Chapter 1: A new pony in town.

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"Come on Twi! We have gone over this before. You're into egghead things, not flight. There is nothing your books can teach to make my flying better." A familiar argument was being had between the two friends currently sitting in the library. Rainbow Dash had come by at Twilight's request because she supposedly had some news that Dash should hear.

"Dash, I know you don't care for reading anything but the Do series, but you really should take a chance. This information..." Twilight started while carrying a book with her magic to her desk near where Rainbow was lounging. And lounging was the only word to describe the way Dash ever sat anywhere.

"Is useless Twi." Rainbow finished Twilight's sentence before rolling her eyes. Before Twilight was able to attempt to once again show Rainbow the merits of some books, a rather loud knock came at the door. Both Twilight and Rainbow, who now sat up, looked at it confused.

"Wonder who that is. No one was planning on coming by today." Twilight said as she approached the door. Dash rolled her eyes at Twilight's steadfast belief that everyone ran on a daily checklist of things like she did.

Twilight opened the door to find a nurse from the local clinic standing there with a somewhat concerned look on her face.

"Nurse Redheart? Is everything ok?" Twilight asked, confused by the arrival. Dash heard who it was an came to the door. Before either she or Twilight's imagination could run wild, Redheart spoke up.

"Oh good, you both are here. We have a patient at the clinic whose injuries and general appearance are unusual. The doctor wanted me to get the two of you for information to help with treatment." She explained. Twilight and Dash shared a glance, both confused on how they might help but nonetheless agreeing to go. With a nod, Twilight turned to Redheart.

"Sure thing, just let me lock up and we can head over right now."

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The trio of ponies were making their way across Ponyville while discussing the patient that brought the nurse to them. Dash was being the most vocal.

"So this pegasus crashed into Sweet Apple Acres and you think it is a failed stunt?" She asked, clearly already trying to figure out who would be trying such dangerous tricks that might put you in the hospital. She would of course try them, but she was the best flyer in Equestria, so the danger was minimal.

"Correct, Ms Dash. Big Macintosh brought him in, and according to his story, there was a large stretch of land damaged as the pony crashed along the ground and into a large tree. Being the resident expert on crashes...er...stunts, we figured you would be a good source on what might have happened. Or at least know who this pony is." Nurse Redheard explained, hoping Dash didn't catch the crash comment. Unfortunately Dash caught it, but decided to let it slide. Given how often she had been in the clinic due to injury, even she knew being rude to that group might not be in her best health interest.

"Well, you called in the best, but without talking to him I doubt I can figure out what he was trying." She explained. Before she continued, Twilight spoke up.

"Yes, if it was a failed trick, Dash will be able to find out how. I'm more interested in his lack of a cutie mark. You say he is our age?" She asked. As far as Twilight was aware, no pony had ever reached their age without a mark.

"That's correct. It's part of the reason we can't identify him." Nurse Redheart explained as they approached the clinic. Once inside, Redheard lead the pair to Dr. Stable's office.

"Doctor, I have Ms. Dash and Ms. Sparkle here." Redheard announced to the doctor.

"Oh good good. Come on in," Dr. Stable motioned for the two to join him. Nurse Redheart nodded and moved on to help with other patients within the clinic.

"So I assume Nurse Redheart brought you up to speed with the patient?" the doctor asked. Dash and Twilight both nodded as Twilight spoke.

"She did. Apparently an unknown pegasus with no cutie mark crashed into Sweet Apple Acres?" Twilight recapped. Dash had moved over and was looking at the clipboard with this pegasus' information and injuries listed. She winced at the fractured wing. Mystery pegasus or not, that wasn't an injury she would wish on anyone.

"Well since you are caught up, please follow me to the patients room." The doctor spoke before leading the duo out of his office.

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Moments later the group found themselves around a bed containing a purple pegasus covered in small bandages and a wing wrapped up against his body. Twilight stayed back a bit, partly out of respect of the patient an to speak with the doctor, but partly because Dash had moved right beside the bed checking on the injuries as best as possible.

"You said his wing would be fine?" Dash asked, looking back to the doctor. A look of worry was evident on her face, which was a little odd to Twilight.

'Huh? Dash seems overly worried about this pony...though she has had similar injuries, so I bet she just sympathizes.' Twilight thought before turning to the doctor as he spoke.

"Yes Ms.Dash. We see no reason he should suffer permanent damage. Our biggest concern is how it occurred and who he is. If he didn't fail some dangerous trick, all we can figure is he jumped off a cloud with no intention of landing it safely." The doctor explained. Both Elements of Harmony took a moment to realize what the doctor was suggesting. Suicide?

"That can't be. The skies were cleared above Sweet Apple Acres for the day. He couldn't have cloudjumped." Dash explained. Being on the weather team for Ponyville, she was aware of exactly how the sky should look over any part at any time. Both other ponies accepted this info with a simple nod.

"Fair Dash. But if he didn't jump, and it wasn't a failed stunt, then what happened?" Twilight spoke, more as a generic thought.

"That's what we want to know. However I have other patients, so please excuse me. I will return as soon as I can," the good doctor explained before stepping away to help some other ponies. Twilight watched the doctor leave then turned back Dash, who was currently looking closely at the face of the colt.

"Dash?! Do you need to be so close. Have some respect." Twilight chided the cyan pegasus for her behavior. Dash just glanced over and rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry Twi. I'm just getting a closer look. I know just about every Pegasus in town and I have no clue who this pony is. I know for certain I have never seen him." Dash stepped back and sat down, as if such a thing provided emphasis to her statement.

"Well, no matter what, I don't think we will learn much until he awakes. That could take days to happen." Twilight explained as she turned to leave. She had seen enough to start checking records for who this colt is, so there was no need to stick around unless...

"Uugg...what happened...." A voice behind Twilight asked, freezing the unicorn in place. Dash was up in a second. Turning, Twilight saw the colt in the bed lift an arm up to rub his head, most likely trying to get rid of the mother of all headaches. Twilight and Dash both moved next to the bed to explain what happened, but things didn't work as they expected. The colt opened his blue eyes and locked onto the pair in a look of shock.

"AHHH!"

Chapter 2: The Awakened

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Twilight stood outside of the room speaking with the doctor, explaining what all the shouting had been and what they had found out about the patient after he had awoken and...calmed down. Things had started rough, but once they calmed the panicked pony they were finally able to get some answers.

Sort of....

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*Earlier*

"AHHHH!" the pony shouted in the bed at the sight of Rainbow Dash and Twilight in his room.

