."

“I’d be careful before agreeing to that,” Spike cautioned hurriedly, shuddering. “She did the same thing to me when I started breathing fire… eesh, not pleasant.”

Spike’s warning quickly earned him a mild glare, and a sisterly swat from the alicorn, to which he sniggered and stuck his tongue out in return.

Xarzith just grinned and rolled his eyes; siblings, gotta love them. “Hehe, sure I’ll let you, but maybe some other time than right now, Twilight,” He chuckled. “Anyway, sorry to cut things short, but I need to get going; ponies to see and things to do about having a house built."

“You’re building a house?” Twilight asked, the alicorn sounding genuinely surprised at the statement, “Where exactly?”

“I just bought the vacant block near your library,” Spike cringed a little at the statement. “And before you ask if there’s anything you can do, thanks but no thanks; I’d much rather not  be a bother to anypony, and besides, I should be able to manage on my own anyway."

“Oh! Oh! I can plan a ‘welcome-to-Ponyville-party’ and a housewarming party at the same time!”

What was this about a party?

Twilight, apparently ignoring the hyperactive pink mare’s comments, shook her head. “Oh, well, it would be no bother at all… and some of our friends happen to know a thing or two about construction and interior design… well, sort of, at least," the mare smiled sheepishly as he chuckled; if her last attempt was anything to go by, Rainbow Dash's department was apparently more ‘flattening’ then ‘raising’ when it came to buildings. “We were going to meet up and have a picnic in about an hour or so; if you want, you could come along with us and talk a few things over, get some contacts and pointers.”

“Hehe, alright, alright, you win; but I only want advice from your friends, okay? No promise of physical input.”

“Good luck with convincing AJ and Rarity of that,” Twilight simply smiled, nodded, and turned to the other two. "Sounds good… well, are you two ready to head out?"

"Ready when you are, sister,” was Spike’s partly-laughed reply. “And thanks again for the gem, Ice."

"Yuperoonie!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced up and down… now with a picnic basket clasped in her mouth.

Ok… just where’d that come from?

The stallion just shook his head; all want to understand the logic defying entity known as Pinkie Pie was now officially dead, coffin sealed, and buried six feet under.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With all in agreement to Twilight’s plan, and with passing payment for his savory roll, Xarzith soon found himself being led from Sugarcube Corner by the three. The stallion trailing a few hooves behind as he listened to the various pointers Twilight was giving him… which he had in no way asked for, one might add.

What followed were a few minutes spent in idle walk-and-talk before ‘Ponyville Park’, as Twilight had pointed out, came creeping into view. It was a park as ordinary as one might’ve expected it to be upon exploration, with grass, a small pond, a few trees scattered about the place, and a path and a stream leading through the center of it.

The park itself came into view about the same time that the rest of Twilight’s apparent group of friends did… all two of them? Their definition became clearer as they approached, while Xarzith’s unease simultaneously increased as well. The first of the two was a cyan pegasus sporting a rainbow mane, as in a literal rainbow. She was, like nearly all of the very few pegasi that Xarzith had ever met, sleek and streamlined in her proportions. Though her toned muscles betrayed the undeniable fact that she was an exceptional athlete, even among the winged ponies.

The second pony, on the other hoof, was a stetson wearing earth pony with an amber coat and blond mane. She was stocky and well-built to say the absolute least, but if there was one thing that truly stood out about her to him, it was just how big her back legs were… as in ‘these could kick down a mountain’ big. Needless to say, getting into a fight with either would generally come across as being a rather bad idea.

Unfortunately, given the way that the cyan mare was presently looking at him, such a thing seemed rather close to being unavoidable. She actually looked about ready put a hoof through the side of his face. Such a thing would’ve been impossible, but the threat itself was what mattered.  

"Hey Twi… who's the new guy?" The pegasus mare asked, giving Xarzith a questioning look as she flew over, while he gave her one back. It was all but clear she didn’t exactly trust him, though for reasons that were as of yet unexplained. “He like some random news hound reporter or something? Cause if he is I can scare him off.”

Twilight just waved her hoof dismissively. "He’s a new friend, Rainbow, so please try and be nice. Xarzith, this is Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty, winner of the best younger flyer competition, and Wonderbolt hopeful. Rainbow Dash, this is Xarzith."

Rainbow just huffed and gave him a sideways look. “I’m watching you.” She mouthed.

"Simmer down ther’, Rainbow," the earth pony cut in with a chuckle as she came trotting over, apparently finding her friend’s actions somewhat amusing. Rainbow just snorted and headed for Pinkie Pie and her picnic basket in response. “Sorry ‘bout her,” the amber mare chuckled as she tilted her hat upwards, apple green eyes meeting the stallion’s red ones as a reassuring hoof was extended. “Truth is that Rainbow’s a nice gal, she’s just gotta get used to ya first is all; I’m Applejack, but friends call me AJ.”

Xarzith, after a short moment of looking the mare over, smiled and shook it. “Xarzith,” he grinned. “And thanks; for a second there, I was sure that your friend was going to start throwing hooves my way.”

“Hehe, wish ah could say that she wouldn’t, but being the element of honesty an’ all means ah’m a pretty bad liar.” The two shared a laugh before joining the rest of the small group, Pinkie Pie having already laid down a picnic blanket, and the plates holding her various assorted confectionaries.

Exactly how she’d managed it all so fast was an utter mystery, though it was one Xarzith personally wouldn’t mind remaining a mystery.

He made an effort to stay close to Applejack and Twilight. The chances of Rainbow being able to properly hurt him were slim to none, and that fact on its own would’ve caused problems and raised questions. Questions that were probably best left unanswered for the time being.

What followed was an otherwise friendly few hours of various explanations of how their little group of friends functioned, the flow interrupted only by either a bout of friendly banter, or the dishing out of yet another snack. It was during these few hours that Xarzith truly came to understand who he’d just saddled himself with; the Elements of Harmony, and Spike, savior of the Crystal Empire.

There had been mentions of them floating around the north since the empire’s return, but to hear the stories from Twilight’s mouth, to hear the tale of how she’d gone from friendship student to princess of magic…It was something of a shock, to say the least.

“So who exactly are Rarity and Fluttershy then?”

“They’re both friends of ours who live here in Ponyville,” Twilight answered swiftly, a cupcake levitating beside her. “You’ll meet them both eventually. Under normal circumstances they would’ve been here today, but every week they have a get together at the local spa to ‘refresh and rejuvenate’, and this picnic happened to clash unfortunately.”

“Eh, I guess you’re all never too far away from each other, so it doesn’t really matter… you know. I’m actually kind of surprised you’d tell me all this.” He stated once Twilight had finished her explanation, wiping his mouth with the back of a white hoof. “You do realize you’ve only just met me, right?”  

“Hehe, well, if Pinkie Pie says you’re okay, then I’m pretty sure ya’ll are.” Applejack replied, with Spike, Twilight, and Pinkie nodding in apparent agreement.

“I still don’t completely trust him,” Rainbow muttered from nearby, now munching on a slice of chocolate cake while she continued to watch him. “No offense of anything here dude, but Twi’s princess status has its way of attracting hangers on.” At that particular statement, Xarzith noted that Twilight suddenly blanched and shuddered. Exactly what or who Dash was referring to, the stallion wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Stop being a grumpy mcgrump grump, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie chided in her usual, all-too-happy voice, effortlessly bouncing over her lazing cyan friend like there were springs in her legs. 

“Xarzy’s a nice pony.”

"Yeah, it’s okay Rainbow, Ice here’s pretty alright.”

Xarzith just chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Heh, I think you deserve another gem for that Spike,” Xarzith said with a smile, rubbing Spike's head. His bag quickly opened and Spike was soon hoofed his reward, much to the drake’s chagrin. Looking up though, he found Applejack’s face now tilted a little and her eyebrows arched, her state of confusion clear for all of Equestria to see, while Rainbow Dash’s ears had swiftly perked up in equal interest.

“If ya’ll don’t mind me asking, why’d Spike call ya Ice just now?” Applejack asked, an edge of suspicion creeping into her voice.

Xarzith just shrugged and rolled his eyes; some things never did change. "Because Xarzith Ixen happens to be draconic for Ice Fire, and no, this isn’t some kind of joke, I speak the tongue fluently," the stallion replied simply, nodding to where Twilight and Pinkie Pie were sitting. “We had quite the discussion about it earlier… I’ll tell you both at a later date. Nothing personal, but saying the same thing over and over again gets tedious.”

“He isn’t lying either,” Spike offered, licking one of his claws clean of diamond dust. “Just about gave Twi a brain-attack earlier,” The mare in question snorted indignantly. As one could’ve expected, Applejack’s eyes widened ever so slightly in response, while Rainbow Dash actually sat up.

"Tch… well… heh, ah’ll be darned if that ain’t a first."

“Yeah. That’s… kinda cool, actually,” Dash put in, now looking a little more curious, and a little less wary. “How’d you end up with a dragon name? And where in the hay did you learn to speak dragon?”

“Uh, short answers; my parents gave it to me, and my parents taught me.”

Both mares shared a confused look for a moment, before facing him yet again. “Your parents gave you a dragon name and taught you to speak dragon?” Rainbow asked, both of her eyebrows rising as she spoke. “Are you trying to pull somepony’s leg here?”

“A dragon saved my dad’s life once,” Xarzith groaned. Why did everypony have to ask that question? “She let him take shelter in her cave when a blizzard came blowing through, and he decided that giving me a dragon name would be a way of honoring her.”

Rainbow Dash, once again, blinked in surprise, though this time it didn’t so much of ‘yeah right’ kind of blink. “Wow… now that’s pretty cool.” She murmured.

Applejack, however, didn’t seem to share her awing reaction. Her front hoof was now rubbing her chin while her apple green eyes scrutinized him, her unyielding gaze causing the stallion to fidget ever so slightly. Thankfully, before the amber mare could venture anywhere further down that path with her curiosity, Xarzith’s prior charity toward Spike seemed to render karma on his side, for once.

“You? Saying something’s cool that doesn’t involve either yourself or flying?” Spike asked in mock amazement, a scaly claw pointing at the pegasus pony. “Who are you and where’s Rainbow Dash?” Dash blushed, and appeared to mutter a few words under her breath, as her other three friends promptly burst out in a round of laughter at the dragon’s part-joke-part-tease. As proud as she seemed to be, Rainbow did appear to have a few soft spots.

“Well, I’d actually be really surprised at that if we, hehe, didn’t live in Ponyville.” The cyan mare snickered, sticking her tongue out in her friend’s direction. She then turned to the stallion. “You’re gonna want to keep your head screwed on around here; Ponyville is the biggest weirdness magnet in all of Equestria… hehe, no offense or anything, but I guess you’re kind of an example of that.”

Xarzith just grinned and tapped his curved horn. “I guess so.”

“If I’m stuck between being feared and being an oddity, I’ll be the oddball any day.”

“Ya know,” Applejack started, removing her hat and laying it on the grass beside her, revealing more of her long blonde locks. “I feel a might foalish for not askin’ earlier, but what does bring ya here to Ponyville anyway? Travel? Personal business?”

Xarzith shook his head. “I’m actually in the process of moving here,” he answered, a response which drew yet another surprised look from the orange cowpony. “Again, long story short, I’ve ‘bought’ a vacant block of land in Ponyville, kinda waiting for the paperwork to be processed, and in the next few days I’m hoping to start building a house for myself.”

“I did mention you knew a thing or two about construction, AJ” Twilight confessed, sheepishly looking away from her friends.  

Applejack just chuckled and face-hoofed at the embarrassed alicorn, while everypony else shared a chuckle. It seemed that her prior suspicions had been suppressed, for now.

“Should’ a known you’d say somethin’ like that, Twi,” she muttered warmly, before turning her attention to the stallion in question. “Ah’ll be honest and say we Apples ain’t exactly trained builders, but we can give ya a hoof with putting building frames up and that sorta thing.”

“I made Twilight promise that you wouldn’t be lifting a hoof,” Xarzith smirked with a shake of his head. “I just want some advice, maybe a second opinion, that ‘sorta thing’, if ya’ll get me.”

Even Xarzith would admit that he did an utterly terrible Mild West accent, but it still drew an amused fluster from Applejack, as well as a few more chuckles from everypony else. Rainbow now seemed a little more at ease with him; the stallion quietly thanked Celestia’s alabaster flank for that.

As it was, Rainbow was also the first to recover from her giggles. “You know, for a stallion who’s just about the strangest pony to come through this town, you’re kinda alright,” she smirked. “So I guess we can let you stay for a little while,” then her eyes widened. “Actually, where the hay are you staying anyway? If you’re, like, building a house and all, where are you living between now and then?”

Xarzith just turned his head, and motioned in the direction of the Everfree. “Well, my initial plan was to make camp on the outskirts of the forest…”

Of all possible reactions the stallion could have provoked, he didn’t expect to be suddenly slapped across the face with a cyan hoof.

“Are you out of your feathering mind?!” Rainbow snorted as she hovered above him, her friends all sharing the same concerned look as she glared at him like an angry manticore. “Do you not have a brain between those ears? You go anywhere near the Everfree alone after dark, and there’s a high chance that nopony will hear from you ever again.”

“Eesh, take it down a few notches.” Xarzith huffed and rubbed his stinging cheek; it was officially true, Ponyville was the Equestria capital of crazy; even the mares were crazy! “I can take care of myself pretty well.” Rainbow Dash visibly fumed at the response, and looked about ready to gift him with another slap.

“And we ain’t sayin’ otherwise, partner,” Applejack explained gently, replacing her hat. “But the Everfree Forest ain’t a place you wanna be chancing at the best ah’ times, and especially not after dark… uh, tell ya what, we got a spare room or two back at the farm; ya can bunk there until ya place gets built. Ah’m not sayin it’s free, you’ll have to do a few things around the farm to earn yer stay, that’s the Apple family way, but it’ll be a roof over that head’a yers.”

"Thanks for the offer AJ, but I've been on the road enough that I'm used to sleeping on the ground. Besides, I enjoy the night sky. Kind of reminds me of home."

Applejack just gave him a look and shook her head. "I can respect that, but ah’m not gonna have no friend of mine get taken by that there forest. Ya can sleep under our trees if it tickles ya fancy that much, but by Tartarus ya’ll sure as hay ain’t sleeping out here.”

“You might just wanna say yes, Ice,” Spike cautioned from beside the stallion. “AJ’s the most stubborn pony in Ponyville. You’d have more luck trying to convince a brick wall to fall over. Twilight will second that notion.” To emphasize his point, the little dragon glanced over at the alicorn; Twilight huffed and nodded in silent reply.

The stallion ran a hoof through his blue mane. Truth be told, being caught between a rock and a hard place was nothing new to him, but Xarzith couldn’t help but feel… a bit more conflicted this time round. Applejack seemed to be a nice enough pony, and clearly seemed to have what she believed to be his best interests in mind. Which was a welcome change, but she was inadvertently venturing into territory that could very well end up causing problems. And then there was her sudden turnaround of attitude, which was still plaguing the back of his mind with questions. One moment she’d seemed unsure if not suspicious, and the next she was offering him a place to stay. Just what was going with this mare?

He mentally face-hoofed at the thought. “Now I’m just being paranoid.”

“Alright, I accept, but only because I don’t want to offend you.” He answered, taking not of the smirk and nod he received in reply. Why did this mare rub him all the wrong way?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

“Well ya’ll sure are talkative all of a sudden, now ain’t ya?”

“Just thinking to myself,” Xarzith huffed, red eyes tracing the darkening horizon through the trees. The sunset back in the mountains had always been more beautiful. Perhaps it was the height. “Just thinking about home and my family is all, kinda wondering how they’re doing.”

That statement was only partly true. There was no doubt in Xarzith’s mind that things hadn’t changed in the north, hay, virtually nothing had changed even after the Crystal Empire had returned… well, the blizzards had let up some, which was kind of nice.

Still, he knew not that much would’ve changed in regards to family life, which rarely did in that part of Equestria. Every day would’ve brought with it a challenge of some sort, more gems to be dug from the deep caves, a small hill’s worth snow to be cleared from the homes entrances, or maybe an ice wolf pack or two to be moved on.

Xarzith huffed. “Now I remember why I left.” The afternoon sun brought a pleasant warmth to the stallion’s back as the two ponies walked, a pleasant far cry to the cold that settled in the North’s dusk.

Having decided to accompany Applejack back to her farm, simply out of having nothing more too really do in town, Xarzith had since stored his cloak in his bag and then proceeded to follow her. Neither had really said much since leaving Twilight and Applejack’s other friends, the occasional comment perhaps, but nothing of any real substance. Still, he could sense the mare was uneasy about something.

Applejack like out a quiet chuckle. “Listenin’ to how ya’ll are sounding, I’m guessing that ya miss em’ all a lot.”

“When you’re a bit different, like I am,” he replied with a sideways grin, gesturing to his curved horn with a hoof. “You’re family love you no matter what, but others… well, that’s something I’d rather not think about.” Applejack nodded, but said nothing.

For a long moment, the two once again walked in a state of silence as the world passed around them, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Eventually though, the amber mare let out a long sigh and spoke again, though her question caught Xarzith completely by surprise.

“So how’d you actually come to get ya’self a dragon name, anyhow?” she asked with looking at him. There was no venom in her voice, but it didn’t across as gentle either. “Now before ya go an’ ask, no, ah can’t just tell when somepony’s lying, even being the element ah’ honesty… but I can tell when somepony’s trying to sidestep a question like ya did with Dash’s.”

“You noticed that, huh?”

Applejack nodded. “Kinda hard to miss, partner.”

Despite the slight jolt of unease, and a tightening of his chest, Xarzith kept his words polite and controlled when he answered. It was a question he’d been faced with before, only ever a few rare times perhaps, but a few times nonetheless. Most of those reactions had been of shock, or, if the asker saw themselves as part of the Equestrian ‘Upper Crust’, distaste. Celestia forbid what would happen if he told them the actual truth.

“What I told you wasn’t a lie. A dragon saved my dad, and my parents gave me my name… but what I didn’t say is my parents ended up making their home pretty close to that dragon. The mountains in the north where we live aren’t much better than the Everfree, so living near a dragon has its… well, perks. Uh, anyway, after my dad’s ‘incident’, they also became friends… of sorts… so that dragoness had a lot of influence on my dad.”

Applejack, much to his surprise, snickered. “If I was ya ma, I’d be wondering exactly which gal he was he likin’ more.” Her smirk died when she noticed the cold glare he was giving her. “Sorry,” she winced, looking away as they continued walking. “Look… ya don’t come across as havin’ any bad intentions, and ya seem like a nice enough pony… and I guess I just wanted to make sure that what I thought was right.”

The stallion snorted into the air. “I take that was part of the whole ‘come stay at my place’ logic?” he asked, tail giving an agitated flick. “Wanted to keep an eye on me huh?”

“Now don’t go bein’ like that,” Applejack retorted sternly. “Sure, ah’ had my qualms with ya’ll, but that don’t mean I don’t like ya as a friend. Yer’ a nice enough pony, and I really did want to keep ya safe from that forest… ah… ah just care a lot about my friends’ well bein’ is all.”

The stallion stiffened, and momentarily stopped walking, as the words struck an all too familiar cord.  “You lost somepony close,” He said. Both ponies knew it wasn’t a question.

The Earth pony huffed and nodded, though not bothering to slow her own pace. “My Ma and Pa. Long time ago ah’ll admit, but still… kinda made me change the way I hold those close to me.” She seemed a little surprised when a white hoof found its way onto her shoulder, and even more so when her head turned back, and she found the stallion smiling at her. It was perhaps only a small and simple action, but it was reassuring nonetheless.

“I can understand that, and trust me, I have no intention of raising a hoof against your friends,” Xarzith chuckled, removing himself. “But look AJ, if I do the same, I’d prefer that you keep what I told you to yourself. It’s caused me a bit more grief than I’d like in the past.”

Applejack stood in silence for a moment, before, much to Xarzith’s relief, she smiled and nodded.

“Alright, ah’ think I can do that,” she grinned, gifting him with a friendly shove in the shoulder. “Now let’s get that flank o’ yer’s movin’, my dinner’s probably getting cold by now.” They both just chuckled and continued walking.

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack could proudly say she was always the first one up on the farm. Rain, hail, or shine, she was up and about at the crack of dawn, before the farm’s rooster even on some days, the calling of her work always overriding her need for more sleep. Admittedly, there was the occasional day when she didn’t want to do so, days when the mare found herself torn between doing her chores in the early morning cold, or staying tucked up in the comfort of her warm blankets for an hour or so more. Still, responsibility always won over, even on those days.