"AHHHH!" Rainbow Dash emulated his scream as she leaped back. The pony in the bed had his eyes wide open clearly in a flight or fight mentality.

'What's going on! Where am I! Who are these....ponies?' The pony in the bed tried to think back to anything prior to waking up and was hit with massive pains in his head.

"Ouch!" Grabbing at his head he closed his eyes fighting back the pain.

"Calm down, we aren't here to hurt you. You fell pretty far and are at the clinic." Twilight explained in a calm voice, approaching the pony slowly. The last thing she wanted to do was spook him further into either injuring himself, or worse.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and that is Rainbow Dash. We are here to help. What's your name?" She asked as friendly as possible. A name could at least help find out where this pegasus came from.

A moment passed before the pegasus in question opened his eyes and lowered his front legs from his face to look at Twilight. There was still a panic in his eyes, but not at them like before. Something else was panicking him.

"My name?" He tried to remember, but again the pain came. Twilight could tell the moment he was put in pain. She raised her hoof and was about to console him when he spoke up again.

"I can't remember. I can't remember anything, just pain." He comments, somewhat to himself. Looked down at his front hooves, then over to his bandaged wing, a bit of shock registered on his face.

"What am I?" He asked, genuinely confused. He looked up at his visitors, if that's what you could call them, and noticed the purple one had a horn. Slowly, he reached up and felt his own head. He was smooth where she wasn't. His attention shifted to the cyan pony and saw she had no horn, but wings like his.

During his moment of self discovery, Twilight and Dash glanced at each other. The both heard him clearly. Not only did he not know his name, but not even that he was a pegasus? Dash noticed him look to the two of them then to himself and realized she might be the better one to answer.

"You don't know? You're a pegasus like me." She said stepping forward. Twilight eased back, hoping Dash could pull this pony out of his shell a bit for more information.

"A pegasus?" He repeated. The word didn't sound familiar, but also sounded right. The cyan pegasus, Dash if he recalled from what the other one said, looked very similar to him aside from color, so he didn't seem to have anything wrong, other than bandages.

"It sounds right, but why am I here? How did I get hurt, Dash was it?" He asked, verifying her name. She smiled and moved the rest of the way beside his bed.

"Yep, Rainbow Dash. Best young flier in all of Equestria. And judging by your injuries, you fell from a HUGE height. I bet trying to do some stunt you saw me do at some point!" She explained, clearly excited to be on a topic she was very familiar with. Unfortunately the mystery pony just looked at her.

"Sorry, never heard of you." He said, a bit more bluntly than even he had intended. Dash's ears drooped a bit at his comment, but before anything else he quickly added,
"But to be fair, I can't remember anything. So perhaps you are right. I assume we can fly, and stunts sound like fun to me." He added, and it was true. The idea of flying around performing stunts excited him a bit. It was the first thing he had thought after waking that wasn't panic invoking or just plain confusing. Dash grinned at his comment, realizing his lack of knowing about her had a logical reason. She would just have to teach him who she was later.

"It sounds to me like you have some severe case of amnesia. I have never heard of it hitting somepony this hard or completely. But it does explain why you can move and speak at least." Twilight spoke again. Amnesia was the only thing she could think of explaining his memory loss. Why he didn't know he was a pegasus was a bit extreme, but she assumed not impossible.

"Amnesia huh? I guess that makes sense. Will it wear off?" He asked, his voice finally leveling off from the panic that it had before. He had a surprisingly deep voice. It wasn't purely bass, but he clearly could project his voice if needed, perhaps with the Royal Canterlot Voice being quite easy.

"Sadly there is no telling. You could remember everything tomorrow, or...." Twilight faded off, not wanting to say the rest, but the pony understood.

"Or it might be gone forever. Who I was and all that." He stated. It wasn't even a question. He knew immediately what she was avoiding saying.

'My history could be gone forever. Who I was, what I have learned. Everything...' He thought, considering everything it meant. His instinct was to panic. Everything gone forever was a terrifying thought, but as quickly as panic tried to take hold he realized it didn't bother him as much as it should.
'I can't miss what I can't remember.' He had nothing at the edge of his mind teasing him with memories no longer there, it was just blank. Blank and pain when he thought about it.

Twilight was ready to calm him when the panic hit again, but was surprised that he simply laid back in be once again and looked out towards the window on the wall behind Dash. The room was quite for a moment while all three thought about it.

"Well, I guess until then I might as well make the best of it." He finally said. His acceptance of the situation surprised Twilight, but Dash just grinned.

"Heck yeah. That's the spirit. Don't let it get you down. Besides, you are starting out strong. Got the best flier and magic user in Equestria as friends, so don't even worry about it! Gotta get a name for you though. What do you want to be called? All we know is you crashed and have amnesia." Dash said, no worry in her voice about bringing up basically every bad thing in this pony's life as far as he could remember. He just grinned a bit as well though clearly taking it in stride.

'Oh great. It's good he doesn't seem to be down about this, but that look strikes of Rainbow. Just what we need, another Dash flying around' Twilight thought before he answered Dash.

"True, and Crash nor Amnesia sound like good names." He looked around the room but nothing sparked his memories. Dash was doing the same, the duo of pegasi wearing similar expressions of thought. Twilight thought back to the dual Dash scenario, but grinned a bit as well.

"Well, IF you were trying a stunt, you would have had some good speed built up, so perhaps a speed based name." Dash offered. The pony glanced at her and after a moment nodded.

"Sure. That make sense. Speed won't work though, and you already are Dash." He said, grinning. Dash grinned as well, partly because of the joke, and partly because this pegasus was clearly getting over his quietness from earlier. She had been worried it was going to turn out to another Fluttershy. Not that she had issue with her dear friend, but two ultra shy ponies might just drive Dash crazy.

"Well, how about Swift? It's a synonym for Speed." Twilight offered, digging into her thesaurus-like knowledge. Dash and the pony glanced at her, then to each other.

"Swift. I like it." Dash said, offering up her opinion. Moments later, the pony nodded in agreement.

"Agreed. We will go with that. Hopefully I can live up to the name." The pony, now Swift, stated. This helped him feel much better than he expected. He had a name. An identity. It might not be much yet, but it was better than just being "that pony".

"Oh don't worry. We get you out of here and I'll make sure you live up to that name. Can't have a pegasus named Swift in our town that can't fly almost as good as the great Rainbow Dash!" Dash said, part yelling at the end and striking her Wonderbolts pose. Swift joined her in her exuberance as Twilight walked to the door.

"Well, you two can discuss flying, or whatever. I need to go report to the doctor. I'm sure he will have several questions now that you are awake." She explained as she opened the door.