“Can thank me fer that,” she chuckled lightly to herself, throwing back the thick covers and rolling from her mattress. “Celestia bless her soul.”


What followed was ingrained routine for Applejack. A quick shower to deal with any lingering morning drowsiness, a minute or two spent drying, then a brush of her blond mane and tail followed by neatly tying the locks up with their red ties, and finally the fetching of her Stetson from its place of residence on her nightstand before heading down for breakfast.


She grinned at her reflection as she passed her nightstand mirror. The farm pony would openly admit to not being a Rarity kind of gorgeous, but given her muscular definition and curves, she still liked to think that she could look damn good when she wanted to.


“Still, vanity ain’t gonna get the chores done round’ here.”


She kept her steps as light as possible while traversing the barn’s main hallway. Big Mac would’ve been out and about working in the orchard. By then, he was always the first out in the orchard, and Granny Smith would’ve slept through an earthquake, but AB was a different story altogether; that filly was a big enough nightmare when she wasn’t grumpy, when she was… eesh.


Luckily, she made it past her sister’s room without issue, prompting a small sigh of relief from the amber mare.


When she wandered past the guest room, however, Applejack felt her eyebrow rise at what she saw.


The door was partly open, and hence whoever was using the room was probably awake at that point; that was nothing particularly new to the Apple household, and on any other morning she would’ve ignored it as just an out of pattern occurrence… except this particular time the pony inside wasn’t an Apple.


Staying light on her hooves, Applejack approached the door, her sense of curiosity overriding the small amount of embarrassment and wrong she felt for prying on a guest. And on a stallion no less. Upon sticking her head around the corner, the Earth pony couldn’t help but blink at what greeted her eyes.


Xarzith was standing up and awake, and currently standing in silence by the room’s sole window, something which was considered a small marvel in Ponyville if one wasn’t an Apple, or didn’t need to be up at an early hour… though that was not what surprised her the most; the stallion was apparently content to ignore his present state of having a scruffy alabaster coat and bedhead blue mane, either of which would’ve caused a panic if Rarity had been present, and instead watch the sun rise as he drank down gulps of blue… something… from a small glass vial she’d yet to see since meeting him.


What was more, her eyes found themselves drawn to his flank… his glaringly bare flank.

“A stallion his age with no mark?” she pondered. “Well… ah’ guess that explains the need to wear that cloak all the time… best not to tell AB.”


Having apparently not yet noticed her presence, Applejack felt an uncomfortable knot form in her stomach as the stallion corked the strange glass, turned, and then stowed it back in his nearby saddleback, his entire body giving an almost unnatural quiver as he did so, as if the stuff tasted vile.


“I know it’s your house and all, but it’s still kinda rude to go watching somepony while their back’s turned,” he said flatly to the room, going about doing the strap on his saddlebag up.

Applejack winced and bit her lip. “Ah’m surprised ya’ll heard me.”


Xarzith shook his head. “Smelt you, actually, all the way from down the hall,” the stallion offered, his body quivering once more before turning to her. “Your soap is lemon and barely scented, so it’s a bit hard to miss it in a place that otherwise smells like apples… sorry if that sounds a little weird.”

“Ya must have a better nose than ma’ dog if you can tell that,” Applejack snickered and blushed, though inwardly feeling more than a bit uneasy. She turned her attention to his saddlebag to change the subject. “If ya don’t mind me askin’, what’n the hay were y’all drinking just now? Look like ya wouldn’t keep it down for moment there.”


The stallion just shrugged. “Medication.”


“Medication?” Applejack asked bluntly.


“Eh, I’ve lived most of my life in the Northern Mountains, so my body’s basically suited to living in sub-zero temperatures all year round,” he replied, shrugging. A slight grin spread across his maw as he poked his own side. “But down here the weather’s a lot different, a lot warmer, so I have to take that stuff to regulate my body temperature while it slowly adapts… otherwise I could get hit with climatic shock and end up in hospital.”


Applejack simply nodded as the words left the stallion’s muzzle; he didn’t appear to be lying, but there was something about his story that seemed a little too… perfect, scripted almost. It was kinda of like the numerous times she’d been asked ‘where’d you get your hat?’, and she’d replied with the same, well versed answer.


“The reason I nearly couldn’t keep it down was… well, heh, let’s just say it doesn’t taste like quality cider,” he chuckled as he pulled his cloak over himself, nudging her as he walked past and out the door. “I’ll be out by the Everfree if you want to find me.”


“What ‘bout breakfast?” she called over her shoulder.


“I already ate,” was his reply from somewhere down the hall, followed by tell-tale wooden creak of the barn door being opened.


Silence soon took its reign over the house once again, and Applejack, as its one and only subject, just stood in the now empty room in such a state, her mind trying to make some sort of sense of what had just happened as she stared at the floor; this stallion, Xarzith… he seemed to be a nice enough pony, and a rather polite one to boot… but these little things, first the dragon part of his upbringing, and now this ‘medication’ of his… well, they were starting to paint a cloudy layer over that ‘nice enough pony’ visage.


It wasn’t like he was up to no good, that much she knew for certain… but the fact that there was so much he apparently wanted to keep to himself up until it was discovered… the farm mare couldn’t help but find it unsettling.


Applejack’s green eyes settled on his saddle bag, which still lay hung on the guest rooms’ bed frame. “Ah’ ain’t no thief or peepin’ filly, ma,” she whispered, momentarily staring at the barn ceiling. “But some things ah’ can’t just let be.” Holding her breath, Applejack gingerly approached the bags like it was a sleeping manticore, shakily unclipped the latch on the nearest of the two, and flipped it open.


Surprisingly, there was very little to be found inside the small bag. The glass vial with its small amount of remaining blue… medication… a few rolled up scrolls, which appeared to simply be the combination of a map of Ponyville, a few blanks sheets, and a few varying forms relating to the purchase of Xarzith’s block, and a quill and ink bottle.


Well… that had been rather uneventful.


“I swear, ah’m going loopier than Pinkie Pie,” Applejack huffed in self annoyance, replacing the bag’s flap before rubbing her brow. “What in the hay is wro… huh?” she trailed off as something else caught her eye.


It wasn’t a surprise that she’d missed it upon her first look, seeing as she’d only noticed it by chance, but there, on the floor beside the spare bed’s leg, was a small, glinting… something, that was reflecting the light as it trickled in through the window.


Hastily, the blonde farm pony reached down and plucked it from the floor, resting the small object atop her hoof as she scrutinized it closely. It appeared to be one of the ice-like gem stones that Xarzith had shown them all the day before, and given to Spike at one point, an ‘ice diamond’ if her memory served her right. The word appeared to come to mind because it looked to have been broken-no, bitten in half.


That was certainly unusual.


“Ah’ll… have to ask ‘im about this later,” she huffed, admiring the stone for a few more seconds, before stowing it in her hat.


……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Good morning, Big Mac!”


“Hey, Mac!”


Twilight and Spike’s greetings were met first by perked ears, and then by a smile from the red stallion as he turned and inclined his head to the two, a silent acknowledgement of having noticed the adopted siblings presence. Quickly, the half-full bucket of apples, which had been clasped in the second oldest Apple’s jaws, was first carried between the nearby tree of his families’ staple crop and his wagon, and then poured into the wooden cart.


Twilight just waited and admired the surrounding view while he went about his work, knowing that patience would reward her the same as impatience would, if not less with the red stallion; It was well known that he never said much in public, and was usually withdrawn at the best of times… but, what wasn’t well known was that if caught on his own, and in a good mood, Big Macintosh was actually a decent stallion worth a few words.


And a quiet look whilst conversing, Twilight had to admit.


“Mornin’ to the both of ya,” he replied, emptying a second bucket into an already laden cart. “What brings ya’ll out to the Acres this time ah’ day? Still pretty early, ain’t it?”


“Well you’re up, aren’t you?”


“Eeyup,” Macintosh admitted, prompting snickers from Spike and Twilight. “But that’s only ‘cause I’m an Apple.”


“We came to see how Ice is settling in,” Spike answered, sliding down from Twilight’s back as she came to a stop, before stretching his legs out. “And help out a bit if we could. We finished re-shelving a day early.”


“I think you just want to earn some more ice diamonds.”


“Hey! I’m not that shallow! Ice is my friend,” Spike huffed, folding his claws, before the edge of smirk crossed his face. “Although, now you mention it…”


Twilight rolled her eyes. “He means Xarzith,” she offered, noting the second oldest Apple’s confused expression. “Apparently it’s draconic for Ice Fire. I don’t completely understand the need for translation.”


Big Macintosh just chuckled and nodded once. “I’ll take your word for it; don’t know much ‘bout dragons ma’self. Well, anyway, last time I saw that critter, he was heading out towards the western side of the farm; don’t rightly know what he was doin’, had a rope with ‘im and that was about it… did say somethin’ about cuttin’ down Everfree trees last night though. Ya’ll might wanna go find AJ, she’ll help ya track hi...”


“Hey! Twilight!”


Twilight grinned. “Speak of Discord,” Macintosh laughed, shaking his hay coloured mane.

Sure enough, upon turning and looking up in the direction of the family barn, the three caught sight of Applejack cantering towards them, mane and tail trailing behind in her haste.

With trained ease, Applejack hit the brakes as she neared, and the mare came to a skidding halt barely a meter from the three of them.


“Ya’ll see a snake or something, AJ?” Big Macintosh grinned, stepping back from the newly created dust cloud. “Haven’t seen ya run that fast since ya’ll were a filly.”

Applejack just stuck her tongue out at her older sibling.


“Morning to you too,” she jabbed, smirking. “Heh, howdy Twi, Spike, ain’t it a bit early for ya be awake there Twilight?”


The unicorn in question groaned at the parroted question, whilst her assistant just sniggered behind a purple claw; why did everypony have to make that assumption? She didn’t stay up and study every night.


“You’re as bad as your brother,” Twilight huffed, prompting a chuckle from the farm siblings. “Anyway, we were coming to see if you needed some helping out, and hopefully to check on Xarzith, just to see how he was going… and I was kind of hoping to organize a time to document dragon tongue.”


“He knows dragon tongue?”


“Surprisingly, yes… although he’s a little tight lipped when it comes to explanations.” Twilight explained, somewhat disappointed at her own words; Big Macintosh just gave her a confused look.


Applejack gave an additional shrug. “Well, he was heading out to the Everfree the last time ah’ saw him, so I’d suspect he’ll be back here a bit later, probably ‘round lunch; ya’ll are welcome to help out while ya wait… I’d be mindful if ya’ll ar’ gonna be looking for him on your own though.”

The unicorn turned and regarded her friend oddly, the edge of a frown playing at her lips. “AJ… just what do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, looking between the two of Apples. “You seemed to think he was alright yesterday, the hay, you seemed to get along well even.”


Applejack let out a long sigh, before pulling her hat off and staring at the dirt. “Honestly, ah’ don’t rightly know that well anymore, Twilight,” she said, sounding unsure as she tipped her stetson, and allowed something small and shiny to fall into her outstretched hoof. “Maybe ah’m just being paranoid… but ah’ get the feeling there’s more he ain’t tellin’ us. This mornin’ I found ‘im drinking down on something blue he called ‘medication’, and then I found this here beside his bed.”


Twilight regarded the gemstone. “Spike…”


“Hey! It wasn’t me!” the dragon hissed indignantly, crossing his forearms.


The unicorn just rolled her eyes, first her study habits and now accusations; why was everyone jumping to conclusions this morning. “I wasn’t going to accuse you of anything, Spike, I was going to ask if you knew anything about these ice diamonds of Xarzith’s? Say… magical or potion properties?”


“Huh? Eh, well, not really,” the drake huffed, shrugging his smaller shoulders. “They taste nice. That’s about all I know.”


Twilight, despite her best efforts to avoid doing so, proceeded to face-hoof. “Ugh! Ok, once Xarzith gets back we can ask him our questions… but I do have to ask Applejack, what exactly are you getting at? What do honestly think’s up here?”


All eyes settled on the orange mare.


“Not entirely sure, Twi,” she admitted, blowing a lock of blond mane from her eyes. “A pony who’s ‘from up north’, speaks dragon, has no cutie mark…”


“Ya were looking at his flank?”


“… And lugs around a saddlebag full ah’ jewels,” she went on, ignoring her sibling’s questioning tone. “You tell me.”


A purple hoof found its way to Twilight’s chin, her tail all the while flicking from side to side as she pondered; was Xarzith capable of holding some second agenda? Was there really something he wasn’t telling them? He came across as so genuine.


“I think we should hold back on judgement for now… but we’ll keep a close eye on him, just to be safe.”


…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Ugh! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”


If one were to be wandering, these were not the usual sounds one would’ve expected to hear whilst out on their morning walk, even if said walk was along the edge of Everfree forest.


Still, the words rang out through the trees like the roars of an angry ursa, their echoes usually accompanied, shortly after, by either a loud crack as yet another proud and tall tree met the forest floor, or a growl that could’ve been easily mistaken for a territorial dragon’s.


The animals and birds had since departed for the protection that the deeper trees provided, all fearing just what could’ve possibly brought such wrath to their forest.


Another round of ‘Stupid!’ left Xarzith’s muzzle as his eyes began to glow blue once again. A second later, the stallion’s spell concentrated all of the moisture found inside the aged willow tree he’d been looking at, froze it solid, and then forced it to burst outwards like an axe blade, the disc of solid ice leaving the tree with a splintering crack.


Then, without missing a beat, the stallion snorted and clenched his jaw, spun on his front hooves, and slammed his back legs into the now detached dark trunk like a pair of hammers, sending the once proud timber giant crashing earth to join its already fallen brothers.


The stallion took a moment to eye his wooden quarry, five fallen trunks so far, before slumping down on of his newly created stump, a white hoof removing the few drops of sweat that had since formed on his brow as he stared out at the surrounding darkness.


“Had to let my guard down, didn’t I?” he groaned to the forest around him, continuing to rub his forehead with a hoof. “Start to get a little emotionally attached, and all sense of reason just goes straight to Tartarus; nice one scales for brains.”


The surrounding forest offered no reply.


He sighed again as the silence stretched on, each breath he took sending a small puff of mist drifting from his nostrils.


Acceptance. It was something that he’d admit to being the driving force behind his wandering travels; he’d been looking for it in every town he’d visited since setting out, and had, at long last, finally seemed to have found in the small town of Ponyville.


Xarzith clenched his teeth, annoyed at his own stupidity; he’d made the same mistake again, allowing himself to get too comfortable too quickly, resulting in a lapse in his security; a lapse which had only been saved by a well scripted and rehearsed half-truth.


He’d been able to dodge one arrow, but when more inevitably started flying as the questions built up…


“One’ll eventually find its mark,” he grumbled, staring down at his blank-canvas marble flank, which was just visible beneath his cloak; some questions had no believable half-truth, and there would come a time, just like all the others, when they would surface.


He shook his head and got to his hooves. “I’ll deal with that when it comes around.” 

A few moments later, another tree crashed to Earth.




> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack huffed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, her green eyes looking out across the acres as she momentarily enjoyed the shade of the Acre’s porch.

It was a sight that brought with it so many memories. Memories of times spent with her family, with her friends, or just out having fun by herself, running between the rows of apple trees without a care, apple-scented air filling her nostrils as she cried out in delight.

There were painful ones mixed in as well, ones the farmpony seldom thought about, much less spoke of, but they were there too all the same. Those she refused to dwell on, and instead preferred to keep them stowed away in mind as deeply as possible.

She smiled as she admired the vast expanse of green, her gaze eventually drifting over the working pair of Twilight and Spike, the alicorn lifting buckets of apples into Mac’s cart with her magic, whilst the dragon skittered amongst the highest branches, sniffing out any hidden apples like the predator that he was.

There was no doubt in Applejack’s mind that if anypony in Canterlot somehow found out, then both the nobility and the press would have a field day with the new princess’s image, but even that knowledge hadn’t seemed to sway Twilight’s resolve in the slightest; she might’ve now been a princess, but she seemed content to stay a working friend of the Apple family despite her title.

Thus was the nature of the farm and her friends. Every day brought with it the ability to make new memories, good ones and the occasional bad ones, just like the apples that hung from the Acre’s trees.

Then, however, her eyes settled on Xarzith, and an uneasy line made itself present on her face as she watched the white stallion applebuck.

He’d come back from the forest roughly an hour prior, and had since put himself to work beside her brother, as was their boarding agreement. What concerned her, however, was that he’d returned from the Everfree dragging half a tree trunk, and had simply said that he was going to plank it as an explanation.

Yet another question sidestepped.

Such strength was in no way beyond a pony, Applejack knew for a fact that Macintosh could pull such a load, and probably a bit more, when he wanted to… but he was an Earth pony, and a darn big Earth pony at that.

So for a unicorn to be doing so...

She sighed. Xarzith was… something of an anomaly in her mind; not so much as something to be feared, but rather something curious.

He was so open and yet so mysterious at the same time, a pony who came across as being good and honest, but seemed to hold so much back, and those things, despite him being nice enough, weighed down a little on her conscience.

The weight beneath her hat brim seemed to suddenly become more noticeable.

She groaned and rubbed her temple. “Ah’m just getting ahead of ma’self again.” she muttered, leaving the comfort of the porch to return to work. Apples didn’t make a habit of bucking themselves.

Perhaps fortune was just looking to make her day as interesting as possible, or maybe it was just chance looking to amuse itself, but about halfway along her venture between the trees and her home, Applejack found herself forced to stop. Three rapidly approaching specks had made themselves visible in the sky towards Ponyville, prompting Applejack to pause and blink. “Just what’n tarnation?”

Soon enough, every pony and dragon else had stopped working to investigate the oncoming objects, which were quickly revealed to be three of the local pegasus ponies, their flight paths lining them straight up with Sweet Apple Acres. Each of them, for some reason, was pushing a lump of grey raincloud towards the farm.

The first of the three, made rather obvious by the rainbow trail that followed behind her, was Rainbow Dash, sporting her usual trademark grin as she noticed her friends standing below. The other two though proved to be a mystery right up until they were directly overhead.

Applejack would admit to not knowing everypony in Ponyville particularly well, but days spent at her family’s stall at the market meant that she’d at very least met nearly all of them, and learned their names. This pair of ponies was no exception to that fact; one was the spunky and rather forward mare Cloudchaser, while the other was her near identical younger sister, Flitter, by far the more gentle of the two.

Applejack huffed as she approached the three, sporting an arched eyebrow at their presence. “Not that ah’ ain’t glad to see ya’ll here, but what’s the deal RD? And what’s with all the clouds?”

The pegasus in question just shrugged. “Eh, Scoot’s said the Crusaders needed some rain for this afternoon,” Rainbow Dash replied as she landed, flapping her wings to scatter any dust she’d kicking up. Applejack gave her a flat look. “Hey, they said it wasn’t for anything dangerous.”

“Should’a seen that one coming,” Applejack groaned and face-hoofed. “And ya just went and believed ‘em? RD, we’re talkin’ about the Crusaders here,” she said, snorting. “Ugh, ah’ swear Rainbow…”

“Wait, so we pushed these all the way here for those fillies to use?” Cloudchaser asked as she landed, apparently having been previously left out of the loop. “Captain, are you sure that that’s a good idea? We still haven’t fully repaired the fire station after the girls tried to get firefighter cutie marks.”

Applejack nodded. “Ya’ll see ma’ point?”

“Well… what kind of dangerous things can they get up to with rainclouds?” Rainbow replied sharply, ignoring the other pegasus’s argument. “Huh?”

“Part ah’ me is hoping that’s a trick question.”

Xarzith just watched on whilst the two mares exchanged semi-heated words, the stallion’s ears flicking back and forth in a combination of curiosity and amusement as the conversation got more and more intense.

Applebloom had mentioned her and her two best friends’ group in passing the night before with great enthusiasm, while her older siblings seemed to find it… a little less enjoyable topic to talk about, much to his initial confusion. Until Applebloom had mentioned something about trying to get a powder monkey cutie mark… yeah, after that it kind of made sense as to why her siblings found it an unsettling topic; fillies and explosives were not a good combination. Ever.

“Just when I thought this town couldn’t get any crazier,” he sniggered inwardly, flicking his tail as he turned away from the conversation…

…Only to step back again as he came, literally, face to face with the other of the two new pegasus ponies.

She was the smallest of the three winged ponies, although smallest perhaps only by half an inch or so, with a light purple-grey coat, and a pale green mane which lay secured with a pink bow, much like Applebloom’s was.