"Thank you, Twilight." Swift said, his voice dropping to a very serious tone. He had only just met these ponies, but they had helped him so much he didn't want them to think he wasn't appreciative. Twilight picked up on this as well and smiled back to him.

"You're very welcome. Now hurry and get better. I'm sure Pinky Pie will be excited for yet another reason to party." She said as she walked out of the office leaving the two pegasi alone.

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"So his name is Swift?" The doctor asked after Twilight explained what had happened after Swift had awoken.

"For now. Like I said, he seems to have severe case of Amnesia. Your paperwork said he had a light concussion, but that shouldn't be enough for such severe memory loss." Twilight explained. She was far from a doctor, but she had read a few books on such things, moreso after meeting Rainbow Dash with her tendency to crash, and felt she had a solid grasp of this area.

"Very true. That concussion has already gone down slightly. By tomorrow he should be fine, aside from the injured wing. That will take a few days to heal up." The doctor explained, glancing down the hall. Twilight noticed the clinic seemed to be a bit busy and the doctor clearly had places he needed to be.

"So you will release him tomorrow then?" Twilight asked.

"Most likely. Amnesia isn't something we can treat, so unless he has pressing medical issues we will release him as soon as possible to make room. I don't foresee any complications though." The doctor explained, bringing his attention back to Twilight. She nodded in understanding before the doctor continued.

"I'll send a nurse to check up on the patient..." he started.

"Swift." Twilight interrupted the doctor, who gave her an odd look.

"He brightened up once he had a name for himself. I think it keeps him from feeling lost." She explained, feeling bad for interrupting the doctor. He smiled warmly, showing he understood what she meant.

"...to check up on Swift soon. Unfortunately I need to go see to an earth pony foal that seems to think he was a pegasus as well and climbed a tree. Ponyville is raining ponies today it seems." He said as a joke before turning to walk off. Twilight grinned and hoped the young pony was ok, but she had more pressing matters. She had been out here for a while talking to the doctor, leaving Swift along with Rainbow Dash and a brain blank of memories.

"Uh oh...." Twilight didn't want to think of what Dash was convincing him of, or worse, talking him into. The thought of two Rainbow Dashes crossed her mind again.

"I better go make sure everything is ok, and bring Swift the news."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok, sorry for the slow build up. Really want to show Swifts predicament and mindset clearly, so hopefully you are enjoying it so far. Coming Soon: What HAS Dash been saying while Twilight was gone, and how does Swift deal outside of the Clinic. Stay tuned. :)

Chapter 3: Introductions Pt.1 CMC

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Dash and Swift watched as Twilight left the room to find the doctor. Once the door shut, the two looked back to each other. Swift himself had relaxed a great deal from when he had woken up.

"Thank you too, Rainbow Dash. I don't know why you two are helping me, but I really do appreciate it." Swift said, looking into Rainbow's eyes, sincerity on his face. Rainbow looked back to him as he was speaking and smiled gently in response for a moment before a mischievous grin formed.

"Not a problem! I've never had amnesia, but I have had a damaged wing and been grounded, so I know what that part is like. Besides, don't be thanking me yet. I'm going to teach you to fly and then you can either thank me or hate me." She said, loudly as always, poking Swift in the shoulder with her hoof as she sat next to the bed. Swift grinning in response but deep down wondered why flight lessons would make him hate her.

"So you will teach me to fly? That would be great, but I don't want to get in the way of whatever you have to do." Swift explained. Dash and Twilight seemed like the type of pony everypony should know, but he didn't want to cause any more issues than he already had.

"Pah, nonsense. I have weather patrol in the mornings but I can usually handle that before it's near lunch unless a huge storm is on the schedule. Other than that, it's nap, practice stunts, nap, eat, nap, lounge, nap, then bed. Might skip the last nap if it was a long day." She explained, tapping her chin and looking up as if trying to recall the complicated schedule she had. Swift snickered as she went over it.
"What?" She asked.

"Nothing, Dash. Just sounds like an ideal job setup. Low stress and plenty of time to do whatever you wish." He explained, looking out at the few clouds visible out of the window. Dash followed his vision then had an idea.

"Well, if you think so, once we get you airworthy, you should join my weather team. The pay is decent, though you have to go through apprenticeship which pays crap, but it's a start." She offered, a genuine smile on her face. Swift thought about it for a moment before deciding it would be a solid idea.

"Sounds good to me. Don't want to be mooching off of people. Plus it will help me practice flying." Swift replied, accepting the offer. The catch was getting air worthy. Looking at his bandaged wing, he thought about how long it was going to take to even use it. Dash caught this look and gave a sympathetic pout.

"Don't worry Swift. It totally sucks to be grounded, but it shouldn't take long for your wing to heal. It isn't completely broke, so probably a week and you can learn to fly." She said, trying to sound optimistic, but her own dread at being grounded for suck a long period of time leaked through a bit. Swift caught this and just smiled.

"Thanks, I'll manage. Besides, not like I miss flying yet." He joked, since he couldn't remember having ever flown, or even crashing. Dash smiled at Swifts optimism and ability to joke about his rather bad situation. Before she could reply however, the door opened and Twilight walked in, seeing the two pegasi grinning to each other, an obvious friendship forming between them.

"Hey you two. Sorry to break it up, but we need to leave Dash. Visiting hours are closed." She explained. Dash sat up and walked over to join Twilight by the door.
"The doctor said you would probably be out early tomorrow Swift. They just want to make sure the head injuries don't flare up or anything. The wing will take a few days to heal up though." She offered to the injured pegasus. She remembered Dash hating being here every time she was injured, so Swift would probably want to know he wasn't stuck here for a while. Swift clearly agreed by the grin on his face.

"Good. I might not remember anything, but anything has to be better than being stuck in this room." He joked, getting a laugh from Dash and Twilight.

"Well, I have a lot to do at the library, but feel free to swing by tomorrow if you would like." Twilight offered as she opened the door to leave. Dash followed her out, waving goodbye to Swift.

"Later! Get better and I'll see you tomorrow." She offered. Swift returned the goodbye wave and the two left, closing the door and leaving Swift alone in the room.

Swift leaned back against his pillow and looked out at the dimming sky.

'Well, at least I was able to make a couple of friends. If I get out tomorrow I need to find my way around this town.' He thought, wondering how he was going to manage in a strange new place. Slowly he started running through different plans of what he could do as he drifted off to sleep.

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The next morning found Swift being shaken awake by Nurse Redheart.

"Swift? Are you awake?" She asked, trying to wake the sleepy pegasus. She didn't want to appear unprofessional, but this pegasus was as hard to wake as Rainbow Dash herself.

'Are all pegasi just really lazy?' She always wondered when trying to wake up any pegasus, but was pulled from her thoughts as Swift groaned and opened one eye.

"Mmm. Wha? Yeah, I'm up." He mumbled as he yawned and began stretching in the bed. Nurse Redheart backed up and let him stretch.

"Careful with the wing, Swift. Don't flex it too much." She advised when she noticed him start to spread his wings. Swift winced as he felt a small stab of pain, but stopped before it was too bad. Glancing over, he saw that the bandages had been removed.

"You removed the bandage?" He asked, confused. He had been told a week for it to heal.

"Yes, you can't use it, but there was no need to retain the bandage. The bones are set fine, but still need to finish healing. Just don't try to use that wing or you will find yourself back in here." She said, smiling to the pony to reduce the usual fear of returning to the hospital.

"As for right now, we just need to run a couple of tests to make sure you are ok and we can get you out of here." She offered as she approached Swift with a blood pressure device.

A half an hour later found Swift standing at the front desk of the clinic, fully cleared to leave as long as he didn't try flying for at least 3 days.

"I want you back in three days so we can check on that wing, but I'm sure you will be fine. I see no reason to think you will have trouble unless you try to fly." Dr. Stable assured him while signing the checkout papers, and like that Swift was a free pony.

"Thank you very much for the help." Swift said with sincerity to Nurse Redheart and the good doctor. Both nodded and wished him well as they turned to deal with other patients. Swift himself turned and walked out the door to be greeted by Ponyville for the first time.

"Well, now what?" He asked, mostly to himself.

"SURPRISE!" A tomboyish voice shouted from behind, and above, Swift.

"AHH!" Swift jumped and turned, lowered into a fight or flight pose to find what happened. A second of looking around found him greeting by the magenta eyes of Rainbow Dash flight just above the ground. Once he made the realization, he realized he felt sharp pains.
"OUCH!" Swift realized in his surprise he fully extended his injured wing and quickly closed it back up, wincing at the pain. Dash herself realized what happened and frowned.

"Oh Swift, my bad. I guess I should have realized scaring you would be a bad idea." She said, feeling a bit embarrassed that she wouldn't think a pegasus would open its wings in when surprised. Swift just smiled and waved it off.

"Don't worry about it Dash. I would have probably done the same thing and felt just as bad. We will call it even." He said in a friendly tone, but deep down knew he had to get revenge on the trickster somehow. Once he could fly anyway. Dash landed next to him and they began walking down the path from the clinic towards the market center of Ponyville.

"So how's your day going? Weather team work done already?" Swift asked, looking to the sky. He knew it was around noon instinctively. All pegasi could gather the time from the sky naturally, but weather ponies were much better at it.

"Sort of. We are done here, but Canterlot is asking for a few of us to come help with a storm they are late on delivering, but I promised to be here when you got out." Dash explained, her sense of loyalty and friendship guiding her. Swift nodded and smiled, thankful for someone familiar to be around when he got out.

"I greatly appreciate it, Dash. Stepping out of that place was a bit daunting. I have no clue where to even begin in this town." He explained as they walked past a few vendors. The market square was busy with ponies out taking care of business and on lunch breaks from work. Many recognized Dash but a lot of eyes were on the new pony she walked with and his odd appearance. This did not go unnoticed by the duo.
'No cutie mark makes me stand out. Hopefully not in a bad way.' Swift thought as he noticed the stares. Dash gave him a playful shoulder bump.

"Don't worry about it. They will all get used to you. Word gets around fast in this town and they will learn you're a nice guy." Dash said in a lower voice, just to him. Swift just continued smiling and nodded.

"Thanks. The odd stares don't bother me, just hoping they aren't assuming I'm a bad pony or anything." He explained in just as low a voice. Dash just laughed, making Swift (and several other ponies) look at her confused.

"You're with me! They will just know that means you must be pretty awesome!" Dash proclaimed, her pride glowing. Swift started laughing with her, his spirits lifted.

"Very true. Only the best of ponies could hang out with the Equestria's Best Young Flier." He said just as loud, enjoying the confused looks they were getting. Many ponies just rolled their eyes and returned to their business. Dash had a rep for being loud and somewhat obnoxious, so seeing just such an act returned things to normal around the square. Once they were past the stalls, Dash stopped and looked to the sky.

"Well, unfortunately I need to report in so we can get to Canterlot. You think you can manage on your own for the day?" She asked as she flexed her wings and flew a foot into the air. Swift looked around and slightly nodded.

"I should be fine, if you can direct me somewhere for food and work." He asked. He might be on the weather team eventually, but he was hungry now.

"AH yeah. Just head down this road to Sweet Apple Acres. My friend AppleJack runs the place with her family. She can probably use some help and it's a farm, so food should be available. Just let AJ know I sent you." Dash explained, pointing the way to the farm. Swift followed her outstretched hoof and saw a large barn in the distance surrounded by apple trees.

"Sounds good to me. Besides, I recognize that farm name. That's where I crashed isn't it?" He asked. Dash nodded casually.

"Well then, I should also go apologize. You head on to Caterfield. I can make it to the farm myself." He explained, looking forward to meet new people. Dash had a confused look for a second, then her eyes widened in realization.

"Canterlot, not Caterfield. You'll figure things out eventually though." Dash said while laughing. Swift blushed at his mistake a bit before shaking his head to clear things.

"Whatever. Get going you! Shoo!" He said, smiling and waving his hoof at Dash, who got the joke and nodded before taking off as fast as possible. Swift was pushed back by the force and stood there stunned. He hadn't realized how fast she could fly.
"Wow, hopefully I can learn to get as fast as her. I wonder how fast she can get?" He thought aloud as he started down the path to Sweet Apple Acres.

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Applejack walked from the barn pulling a large empty cart. Her signature stetson hat sat atop her head as she stopped for a moment to stretch her legs. It was only half past noon and she was already behind.

"Tarnation! Mah legs are a' killin' me." She complained to herself, and anyone who would listen. Big Mac leaving early to take that injured pony to the hospital had put them behind on the apple bucking, This wouldn't be a problem, but her sister and friends were side tracking her way to much today. After a brief stretch to work out the soreness in her legs, she noticed a dark purple pegasus walking up the path. The color reminded her of Twilight, but a bit darker.
" 'Ello there. What can I do ya fer?" Applejack asked, waving to the guest who began to trot over to her. She had never seen this pony before in town, so he must have just moved here. Being the primary apple source, and cider source, in town had helped AJ learn just about every adult pony in Ponyville.