At that moment, her rose coloured eyes were glued on him, with her brow furrowed and her head tilted in a questioning manner.

“You must be pretty light on your hooves,” the stallion commented, quickly recomposing himself of his initial shock. “I didn’t even hear you land there.”

A small, but still evident smile spread across the young mare’s muzzle. “Well, my name is Flitter,” she replied bashfully, a small giggle accompanying the words as her wings twitched. She seemed to relax a little as she continued to eye him. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but who are you? You don’t really look like one of Applejack’s relatives, and I’ve never seen you around town before either.”

“Name’s Xarzith, and no, heh, I’m not one of Applejack’s family. I’ve just moved here from up North, the mountains of the Crystal Empire to be exact… you don’t seem surprised by that.”

Flitter giggled and bit her lip in reply. “Don’t worry. I was at Sugarcube Corner this morning and Pinkie Pie was acting strange… well, a bit more strange than usual. I guess you’re the reason why.”

Despite knowing that she was a good pony at heart, and practically harmless, Xarzith couldn’t help but shudder at the memory of his initial meeting of the bright pink pony-demon; anything that had the ability to defy the established laws of physics and the universe was not natural, nor normal.

“Ugh… because I know plenty about being normal, right?”

“Let me guess, she wants to throw me a party, but she’s annoyed at having to wait?” Xarzith said, huffing and rubbing his brow with a hoof. “Doesn’t she understand the concept of priority? She can throw me one once I get settled in.”

Flitter just shook her head, her bow bobbing from side to side as she did. “Pinkie’s special talent is throwing celebrations and making ponies smile, so for her to have to wait is… frustrating for her, I guess,” she offered. Her eyes then drifted upwards. “You know, your horn’s different than that of any other unicorn that I’ve ever seen. Is that a family trait or something?”

“Eh, pretty much,” he shrugged, tentatively poking it with a hoof. “It’s a part of me that I find annoying more than anything. A lot of ponies up North didn’t trust me because of it since… well, let’s just say old King Sombra’s was pretty much the same shape, and everypony in the Empire remembers him for all the wrong reasons.”

“I think it’s kind of neat.”

It took all of Xarzith’s willpower not to back pedal in surprise, even more so when the mare he’d been talking to suddenly looked at her hooves, a light tint of red in her cheeks at having apparently said something that she’d been thinking out loud.

Well… that was truly a first.

“Heh, well, um… thanks,” he managed to sputter out eventually, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s honestly the first time anypony’s said something positive like that… most usually shout ‘Sombra’s back!’ and then make a run for it.”

It was a terrible attempt at humour, even Xarzith would openly admit that, but it still managed to draw a laugh from the green-maned mare.

“If I had the chance, I would love to have a horn of my own no matter what it looked like.” She said with a smile, finally looking up at him again. “Don’t get me wrong, I love being a pegasus pony,” she motioned to her wings. “But unicorns like you can do so much more than fly, the hay, you have spells that let you to fly… I don’t know, I guess I would just enjoy knowing what having magic would be like.”

A white hoof came to rest on her shoulder. “Trust me, magic isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be,” Xarzith explained, noting the mare’s slightly crestfallen expression. “My magic is based solely around manipulating ice, so I can’t cast all those fancy shmancy flying spells, or spells beyond my talent in general, but I get by all the same… my advice, make the absolute best of what you have, and don’t dwell on what you don’t.”    

It took a moment, but a smile once again crossed Flitter’s face. “Are you sure you’re not just disguising your age with a spell? Because that sounded like something some old wise pony would say.”

“Now that was uncalled for,” Xarzith said with a mock face-hoof. Flitter just giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. “Hehe, anyway, what’s your role around Ponyville?”

“Half and half really,” Flitter offered, shrugging. “I’m on with the morning weather shift on weekdays, and then foalsit with my sister in the evenings… well, when I can anyway. Not really the most exciting of occupations I know, but the combined pay’s pretty decent… what about you?”

Xarzith motioned to the surrounding orchards. “This is where I’ll be for the time being,” he explained. “Like I said, I’ve only just moved here. I’ve got a vacant lot purchased in town, and Applejack’s housing me between the paperwork getting done and the building part getting started… until then you’ll generally be able to find me out here.”

They both shared a quiet laugh.

Flitter’s head then tilted again. “Why Ponyville anyway?” she asked. “It’s a nice town and all… but you know that we have our fair share of… uh, surprises, right?”

“Honestly, I doubt you could have anything worse than the North,” Xarzith chuckled, his words drawing a surprised and slightly uneasy look from Flitter, her wings quivering to show as such. “Frost dragons, ice wraiths, snow spirits, and the essence of King Sombra to name a few, all of those we have wandering around up North… well, not King Sombra so much anymore.”

Flitter’s lip twitched. “That actually sounds… kind of exciting.”  

“Are you two done flirting yet?”

The sudden, and loud, interjection of Rainbow’s voice caused to two ponies to yelp and spin around, each taking an unintentional step away from the other.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike were all presently smirking behind their respective hooves and claws, all shying away as the two ponies glared at them. Twilight and Big Macintosh seemed indifferent to the situation, as if having been taking absolutely no notice of the pair the entire time they’d been talking, whilst Cloudchaser was giving her younger sibling a questioning look, one that seemed stuck somewhere between curiosity and confusion.

“Captain, you’re unbearable,” Flitter snorted, her cheeks still a little crimson. “We were just talking.”

“And getting pretty comfortable while you were at it,” Spike threw in, making kissing faces while Twilight glared at him.

Everypony else just grinned as Flitter’s blush deepened a few shades.

Xarzith groaned and shook his head. “Spike, if you ever want another ice diamond from me…” Spike quickly and wisely shut his maw. “Thank you.”

Unfortunately, the threat didn’t work so well on Rainbow or Applejack, who just continued to snigger and grin between themselves.

Eventually, after apparently deciding that her little sister had been subjected to enough torment, Cloudchaser decided to intervene, crossing the distance between them and giving her sibling a shove in the side with her muzzle. “Anyway, as fun as this has been, I think it’s time we kept moving Flitter; you and I still need to get the house tidy and restock the pantry before six. I have to foalsit Rumble for Thunderlane again tonight.”

Flitter, still blushing a little from her prior teasing, nodded and made her way to her sister’s side to take off.

Though not, however, before turning and offering Xarzith a small smile. “It was nice meeting you, Xarzith. If you’re interested and find yourself in Ponyville, I’d like to hang out some time, heehee, you sound like an interesting pony.”

Xarzith nodded, smiling as the two mare’s jumped into the air. “I’ll keep that in mind. Nice meeting you,” he called, watching as the two ponies flew off, and ignorant to the looks he was still receiving.

Well… that had certainly been interesting.



> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite a mild lack of sleep, amongst other mildly annoying issues that he’d recently found himself facing, Xarzith could honestly say he was having to physically stop himself dancing around the street like an idiot.

The day had since started well enough for him. A shower, an early morning run along the Everfree’s boundary as Princess Celestia raised the sun, and breakfast upon his return, courtesy of a somewhat surprised pair of Big Macintosh and a coffee drinking Applejack; the red stallion had stood like a statue for a few seconds upon him coming through the door, as if trying to understand how somepony was up before him.

After telling them of his intentions, and Applejack agreeing to meet up in town a little later on, Xarzith had found himself making the trip to Ponyville, enjoying the sounds of an awakening Equestria and the slowly increasing sunlight as it had fallen across his back.

None of those, however, was what had put him in such a good mood.

This particular good mood had been caused by the reason he’d come to Ponyville so early; a meeting with the local building supervisor, just to iron out any small points before the building of his house finally got underway.

Before the white and blue stallion lay a rolled out sheet of parchment, a variety of drawings inked out across its surface along with their matching annotations, measurements, and alike. To any other pony, they would’ve been a little interesting perhaps, more so to those with a special talent in the construction industry, but to Xarzith they meant so much more.

They were the completed plans to a home. His home.

“So, as you can see kid, the foundations are gonna need vertical reinforcing rods here, here, and here,” the older stallion explained, pointing to various points on the plan. He was an oak brown earth pony named Timber Frame, with a set of crossed spirit levels and a hammer for a cutie mark no less. “You and I both know that Everfree wood’s tough as Minotaur steel, but those jocks up in Canterlot who do the regulations and what not don’t, and trust me, I’d much rather not have them trying to geld my team when some inspection officer comes down to give this place the ‘ok’.”

Xarzith just smiled and nodded. “Heh, you’re the builder here, Frame, you do whatever you have to.”

“I take it you’re not the most savvy when it comes to building huh?” Frame asked, offering a smirk of his own. Xarzith gave him a look, to which the older stallion replied with a chuckle. “Don’t you go worrying about anything, kid, I’m Ponyville bred; I wouldn’t skim something I was building in this town for all the bits in Equestria… speaking of which though, how do you plan on settling the bill for all this anyway? The timber I won’t charge you for since it’s yours, but the labour and all…”

“I’m getting a load of ice diamonds delivered from up north in the coming days,” Xarzith offered simply, eyes drifting back to the plan. “I can exchange them for you, or just let you have them to divide amongst your workers, whatever works best.”

A whistle escaped Frame’s lips as he lifted his helmet. “Well damn me to Tartarus, when Mayor told me ya’d paid her in them stones, I thought she’d been drinking a bit of the Apple’s good stuff… just how much are we talking here anyway?”

“You name the price; I’ll get you the diamonds.”

Timber Frame, now more than a little wide eyed and slack jawed, simply inclined his head in understanding, before scooping up the plans and heading back to where the trades-ponies were working, barking instructions all the while. Xarzith was sure he heard the words ‘ice diamonds’ somewhere in what was being shouted, as if it was being used to motivate his still sleepy workers.

Now alone for the time being, Xarzith couldn’t help but glance over at the surrounding piles of material, everything from the timber that he and the Apples had planked in the last two weeks, to the bags of foundation cement that had since arrived on site.

At that moment they were just piles of stuff here and there, sorted and stacked perhaps, but still placed in random locations around the sight all the same, and the white stallion help couldn’t but wonder how such differing bits and pieces would come together to form a finished piece… that, he guessed, was why there were ponies like Timber Frame.

“Well, you certainly seem to be an exception to the ‘morning pony’ rule,”

“Good morning to you too, Twilight,” Xarzith offered without turning, the alicorn in question coming up beside him a few seconds later. It might’ve been ironic, but she did smell strongly of lavender. “And might I add you’re up as well.”

Twilight might’ve been a princess, but he could tell that she was much more comfortable when spending time with her friends as an equal, not a ruler, and as such made sure to disregard as much formality as possible.

An amused snort escaped the purple mare. “Kind of hard when the block next to yours is a construction site,” she offered with a friendly shove in the side.

“Hehe, sorry, I’m not forcing you and Spike to wake up too early, am I?”

“Nope, I’m usually up this early, and Spike’s still asleep. Heehee, sometimes I wish I was dragon. I swear that Spike could sleep through a magnitude ten earthquake.”

Unbeknownst to her, Xarzith winced, but kept up a smile.

“How is Spike doing anyway?” he asked, turning to face her directly. “I haven’t seen you two around Sweet Apple Acres the last couple of days.”

Twilight blushed and played with her hooves. “I’ve been studying and reading up on a lot really, and Spike’s been trying to keep me from losing my head,” she let out a dry chuckle. “I really should give him some time off actually…”

“I could spend some time with him,” Twilight gave the stallion a look. “What? We get along don’t we? Besides, it can’t be healthy to keep a growing dragon locked up all day, especially in a wooden building.”

A few moments of silence carried on after that, during which the two friends, or at least what Xarzith hoped was a friendly relationship, just stood and watched as the various workers went about their tasks. Exactly where she intended to go with this conversation was a mystery to the stallion, but something told him that despite her general friendliness, she was still looking to find something.

Eventually, Twilight broke the silence.

“I overheard that you’re getting more ice diamonds.”

“Yeah. Working for Applejack’s family is great and all, but they pay me with board and food, and I’m in need of something to pay for all of…” he motioned to the construction site before them. “Well, this.”

“Is your mother going to bring them down from the Crystal Empire by chance? I’d love to ask her some questions about dragon tongue.”

“I’m surprised you remembered that,” he replied, huffing a little at the question. “Maybe yes, maybe no. She’s my source, but I’m not sure what her plan is, honestly. The biggest issue is that the cost of shipping a load of ice diamonds out of the empire would be enormous, but at the same time… uh, well, let’s just say she’s not so good around other ponies up north, let alone those who live somewhere like Ponyville.”

Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head. “You know, Xarzith… there seems to be a lot about you and your family that you don’t want to tell anypony,” she stated, her wings twitching ever so slightly against his marble colored side. “Why is that exactly? I don’t want you to take it personally, we all have the right to keep things to ourselves… but you seem to want to keep a lot to yourself.”

“Should’ve seen that one coming.”

Xarzith rolled his eyes. “You’re too good sometimes, you know that?” he groaned, Twilight’s ears flattening back and her face falling a little at the statement.  He shook his head at the action, annoyed at having scolded her for something so trivial. “Look, it’s not that I have a problem with you, your friends, or your town for that matter… but a lot of the places I’ve been haven’t reacted well to me, this thing especially,” he put a hoof to his horn. “Ugh, I guess I just find it easier to keep my defences up.”

“I can respect that, but I want you to know that Ponyville is a remarkably accepting place. Your family background doesn’t matter here. Rarity couldn’t stand her family before she moved to Ponyville, but being friends with ponies like Applejack and Rainbow Dash made her lighten up.”

Xarzith nodded, still unsure of what he thought of that particular mare after meeting her; she was nice and remarkably generous by both reputation and one-to-one experience… but she didn’t seem to like the outdoors or the outside world in general that much.

“I’ll… keep that in mind.”

A silence once again took its reign for the next minute or so, this one though carrying with it a combination of awkwardness, unease, and perhaps even a little hostility; he couldn’t really blame Twilight, she was just trying to be friendly and get him to open up; but thinking over it, opening up was not a prospect that Xarzith found particularly inviting. Given what had happened all the other time’s he’d open up… yeah, definitely not near the top of the to do list.

He decided to change the subject. “Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask somepony about this, and I think you’d be the best source of information; do you have somepony like an apothecary here in Ponyville?”

Twilight gave him an almost startled look, before putting a hoof to her chin. “Well, we have Zecora,” she recomposed herself. After apparently noticing his own confused expression, she continued. “Zecora’s a zebra who lives just within the borders of the Everfree Forest. She can help you out with most issues involving potions, cures, or potion reagents… why?”

He shrugged his shoulders, looking away from her. “I may need to go see her one of these days,” he answered simply. “Anyway, I better be off. See you later, Twilight.”

Without another word, the stallion began walking off down the otherwise nigh empty street, leaving a confused and increasingly edgy alicorn in his wake.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Spike!”

A moment passed before the young drake could reply, during which he found himself precariously close to falling from his ladder. After that moment had been and gone, and he’d managed to hold on and not end up falling, he quickly descended to the library floor.

He quickly came to regret that decision.

Twilight looked annoyed-no, annoyed probably wasn’t the right word; frustrated was perhaps a better description, as she came marching in through the library’s doorway, swiftly and loudly shutting it behind her.

Within a heartbeat her magic had plucked a piece of parchment and a quill from her desk, and then thrust them into his awaiting claws. All the while, Twilight had gone about positioning herself in the middle of the room, the alicorn now pacing in a small circle while she grumbled to herself.

Spike took a nervous step back. He’d seen her in similar moods before, which had generally been accompanied by events such as Applejack refusing everypony’s offers of help due to pride, Rainbow Dash’s ego getting the better of her, and Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie sense tearing at Twilight’s sanity.

In other words, he was expecting the worst.

“Spike, I want you to take note of everything I say, understand?”

Spike just gulped and nodded.

“Okay. Point one; subject’s horn is curved in a convex line but is otherwise symmetrical. Point two; subject appears to have an aversion to large amounts of heat or sunlight without the assistance of medication, apparently caused by environmental differences between Ponyville and place of birth. Point three; subject lacks a cutie mark, despite easily being of age…”

“Twilight,” Spike interjected, lowering the scroll he’d previously had been writing on. “These are all things about Ice… why do you want me to document these?”

Twilight, much to his surprise, actually stopped her pacing. She let out a long sigh, before facing him. “Because whether we like it or not Spike, there’s something not quite right about that pony.”

“But he’s been nice to everypony so far, what’s changed?”

There was a pause after those words had left Spike’s maw, during which Twilight did little more than breath, and look at the floor with her eyes closed, as if trying to accept a fact she found either frightening or repugnant.

“I know he’s been nice, and that’s what’s bothering me the most,” the mare said eventually, sounding almost sad at the words. “Spike, let me ask you something; how many ponies have ever been out right friendly to you when you first met them, other than Fluttershy?”

“Well… he did say that his parents knew a dragoness,” Spike countered, despite the slight stab of pain in his chest. There were very few ponies who’d had no apprehension upon meeting him, even he’d admit that.

“I know, but isn’t it a little strange that his parents knew a dragoness intimately enough for her to teach them to speak dragon, and he just so happens to have a horn exactly like King Sombra’s? The only unicorn in history I’ve ever heard of to have a curved horn. I can believe in coincidence, Spike, but not on that scale.”

Unsure of what to do, Spike asked the first question that came to mind. “Well… what do you think, Twilight?”

A hoof found its way to the alicorn’s forehead, and she let out a huff before answering. “I remember asking Applejack that very same question. Truth is, I really don’t know, Spike. I’m dealing with a pony with some of the most bizarre magic I’ve ever seen, a strange horn, no cutie mark, and happens to speak dragon.”

“You… you don’t believe he’s related to King Sombra… do you?”

Twilight gave her younger sibling a perplexed look.

“Well what if somepony in his family a long time ago was Sombra’s brother or something! And Sombra banished them so they couldn’t contest the throne! Ice did say his family lives in the mountains in the north of the empire.”

Twilight was about to deliver a rebuttal to how crazy such a conspiracy sounded, but stopped herself just before the words left her muzzle; as crazy as it did sound, given that Xarzith’s family had indeed been surviving there after the disappearance of the empire, that wasn’t a completely baseless claim.

“I highly doubt that Spike, but I’ll admit that I can’t rule it out either,” she said flatly, resuming her prior pacing of circles. “Really though, there are so many angles to look at this that’s it’s going to be impossible to figure out the correct one without any physical proof…” she stopped. “Hang on.”

Spike’s eyebrow arched as Twilight’s front hoof found its way to her chin, a strange look crossing her face… one that reminded him far, far too much of the one she’d worn when Twilight set out to disprove Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie sense.

“Xarzith mentioned earlier that he’d be needing some potion regents, and I suggested he go see Zecora… if she recognized the ingredients that he was after, and what they could be used for, then maybe we could figure out just what it is that he’s been calling ‘medication’ all this time.”

“But, why would you want to know what’s in Ice’s medicine?”

“Spike, I can accept a pony taking a few days to adjust to a new climate,” Twilight replied sharply, lowering her hoof. “But two weeks is beyond normal! Whatever it is that he’s been drinking is not regular medicine. Come Tartarus, I’m going to find out what is up with that pony.”

Spike could only swallow in no small amount of nervousness; if the past was anything to go by, this was going to get very complicated, very quickly.  

> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well look who decided to turn up early,”

Xarzith just sniggered and rolled his eyes as he walked, the stallion not even having to look back to know who it was that had since decided to follow him; the sound of wing beats and a new scent on the wind had answered that question half a minute prior.

Despite having gotten to know her over the previous two weeks, Flitter was still something of an anomaly to Xarzith, which was truly saying something, given that the usual ‘Ursa in the room’ was nearly always him. It wasn’t that he found the pegasus to be strange, she was nice and easy going when it came to getting along, and virtually paid no attention whatsoever to his horn, which was an added relief… but that was what had also confused him.

Part of him still believed that it was just due to Ponyville being notorious for attracting all sorts of strange things, and hence anything that was generally seen as ‘odd’ was instead considered ‘normal’ by just about everypony and anypony, Flitter included.

Either way, he couldn’t help but smile when he heard her voice. Anomaly or not, she was still a kind pony he thought of as a friend, and a good one at that.

“You know, I do technically work for Applejack, Flitter, so you can’t expect to see a lot of me around town every day of the week,” Xarzith replied, chuckling to himself as he trotted along. “Good to see you too, by the way.”

The mare giggled as she fluttered down beside him, before giving him a friendly poke in the side. “You seem to be in a surprisingly good mood for this time of day, what’s up?”

“Had a meeting with my project manager this morning, so my house is now officially under way in terms of building.”

Flitter’s face brightened. “So you’re actually going to put down some roots here in Ponyville huh?” she grinned, her prior poke being replaced with a friendly nuzzle along the neck. “You better be prepared for Pinkie Pie; once she hears about this, there’s no way in Tartarus that you’re sidestepping a party.”

The stallion rolled his eyes again and huffed. “Don’t remind me; every meeting I have with that pony makes me question more and more of the established laws of nature… she probably knows already.”

Flitter giggled, and Xarzith quickly found his own laughter joining hers.

The next few minutes were spent in idle chatter as the pair walked through the waking streets, greeting the few risen ponies they came across, and with Flitter mostly just filling the stallion in on what had transpired in the small town and her life in his absence; the name ‘Ditzy Doo’ and the word ‘destruction’ seemed surprisingly prevalent in her stories.

In turn, he told her about how life on Sweet Apple Acre’s was going, along with the house details he was mulling over and putting together in his head, from the interior cladding to ideas for the fixtures, hoping to gain some advice on who to turn to when the time came.

The two ponies made their way through town at a steady pace as they talked, stopping once when Flitter had decided she was craving a hay smoothie. 

Xarzith grinned as he waved a good morning to Lyra and Bon-Bon while he waited for her, two ponies who Flitter herself had introduced him to the week prior, and they happily waved back.

It felt good to have friends, and have ‘simple’ problems to worry about for once.

“You’ll probably need to go see Rarity for some interior advice,” Flitter said, a hoof finding its way to her chin. She was now hovering at his side again, her wings keeping her a hoof or two above the ground. “And Davenport for furniture… but his stock his kind of limited…”

“Isn’t he the guy who owns that Quills & Sofas place?” He asked.

“Yep,” Flitter grinned, her tail giving a stray flick. “And that’s virtually all he sells as well, so you’ll probably need to source most of your stuff from Canterlot… which will probably cost you more than a few bits.”

“Eh, bits aren’t an issue. When you’re family have access to ice diamonds, you tend to do pretty well outside of the Crystal Empire.”

“What about in the Empire itself?” she asked after taking another drink, now sounding curious.

Xarzith sighed and shook his head. “Ice diamonds… carry a bit of a stigma in the Crystal Empire. They’re what Sombra wanted the crystal ponies to mine for when he enslaved them all, so they don’t really want anything to do with them. The small supply makes them worth a lot outside the north, but up there… well, you wouldn’t want to get caught trying to barter at the market with them.”

Apparently sensing his unease at the topic, Flitter changed the subject as they continued walking, looking perhaps a little annoyed at herself even.

“You know… I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned why Ponyville caught your attention. I mean, sure, it’s a nice place and all, but so are places like Manehatten, Trottingham, and Canterlot…”

“So you’re wondering why I picked you’re little town?” he asked, drawing a nod from the mare. Xarzith exhaled. “Hmmm… I guess… because I liked it. It’s quiet and out of the way of things, and you don’t have to ‘fit in’ like you’d have to in places like Canterlot or Manehatten.”

Flitter’s brow arched. “Really? You make Ponyville sound boring when you say it like that.”

The stallion gave her a flat look. “And that’s coming from the pony who lives in Ponyville.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “Fair enough,” she giggled again as he snickered and mock face-hoofed. “Hehe, you feel like finding something to eat? I’m famished.”

“Did you not buy that smoothie five minutes ago?”

Flitter playfully cross her front hooves and stuck her tongue out at him. “I had weather duty this morning,” she said, smiling and turning her attention to his side. “And you look like you could do with something besides apples.”

Xarzith couldn’t help but glance down at his barrel, a very slight sting finding its way to his cheeks; if there was one thing that could be said about living in the north, it was that ponies tended to eat as much as they could when they could…

…And if there was one thing that could be equally said about working on Sweet Apple Acres, it was that it slimmed ponies down. Fast.

“Alright, I guess I could go for something… oh! By the way, do you know where I can find a zebra named Zecora?”

Flitter’s ears flattened back and gave Xarzith a strange look, as if he had something unfortunate splattered across his face.

“She lives just past the edge of the Everfree forest, I can show you the path after we’re done if you want… but why would you want to go see her?”

Xarzith just waved a hoof dismissively. “Just need a few things, and Twilight suggested her,” he answered. 

Flitter nodded, though she still looked a little uneasy.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………



“Remind me why we’re doing this exactly, Twi,” Spike said grumpily, a quill and pad clasped in his claws. “Because if I’m right, the last time we did something like this we ended up having to outrun a hydra.”

“Because, Spike, no mystery is solved without intense fact finding and investigation.”

“Because spying on ponies is considered investigation right? I’m pretty sure it’s called harassment, and that’s illegal, even for a princess.”

The mare’s response was to simply turn and momentarily glare at him, before redirecting her attention to the road outside their bush-turned-hiding place, all the while murmuring things under her breath. 

Spike just groaned to himself and buried his face in his claws; and Twilight was supposed to be one of the rulers of Equestria?

It was official, they were all doomed.

He’d tried, Celestia knew he had tried to reason with Twilight, but there had never really been any point.

It was a trait in her that hadn’t changed or waned since her filly years; if there was something the alicorn didn’t understand or was curious about, or if there was some knowledge to be found or gained in something, she wouldn’t relent until her hunger for answers was sated.

The attempt to understand Pinkie Pie’s ‘Pinkie Sense’ was one such example.

“Twilight, do you really think…”

“Quick! They’re moving down Bridal Street!”

One loud snap of purple magic later, a now very startled and confused young dragon found himself perched on the roof of Daisy’s house, growling and holding his head as the ringing in his ears subsided. 

Twilight, all the while, lay on her stomach staring at the street, watching the pair of ponies like a manticore readying to pounce on something.

“Could you give me some warning before you do that next time, Twi,” Spike sighed, rubbing his stinging eyes.

His pleas, however, appeared to fall on deaf ears, as Twilight did nothing whatsoever to acknowledge him.

Spike huffed and folded his arms; life with Twilight was always interesting, if not chaotic.

In Twilight’s own mind there was only one thought in focus, and that was to find anything that could suggest an answer to Xarzith’s… well, Xarzith in general.

So far there was very little to suggest anything new about him, or anything that provided answers to her questions; he’d begun talking to Flitter about twenty minutes earlier, and had so far done very little that was abnormal as the two walked around town together. 

She made a mental note to speak with Cloudchaser at the first opportunity, just to see if she’d noticed her sister acting strangely.

A hoof found its way to Twilight’s chin. Was this perhaps all a ploy? Was Xarzith just acting nice and normal as other motives swirled out of sight? It didn’t seem very likely… but seeing as she had virtually nothing to go on anyway, nothing could be ruled out.

“Just what are you…”

“Twilight, what are you doing?”

Knowing exactly who the voice belonged to, gingerly and with her cheeks now stinging in no small amount of embarrassment, Twilight looked back to find Rainbow Dash hovering beside her, the mare’s front hooves crossed while an expression that seemed stuck between curiosity and annoyance crossed her face.

Spike was still sitting a little higher on the roof, his head presently buried in his claws while he muttered to himself.

Twilight blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, Rainbow, um…”

“We’re you spying on one of my weather ponies?” Rainbow asked, leaning forward and snorting. “Because that is not cool, Twi, not cool.”

“No, Rainbow, we’re investigating Xarzith,” Spike added in, sarcasm dripping from the words. “Which is totally different from spying and in no way illegal.”

Rainbow Dash’s face quickly took on a more confused look as she rapidly glanced between the two, and then shifted attention to the pair of ponies on the road below, her face giving the impression that she was now either curious, or seriously questioning her two friend’s sanities.

“So… you’re spying on Xarzith?” She asked, now sounding unsure. “Why?”

“Because Twilight is convinced that there’s something weird up with him,” Spike groaned, holding up the quill and pad he’d been carrying around to emphasize his point.

He fell silent when Twilight shot him a glare.

She then turned to Rainbow. “Dash, one way or another, I am certain that there is something up with that stallion. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know how serious it is, but one way or another I’m going to find out.”

“What exactly do mean when you say ‘up with’ him?”

“Something… suspicious,” Twilight said eventually, the word leaving a bad taste on her tongue.

Much to Twilight’s surprise, rather than laughing her head off, Rainbow dropped down and landed on the roof beside her friends. “So… you think he’s, like, dangerous or something?”

“Oh come o-mph!”

Twilight gave Spike another glare as he undid the zipper over his maw, the dragon growling under his breath, but otherwise falling silent.

“I don’t know Dash. I would go so far as to say dangerous, but…” Twilight chewed her lip. “I can’t say no to that, as much as I want to.”

“And you have proof of this?”

The alicorn shook her head. “If you mean physical proof… not exactly; what we do know is that he’s been taking something which he claims to be ‘medication’ for climate adjustment… but I looked through all my books and found no reference to anything like that.”

Now it was Rainbow who looked uneasy, her wings giving a nervous quiver. “What are you getting at, Twi?”

“He’s hiding something, that much I know for a fact. If he was willing to lie about something as trivial as a potion, then there’s got to be more that he’s not telling us.”

Rainbow then went quiet for a moment, as if juggling a number of thoughts as she swapped her gaze between her close friend, and the stallion at the centre of the situation.

After a long moment, she sighed and held up a hoof. 

“Say no more, I think I understand where you’re coming from; kinda why I didn’t trust him in the first place… something about him rubs my wings the wrong way,” she said, before she took on a more firm look. “But I’m not letting you do this alone; if somepony needs to give that stallion a hoofing, I’d be glad to.”

Twilight winced. “Don’t you think that’s a little… extreme, Rainbow?”

Much to the alicorn’s surprise, Rainbow Dash’s muzzle split into a smirk. “Hey, if somepony comes into Ponyville looking to cause trouble for my friends, they answer to me.”

All the while, Spike could only watch on as the two mares began to hatch their plan, the young dragon’s jaw loosening with each passing second and every word they said, especially when Rainbow suggested ‘getting the girls involved’. 

All the while, he tried to ignore the fact he was presently sitting on somepony’s roof.

Could this day get any more crazy?


> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So… this is the big, bad Everfree Forest, huh? Eesh, I can see why nopony would want to come here.”

As strange as it felt saying such a thing, given that he’d found himself stuck in far more precarious or dangerous situations before, Xarzith had to admit that it summed up his thoughts on the forest quite accurately.

The north was a miserable place, and that was putting it lightly; it was snowy and cold in the mountains nearly all year round, and had been so on the plains too up until the empire had returned. You were constantly at risk of accidently stepping on a sleeping ice wraith’s tail, and then having to run like Tartarus from said ice wraith. Or, if you were really unlucky, you might try and escape an out-of-the-blue blizzard by diving into the nearest cave… only to discover that it was home to a frost dragon.

But none of those unnerved Xarzith like the forest around him did. He’d grown up dealing with such hazards, and knew how to avoid or escape such situations if it came to such, but the forest and its dangers were completely alien to him.

He huffed and shook his head. “Just stay on path and you’ll be fine,” he muttered, gazing around the dense mass of trees and greenery.

In every direction there was a wall of tree twisting trunks, fallen branches, and all manner of thick foliage, the combination resulting in the walk along the path feeling more like a walk down a long corridor. The leaves prevented most of the sun’s light piercing the forests canopy, which in turn gave rise to eerie shadow forms which would dance about with the movement of trees in the wind, the occasional animal noise or set of glowing eyes adding to the unnerving show.

It wasn’t exactly a forest that was brutally terrifying or anything, knock on wood, but it felt unnatural in every sense of the word. Flitter had gone on about how it was a ‘wild’ place, where the plants grew as they pleased, the weather acted as it saw fit, and the animals fended for themselves. Those were nothing really new to him, the entire north was wild, but there was something in the air of the forest that rubbed his coat all the wrong ways.

It was like the forest itself was a living, breathing creature, and it didn’t like outsiders coming in, exploring it, and poking at its secrets.

The fact of the matter was that Xarzith couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, and having a white coat in the middle of a dark forest meant that if anything was looking around, he was impossible to miss.

“I swear I’m going crazy,” Xarzith snorted to himself, inspecting the side of tree a growing beside the path, before tapping on it a few times; as expected, the tree didn’t react in the slightest. “Tch, nothing unusual about you.”

Shaking his head, the stallion continued onwards with a little more confidence.

As he went deeper, surprisingly, the otherwise crude dirt path stayed fairly free of fallen logs and debris, drawing Xarzith to the conclusion that this zebra, Zecora, must’ve either been very picky about the state of the path that led to her front door, or she was a popular source of potions and alike with the residents of Ponyville.

As he walked, that thought eventually gave rise to other ponderings for the stallion, one of them specifically about something they shared in common.

Perhaps having been accepted into regular pony society, she would have some advice on how to… come out, so to speak, and perhaps a few tips on how to make sure that the locals of Ponyville didn’t go jumping out of their skins when the time came. Flitter had happened mentioned that Zecora hadn’t exactly been received with outstretched hooves when she’d moved to Ponyville, but nowadays she was as much a part of the town as the likes of Applejack and Twilight.

“Hmmf, wonder if I’ll ever be a part of Ponyville?”

Although he didn’t stop, Xarzith chewed his lip after saying the words. There was something about Ponyville that resonated with him, some part that made him want to stay far more so than any of the other towns before.

He closed his eyes and scrunched up his muzzle. Was it the weather? Not really. Was it the idea of finally being able to ‘put some roots down’, as Flitter had said? Maybe. Was it the fact that he had ponies he called friends? That was some part of it, a large part even… but thinking it over, the real reasoned seemed to be that Ponyville was different, unique almost.

Equestria was a peaceful place, but that didn’t mean it didn’t have problems. The Crystal Empire was just getting back on its hooves after a thousand years, the big cities he’d seen were where a pony only got lost in the crowd, and most of the smaller towns seemed either stuck in the past or anchored in tradition.

Ponyville though was different; you weren’t just somepony or a stranger, you were a friend and everypony was your friend. You were as much a part of the town as the town was a part of you.

“Yeah, I think I could get used to Ponyville.” Xarzith smirked to himself, opening his eyes again to the world around him.

Upon doing so though, he stopped in his tracks as his brain processed what his eyes were seeing.

A house or what he presumed was supposed to be a house anyway, stood at the end of the path up ahead, the road pausing at its front before snaking its way further into the Everfree.

The building reminded him of the library in Ponyville, what with it apparently being a living space hollowed into a still living and growing tree, but this one retained it natural qualities far more so than Twilight’s home did. A few coloured bottles hung suspended from the branches by lines of string, while a strange and somewhat unnerving wooden mask stood guard by the door.

“Well… this is going to be interesting,” the stallion muttered to himself, gingerly approaching the door.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Zecora sang softly to herself as she watched over her potion, a bubbling green liquid to rid one’s home of pests and vermin. Every now and then the liquid would bubble close to the rim of her cauldron, and each time it did she’d add a few more spoons of sulphur, a smile on her face with the knowledge that it was so far so good.

It didn’t exactly smell like dandelions at the height of spring, but she was used to such scents, as her talent and occupation demanded her to be. Plus she’d made sure to light a few scented candles when she’d started, which had offered some reprieve.

Her eyes took a moment to glance between the boiling liquid in her cauldron, and the tome which contained the recipe, just to make sure her memory hadn’t failed her, her tongue continuing its song as she did so.

“From darkest night to golden dawn,”

“From all these days my hooves are worn,”

“But for many more I will travel,”

“So I might see the world’s mysteries unravel,”

The words were in her native tongue, but there wasn’t anything special or magical about the tune, nor did it influence her brew in the slightest, as some ponies might’ve believed. No, the tune was simply a song she remembered from her long-gone youth, back when travellers would pass through her otherwise quiet village, telling their stories and teaching their songs in exchange for some small hospitality from her tribe.

She exhaled as she blew some of the steam off. Equestria was nice, there was no denying that, but its residents still seemed stuck in an age where ponies knew only ponies. Zebrica was acknowledged by all as her kind’s land, but among and beside them would freely live all manner of others, from the graceful antelope to the warrior lion prides, all living in a state of relative harmony in the savannah landscaped country. Sadly, the same could not always, nor truly be said for Equestria.  

“I left it not that long ago, but still I miss my homeland so,” she sighed to herself as she put her spoon down, heading for a nearby shelf.

Though she was stopped, and her path redirected, by an abrupt knock at her door.

After blinking in surprise, the zebra took a moment to check over her coat, before swiftly trotting over and pulling it open, half expecting to see Twilight Sparkle, or perhaps the youngest member of the Apple family. There pony who stood at her door, however, was neither of the two, nor was he a pony she recognized.

He was a unicorn, that much was made obvious by his horn, with unusual red eyes and a mane perhaps a little darker than her friend Rainbow Dash’s hide. His coat, despite being damp and speckled with plenty of mud, was almost marble white, a far cry from the darkness and gloom of the surrounding forest.

She cocked an eyebrow; strangely enough, and although she didn’t spend huge amounts of time in town, she couldn’t remember having sighted him on her any of her previous visits.

Still, she smiled and inclined her head to him all the same. “A pony who I’ve yet to see with my eyes, pray tell, what is the meaning of this pleasant surprise?” the zebra asked, making sure to put emphasis on ‘pleasant’.

Even more to her surprise, what with most ponies being flipping out when they met her, a white hoof was extended in greeting.

“Name’s Xarzith,” he offered, sound perhaps a tiny bit apprehensive. “And I’ve been told you’re, uh, in the potion business, so I was hoping that you might be able to help me out with something.”

The zebra’s smile turned genuine. “I am Zecora, and this is my home,” she replied, chuckling. “And if it is a potion or cure you are looking for, then you have certainly found the right door.”

Before the conversation could progress further, a loud bubbling pop resounded from inside, reminding the zebra that her brew needed tending to.

She blushed when Xarzith’s ears flicked at the sound. “Ah, you’re forgiveness I must ask, for I am right now in the middle of another task,” she said. “Come, make yourself comfortable in my living room, and I will tend to your needs very soon.”  

Turning, she swiftly led the stallion inside, though she made sure to keep her head angled and an eye on him.

The pony seemed to find her home and it’s decor a curiosity, as his red eyes were constantly spanning the walls and their content, from her many stocked potions to the ingredients that hung drying from the roof of her hut. They seemed to linger a little longer on her tribal masks more than anything... though he didn’t seemed unnerved or uneased by them, but rather curious, a fact that made her ears twitch.

“Do you make these?” he asked, indicating to one of her timber masks. “Sorry, just noticed that you have quite a collection.”

Zecora smirked to herself, making a mental note to ask Twilight Sparkle about this pony the next time they met; a pony with an interest in her home’s decor was an uncommon thing, especially in a place like Ponyville.

“All are mine, that is the truth, but all were gathered in my youth. My hooves are good for making potions and such, but when it comes to carving… not so much,” she smirked at the sight of one. “They make some ponies quiver in their skin, but to me they are a reminder of my kin,” she said, taking the necessary moment to check her previous brew before turning back to her visitor. “Now then, potions are my specialty as I say. So for whatever help you need, please ask away.”

He reached into his saddlebag, and after a moment or so of rummaging around its contents, pulled out a scrap of parchment.

Smiling in silent understanding, Zecora took it from the stallion when it was offered and unrolled in on her table, running her eyes carefully over the contents. She recognized all of the plants he’d specified, though to see the names of some of them actually there did surprise her.

“Of these herbs I have most, though only in a small dose,” she said simply as she looked up at her guest, before going down the list again. “They are seldom used in my potion craft, for to risk use by untrained hooves would be daft… hmm, pray tell my stallion friend, to what means is your end?”

The pony chewed his lip. “It’s… a little bit complicated. And kind of personal.”

Again, the Zebra nodded in understanding as she re-read the list; there were certain potions that a pony would be embarrassed about taking, or would not want to admit to taking at all, even for a good reason. Stallions in particular.

“Very well, I will see what I can find, but for one thing here I am in a bind,” she spun the list over on the table, a hoof pointing to one ingredient in particular. “Frost Rose petals you can’t buy for any price, they grow only in earth beneath the coldest ice.”

Much to her surprise, the pony opposite her just smirked and shook his head. “Those I should be able to take care of,” he said, apparently either missing or ignoring her look.

Pushing any further questions to the back of her head, particularly the one about just how a run-of-the-mill stallion would be able to get such an ingredient, the Zebra began hunting through her crowded shelves for the various herbs and reagents that she did have, her eyes darting between her many containers and the scrap of paper she’d been given.