"Hi there! Do you know where I can find Applejack? Rainbow Dash sent me this direction." The pony spoke as he came to a stop and looked around the orchard. AJ smiled as she heard Rainbow had sent this pegasus. There was bound to be a story here if her good friend and rival was involved.

"Well sugah, you just found her. I'm Applejack, but you can call meh AJ." The farm pony answered in a southern friendly manner, extending her hoof in greeting. Swift accepted the offered hoof with a smile.

"Fantastic. I'm somewhat new to the area and am in need of money and or food. Dash said this was the place and that you could probably use an extra hoof." He explained, releasing her hoof and glancing around the area at all the trees. AJ could have hugged Dash had she been here. An extra set of hooves would do wonders today, even if it was a pegasus and not a strong earth pony.

"I sure could use tha help. Big Mac had to leave early yesterday to take some poor pony to the hospital and it got us a bit behind. My baby sisters friends are 'ere too driving me up the wall." AJ explained, clearly flustered at dealing with the kids while doing work, but not angry about it. Family was obviously an important thing to this pony. Swift's ears dropped upon hearing that they were behind because of him.

"Yeah...about that. I'm sorry. I was the pony he had to take to the hospital. They just let me out today even with the injuries." Swift apologized. Now he knew he was going to help out in some way. He just didn't know how yet. AJ looked at him with a confused look.

"Well, glad to hear you are ok, but you look fine to me. What injuries?" She didn't notice any limp or bruising, though bruises would be hard to see with his dark coat, but if he was hurt that would limit any work she could put him to. Swift motioned to his wing with his nose and raised it slightly.

"Mostly my wing. I can't fly, though with the amnesia it doesn't really matter since I can't remember how to anyhow." Swift explained. Applejack's eyes shot open at the mention of amnesia.

"Mah goodness! Never met someone who had amnesia. Y'all sure you're alright?" She asked, genuinely concerned for the pony in front of her. She new amnesia to be a memory injury, but nothing beyond that. Twilight would typically be the one to deal with stuff like this. Swift nodded reassuringly and explained what all had occurred after his waking up in the hospital, including his lacking any memory from before waking and even a lack of a name.

"So for now, just call me Swift. Twilight and Rainbow helped me come up with it." He finished his story while realizing he hadn't actually introduced himself. Applejack had listened intently as he explained about not knowing who he was.

"Well, ah'm sure sorry to hear 'bout all that. I'm sure we can use some help 'round here. Shame you can't remember how to fly though, that must be terrible." She offered, assuring the pony that he wasn't going to be left to starve at least. Swift waved off the worry of flying.

"That's no problem. Rainbow Dash said she would teach me once my wing was mended." He informed her. Before either of them could continue however a shout pulled their attention.

"WHAT!" A high pitched surprise from behind a bush yelled, as three heads popped up belonging to three little fillies. The orange and purple one ran directly at Swift, stopping inches from him while the other two trotted up to join their friend.
"Rainbow Dash said she would teach you to fly! You are friends with her! She is the coolest pony in all of Equestria!" The little filly was talking a mile a minute, while the other two stared with blank shock at Swift. Swift warmly smiled at the orange pegasus before glancing at AJ, who looked part flustered, and part embarrassed.

"Sorry 'bout them." She started.

"Don't worry about it. Kids will be kids." Swift stopped her before she could start into any sort of apology. When his eyes returned to the two quiet ones, the red haired filly spoke up.

"Mista? Why dontcha got a cutie mark?" She asked, a voice similar to AJ's. The orange filly stopped talking and noticed this as well.

"What?! I thought all ponies had cutie marks by the time they were your age! WILL WE HAVE TO WAIT THAT LONG!?" Panic formed on all three of the ponies faces in front of him. Swift couldn't help but giggle at their antics before sitting down on all four legs so he would be more eye level with them. As if by command, all three fillies sat down as on their hindquarters.

"No, I'm sure the three of you will find your special talents and get your cutie marks long before you reach my age. I'm...a special case." He explained. The three looked at each other before the middle one spoke again.

"Why are ya a special case?" She asked. Before anyone else could speak, AJ finally broke in.

"Applebloom! Swift here didn't come all this way to talk to three little fillies." She chastised the trio, who immediately fell into a clearly well practiced set of puppy dog eyes.

"AWWW!" The trio whined together. Swift turned and looked up at Applejack with a smile.

"AJ, I truly don't mind answering their questions. I'm a bit of an oddity, and their questions are innocent enough." He explained. The energy from the kids really warmed his heart, but he did need to make sure he got paid and food at some point.

AJ watched the group on the ground and had an idea.

"Well, if ya don't mind, wouldja watch after 'em fer a few hours while Mac and I get this field bucked? I'll pay ya and give ya some apples as well." AJ offered. If she didn't have to keep checking up on the three fillies, she could be able to finally finish the east field.

"Applejack, I would love to. We will stay around this area so just find us when you are ready." He explained, knowing full well what AJ was planning and being more than happy to help out. AJ thanked him before turning and pulling the cart out into the orchard and was soon out of sight. Turning back to the trio, Swift smiled.

"So, looks like it's the four of us. She called you Applebloom, and you two are?" He asked. The white one stepped up and in a surprisingly proper voice answered.

"I'm Sweetie Bell, and the hyperactive one here is Scootaloo." She explained. Scootaloo gave her a dirty look.

"What did you call me?" She asked, accusingly.

"Just the truth." Sweetie Bell answered. Swift put a hoof between the two before they pounced each other.

"Ok ok, calm down. It wasn't anything bad Scootaloo. You're pretty hyper, but that's a good thing. Rainbow Dash is the same way." He said, recognizing her obviously infatuation with said pony earlier. Scootaloo's eyes grew realizing she shared something with the great Rainbow Dash. Applebloom spoke up at this point.

"What didja mean by bein' special earlier?" She asked, almost shyly. The other two turned to listen as well.

"Well, I assume you heard me tell your sister about my amnesia?" Swift asked as they all nodded.

"Well, I don't know anything about why I don't have a cutie mark because of that. BUT there are no records that anyone can find of a pony my age not having one." He explained. The trio looked at each other for a moment confused.

"I know what you three are thinking. How can there be no record if I clearly exist? I think Twilight had the same thought. She is researching it, but I have a suspicion of my own. One I haven't told anyone, but I trust you three, so I'll tell you." He said, leaning in conspiratorially. There was no danger with what he thought, but children loved thinking they were getting some super secret information. Sure enough, the trio leaned in to glean what wisdom he might have.