Though something began bugging her as she got further down the scrawled list, a feeling which only seemed to grow with each reagent she found that had Xarzith wanted, until the realization finally managed to hit her like a bucket of cold water.

Different creatures reacted differently to different plants, that was common enough knowledge, but only those with years’ worth of experience would know anything about it in the detail that she did. One such detail that she did know, from many, many years spent brewing potions for just about every need imaginable, was the likely effects that some ingredient or rather would have on the magic of each of the pony tribes, and in turn how their magic in their bodies would react to the plant’s own magic.

Her issue with Xarzith’s list, to put it simply, was that half of the ingredients he’d listed were avoided by unicorns, all of them because the plant had a habit of reacting badly with unicorn magic.

“Your intentions you may not wish to tell, but you do know that some of these can make you unwell,” she said, peering over her shoulder at the stallion. He was standing and waiting patiently, eyes running over yet more of her tribal masks. “Some of these and unicorn magic do not mix, and that is not just me playing tricks.”

Xarzith shook his head. “Not when you’ve been using them as long and regularly as I have,” he said, before offering a dry snort. “Though I don’t doubt what you’re saying. I remember when I used too much hock’s bane once. Ugh, that wasn’t a fun week,” he gave her what she assumed to be a reassuring smile when she arched an eyebrow. “Look, Zecora, don’t worry yourself too much. I’ve done this plenty of times, trust me.”

After a long moment, the zebra just rolled her eyes. “If you are sure, I will say no more. Though do not blame me if you stomach pulls up sore.”

Xarzith breathed a small sigh of relief as she turned her attention back to her shelves, glad that she’d bought his half-truth; sure, he’d been guzzling down ‘dangerous’ potions since before he could remember, so his body had built up some resistance to their less desirable effects… though the nature of his body had more to do with that then any long-time usage.

Huffing at the thought, the white stallion collapsed back on his hind end as the zebra continued about her gathering.

As much as he hated to admit it, the knowledge that he was, even now, doing everything in his power to deceive both somepony who was helping him out, as well as Ponyville in general, left a sour taste in his mouth. It might have been necessary, but that didn’t mean he liked it.

“You look like you’ve broken something that cannot be mended. Forgive me, but did my words by chance leave you offended?”

Looking up, Xarzith found the Zebra watching him from over her shoulder, her expression reading somewhere between the lines of curiosity and concern.

The stallion exhaled and shook his head. “Na, I’m just… I’m just thinking over a few things,” he answered, before holding up a hoof. “And before you ask, no, it doesn’t have anything to do with me needing these reagents.”

“Hmmf, perhaps not, but you look downtrodden I fear,” she said, recorking a bottle full of dried red flowers. “So please, allow this zebra to lend you her ear. Potions are my talent, that I will not deny, but I am a good listener too, so if I may pry...”

The zebra trailed off without looking away, sprouting an uneasy feeling in Xarzith’s stomach.

After another long moment of keeping his muzzle shut, Xarzith gave in. “It’s just that, well, I’m new in town,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof. “And… and I heard about how you were treated when you came here. And I wanted to ask you about how to fit in, but...”

“But how to go about this, you do not know?” she answered, her ears now perking up. “Or whether you should try to do so fast or slow? For you heard about what greeted me, and you do not wish to go through that same misery?”

The stallion nodded, and while exhaling, pulled his blue mane apart with his hoof, allowing the zebra to see the true nature of his horn. As he’d expected, her eyes widened a little at the sight.

Though before Xarzith could say or do anything else, and before he truly knew what was going on, Zecora gathered his ingredients into individual small bags, and then stuffed them within a larger woven sack, easily big enough to fit a watermelon he was sure.

Except rather than handing the thing to him, and then pushing him towards the door, the zebra dropped it on the floor beside his foreleg, and then headed for one of her other shelves, this one filled with books rather than jars of leaves, flowers, or roots.

All the while Xarzith just sat there and blinked.  

“What you have been told is true, my stallion friend, my presence near Ponyville once did offend,” she said finally, her eyes scanning the new shelves for an as yet unknown book. “Like you, I left my home to settle here, and yes, at first I was greeted by nothing but fear. The ponies would run and lock their doors at the sight of me, as if I were some evil born out of the Everfree. The conversations I had were few and far between, and even those were mostly just ponies saying that I shouldn’t be seen.”

Xarzith winced at the tale. “So… what changed that made everypony, well, uh...” he searched for the right words, hoping that whatever came out of his muzzle didn’t offend the zebra. “That made everypony see you as one of them. Part of Ponyville and all.”

Zecora glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “The truth, of course.”

Xarzith folded his ears back. “The truth?” he asked, confused at both the statement, and how simply she said it.

“Yes, you should face your problem at its source.” Zecora paused for a moment, and then pulled a large red book from one of her shelves, this one seemingly newer than the rest. Balancing it on her head, she trotted back to him. “I managed to befriend a little filly, and soon everypony saw their fears of me were just silly. I wasn’t some evil who wished to eat colts and fillies, rather just a mare that made potions and remedies,” she sighed wistfully at the memory. “The circumstances were not ideal, nor particularly pleasant for any, but before I had no friends, and now I have many.”

The book was laid out on the table between the two of them, and Xarzith quickly understood why the book had looked so new compared to all the others.

It was a photo album, one that contained the captured scenes of Zecora’s life amongst the residents Ponyville. Some were shots taken at what he presumed to be Pinkie Pie’s parties, the cakes and tables lined with food in the background demonstrating as such, while others were simply shots of her and a pony or two, namely either Twilight or Applebloom, the backgrounds either matching her house or some other location around Ponyville.

In each and every one the zebra was smiling, as was the pony or ponies standing at her side, none of them showing any apprehension of being near her.

“Not that I’m ungrateful that you showed me this, but how does it help me exactly?” he asked, looking up from the pages.

“Because you are afraid of something that isn’t so, and that is your fear of being asked to go. You believe that these ponies would push you away, but I know that they wouldn’t behave that way...”

Xarzith rolled his eyes at that. “You’d be surprised,” he thought sourly.  

Apparently the zebra noticed, as she snorted and put a hoof on his forehead. “You are a pony and they are too, but your fear is that they will not like the real you,” she tapped his horn before replacing the hoof. “Get to know them for them, before anything else, but also let them get to know yourself. Who you are is who they will befriend, and after time all of your worries will end. Your outside is what is fueling your doubts, but really it is your inside that counts.”

She exhaled and shook her head. “Doubt me if you must, but in my words I have trust. Tell them your story, tell them who you are, even tell them of where you were born afar. Perhaps then you will see what I am trying to say, lest you wish to keep living with fear this way.”

As the last words rang in his ears, the stallion chewed his lip as he thought over what he’d been told. What Zecora was saying, even in rhyme, made logical sense, but...

“What if… what if who I am is... even more unusual than just this damn thing?” he asked, indicating to his forehead.

“I am a zebra, as you can see, but does that mean that they treat me differently?” Zecora smirked, tapping chest, her prior annoyance seemingly all but forgotten. “The ponies of Ponyville now know me as Zecora, their friend, not the scary zebra who’d curse them, should they offend.”

She pointed at the page of pictures to emphasize her point, before turning the hoof on Xarzith.


“Now, if I, a zebra, can change the attitudes of a whole town of ponies, just by helping a few, what is there stopping you?”

The stallion fidgeted under her combined look and point. Inwardly, he was torn; part of him wanted to believe what the zebra was saying, that with time an understanding could be reached, but both prior experiences and his heritage were standing firmly in the way of such a thing seeming feasible.

Being nice and becoming friends with the ponies of Ponyville was one thing, but showing them what he really was seemed like a breaker, no matter how close he got before revealing himself; Spike and Pinkie might’ve been alright with it, but the likes of Twilight, Flitter, and dare he say most of Ponyville wouldn’t be so graceful about it.

Still… hiding forever wasn’t an option. Not unless he wanted to be paying sneaking visits to the Everfree every other week for his entire life.

After a long while staring at his hooves, one of them tapping at the floor, Xarzith spoke up. “Where-or, well, how do you think I should start?” he finally asked.

At that Zecora’s muzzle broke into a grin, and she closed her photo album. “Well since you know my story already, perhaps I am a good a place to start as any.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“You know, I really feel that I should’ve paid you more for all your trouble.”

Zecora just laughed and waved her dismissively. “Do not fret such a thing. I enjoyed our chat and your company, and that is more than enough payment for me,” she nodded at his saddlebags. “Besides, all the plants I have given you grow here in the Everfree.”

Their chat had taken a bit more of a general turn after her advice on finding one's place in Ponyville, and that, Zecora had to admit, had been a much more interesting topic for both of them.

Xarzith had told her about his previous life in the northlands, funnily enough a place that many zebras held strange and often distorted thoughts of, especially concerning the natures of snow and ice. In turn she’d gotten the chance to tell him about Zebrica and life in her tribe, and how her youth had been a vastly different experience, growing up on the savannahs surrounded by all sorts of creatures, than those of the young colts and fillies of Ponyville.

They both agreed that Ponyville could do with a few changes, but was overall a very nice place to call home.

The stallion glanced around the surrounding trees, which now strangely didn’t seem so frightening. “Fair enough,” he said, before turning back and offering her a smile. “But thanks for everything, I really mean it. The advice especially.”

“And I thank you for your praise, which I will cherish for all my days,” she replied, returning the gesture. “And I do hope your place amongst Ponyville you will find, though I am always here if you’re in a bind.”

The two of them shared a finally hoofshake before Xarzith turned to depart, leaving Zecora at the foot of her home as she watched him go. Truthfully, he was a strange character, but one she could relate to, an occurrence which had been virtually non-existent as far as she could remember.

“I can only hope he finds his way. It would be a shame for such a pony not to stay,” she thought, deciding it best to head back inside and tend to her brew.

Though she paused in her doorway when rather than turning left at the path’s divide, and back towards Ponyville, Xarzith turned right.

“Xarzith, I do not wish to tell you how to chew your hay, but I doubt you want to go that way,” she cautioned, prompting him to glance back at her. She inclined her head in the direction he was going. “That way is not for taking in the scenery, it only leads further into the Everfree.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Zecora him a look that spoke her opinion on ‘going further into the forest’, though rather than take her expression seriously, he just smirked and shook his head.

And then, still smiling, he turned and trotted away, his white coat quickly disappearing into the wall of trees as Zecora watched on in befuddlement.

A few moments after he’d gone from sight, Zecora snickered and buried her face in her hoof.

“Ponyville, a quiet town I might think. Instead these ponies drive me to drink.”

Still laughing and shaking her head again, the zebra again turned on her hooves and headed back towards her hut, mentally deciding she’d had enough of potions and ponies for one day…

...Only to spin around as a nearby thicket began to shake.

Snorting and clenching her jaw, the zebra spun around in the direction of the noise, ready to give whatever jumped out of the undergrowth at her a taste of her back hooves, be it timberwolf or otherwise.

Though all she could do was blink in surprise when the familiar face of an agitated purple alicorn popped out of said nearby bush, followed quickly by those of a concerned looking pair of Spike and Rainbow Dash.

“Ok, just where the hay is he going now?”

> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“...So if I understand your words as truth, you were seeking to try and be some kind of sleuth?” Zecora asked, a curious eyebrow rising as she spoke. 

Twilight could only grunt in the affirmative, the alicorn wincing occasionally as she continued to massage her head with a hoof. As usual teleporting too much in a short period of time, along with teleporting two extra bodies, was rewarding her efforts with a foul mood and a throbbing headache.

Zecora’s hut was a place Twilight had often liked to visit since they’d become friends, and not just because the zebra was a source of excellent tea either, although it certainly didn’t hurt. Zecora was one of the few individuals in Ponyville who she could sit down with and have long winded conversations, about almost anything, and not feel like she was giving somepony a lecture that they didn’t want to hear, as they both shared a common passion for learning and acquiring wisdom. 

Another reason she liked to visit was that Zecora had experience and a knowledge of the wider world that nopony else in Ponyville did, which more than once Twilight had found an invaluable asset when tricky situations arose. For instance, the zebra could often look at problems and issues she was facing from a different viewpoint, and thus provide solutions that Twilight herself would’ve never seen or considered; their putting an end to Trixie’s short tyranny over Ponyville attested to that.

Its was kind of funny then that Xarzith, the current anomaly she was struggling to make heads or tails of, had gone and lead her to the zebra’s hut, just like so many of her other mysteries, predicaments, and quandaries had before.

“You could say that,” she sighed eventually, gingerly removing her hoof. Her head still hurt, but Zecora’s remedy was starting to help. “Initially I only wanted to observe him from a distance, just to see if any of his behavior suggested something in particular that out of the ordinary-”

“I think Twi’s just got her tail in a knot about this,” Spike spoke up from beside her. “Ice hasn’t tried to hurt anypony, and he hasn’t done anything bad as far as we know either,” he snorted into the air. “So his horn’s kinda funny looking, so what?”  

“And I’m the one who thought he was related to Sombra, right?” she asked, drawing a scowl from her assistant. Twilight groaned and exhaled. “Spike, we’ve been over this. This isn’t about whether or not he’s done something, and it’s not about his physical appearance either. It’s about how somepony who we want to call our friend isn’t being honest with us,” she said flatly, frowning and giving him a sideways look. “Honesty is one of the foundations of a good friendship, and unless Xarzith has something... unpleasant to hide, he should be willing to be honest with us about himself as his friends.”

“Yeah! And if he’s not willing to be honest with us, then I’m not sure I wanna call him my pal,” Rainbow Dash put in, the pegasus folding her front hooves. Unlike everypony else, she’d chosen to seat herself on the floor and enjoy Zecora’s fire. 

“So this conversation does not go amiss, let us just be clear on this,” Zecora said, setting her own tea down and flicking her gaze between the pony and dragon opposite. “You are sure there is something your friend is not telling you, and this something you both believe you should know,” the zebra put a hoof to her chin. “My question of you is why is that so?” 

Twilight ground her teeth. “Because he’s our friend and-”

“To be a good friend you must be honest, that you have already said. But does that mean that to be good friend you must be like a book, everything open to be read?”

Twilight blinked and glanced over at Rainbow Dash, seeing the pegasus’s expression match her own. That… wasn’t something they’d actually stopped and thought about. 

The zebra continued. “Twilight, Rainbow Dash, If I may be so bold as to say, I’m not sure you’re looking at this the right way,” she said, drawing odd looks from both ponies, and prompting a hidden smug look from Spike. “Have you considered that your friend is not hiding himself from you, but rather waiting for the right moment and figuring out what to do? Or even perhaps that he doesn’t tell you his stories out of fear, worried about letting somepony draw near?”

Twilight threw her hooves up. “But we’ve all tried our best to be nothing but friendly. Why in Eque-ow!” she winced as her headache flared up again. 

“Um, what I think she means is why would he be afraid of being honest with us when we’ve all tried to be welcoming,” Rainbow finished for her, Twilight nodding her thanks. “I mean, the hay, Applejack’s been letting the guy live with her and her family. Doesn’t that say anything?” 

“Your words I do not doubt, but you should know that it is one thing to be honest with a friend, and another thing for your honesty not to offend,” the zebra replied, continuing to face them while a hoof rose and pointed over at a section of her hut’s wall.

Following the hoof with her eyes, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but blink in confusion; as far as they could tell Zecora was pointing at one of her drying ingredients, or perhaps a book that adored one of her shelves. 

A moment later though their eyes realized what the zebra was actually pointing at, and Twilight splayed her ears back against her skull, while Rainbow felt herself deflate like a punctured balloon. Zecora was pointing at a small hook that was fixed on the wall, the black cloak she’d used to wear when visiting Ponyville hanging on it. 

“That thing there once hide my strips from sight, lest I wanted to give somepony a fright,” she said as she turned back. “Now, to show my stripes might’ve been the honest thing to do, but I did not because it often scared ponies like you.”

Twilight chewed her lip. “That was only because those ponies didn’t know what you were really like. They just… jumped to conclusions,” she said, unable to stop herself looking away.  

Zecora chuckled and nodded. “Perhaps that is true, but for a time ‘those ponies’ included both of you,” she leant forward and placed her hooves on the table, her shimmering blue eyes leveling with the alicorn’s own. “But I am not the source of your present ire, that source would be our mutual friend, Ice Fire,” she said, her voice taking on a more serious note. “Now, it is not my place to say what a princess should and should not do... though I will still say this to you; just because he is tight lipped about his history, does not mean you should fear him and his mystery. Let us say that yes, Xarzith perhaps has secrets he does not wish to tell; though if I were you, as somepony he wants to calls his friend, on these I would not dwell. As your little assistant has said, what harm has he brought to you and your town? Are there any real reasons for you to fear when he is around?” 

A smirk played across the zebra’s muzzle as she leant back in her chair, this time taking up her tea in her hooves. “Besides, If you are afraid of secrets as dark as the Everfree, then you should know our friend Xarzith has nothing on me.”

Twilight let out a shaky breath and stared at her hooves; as much as she wanted to deny it, Zecora’s words did make her feel somewhat guilty.

Maybe she had once again gone and let her curiosity get the better of her. Just like she had with Pinkie Pie and her Pinkie sense, she had in a way allowed herself to become lost in her hunt for answers, and in doing so had forgotten that she was dealing with a pony she called her friend, not just some old text to be understood or some ancient artifact to be studied.   

“I’m guessing he told you something, didn’t he?” she said finally, the words leaving her muzzle as part question and part statement as she looked up again.   

Zecora smiled and nodded. “He came to me looking for leaves and herbs, but also for somepony to hear his words,” she shrugged. “I, like him, know how some ponies can be, so he asked for some personal advice from me.”

“And… what was that advice?” Twilight asked tentatively.

“He is not a zebra, but he has something akin to stripes. He wished to know if he should just take his cloak off, or how to tell when the time was right,” Twilight frowned in confusion, which Zecora seemed to find amusing as she promptly started laughing. “You may want your answers from me, but to know the truth you will just have to wait and see.”

Twilight just grumbled and rubbed her aching temple. If there was one weakness she admitted having, it was patience. She hated waiting.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….


“Ugh, just why would a pig enjoy rolling in this stuff?” Xarzith growled, the stallion trying, once again, to shake the sticky Everfree mud from his hooves.

The pony wasn’t entirely sure how far into the forest he’d actually gone, but judging by the sudden change of the ground from mostly firm soil to virtually all mud, it must’ve been some distance from the edge that bordered Ponyville. He figured that the firmer soil meant the surrounding weather was under the control of the pegasi, and now that there was only mud… well, that meant that the amount of rain was subjected to the will of the clouds, not Ponyville’s set schedule. 

The Everfree weather was kind of like the north in that regard; once you got past the outer edge of the Crystal Empire, a grassy field could suddenly turn into a snow-covered plain caught in a blizzard, with nothing but a hoof’s width of middle ground dividing the two.

Snorting at the thought he continued on, though now making sure that he was watching where his hooves landed.

Truth be told he was more then glad that Zecora hadn’t asked him about why he’d headed further into the forest. She was definitely somepony he’d be happy to call a friend, and it had been a relief to finally be able to talk to another pony who understood his position, but this… he wasn’t sure how she’d react to the idea of something like this.

Ponies always reacted badly to things with sharp teeth, and he doubted zebra’s were much different.

He chewed the bottom of his lip as he walked, his mind reflecting on the conversation he’d had with the zebra. Just how was he supposed to go about what Zecora had suggested? She’d said flat and simple that his fears about being unwelcome in Ponyville were unfounded, and that was a tempting thought to believe, but whether or not it was actually true was still up for debate in his mind given how some ponies in other towns had reacted. 

Sure, Ponyville made itself out as a place accepting of anypony and everypony, no matter what color your fur was. Pinkie Pie was like a giant neon sign that advertised that fact. But what about somepony who wasn’t all pony, and who’d gone out of their way to blindside the town for weeks. Would they be so readily accepting of somepony like that?

He huffed and shook his head, a cloud of mist leaving his muzzle with the action. “You can think about that stuff later scale-brain, you’ve got other things to worry about right now.”        

Eventually, after some more time spent wandering through the Everfree, Xarzith’s hooves came to stop as his eyes spotted what he’d been looking for amongst the trees, his mood brightening a little at the find. 

If his eyes weren’t betraying him, there was something akin to a clearing a little walk off the beaten path, but deep enough in that it was hard to see if you were just passing by and not looking for it. 

After taking a quick look behind for privacy sake, Xarzith promptly began pushing his way through the bushes and ferns towards it, the stallion taking a mental note of how many steps from the path it was. 

Emerging from the forest into it, he quickly noted that the clearing itself was nothing special to look at; no secret mass of berry bushes, or anything else that might suggest Zecora used it in her foraging. It was just a spot in the forest where for some reason or rather the trees hadn’t grown as densely together as the rest... though judging by a few pokes of the ground, this had meant that there was more dry ground and undergrowth then mud, something which admittedly did please the stallion. After a quick walk around what he figured could be called it’s extremity, just so he knew for certain that it was big enough, Xarzith removed his saddlebags and quickly got to work on making the necessary changes.

Where the Everfree had previously been almost silent in the midday sun, save the calls of a few birds and the occasional movement of an animal, it suddenly became filled with the sounds of tree trunks being sliced in half and sent crashing to the forest floor, the stallion freezing the copious amounts of water in their trunks before making it burst outwards. Each tree that he fell was then physically rolled out against the edge of the clearing, and stacked two trunks high against the surrounding trees, creating a makeshift wall between the clearing and the forest outside. Tree by tree, the clearing became more and more pronounced and hollowed out, allowing more and more light to seep into the previously shadowy forest.

Despite how easy it was to bring the trees down though, the pure amount of them that needed to be felled, and then stacked out of the way to hollow out the space, made the task far more labour intensive than he’d initially figured. By the time the last one had been moved aside and stacked like the rest, the stallion would honestly admit his muscles felt like they had molten metal running through them, a feeling which was rather rare given his body’s nature.

Exhaling, and with his coat covered in a combination of sweat, mud, and bits of tree bark, Xarzith at last sat his rump down on one of the clearings newly created tree stumps, eyes running over his efforts as he allowed the cold Everfree air to cool his sore legs.

The formerly barely-a-clearing was now completely free of any standing trees, the lack of which had created a space covered only in small plants and alike that would’ve easily fit a standard sized house, and more then likely could’ve been seen from the air a good mile away.

“Well it’s crude, but it should be more than big enough,” he murmured aloud, rubbing his hooves together as he looked around it. “Hmm, big enough, far enough away from Ponyville, easily seen from the sky... tch, just hope Rainbow doesn’t catch sight of it,” he smacked his head and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, as if she’d be managing the weather this far into the forest.”  

Shaking his head free of the thoughts, the stallion got to his hooves and approached the middle of his newly created space. One last thing to do before he could head back to Ponyville.

Eyes closed and horn glowing, he began to pull all the ambient moisture from the surrounding ground, forest, and air together before him, the tiny droplets of water seeming to dance as they floated towards the clearing center along the lines of magic. Once he’d gathered enough, the rough equivalent of a small water tower’s worth, Xarzith willed the water to change shape and freeze, the former ball of swirling water taking on the appearance of an elongated crystal before being frozen solid. 

Happy with his work, and now once again panting from effort, the stallion lowered the newly shaped chunk of ice to the ground. By his reckoning it stood just a little taller than the surrounding trees, and would no doubt last for at least a few days, what with the cloud cover and the pure amount of ice.

“Well it’s not perfect, but it’s definitely one of my better attempts,” he grinned to himself, wiping his brow and giving the chunk of ice a once over. “She’ll see this thing for sure.”

He chuckled as he turned and headed back towards the forest, his thoughts about how he’d deal with Ponyville and it’s residents for now forgotten. It’d be good to see each other again. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………...  

“Okay, do you admit now that you blew this all way, way out of proportion?”

Twilight huffed as she heard Spike speak, the dragon’s words accompanied by the shutting of the library door behind them. He’d made his feelings about her actions known the entire walk back from Zecora’s, and until he got his answer it seemed he wasn’t going to let up his assault.

“Alright, Spike. I’ll admit that I may have allowed my judgement to be skewed by my curiosity,” she replied, turning to face him. “But can you at least understand why I acted like I did?”

He just folded his claws and gave her a look.

Twilight groaned. “Spike, I know that I got carried away. I fully admit that, but I only did because I felt Xarzith was hiding too many things from us to be trusted,” she said, snorting and pointing a hoof at him. “And I stand by what I said earlier, Spike. Honesty is one of the foundations of a good friendship, and as much as you like him even you have to admit there’s a lot he keeps to himself.”  

For a long moment the two of them just stood and glared at each other, before Spike exhaled and looked at the ceiling. “Twilight, do you know where I eat when I’m called away to Canterlot by Celestia?”

Twilight blinked. “Uh… with the princesses, I’d guess?” she replied as she lowered her hoof, now tilting her head in confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Rather than answer her question, Spike just shook his head. “Twilight, most of the time I eat with the princesses. Don’t get me wrong here, I love what the palace chefs can do, but I’m a dragon, and there’s a place down in the lower market district that does excellent griffin cuisine,” he leveled her gaze with her. “What I’m saying by that, Twilight, is that when I’m in Canterlot I like to eat meat.”

Twilight did nothing but swallow. 

She’d always known that Spike would eventually need to eat other things them gems, everything about his body said that loud and clear, but she’d never once thought that he’d already be doing it. And behind her back at that. 

“Spike, why didn’t you-”

“Let me finish,” he said firmly, holding a claw up to silence her. “Now, this isn’t something I want to get out around Ponyville, because we both know how well that would go down with everypony,” he snorted into the air, a certain three triplets coming to mind. “But just because I don’t want ponies to know that I eat meat doesn’t make it a bad thing. For me eating meat is normal and natural, kinda comes with being a dragon. I just don’t want them to know because they’d react badly.”

He pointed a claw at himself. “So, tell me. Does not wanting Ponyville to know that make me untrustworthy?”

“Spike, you’re my assistant and virtually my little brother. Why would you think that?”

He threw his claws into the air. “Because that’s what you’ve been sounding like all day!” he snapped. “Twi, I don’t understand how, but you’ve got this idea in your head that in order for two ponies to be friends they need to know everything about each other. And that’s wrong! I never told you about eating meat because I wanted to keep it to myself.”   

With that he walked past the statue-like alicorn and headed for the stairs, turning and shooting her a look only once he reached the top. “Just think about it Twilight. We all have things we’d like to keep to ourselves, and that probably includes you too,” he said with a growl, before disappearing from sight.

For a few moments, Princess Twilight, the usually level headed, know-how-to-respond-to-any-situation pony just stood there, feeling like a bucket of ice water had been poured down her. Honestly, she’d thought that Spike had been opposed to her actions because he liked Xarzith, so to know she’d probably been making him more and more uncomfortable with everything she did and said…

...Yeah, that didn’t make her feel good. At all.

She exhaled and shook her head. Trust was at the center of this mess; Xarzith didn’t trust her and her friends enough to open up, just like Spike didn’t trust anypony enough to admit to them that he ate meat.

Maybe… maybe Zecora was right. Maybe the reason Xarzith was so tight-lipped was because he feared what she and Ponyville would think. Just like Spike feared somepony finding out about his eating habits and reacting badly.

She stared at her hooves. How could she make it easier for him to talk? Not force whatever it was that he was hiding out of him, but to let him know that whatever he was hiding wasn’t something that would see him ostracized. That first step was obviously to have some idea of what it was he was hiding, and thus the second was to come to understand it, so their would be no need for him to be uneasy about opening up when he decided to, because the last thing she wanted was to have things go sour like her conversation with Spike had, but...

“But where to start?” she huffed, before her ears perked up, and she face-hoofed. “Ugh, it’s only been staring at you the entire time. Well done, Twilight.”

She Approached one of her bookshelves and began to run her hoof across it, eyes searching for one book in particular; the Crystal Empire might’ve only returned in recent times, so their wasn’t a lot of academic or scholarly material written on it yet, but the empire's own library had plenty of books on it’s own history, culture, and alike, even from the ages pre-Sombra. 

A small grin crossed Twilight’s face as she found the book she’d been searching for, a pale purple tome with the seal of the empire on the cover. Admittedly, not a lot of those books had made it from the Empires library to being printed into sellable copies, but having a sibling and a sister-in-law on the throne did have it’s perks.   

Smiling, she made herself comfortable on the floor and began flicking through the book’s pages, stopping when a certain two words appeared as a title chapter.

“Ice diamonds,” she murmured aloud.  

> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack put a hoof to her mouth as she yawned.

It had been a slow day at the Apple family stall thus far, and with noon having now crept past she knew it was only going to get slower as the day dragged on. Had it not been for the fact that she was waiting for Xarzith to turn up, she would’ve either left for home for a few hours or allowed herself to take a nap.

There was a set routine in the market that hadn’t changed much over the years; mornings were the busy time for them, what with everypony trying to buy their apples while they were still fresh, or trying to get their hooves on the best ones - something which always made her chuckle, since Granny’s quality control made sure they were all ‘the best ones’.

Then about midday you’d get the smaller crowds of buyers looking for a quick lunch, those looking for cheaper prices, or the ponies that had been late getting out of bed for whatever reason. After that period, which had a strange habit of ending at twelve exactly, it was pretty much a pony every half an hour for the rest of the afternoon, if even that many.

Finally you had the on-their-way-home ponies who’d grab what was left. These were always the cheapest sales, but a cheap sale still meant bits for the farm.

A smirk crossed the pony’s lips as she glanced about at her fellow stall owners. The day had actually been far from a waste just because she hadn’t sold as many apples as usual. She’d managed to catch up with Daisy, Berry Punch, and Carrot Top while they’d each been waiting for customers during lunch period, and with Carrot she’d ended up striking an exchange deal for some of her seeds for next season. Plus, as perhaps as silly as it sounded, Applejack kind of liked to just mind her stall and watch ponies go about their everyday lives; she figured it was because life on the farm was kind of isolated, so it was refreshing to be amongst everypony for a time.

As that thought trailed off though, Applejack’s ears splayed back as another emerged from the back of her mind.

Of all the ponies she’d noticed from her stall over the day, and there had been many of them, there had been one pair that had really stood out to her, and that was because they’d stood out for all the wrong reasons.

That pair had been her friends Twilight and Spike. She’d been in the middle of serving somepony else, so she’d only managed to see them from across the market, but even then she’d noticed that Twilight had seemed as downtrodden as an old doormat and that Spike… eesh, Spike had looked about ready to sink his teeth into somepony at any moment.

“Might’ go see em’ tomorrow if ah’ get time,” she murmured, before rubbing her chin as she looked around the virtually desolate market. “Or maybe ah’ should n…”

“Go see who exactly?”

‘Girly’ mightn’t have been a word Applejack often used to describe either herself or her behavior, but she was sure the squeal she let out would’ve made Rarity proud.

Spinning around, she was met by the sight of a messy maned Xarzith standing calmly beside her stall, the snow furred stallion having seemingly appeared out of thin air, with his head tilted and his bright red eyes giving her a perplexed look.

Truthfully, she wasn’t sure what she was more at him; annoyed or surprised.

“In the future, do me a favor and don’t do that,” she said as she readjusted her stetson, glaring at the stallion. She huffed and shook her head. “Land sakes, were ya trying to scare the darn fur offa’ me? Ya could’a just said… well, just walked up and said hello.”

The stallion shrugged. “You looked like you were thinking something over, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”

She grunted and rolled her eyes at how ironic his words were. Thinking and pondering about things was something she was doing especially often nowadays, and the thing at the centre of most those thoughts and ponderings was him.

Her heartrate now back to normal, Applejack proceeded to give him a once over, and as she did one of her eyebrows arched.

She and her brother had met him at breakfast only a few hours prior, and then his white coat had been washed, groomed, and all the rest for his morning meeting with some builder or rather. Now his hooves were practically dripping water, while the rest of his coat had flecks of mud and dirt in patches splattered across it.

“Did ya by chance go fallin’ into the stream on ya way here or something?” she asked after a moment, nodding at his hooves.

Xarzith grimaced. “More like I had to spend an age in it to get the mud out of my fur,” he said, holding up a dripping foreleg and shaking it. “Long story short is that I went for a walk this morning, and only came to realize just how sticky the mud around here was after I was pretty much covered in it.”

Despite her prior annoyance, Applejack couldn’t help but snort and smirk behind a hoof.

“Meh, it’s not really a big deal anyway. I’ll just wash them properly tonight,” he continued, replacing the hoof and looking about the market. “Anyway, enough of that. You said this morning that I should meet you here, and I’m here now, so what’s the plan for us?”

Applejack’s smirk widened, and the hoof that had been over her muzzle redirected itself at him.

“The plan is that ya’ll are gonna learn how to run this here stall,” she grinned, drawing an uneasy look from the stallion opposite her. She chuckled. “Look partner, whether any of us like it or not there‘re gonna be times when Mac and I’ll need to be workin’ the farm. When that happens we’ll need somepony else to be here, and since AB’s in school that somepony’ll probably be you.”

“I’d rather do your share of the farm work,” he muttered, lowering his head.

She offered him a reassuring shove in the side. “Now come on, don’t be like that. All ya gotta do is sell apples to ponies who wanna buy ‘em, ain’t nothing scary about that is there?”

“...Uh, I guess not,”

After a long moment of silence, Applejack huffed and rubbed her brow. “Alright, spit it out. What about this idea’s got your tail in such a darn knot?”

“It’s not that I have an issue with it, but… ugh... have you ever tried to sell something somewhere you really shouldn’t have?” he asked, now having a slight tint in his cheeks. Applejack shook her head, and he rubbed the back of his own. “Well, shortly after the Crystal Empire returned to normal… I kinda made the mistake of trying to swap some ice diamonds in the market there. And since they’re kind of a reminder of Sombra’s reign…”

“Ah take it they weren’t received well,” Applejack finished where he trailed off, wincing in sympathy. She exhaled. “Look, ah’m the Element of Honesty, and ah can honestly say that that ain’t gonna happen here, alright. The hay, maybe this’ll help ya get your confidence back.”

She plucked a golden delicious from a nearby barrel, balancing the fruit on her hoof. “Now look, ya’ll say that ya wanna fit in around here, right? Well part ah that is getting ponies used to seeing you amongst em’ around town, like here in the market.”

“So you’re saying that this’ll be good exposure or something?”

Applejack smiled and nodded. “Yep, and since everypony’ll see ya runnin’ our family’s stall… heh, let’s just say that if the Apple’s trust a pony, then most of Ponyville will too,” he went to say something back, but she’d already stuck the apple in his mouth, drawing an unamused look from the stallion that only made her laugh harder.

That seemed to finally sink the last of his resistance, as once he’d removed the apple he huffed and nodded, allowing Applejack a silent sigh of relief.

In the end it didn’t take long to get him used to how the stall was run. The three big rules were an apple was two bits, buying a dozen meant one wasn’t charged for, and no, you couldn’t make a down-payment for the coming cider season. As it was past noon they were in the afternoon period, which meant that a pony could choose any combination of apples for the same price, and once evening came around the price dropped to a bit an apple.  

Quietly, Applejack was sure it had taken her longer to convince Xarzith to run the stall then it had to teach him how to run it.    

“I still don’t get how your friend Rarity could do that,” he said flatly, placing his saddle bags and cloak down behind the stall. “Just… I don’t know, it doesn’t seem right in a way.”

Applejack shook her head. “It might seem a little underhoofed, but she’ll only ever do it if she feels she’s really gettin’ fed dry grass by the seller. She does run her own store, so she knows what it’s like to try and make a bit sellin’ stuff,” she said, before taking a glance around.

The market hadn’t picked up since Xarzith had arrived, and her concern for her friends was still biting at her, no matter how she’d tried to silence it. She could put if off for a day, but doing so would’ve left her feeling restless until she did check up on them. And with somepony else at the stall now was a perfect time.

She chewed her lip, before turning back to the stallion. “Say, now that you know how this show’s run, would you mind if I went and checked up on something for a bit? Ah shouldn’t be long, and it’d help me sleep better too.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“...The exact reason for the signature white-blue colouring is unknown, but vigorous testing of many samples, as well as failed efforts to reproduce the gems artificially, has revealed that their colour is not caused by any recognizable magical properties. So far all indications point to their unique colouring either being geographically dependant, or perhaps in some way related to the harsh cold in which their deposits are found… well that doesn’t help anything...”

She turned to the back page. “High advisor to the Crystal throne and forty-seventh record keeper of the Crystal Empire, Bright Shine,” she rolled her eyes.

Twilight huffed and shut her book, her hooves rubbing her tired eyes. She’d been pouring through the pages on ice diamonds since she and Spike had gotten home… or after they’d decided it was best to avoid each other for a little while anyway, and so far she’d found nothing.

She stared at her own sheet of parchment, which so far only had a few lines scrawled on it. The problem was that all of the book’s information on the stones was all either historical or geological. Information like its ceremonial use in the jewelry of the crystal court, or its relative hardness compared to other common things and materials; neither of these types of information, even the historical, had given her the faintest clue into the mystery that was Xarzith.

Truthfully though… she wasn’t really sure what she was actually trying to find. What she knew was this; Xarzith’s family seemed to have access to ice diamonds, possibly at a source level. This in and of itself didn’t mean anything, but if she could dig deep enough she figured that there’d be some kind of information linking his family to the stones, like how Pinkie’s family would be known about in the rock industry, or Applejack’s in farming circles, and that this would give some insight into what was keeping him so clammed up…

...But what would that be? Would his family be a group a crystal nobles who had fled during Sombra’s reign? Would his bloodline contain Sombra himself? So many possibilities, but no way of narrowing them down in the slightest.

“I need coffee,” she sighed as she got to her hooves, feeling her headache from earlier threatening to come back.

Two minutes later she found herself sitting at the library’s kitchen table, a mug of coffee between her hooves, and staring idly through the window at the world outside. Calmer perhaps, but no closer to finding an answer.

She flattened her ears back. If it had been any other part of Equestria she’d been studying then there would’ve undoubtedly been more material to look through, but the Crystal Empire had only just returned from a millennium long absence, and family links aside there was no way of getting any more information about it quickly.

Twilight groaned as her head met the table. Why did it feel like somepony out there had it in for her? She was trying to help her friend now for Celestia’s sake.

“You know, I love you and all Twi, but there are times when I really think you haven’t changed since we left Canterlot.”

Blinking and turning, she found a familiar dragon standing in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the doorframe, claws across his chest, and wearing an amused expression as he looked over her. Oddly enough though... his voice didn’t sound as angry as she figured he would after their argument, rather his usual snarky self.

“Hey Spike,” she started, her voice quiet and neutral. “Are you… still mad at me about what I said and did earlier?”

Spike offered her a sideways smile. “You needed a wakeup call for how you were acting, that I’m sure about… but I shouldn’t have tried to guilt you like that. I know you’d never go out of your way to hurt me, or anypony else for that matter. That’s not like you,” he leant back against the doorframe and stared at the ceiling. “Let’s just agree that we both kinda messed up back th-Blah!”

The dragon hadn’t been ready for being yanked across the room by Twilight’s magic, but he decided to let it slide just that once, given that he had been pulled over so Twilight could wrap him in a hug.

“You good now?” he asked after a moment, although his tone betrayed that he had enjoyed it.

“I’m good,” Twilight smiled, nuzzling her scaly little brother before letting him go.

Her smile widened as he quickly went about pulling up his own chair, and once comfortable levelled his green eyes with her own, a claw resting under his chin. “So, have you given up on trying to spy on Ice Fire like a crazy pony yet?” he asked.

“I’ve given up trying to find out whatever he’s hiding by invasive means. What I want to do instead is get some indication of what it is, and then try to reassure him that there’s no reason to be embarrassed about it.”

Spike arched an eyebrow, prompting Twilight to sigh. “Spike, I don’t want him to have to feel like he needs to hide things from us, like you think you do with your meat eating. It’s natural for you to eat meat, so in my mind you shouldn’t feel the need to keep it under wraps.”

“And you want him to feel the same way about… whatever it is you think he’s hiding,” she nodded, and Spike leant back in his chair. “I can see why you think that’s a good idea, but Twi, if he’s like me, he might still want to keep these things to himself. It might be okay for me to eat meat, but I’d still like to keep it to myself for the sake of not disturbing anypony.”

“I understand that, Spike… but I’d still rather at least give him the option, just in case he wants to open up but is too afraid to right now, because he’s scared of how we’ll react or something.”

For a long moment Spike said nothing, he simply sat with his green eyes running up and down across her face, as if judging her words by her facial expression. No matter how long they’d lived together, Twilight would swear any day of the week there was more behind those eyes then she, or anypony else could know.

Eventually, Spike exhaled a breath again, this one carrying a long tendril of smoke with it, and began tapping the table with his claws.