"Ponies get their cutie marks when they learn their special talent. What happens when you lose or forget that talent?" He asked the trio. They once again looked at each other before Scootaloo's eyes shot open.

"You lose it?!" She asked, wondering if that was even possible.

"I don't know. But is the only thing I can figure. Which would mean I used to have one till I was hurt. Either that, or there is something we are all missing." Swift explained. The trio suddenly huddled together for a moment, occasionally looking at Swift before talking to each other where he couldn't hear.

'What are they doing?' He thought, getting worried. Kids planning things had to be a bad thing. Suddenly the trio turned and grinned at him.

"What?" He asked, a little nervous.

"Looks like we have a fourth Cutie Mark Crusader!" They all shouted before they jumped on him while laughing. Swift joined in their laughter as they sprang into a sudden game of tag around the trees near the farmhouse, all worry about cutie marks and injuries forgotten.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: SO THIS CHAPTER WAS SUPPOSED TO A LITTLE FURTHER IN THE STORY THAN IT DID, BUT I DIDN'T WANT IT TO JUMP TO DRAMATICALLY IN SIZE FROM PRIOR CHAPTERS. I COULD HAVE TRIMMED SOME OF THE DETAILS TO MAKE IT SMALLER, BUT I FEEL SHOWING THE EMOTIONS OF THE CHARACTERS SHOULDN'T EVER BE RUSHED.

HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING IT, AND I'LL TRY TO GET THE NEXT CHAPTER OUT MUCH FASTER. THANKS TO ALL THE PEOPLE GIVING THUMBS UPS AND FOLLOWING THE STORY.

Chapter 4: Introductions Pt.2 The Gang

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The afternoon found four ponies laying under a shade tree, laughing with each other.

Swift had played tag and various other games with the three young fillies for a couple of hours before his muscles started getting sore. He could tell his injuries weren't fully healed so he called for them to take a break and cool down. When he laid down in a comfortable sitting up position, the three gathered around and started asking him questions.

Questions about the past, and various other things he had no answers for.

After a few times of explaining his lack of memory to the girls, he turned the table had asked them about their cutie mark crusades. This had spawned an hour long fest of stories on how they had tried various things, bringing them to where they were now.

"So after Scootaloo calmed down, we realized we weren't Cutie Mark Crusader: Snake Handlers." Sweetie Bell finished her story while Scootaloo gave her a bit of a glare. Swift noticed the group gave Scootaloo a lot of flack, but she seemed to take it well for the most part. He simply smiled at the three, defending when the arguments broke out.

"Wow, I can't say as I blame you Scoots. I would not want to be stuck on the wrong end of any snake. Spiders either." He said in a reassuring voice, faking a shake of disgust at the thought of creepy crawlies. The three giggled with him and were about to break into another story when a shadow cast across them from around the big tree. Glancing up, they saw Applejack and Big Macintosh smiling at the group.

"Well Ah'll be. Can't remember tha last time I saw the three of y'all not runnin' around like wild chickens." AJ said while smiling. Big Mac just nodded with a grin.

"Eeyup."

Swift stood up and stretched out his sore muscles, while the crusaders mimicked his movements.

"Hey AJ. I assume you guys are done? The fillies were great. I learned a lot about how not to get a cutie mark from them." He said, throwing a joke at the girls behind him.

"HAY!" The shouted, catching the joking insult. After a second, they started laughing with the group before breaking off.

"Well I need to get back to the boutique. Thank you for playing with us Swift." Sweetie Bell offered with a slight bow.

"It was a pleasure Sweetie Bell. I'm sure we will see each other again." Swift replied, returning the gesture before Sweetie turned to leave.

"I'll see you girls tomorrow. Think up some new plans." She said, then took off as fast as her filly legs would take her down the path. Applebloom waved and walked over by AJ while Scoots moved to the path as well.

"Um...well...I should be leaving too. I hope you get better Swift. Thanks for the games." She said, suddenly sounding a bit shy. Swift noticed it, but put it aside for now. Leaning down he ran a hoof through her wild mane.

"Hey, was a pleasure. You're one of the coolest fillies I know." He said, giving her a wink. She grinning and nodded, affirming that Swift was obviously correct before turning and running after Sweetie Bell. Once she was out of site, Swift turned to look at the three remaining ponies.

"Applebloom, head on inside. Let Granny Smith know we're on our way." AJ said, tapping Applebloom's flank to get her moving.

"Ok Applejack. Goodbye Swift!" Applebloom shouted as she ran to the farmhouse. The three laughed at the antics of the children as the stood facing one another. Before anyone could speak, Swift approached Big Mac.

"Before I forget or miss my chance, I wanted to thank you for hauling me to the hospital yesterday. And sorry about interrupting your day." Swift extended his hoof to the large red stallion. Mac looked down, and bumped his hoof to Swifts with a nod.

"Sure."

Big Mac turned and headed on the way Applebloom had ran and AJ took his spot facing Swift.

"Don't worry about Mac. He's jest a pony of few words. We're jest glad yer alright." AJ explained as she reached behind her and pulled out a worn out looking saddlebag.

"Since ya said you'ere new in town and didn't have anything, I figure ya could use a place to store the food and money from watchin the girls." AJ explained, pushing the bag to Swift. Once side help a half dozen apples, while the other held enough bits to cover a few meals in town. Not much, but it would keep him fed, and all he had done was watch after a few fillies for a few hours. Swift threw on the bags and smiled to AJ.

"I appreciate it. This will help out more than you realize. Once I can fly, Rainbow said I could join the weather team, but if you ever need help around here, or with the girls, just let me know." He offered, holding his hoof out for her.

"Sure thing. We might havta take ya up on that offer at some point." AJ said, accepting the hoof before turning to head back to the farmhouse. Swift looked up and realized it was still early in the afternoon, so he might as well see if Twilight was available. Besides, a good book on the town might help him out.

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Nearing the gate to Sweet Apple Acres, Swift saw a familiar pony. A small, orange pegasus filly sat by the gate, her back to Swift. She looked lost in thought, pawing absently at the ground while looking off at some clouds.

"Hey Scoots!" Swift called out, walking up and stopping beside the young filly. Scootaloo screamed and jumped in surprised before seeing who surprised her.

"You alright?" Swift ask, a gentle smile on his face, but inside concern for why she seemed so down. The filly relaxed and closed her wings while slowly nodding, but it was obvious she was either upset or distracted by something.

"I'm ok, Swift." She said, calmly. Swift smiled again remembering just earlier how they had kept calling him Mr. Swift, and it just never felt right. It took a good ten minutes to get them to drop the mister.

"Come on. You can talk to me. I might not have my memories, but I can tell something has you distracted." Swift offered, leaning down to look her eye to eye. The filly locked eyes with him before sighing in defeat.

"Why will Rainbow train you, but not me?" She finally asked. Swift pulled his head back, somewhat surprised. To him it was a pretty good question. Dash didn't seem opposed to teaching him to fly, so why not this young filly.

'I suppose she can't teach everyone, but Scoots clearly adores her. Maybe it's an age thing...' Swift thought while looking at the depressed pony before him. Her tiny wings did not look fully developed, but might still be able to sustain flight.

"Scoots, I honestly don't know, but if I had to guess, I would assume she guesses your wings aren't ready. That or she is just too busy. Keep in mind when I am able to fly, I will be helping the weather team, so teaching me helps Ponyville. But I can make you a promise. When she starts teaching me, I will teach you what I learn. We can learn together. I know you would rather learn from Rainbow, but perhaps if she sees what you can accomplish, she will break down and take you under her wing." He explained, offering to help this filly. Scoots eyes widened as she looked in surprise at Swift. He would help her learn to fly?!

'He isn't Rainbow, but he will learn directly from her. And he is willing to teach someone like me?' Scootaloo's mind was running over how many times she had wished someone would teach her to fly, or at least help her get ready for when she could fly. Fighting back tears of joy, she leapt forward and hugged onto one of Swift's forelegs.

"Thankkyouthankyouthankyou!" She chanted rapidly. Swift brought his over paw over to hug the filly as he laughed at her antics.

"You're very welcome, Scoots. I can't promise it will be easy, but we crusader's have to stick together right?" He said. He had noticed she seemed to act somewhat outcast, even among her friends, and her excitement to have someone promise time to her made him think she didn't have many friends. She was a good filly, so if he could help her be happy, he saw no harm. Scootaloo looked up with a grin on her face.

"Of course! We can work together and get good enough at flying to even join the Wonderbolts!" She shouted, jumping back and striking a pose. Swift joined in her laughter before reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out an apple. Her eyes watched him and, more specifically the apple as he tossed it to her before grabbing another for himself.

"Well, I'm sure you need to get home, and I was headed over to Twilight's library..." Swift explained as he munched on his apple, not setting a good example of not talking with your mouth full. Before he continued, Scootaloo spoke up.

"Oh, I don't need to go home yet, and would like to visit Spike. Do you mind if I tag along?" She asked, a hopeful look in her eye. Swift thought it odd that she wasn't headed home like her friends, and had no clue who Spike was. However if the filly wasn't headed home, it would be good to at least make sure she got to town correctly. Swift knelt down and motioned to his back.

"Sure thing. Hop on, I am going to sprint there." He explained, taking the final bite from his apple. Scoots grinned and hopped up on his back, grabbing his mane as he stood and checked that she was secure before taking off as fast as possible down the path, an orange filly on his back cheering him on.

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"What a day. Cloudsdale has to get better at setting up Canterlot storms." Rainbow Dash mumbled to herself as she flew through the sky. She had almost made it back to Ponyville and was thinking about the last couple of days. Specifically about the new pegasus in town.

'I wonder how he got injured. He must have been a pretty good flier to be trying any stunt that ended with his current injuries. And why doesn't he have a cutie mark?' She contemplated as she banked through a cloud. The mist from the vapors helped cooler her off as she flew, and dampened her mane and coat. A slight rainbow trail was following her as she shot through the sky.

'Somepony must know who he is. He seems very unique, and friendly. Cute too.' She continued thinking, grinning at the last part. Most ponies thought Dash too tomboyish to care about romance, or even notice an attractive stallion, but that simply was not the case. She just enjoyed adventures and adrenaline, and most of the stallions in Ponyville were more laid back. Nonetheless, she could spot an attractive pony.

She wouldn't let her friends know such a thing though. They would never give her a break. Rarity was bad enough with how she kept trying to set her up with different ponies. Besides, just because he was cute didn't mean she wanted to have a relationship. There were other cute stallions in town as well, but she was too busy to worry about a relationship.

"Ah, Ponyville. Surprising how much you can miss this place." Dash mumbled to herself as she dived through another cloud and closed in on the market square path towards the library. She spotted a sprinting pony with an orange filly on his back running towards the library as well. The filly stood out, as Rainbow recognized her biggest fan anywhere, and the lack of a cutie mark on the stallion gave his identity away as well.

'Well, let's have fun.' She grinned as she settled into a glide over top of the two, just out of their view. As the neared the tree, she shot ahead and landed in front of the two by Twilight's door.

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Swift closed in on the door to the large tree that Scootaloo had yelled was the library when a blue pegasus landed in front of him.

"BUCK!" Swift shouted as he slammed on the brakes and felt Scoot press up against his neck from the force. Once the dust from Swift's sliding stop cleared, he saw Rainbow Dash standing before them, slightly damp from her flight through the clouds. Her mane caught his attention rapidly as well as that cocky grin she seemed to always sport. The light made them shine from their damp state. He quickly composed himself though with a glare.

"I have a passenger. That was dangerous." He said, though he found it entertaining as well. Scoot appeared to agree and was clapping. Though to be fair, it was Rainbow Dash. Swift doubted she could do anything wrong in the young filly's eyes. Dash herself just laughed and patted Swift on the head.

"You handled it well. Good reaction time too. That will help when flying. She said, turning to open the door to the library. Scoot perked up at the small bit of info Dash leaked about being a better flier and started thinking up ways to improve her own reaction time.

Within the library, Swift spotted Twilight seated at a table with a couple of other ponies he hadn't seen before. Looking over, Twilight stood and smiled at the group.

"Dash, welcome back, and welcome for the first time Swift. I was wondering if I would see you today." Twilight said, welcoming them into her home. Swift nodded, waiting to be introduced to the other ponies. When he did, Twilight saw Scootaloo on his back.

"Ah, I see you met the crusaders." She grinned. She had dealt with them often when they came to visit Spike to play. Scootaloo waved and hopped down off of Swift's back.

"Hello Twilight. Is Spike here?" Scoots asked. Twilight nodded and called upstairs for him. Moments later, a young dragon appeared at the stairway and waved to Scootaloo.

"Hey Scootaloo. Want to go play?" He asked, noticing a new pony in the room. Most likely they all needed to talk, so he could occupy the young filly. After some goodbyes between the group, Spike and Scootaloo left, leaving Dash, Twilight, and Swift with the two ponies he did not recognize.