“What if I said that I don’t think he’s a pony; or not a normal pony anyway?” he said at last, the words spoken downwards at the table.

For a second, Twilight thought she’d physically stopped breathing, and that the room temperature had somehow dropped a few degrees; that hadn’t been on her list of initial suspicions.

“So-o if he’s not a pony, what is he then?” she asked, swallowing and slowly putting her cup down. “And how do you know that, for that matter?”

Spike shrugged, his claw still absently tapping the table between them. “All ponies smell the same to me in a way… like, even though you and Rarity use different soaps and stuff, there’s a smell that tells me you’re both ponies… sorry if that sounds creepy. But yeah, Ice smells pretty much like a pony, but not quite. It’s like there’s another smell mixed in with it,” he tapped his chin. “Actually, it’s kind of weird when I think about it. He doesn’t smell like a pony, but he still smells familiar to me, which is strange since I’d never met him before he turned up that day at Sugarcube Corner.”

“You can tell all that just from your sense of smell?”

Spike grinned and flashed his teeth. “I’m a dragon, Twilight, and dragons are predators. We need a good sense of smell… for when we’re hunting cupcakes.”

Twilight snorted as she tried not to laugh. “Well, if Winona ever gets lost, I’ll point Applejack in your direct…” her words promptly fell away. “Dragons have a strong sense of smell… strong sense of smell, ready access to rare gems, unusually strong for a unicorn, elementally aligned magic, speaks dragon, familiar scent… Spike, have you ever noticed that’s it’s virtually impossible to sneak up on Xarzith?”

The dragon shrugged. “I guess so, why?”

He wasn’t entirely sure what her reply was, she’d already bolted from the kitchen by the time he’d finished, but it had sounded something like ‘It’s so implausible that it makes perfect sense!’.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..


Shaking his head, Spike hastily followed his sister-figure back into the library’s main room. There he found the alicorn virtually tearing through the book that had previously lay abandoned on the floor, and all the while mumbling incomprehensibly to herself while her quill raced across its parchment.

And then she suddenly stopped, and a grin that would make a mad pony jealous spread across her face.

“Uh, should I be concerned right now?” Spike asked tentatively.

“Nope, but you might want to come have a look at this,” she replied, spinning the book around so he could see the page she’d been looking at.

Needless to say, Spike initially just blinked in confusion. The page had the words ‘Frost Dragons’ scrawled as a chapter title, with a sketched depiction of a large dragon perched on a mountain peak just below, its wings spread and its eyes appearing to be staring at the reader.

“You think Xarzith’s a frost dragon?” he asked after a moment, trying to not bury his face in his claws.

Surprisingly, Twilight shook her head. “No... or at least not entirely,” she explained, flipping the book back over. “But just listen to this, Spike. Ehem, Of all the creatures that roam within the Empire’s borders, none can come close to boasting both the majesty and fury of the frost dragon, yep, yep, yes, where is-ah! Here! A curious trait amongst dragons, their colouring is always white for scales, and differing shades of light blue for spines, wings, and horns. This is no doubt to allow them to sit camouflaged in their snowy surroundings, where prey is a rarity and thus every hunt is no doubt a critical endeavor.”

“You do realize that our friend Vinyl has a white coat and a blue mane too though, right?”    

Twilight gave him a smirk before turning back to her book. “Another curious trait is their apparent fascination with ice diamonds, and in turn virtual disregard for all other gemstones as anything but food. It is as if these stones hold some kind of special or secondary meaning to them, though since imperial scholars have only ever witnessed this behavior from afar, this is purely speculation and cannot be confirmed.”

She skimmed down a few paragraphs, before speaking again. “As the name frost dragon suggests, these dragons do not breathe traditional dragon fire. Instead, with a number of scholars having witnessed it first-hoof, frost dragons expel a sort of magical ‘frost fire’, which they appear to be able to vary in temperature; one researcher some years ago reported that he was hit by a stream from an agitated individual, which in the end did little more than chill him - as if being dropped in a frozen lake, in his own words. In the opposite sphere to this, many of our scholars have witnessed prey being frozen in solid blocks of ice, before being taken up in the jaws and carried back by the dragon to its respective cave.”

She peaked over her book with a questioning look. Spike exhaled and rubbed his temples. “You’re forgetting one major thing though Twilight, and that’s that Xarzith looks and smells like a pony. There’s something else in there for sure, but still mostly a pony.”

In a surprising action, Twilight smirked, closed the book, and put it aside. “Spike, have you ever heard of hippogriffs?”

“Tch, I’ve only lived in libraries my whole life,” he snorted and folded his claws. “They’re the results of pegasus ponies and griffins getting together. Why?”

Her smirk widened. “What if I told you that griffins weren’t the only other creature that ponies could have offspring with?” she’d never tell him, or anypony else for that matter, but his face when he connected the dots was practically priceless. “They are rare, extremely so actually, but there have been young born out of dragon-pony relationships before. You said yourself that Xarzith smelled kind of like a pony, but not quite, and yet his smell was familiar to you for some reason. Well, what smell could be more familiar to you than that of another dragon?”

Spike groaned, and this time did bury his face in his claws. “But that doesn’t make any sense. If he’s half dragon or whatever shouldn’t he have some… you know, dragon features or something, like scales or spines?”

Twilight hmm’d and looked over her parchment. Spike had a point, and as curious a shape as his horn was she couldn’t quite call Xarzith out on that alone.

If Hippogriffs were anything to go by, cross-race offspring always inherited some manner of physical features from both sides of their parentage, which meant that Ice Fire likely should’ve had some defining feature that marked his own parentage, if he was indeed part dragon. His lack of a cutie mark wasn’t really enough, nor was his funny shaped horn for that matter; they could easily be put down to being unlucky and an odd unicorn bloodline trait respectively. That left the possibility that the dragon features he had he was somehow concealing from sight, but how… wait…

“Medication,” she breathed, before slapping herself with her hoof. “Of course! Two weeks is a ridiculous amount of time for a pony to adapt to new climate, let alone something like a dragon!”

“What are you-” Spike started, only to blanch when Twilight teleported across the room, and reappeared directly in front of him, grinning like a maniac.

“Spike, it’s his medication! It’s not for climate adaption; it’s for suppressing and concealing any physical traits that would show him as a dragon! That’s why he’s been taking it so long,” before Spike’s eyes the alicorn princess starting bouncing giddy circles around the room. “And that’s why he had to go see Zecora! Because his natural dragon magic is overpowering the effects so fast that he’s probably almost run out of potion! It all makes perfect sense now!”

“TWILIGHT!”

Within the span of a heartbeat, the formerly overjoyed Princess Twilight Sparkle was backed up against the far wall, and looking at the annoyed dragon opposite her like he was about burn down their home.

She’d never heard Spike roar before, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it again soon.

“Twilight, this is what I’d hoped to avoid with you. If I wasn’t here to stop you, what’s the bet you would’ve shot out that door and gone looking for Xarzith?” Twilight winced and blushed. They both knew she likely would’ve done just that. “Look, Twi, just… ugh, you need to get this into your head; just because you’ve discovered something, doesn’t mean everypony has to know that you did. Understand? We don’t even know if you’re right about this, and you saying something you shouldn’t, can and will get us both into trouble.”

“Y-yeah, sorry about that,” she replied, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “You’re right. I guess this is something we should be keeping between the two of us for now, huh?”

“Tch, what are Pinkie Pie’s words about abusing trust and losing a friend?”

“...Forever,” she shuddered.

Spike nodded. “Yep, so for everypony’s sake I think it’s best if what we know, if it’s actually true, stays within these walls. Otherwise you’re probably going to both destroy a friendship, and anger somepony who might be part dragon.”

After a moment, his expression softened and he sniggered. “Besides, look at it this way. One way or another, Ice is eventually going to have to stop drinking that potion stuff. At that point, If you are right about all this, he’ll just about have to come clean to us whether he wants to or not.”

“You’re right, heh, and who knows. Given how on edge he’s got Applejack lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was already feeling the heat.”

Unfortunately for both dragon and alicorn, Applejack had heard just about everything they’d said in the last ten minutes. She’d been standing at their door, her hoof raised and ready to knock, but not daring to in case she missed out on hearing something important.

To say her head hurt from what she’d heard would’ve been an understatement.

“Well… ah sure as hay didn’t expect that,” she murmured to nopony in particular, lowering her hoof to the ground.

Xarzith was a half-dragon? She agreed with Twilight, that was so utterly ludicrous and yet made so much sense; the dragon tongue was one thing, anypony could learn another language if they had the time and the patience, but the diamonds, the unusual strength, the ability to smell her all the way down the hall. Yeah, those were things she couldn’t pass off… the question was, ‘what to do about it now that she knew?’

If there was one thing she was sure about, it was that she wasn’t going to let this slide; truth be told she was far over being fed half-truths by the stallion she was housing.

Spike was probably right about just confronting Xarzith being a bad idea, so she couldn’t just march up and try to force him to admit what he was… but maybe… maybe she could make it so he couldn’t hide what he was any longer, even if he wanted to.

Her fear for her friends now dealt with, she turned and headed back towards the market, a plan already forming in the back of her mind.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..  

“Ugh, don’t even bring her up. I swear that mare just about drove me crazy in the few minutes I had to deal with her,” there was a dull thump as Xarzith face-hoofed, followed by knowing laughter from both Apple Bloom and Macintosh. “Seriously, it was like, ‘and if I buy one more apple, will that change the price?’. After the seventh time she asked I seriously wanted to just shove one in her muzzle.”

A smirk crossed Applejack’s face, but she couldn’t quite manage the same laughter as her siblings.

With dinner eaten and the day done, they’d all retreated to the comfort of the family living room, the room’s fire providing some much enjoyed comfort to their tired bodies, as well as a nice backdrop to the sharing of the day's stories. Granny had since headed off to bed, and there was no doubt that Apple Bloom would soon follow, but the youngest Apple had been surprisingly willing to stay up just a little longer to hear a few stories.

Applejack knew she should’ve been enjoying the time more than she was, but the sight of a certain stallion sitting and warming his hooves by her family’s fireplace, and the knowledge that his white fur might actually be concealing white dragon scales… she just couldn’t quite get past it.

She had to do something about it.

“Awhh, alright everypony, as much fun as this is that’ll be it for me today,” she said, getting up from her chair and stretching out. “Don’t know ‘bout the rest of ya, but that shower is singing siren songs to me, and I’ll be darned if ah’ ain’t answerin’ ‘em.”

“Just don’t use all the hot water, alright,” Mac said, smirking and throwing her a cheesy look.

Applejack huffed and blushed. When she’d met Rarity for the first time, and they’d talked about home life, the unicorn had virtually ordered her to take longer showers so as to properly ‘rejuvenate’ herself. That had led to many a cold shower for the rest of the family, and Mac had made sure she’d never forgotten.

“Night sis!”

“Night, AJ. Sleep well.”

The mare bit her lip as she turned and headed up the stairs. She didn’t want to feel bad about what she was doing, but darn did the stallion’s voice in her ear make her.

Once she’d reached the second floor, she headed along the hallway towards the bathroom, making sure her steps were loud enough that they could be heard from downstairs, and thus make it known that she had indeed headed for the shower. Once there Applejack turned the shower on full blast, before quickly, and as quietly as she could, backtracking down the hallway to Xarzith’s room.

For a few moments she paused at the door to his room, the two sides of her brain fighting over whether what she was doing was right or not; she’d put a roof over his head and tried to be nothing but his friend, so she deserved to know the truth about who he was… but then again, who was she to say that now was the time for it come out.

Finally, she raised her hoof to the knob. “If ah’ regret this later on, then so be it,” she huffed, pushing the door open and heading inside.

Already knowing what she was looking for and where it would likely be, Applejack headed straight around the bed to where Xarzith’s saddlebags lay, all the while keeping her steps as light as possible.

With shaky hooves she unclipped and opened the nearest one, revealing amongst other things the small glass vial she had come looking for, the blue liquid inside now down to perhaps a sip or two at most with its frequent consumption.

It was strange. In the low light the stuff even looked somewhat eerie and unusual, or perhaps that was just the part of her that was saying she shouldn’t be touching it, she wasn’t sure.

As gently as she could, and with her brain still in a state of conflict about her actions, she pulled the vial from his’s saddlebag and quickly headed for the window, the amount of time she spent in the room now her priority. The wooden frame creaked a little as she pushed it open and let in the night air, but thankfully only enough to be heard from the hallway and not the living room downstairs.

Mentally cursing herself, and with a silent promise to her parents that she was only doing what she thought was right, she unsealed the vial and poured out the small amount of liquid left in it, gritting her teeth as the last few drops were drained. In the dark it was hard to tell, but with the recent lack of rain she was sure the ground below would soak it up quickly.

“Gonna take a lot longer for me to forget doin’ it though,” she muttered to herself.

What followed felt almost like a dream to Applejack. She stashed the vial back in Xarzith’s bag and clipped it shut, closed the door as quietly as she could when she left the room, and crept back to her awaiting shower.

Once there she closed and locked the door like she was being pursued by a manticore, pulled the shower curtains across, and exhaled as she allowed the hot water to run across her now sweaty fur, her mind trying it’s best and yet still failing to catch up with the rest of her.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she’d just done, or what to expect when morning came

> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Flitter! Get your feathering rump out of bed!”

To give her credit, Flitter did manage to let something akin to a groggy ‘huh?’ in the second or so between hearing her sister’s voice, and feeling her blankets be unceremoniously torn off her bed.

What was perhaps less deserving of credit was what she did next, which was to yelp and shoot up in surprise at the feeling of cold morning air suddenly meeting her fur. This in turn, thanks to one of her hooves still being tangled up in the mass of sheets, led to Flitter being pulled off the bed with the rest of her blankets.

There were days when she questioned why her bedroom had timber flooring; today was one of those days.

“So did you actually manage to set the house on fire or something?” she snipped as she rubbed her sore head and began untangling herself, her words directed at her sister as she left the room.

“Rainbow Dash flew by a few minutes ago,” was the reply from Cloudchaser, accompanied by the distinct ding of the toaster being done from downstairs. “Apparently there’s a storm brewing over the Everfree Forest or something and she wants the entire weather team ready to act at the drop of a feather if we have to.”

“But I was on shift yesterday and it’s my day off!”

“Well the entire weather team includes you, so too bad!”

Flitter huffed and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. So much for getting a day to sleep in it seemed… still, at least it was just a storm and not some ancient terror come to wreak havoc.

It was actually kind of funny when she thought about it. When she and Cloudchaser had left Cloudsdale and moved to Ponyville together, they’d done so believing that it would be a nice, quiet place to live, away from all the ‘rush-rush’ that dominated the big cities of Equestria. Truth be told, it actually had been like that for the first few years, when the worst things they’d had to worry about actually had been the occasional storm rolling in from the Everfree. But after a certain celebration involving Twilight, Spike, Nightmare Moon, and the Elements of Harmony, heh, yeah, since then little things like unpleasant weather barely ruffled her feathers...

Without warning, her thoughts decided to dramatically change flight paths, and she felt a slight sting in her cheeks; well, there was one little thing that had been ruffling her feathers lately, that thing being a stallion she’d recently become friends with.

She huffed and shook her head. “No, bad brain. It’s too early for this.”

It wasn’t like she’d fallen head-over-hooves for him or anything; she’d thankfully grown out of doing that once her teenaged years had passed. But there was something about him that had piqued her interest when they’d first met, and having gotten to know him over the two weeks he’d been living in Ponyville that interest had started forming into… something else. She wasn’t sure if she could call it attraction just yet, but she did enjoy his company.

And honestly, compared to most pegasus stallions, he was like a breath a fresh air. Ugh, she swore they all had clouds between their ears, or at least the ones she knew did anyway.

Alright, maybe that was a bit unkind, but not completely unwarranted. For example, the pegasus stallion she knew best in Ponyville was undoubtedly Thunderlane, what with them being on the same weather team shift and Cloudchaser being Rumble’s foalsitter. He was kind of handsome, she wouldn’t deny him that, not to mention a decent flyer as well, but his cocky attitude and never-his-fault way of thinking rubbed her all the wrong ways…

...And then there was the fact that he could, at times, be a ripe pain in the flank.  

She glanced over at her clock, stifling a yawn as she did so. It was five thirty, meaning that nothing in town would be open for quite a while. Great.

At last accepting the fact that she wasn’t going to get anymore sleep, Flitter struggled free of her blankets, and after remaking her bed went about engaging in her usual daily routine; a quick  shower, followed by the brushing of her mane and tail, the straightening of her feathers, and finally the tedious task of getting her bow in place.

Despite her best efforts though, her brain simply refused to allow the subject of Ice Fire to disappear all through her routine. The thoughts were like a bird that had been let out of its cage and now didn’t want to go back in, instead preferring to fly around the room that was her head with no restraint or care.

Once she’d at last finished doing up her bow, Flitter exhaled and rubbed her temples. What to do about this?


If she did like him, then the most obvious answer was to ask him on a date and see how it went, which likely would’ve been what Cloudchaser would do in the same situation, but she wasn’t her sister. She liked to be a bit more certain when it came to dates and stallions, knowing that the water was actually warm before sticking her hoof in, so to speak. The question was how to best find that out?

“I guess… just spend time with him and get to know him,” she murmured to herself, before biting her tongue.

It was, however, too late. With such a thought more followed, each of those followed by two more. Did he find her attractive at all? Would he be open to the idea of having a marefriend? Was their somepony else after him? Was there a proper way to court where he came from? What would her friends think if they did get together? What would her family think about it? What would his family think about it?

She shook her head. Maybe for now the best idea was just to go and ask him if he wanted to hang out later, and go from there.

Besides, she had sent him into the Everfree Forest the day before, and there was nothing wrong with wanting to make sure he’d made it back alright.

“Flitter! Breakfast is ready so get your flank down here!” Cloudchaser suddenly called from the kitchen, the sudden interjection a welcome sound. “I didn’t make you cheesy scrambled eggs to watch them go cold.”

Flitter couldn’t help but giggle, and once she was happy with the reflection she saw in her mirror went to join her sister for breakfast, now a little less angry at the world for intruding on her day off.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….


“Ugh, just five more minutes, Celestia,” Xarzith yawned as he felt the first rays of sunlight run across his face.

Celestia, however, was as usual not intent on listening to him, as the barrage of light coming in through the window didn’t relent in slightest, eventually forcing Xarzith to groggily throw back the covers and roll out of bed.

Quietly, or as quietly as he could with the wooden floorboards, he went about stretching out and limbering up his still half-asleep body, each stretch causing another of his joints giving the occasional crack or groan of protest before obeying his command. A filly named Cotton Twine he’d known once had asked him why he did it every morning, and his response had been that it made his muscles feel good after a long sleep.

He smirked to himself. Despite everything, there had been ponies through his travels that had rubbed off on him, of which Cotton was one. Now and then such ponies would pop into his head, and he couldn’t help but wonder how they were going with and what they were doing.

Plus it reminded him that there were good ponies out there.

That happy feeling soon departed though, as once his stretching was done, the stallion immediately went and retrieved his saddle bags from under his bed, still trying to keep his movements as quiet as possible to avoid making excess noise.

Just like every other morning, he found his hoof pausing on the clip when he went to open it. Part of him seriously wanted to just take the bag and throw it out the window there and then, vial, reagents, and all.

But also just like every other morning, the logical part of him told him not to, and in turn decided to throw up mental images and memories of how well... what he actually looked like had been received in the past.

“Hopefully I won’t be doing this for much longer,” he muttered sourly at last, unclipping and the opening the bag... only to have his breath catch in his throat.

The small glass vial he was looking for was there, but was it was now completely empty, not a single drop of blue liquid remained.

Swallowing, he hastily emptied out everything else onto the bed. Parchment, quills, a bottle of ink, papers and forms for his house, even a few ice diamonds that he didn’t know he still had come tumbling out, but not one drop of potion. Had he not corked it properly and it’d leaked? That didn’t make any sense, because otherwise the bag and everything else would be stained blue.  

He scratched his head and cursed under his breath. The most likely possibility then was that he’d mistakenly thought there was some left when he’d actually drank it all, but at the same time that didn’t make any sense either. He’d made sure there would’ve been enough before coming to Ponyville to begin with, that way a situation just like this couldn’t arise.

“Okay, okay, calm down,” he huffed, closing the door to his room. Taking deep breaths, he began pacing back and forth. He needed to think.

No potion meant he had two choices... or technically three, but the third was instantly discarded before he even considered it. The first was to creep out of the house and make a run for the Everfree Forest now, while everypony was hopefully still asleep. There he could wait it out until the frost rose petals he needed arrived, mix up some more potion, and then return to the farm in the afternoon.

The second option was to risk it, hang around Applejack and her family for a few hours and act like everything was good and normal, and then say he had to go pick something up from Zecora.

The first option would no doubt cause some suspicion if he was spotted, especially if it was Applejack or Macintosh who spotted him, but the second hinged on what potion he had left in his system lasting until mid-morning, and there was virtually a snowball’s chance in Tartarus of that happening.

“I guess I better get this all packed up again then,” he groaned, looking at his mismatched pile of belongings.

Fate, however, didn’t seem to like the idea of a solution being so easy.

Just as he finished stuffing the last few things back into this bag and clipping it shut, and without any sort of warning, his body suddenly seized up, and then a heartbeat later it erupted with pure agony.

Despite his best efforts, a sound akin to a dragon’s snarl left Xarzith as the potion’s effects failed, and the frost dragon magic in him broke free of its suppression, starting in his chest and then quickly spreading through the rest of his body.

The feeling was best described as having a chunk of ice melt in his chest, and then having the freezing water flowing around inside him.


Without any input from Xarzith, it forcefully began driving out any lingering magic from the potions that had previously held it at bay. This in turn caused the temperature in the room plummet as that magic left his body the only way it could; the stallion’s horn erupted with blue magical energy, and his maw spewed tongues of blue frost fire, painting the walls with splashes and streaks of ice.

It barely lasted fifteen seconds, but by the end of it he found himself lying in a heap on the floor, clutching his chest and panting like he’d just outrun death itself.

“B-buck I hate it when that happens,” he wheezed out at last, allowing the pain to subside before slowly rolling over and looking down at himself.

To say he looked different then before would’ve been an understatement, and a big one at that. His hooves had been replaced by claws, the front two having toes ending with razor sharp talons, while his blue mane was now much longer than it previously had been, a testament to the snow and ice climate of the northern parts of Equestria.

Dotted across his body were clusters of blue scales or varying sizes, and against his sides were now two white wings with sapphire blue membranes, each easily measuring the length of a pony across. On a pegasus they would’ve looked disproportionately big, but that was the nature of dragon wings - they were built for gliding and soaring, not for being flapped repeatedly.  

Growling to himself, Xarzith slowly raised himself from the floor, the action revealing two more distinctive changes to his appearance. There was still a tail where the ponies of Ponyville were used to seeing one, but now it was a white dragon’s tail, his snow coloured fur covering its length on top while dark blue scales ran underneath it, a tuft of sky blue fur marking the end where most dragons would have a barb or spade.

The other change, surprisingly, brought a sense of something close to loathing to Xarzith as he stared at it. Where his snow white flanks had always been bare was now a cutie mark, his cutie mark, a tongue of blue frost fire with an alchemist's flask within it, symbolizing his talents with elixirs and potions. What was harder to see against the marked fur were faint scar lines where he’d once, some time ago, angrily run his claws across it.

“Can’t call myself a pony or a dragon,” he snorted, taking a few steps and trying not to fall over...

...Only to snap his head up when he heard one of the floorboards creak, and upon seeing what had caused it mentally kick himself.

Standing with a hoof on the now open door and looking squarely at him, the same door he’d bucking forgotten to lock, was a wide eyed and slack jawed Big Macintosh. The early to rise farmpony having no doubt heard something when the potion’s magic had worn off and come to investigate.

Despite having his heart thundering in his chest, Xarzith didn’t move a muscle as they silently traded looks. It was obvious that the red stallion wasn’t entirely sure what to make of situation, or how it was possible, but there wasn’t any obvious indication of hostility, which was both a good thing and truth be told kind of surprising.

What was even more surprising however was that, after another few moments spent wordlessly staring at each other from opposite sides of the room, Macintosh swallowed and spoke.

“So your pa’s a dragon then, huh?”

“My mother’s the dragon, actually,” Xarzith replied, his words carrying an edge of a growl. He didn’t want to scare the stallion, but he wanted to make it abundantly clear that doing anything hostile wasn’t a smart idea.  


Macintosh didn’t say or do anything for a moment, as if weighing up what he’d seen and now knew in his head… and then he did the last thing Xarzith that had expected him to do, which was to quickly and quietly enter the room and shut the door behind him.

“Ah ain’t gonna lie to ya, ya’ve really gone and stuck your hoof deep in it now,” he said, locking the door in place, before turning around and pointing a red hoof at Xarzith’s muzzle. “Do ya know how mad Applejack’s gonna be when she finds out about this? She’s been chompin’ at her darn bit about ya hidin’ something from us all week, and this… well this here is a might more than ya just hiding somethin’ from us, if ah do say so ma’self.”

A snarl left Xarzith’s muzzle, and he flattened his ears back, prompting an uncharacteristic flinch from the other stallion.

“Okay, first off, do you actually think I like lying about this to you and your sister, after all you two have done for me?” Xarzith snapped back angrily as he swatted the hoof away, not missing the other stallion’s tone. “Because trust me, I really and truly don’t.”

“Then why in the darn hay have ya been?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because looking like this,” he gestured to himself with a claw. “Has a habit of getting me into trouble with ponies, to say the absolute least. So I don’t really have a lot of choice.”

Macintosh snorted. “Last ah heard, ponies didn’t go gettin’ into trouble ‘cuz they looked a bit odd,” he said flatly.

Xarzith rolled his eyes; that was a nice thought. “Like you just heard, I’m half dragon. And dragons, unlike ponies, have a slight reputation of eating things and burning down entire villages when they’re angry. See why that could be a problem when trying to live in mainstream pony society?”

A look of annoyance crossed Macintosh’s face for a moment, before the Apple stallion huffed and shook his head, the sounding giving the impression he wished he was still in bed.

“Alright, alright, ya made your point. Sorry about bitin’ at ya like that,” he exhaled and rubbed his temple with hoof. “Tch, if ah’ didn’t know better, I’d say either Discord or the Crusaders had a hoof in this.”

Xarzith wasn’t entirely sure what that was supposed to mean, but he still breathed a silent sigh of relief at the red pony’s ability to be reasonable and understanding; the thought of having to do battle with Applejack’s back hooves made him nervous, let alone her older brother’s.

After another moment of silence between them, he tilted his head. “You know, for somepony who just found out their houseguest is half dragon, you’re taking this surprisingly well. Amazingly well in fact.”

Mac let out a dry chuckle. “Crazy as it sounds, what with ya givin’ ma’ sister the jitters an all ah was kinda prepared for somethin’ like… well, not exactly somethin' like this, but somethin’ a bit unusual from ya,” he said, smirking and shrugging. “Plus ah’ ain’t the kinda pony to kick first and ask questions later when ah’ can avoid it,” he grimaced. “AJ on the other hoof…”

“She’s probably going to start throwing hooves the moment she sees me, isn’t she?”

Groaning and face-hoofing, Macintosh nodded. “Eeyup, so ya might wanna come up with a plan on how to deal with her, and quick. She’ll be up and about pretty soon.”

“I have a plan. Go to the Everfree Forest and come back looking like a unicorn again,” Macintosh gave him a look somewhere between been confused and concerned. Xarzith held up a hoof. “Yeah, yeah. I know it sounds crazy and all, but I have my ways and my reasons. My advice, don’t ask.”

Mac seemed to consider the words for a moment, before shrugging. “Well alright, but ya know, ya could just tell her what ya told me; she’ll be a might angry at ya for lyin’, but ah’d reckon that she’d at least understand why ya did it.”

“Tch, I would love to be able to do that, but I just don’t think that she’s ready to see me like this; or Ponyville for that matter,” he glanced back at himself. “And honestly, I’m not ready for Ponyville to see me like this eit-”

Crash!

Two sounds that were somewhere cries of alarm and yelps of surprise filled the room as the door, which had previously been locked in place, was suddenly and violently torn from its hinges, the heavy timber crashing to the floor barely a few hooves from where they were standing.

Looking over, both males backed up and swallowed in fear at what they saw, though for very different reasons. Standing in the doorway was a very angry looking Applejack, her head lowered, front hooves pawing, and eyes burning with enough fury to melt a glacier.

Said eyes of burning fury being focused squarely on Xarzith.

“You get the hay away from ma’ brother!” she said angrily, snorting before charging straight at him.

Macintosh barely enough time to blink, if even that, before his sister had crossed the room and spun around in front of Xarzith, let alone enough time to either stop her or push him out of the way. By the time he’d fully realized just how close she’d gotten, she’d already hit the brakes and spun her back legs around, each hoof cocked back and lined up squarely with his friend’s muzzle…

...Only to kick nothing but thin air.

To Mac’s utter amazement, having seen Xarzith stumbling around in apparent pain only minutes earlier, the half-dragon had managed to jump upwards just in the nick of time, his sister’s back legs missing him by the width of a hoof.

If that was amazing, then what he did next would’ve made Rainbow Dash green with envy.

With a single wing-beat he sailed over both of them, landing squarely on the bed where his saddlebags lay abandoned, grabbed them up in his mouth, and then used his back legs to catapult himself out the open window and from sight, all before Applejack even had time to lower her back hooves to the floor.

Apparently the idea that dragons were heavy and slow flyers was a bunch of horse apples.

Once she had all four hooves down again, Applejack was at the window in an instant. “Come back here ya varmit, you and ah need to have a talk!” when no reply to her shouting came, she snorted and marched for the doorway. “C’mon Mac, that critter can’t ‘ave gotten far, and ah’ want some answers outta him.”

And then she crumpling as a blur of red slammed down on the back of her head, sending her to the floor and knocking her out cold.

“Sorry sis, but ah reckon ya kinda needed that,” Macintosh winced, rubbing his now sore hoof as his eyes went to the open window.

Why did he get the feeling that this was not going to end well?


……………………………………………………………………………………………………………


“I hope you know that this is going to end badly.”

“Spike, nothing is going to go wrong,” Twilight said, huffing at the words of the dragon on her back, and now silently relieved that Sweet Apple Acres was finally coming into view. “I promised you that I wouldn’t go asking Xarzith any personal questions, didn’t I? Isn’t that enough to satisfy you?”  

“Twilight, this is you that we’re talking about,” Spike shot back, folding his claws across his chest. “Given your track record of going nutty when you don’t understand something, forgive me for not completely believing you.”

Twilight groaned but held her tongue, deciding it best not to reply to Spike’s accusations, and instead redirecting her attention to the approaching farm gate. As much as she wanted to deny what he’d said was true… well, her little outburst the afternoon before kind of made that impossible.

Bar perhaps a lingering edge of tiredness, and Spike’s current apprehension, Twilight would say that this particular morning was pretty close to perfect. She’d woken up to find Spike cooking them a double batch of blueberry pancakes, a rare treat even with his love of cooking, and a much appreciated cup of coffee already waiting for her on the kitchen table.

She wasn’t sure if he’d actually known that she’d slept badly or not, but either way it had been absolute blessing.

What was more was that they’d discussed Xarzith as they’d sat down over breakfast, and after some… mildly heated debate, Spike had finally given her a little ground in his thinking, and together they’d tried to figure out the best way to encourage him to show his true colors, so to speak, without the risk of their efforts quite literally blowing up in their faces.

If her theory that Xarzith was half dragon was correct, then in Twilight’s mind the issue was mostly likely this; for whatever reason, probably due to either past emotional turmoil or negative subconscious programming, Xarzith felt the need to hide his dragon half in order to avoid confrontation or conflict with those ponies around him. Therefore, what she, Spike, and those around him needed to do, if this was indeed the case, was to make it known that there would be no such conflict if he were to be honest and open up to them, and knowing that would hopefully give him the confidence to come clean with them.

To her it was a foolproof plan, even if Spike didn’t quite share her enthusiasm, which he’d made abundantly clear he didn’t.

“I just don’t get why you think you need to do this, Twi,” Spike said, stifling a yawn; unlike her he flat out refused to drink coffee in the morning. Something about it tasting like dirt that had been flavored with more dirt.

“Because sometimes we all need a little push to get things moving Spike,” she said, smiling as she pushed the Apples’ gate open, the squeak it gave off sounding almost annoyed. “It’s a simple fact that we can all become either too comfortable or too afraid to change things by ourselves, even if we know that change can make us happier in the long term,” unbeknown to Spike, Twilight’s cheeks suddenly took on a pink hue, and she found herself glancing at her hooves. “I guess you could say I’m a great example of that. Remember how I was about making friends before we moved to Ponyville?”

“Yeah, I was pretty certain you were going to marry one of Stablea Maner’s books for a while the-Woah! Alright, alright, my bad. That was uncalled for,” he said, apparently forgetting that it was her back he was riding on.

“Good, and for your information… I might’ve had a slight crush on one of the characters,” she admitted, her cheeks stinging as Spike burst into laughter. “Alright you, now it’s my turn to ask you something.”

“Ugh, what is it with you and wanting to know things?” he replied as his laughter died down, smirking as she rolled her eyes. “I’m just kidding, Twi. What’s on your mind?”

“I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday, about how you know it’s okay for you to eat meat, but that you’d still like to keep it to myself,” she said, slowing her pace to take in the surrounding orchards. “What I don’t understand is why you feel you need to keep it to yourself if you know it’s okay.

She heard Spike ‘hmm’ for a moment. “Honestly, it’s not so much that I have a problem with everypony knowing. More that I just don’t need the added complication,” Twilight stopped and looked back at him with a perplexed look, drawing a shrug from the dragon. “You might not notice it, Twi, but living in Ponyville means that I’m constantly walking the fine line between being me, a dragon,” he pointed to himself. “And trying to fit in with everypony else around me by acting like a pony. Everypony knowing that I eat meat would probably only complicate that.”

“So it’s like you have this… image of yourself that you want everypony see you as, and you think that the knowledge that you eat meat would distort it? Make you look… more dragon then pony?”

Spike smiled and scratched a claw behind her ear. “Smart pony. I always knew there was a reason Celestia chose you as her student.”

“Hmhm, I might be smart, but you’re the one who keeps me sane,” she said, smiling and trying not to giggle at the sensation. “And I won’t try to tell you to do otherwise, but I don’t think you need to act like anyone other than yourself.”

The smile on her face widened as the trees around the two of them parted, and the Apple family farmhouse rose up in front of them like a red mountain in a valley. Truth be told, she was very much looking forward to putting this short saga behind her, even if it meant not being able to tell anypony what she’d found out.

Between the headaches, general annoyance, nights of restless sleep, snooping, and flaring tempers… yeah, the last two weeks hadn’t been the most enjoyable.

She grinned as she trotted up towards the house. “Well Spike, Looks like we’re here. Now we just need to see if we can track down…” her words trailed off.

Twilight blinked as she looked around the Apple family homestead and the surrounding barn and fields. For whatever reason the farm was… surprisingly quiet for a weekday morning. As in, unusually quiet.

Maybe it was because she enjoyed observing things as part of her research, or maybe it just because she’d spent so much time with Applejack on her farm, but either way, Twilight knew that on Sweet Apple Acres there were certain things that were constant no matter what. Big Macintosh, for example, would always be up and loading his cart with apples by six in the morning for the stall in town… as in, he would be doing it come rain, hail, snow, or shine, and usually with Winona racing about his hooves while he worked.

Today though, his cart lay abandoned by the barn doors and the red stallion himself was nowhere to be found, as was Winona.

“Where... is everypony?”

“You really think that I know?” Spike said as he peered around with her, unease in his voice. “I hate to say it Twilight, but this is a little too much like the day we first encountered Zecora.”  

“And here I was thinking Cloudchaser had an overactive imagination.”

Naturally, the sudden and unexpected intrusion of a new voice, coupled with the fact that she’d already been unsettled by the lack of anypony, prompted Twilight to yelp and spin around, unintentionally throwing Spike from her back in the process...

...Only to see Flitter as she landed a few meters behind them, the younger pegasus giving the two a look that virtually said ‘seriously, what is wrong with you both?’, or something to that effect.

“Eesh. Flitter, do me a favor and don’t do that when Twi’s freaking out,” Spike said, standing up and dusting himself off.

Twilight gave the dragon a flat look, which he replied to by clearing his throat and staring at a nearby tree, before turning to the other mare. “What are you doing here this early in the morning?” she asked, tilting her head. “Not that there’s a problem or anything, but I’ve never really known you to be a regular around here.”

Flitter huffed as she trotted over. “Well, long story short is that there’s a storm brewing over the Everfree Forest or something, and Rainbow Dash decided to put the entire weather team on notice just to be safe,” she said, before snorting. “Basically, Cloudchaser decided to drag me out of bed at O’dark thirty...”

Twilight’s eyebrow arched as all of a sudden Flitter paused, and her light colored cheeks quickly went crimson, her expression changing to one of... embarrassment?

“A-and since there wasn’t a lot else to do, I was going to see if Xarzith wanted to hang out later, b-but then I spotted you two,” she said, scraping at the ground with a hoof. “Why are you sneaking around then here for then?”

Spike and Twilight shared a knowing look.

“We weren’t sneaking around,” Twilight said as she turned back, sighing and flattening her own ears. “Kind of like you we wanted to discuss something with Xarzith, but as you can see we just got here and haven’t seen hair or hide of him… or anypony else for that matter.”

“Maybe zombie ponies got them all,” Spike suggested, shrugging.

Flitter giggled while Twilight rolled her eyes. “Ugh, Spik-”

“Come back here ya varmit, you and ah need to have a talk!”

In almost perfect unison, Twilight ducked, Spike cried out, and Flitter squealed and shot for the nearest tree, as the prior silence was shattered by the sound of Applejack’s voice, though whether their reactions were caused by the volume or the anger in it none of them were really sure.

And then all three of them jumped again as there was a loud bang, said loud bang followed only a few seconds later by a familiar white blue came racing out from behind the farmhouse. The stallion was running at a breakneck pace with his saddlebags swinging along beside him, just behind them were…

Twilight blinked and shook her head at the sight, momentarily thinking that she was dreaming or seeing things; where she was used to seeing bare white fur on Xarzith’s side, when it wasn’t covered by his cloak, were now wings, honest to Celestia wings.

What was more was that they were nothing like those of a pegasus pony, as in nothing whatsoever. With his speed she couldn’t get a particularly good look at them, but they were definitely more like those of a batpony judging from the shape and the way they hung. Although on a batpony, they quite frankly would’ve looked ridiculously oversized.

There was no question about it. The only creature they could’ve belonged to was a dragon.

Despite having either seen or studied just about every oddity Equestria had, Twilight swallowed and took nervous step back. She’d guessed that her thoughts on him being part-dragon had been right, but to physically see his dragon heritage was something else entirely.  

“Xarzith, wait!” Flitter called as she dropped from her tree, the pegasus spreading her wings as if to chase him.

He’d either not heard her or ignored her, as if anything his running pace picked up after she’d yelled out.

Within moments his white form had reached the edge of the southern orchard and disappeared into the foliage, a faint rising trail of dust where his hooves had hit the ground being the only thing left to see.


“What… what the hay just happened?” Spike asked after a moment.

Before Twilight could get a word out to answer, Flitter snorted and stamped a hoof. “I’m not sure, but I’m sure going to find out.”

She went to take to the air, and then yelped as she found herself suddenly being pulled down by a magical grip around her tail.

“Flitter... you should probably take Spike with you,” Twilight said with surprising calmness, nodding to the suddenly uneasy dragon. “I’ll catch up with you both once I’m sure everything’s alright with Applejack and her family.”

Despite the hectic nature of the situation, and the fact she’d just seen a very different looking Xarzith gallop away from the Apple family homestead, Flitter’s face still warped into an expression of utter confusion.

“Why exactly?” she asked.

“Flitter, just… just trust me on this one,” Twilight said, flicking her gaze between the distant Everfree Forest and her little brother. “I know it sounds crazy, but Spike’s probably the only one out of the three of us who can talk some sense into Xarzith right now.”

“Twilight, what are you thin-hey!” Spike started; only to suddenly find himself with a wing in his face.

“Less talking and more getting on,” Flitter snapped, her expression telling him she was not in the mood for joking around.

Truth be told, she wasn’t entirely sure which emotion she was feeling more, panic, fear, or anger. What she was sure of however was that something was very wrong with Xarzith, and catching up with him was as such her number one priority.

The dragon shot Twilight a glare, who offered a sorry look in return, before grumbling and climbing onto the agitated pegasus’s back. “Only in Ponyville,” he muttered sourly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….