"Oh hay! I need to introduce you. Swift, these are a couple of our good friends. Rarity and Fluttershy." Swift smiled to the pair now that he knew their names.

"Girls, this is Swift, the pony I was talking about." Before Swift could say anything, the canary colored pony named Fluttershy walked up to his bad wing and looked at it intently.

"Oh good. It looks like you are taking care of it." She started speaking, very quietly, then realized suddenly what she had done, and hopped back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope you don't mind me inspecting your wing. I should have asked." She said, terrified she had made some mistake. Swift cut her off before she continued into her shell.

"Ms. Fluttershy, I don't mind at all. Actually I'm glad to hear I'm taking care of it. Playing with the crusaders earlier I thought I might have pulled it." He explained, letting her know he wasn't offended. She quieted up and smiled as she nodded, but stayed her distance.

'Wow, she is very shy. Fitting with her name I guess.' Swift thought as he glanced over to the other pony. This pony looked very familiar.

"Ms. Rarity. You seem very familiar." He said, trying to figure out how he knew her. With is lost memory, it couldn't have been from more than a day ago. The white pony just laughed.

"Darling, you arrived with Scootaloo. She is good friends with my sister Sweetie Bell." Rarity explained.
"And please, just Rarity." She added, Fluttershy took the moment to make a similar statement.

"Same here. Just Fluttershy. If you don't mind, that is." She said, for a moment speaking up the fading back. Swift smiled to the two and nodded.

"Fair enough. And just Swift for me. And yeah, that makes sense. You and your sister seem similar." Swift explained, drawing the connection between the two. He had an odd feeling of being watched, but before he could look around he heard Dash speak up.

"Fluttershy! What the hay!" Swift turned to look to Fluttershy in response to Dash's shouts and noticed her staring intently at his own flank. It only took him a moment to realize what was going on. Apparently Twilight didn't tell them everything.

"Dash, really? I wouldn't have imagined YOU ever getting jealous. Finally set your eyes on a stallion?" Rarity teased, but was surprised by Fluttershy's openly checking out stallions flank.

"What?! No no no! I would be a lot more subtle about it at least!" Dash said, forgetting about the most obvious reason Fluttershy would be doing that, and turning red in the process. Before things could escalate, Swift finally managed to speak.

"Girls! It's perfectly reasonable for Fluttershy to look to my flank." He started, then realized exactly how that sounded. The room was silent with everyone giving him a flat eyed stare.

"Let me try that again." Swift started, trying to salvage his own hoof-in-mouth syndrome. Turning so Rarity could see his lack of a cutie mark, realization appeared on her face.

"Oh my! Where's your cutie mark?" Rarity finally asked. Fluttershy nodded her agreement with the question.

"Let's have a seat. Clearly Twilight didn't share all the info of what happened." He explained as they moved to the table. Twilight nodded in agreement, using her magic to pull over some cups and a teapot.

"I felt it was up to you on how much they were told." Twilight explained. Swift was thankful for her discretion, but figured honesty was the better path rather than keeping secrets. Once everyone was settled, Swift explained what had happened, with input from Dash and Twilight where his memory was hazy, either because of being unconscious, or the panic when he woke up. Once the story was done, Rarity and Fluttershy seemed even more relaxed. Fluttershy didn't even seem to be shying away, though she did still seem as shy as ever.

"So you don't even know your real name?" Fluttershy asked.
"That must be so sad." She added, a look of pity on her face. Rarity nodded in agreement.

"Certainly. And no knowledge of friends and family?" Rarity couldn't think of a worse situation than not knowing anyone.

"Nonsense," Swift started, waving away their concerns.
"I can't remember any of it, so hard to miss it. Besides, I am friends with Dash and Twilight here, and those cutie mark crusaders seem to have adopted me as a fourth member. Applejack seemed friendly enough, and perhaps we can be friends as well." He offered to the duo, glancing to Twilight and Dash, both who were looking at him. Rarity beamed at the idea, as well as noticed Swift's attention to Dash holding fractionally longer than on Twilight.

'Interesting.' She thought.

"OF Course Darling! Any friend of theirs is a friend of ours!" Rarity exclaimed, keeping her thoughts to herself for now. Fluttershy agreed, less vocally, but just as enthusiastically.

"Swift, where are you staying tonight?" Twilight asked, drawing attention to the fact that the sun had lowered a great deal. Spike had returned earlier and was upstairs either reading or sleeping.

"Not sure yet Twilight. I have some money from Applejack. I guess I can find an inn." He said, standing up to get his saddlebags. The other stood as well, getting ready to leave. All of them had work the following morning.

"Nonsense. You can stay here. We have a spare bedroom, and once your wing is better you can find a cloud house, or just find a place on land really. But I won't send you out in the cold tonight." She said, insisting that he stay. Rarity agreed.

"Twilight is right, dear. You can find a place later. Maybe even move in with someone," Her eyes shot to Dash with mirth in them before continuing.
"But for now, just rest and let your injuries heal. I'm sure Fluttershy would agree." She finished. Fluttershy simply nodded that it was true. Dash just gave Rarity a look about the glance and comment.

'What's that unicorn planning?' Dash thought for a moment before shrugging it off.

"Yeah Swift. Just crash here. After work tomorrow I'll swing by and we can work on getting you ready for flight lessons. That being said, I have an early day, so I'm out." Dash said, waving goodbye to her friends and flying out the window near the door and up into the sky. Rarity and Fluttershy opted for the door but said their goodbyes as well. Once the door shut behind the duo, Swift found himself alone with Twilight.

"Thank you for this Twilight. I owe you a great deal. If you need any help let me know." he offered, thinking he could help sort books or something. Twilight simply smiled and nodded.

"Just worry about getting better for now. You can help me take care of a shipment of books that should arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, I am exhausted so I'm going to bed. Do you need anything before I do?" Twilight asked. Swift shook his head and headed to the bedroom she pointed out to him. A quick set of goodnights and Swift stepped into the room and laid down.

"They all seem nice. I wonder what tomorrow will bring." He said to himself as he curled up under the blanket and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 5: Flight

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The days passed rather quickly for Swift as he learned his way around Ponyville, meeting different shop keepers and such. The night he had stayed at the library was pleasant, but he was woken up early by the sound of crates being moved around. Turns out Twilight wasn't joking when she said a new shipment of books were coming in, as at least a hundred books had arrived and needed to be sorted.

Most likely they still needed to be sorted.

Swift had started out helping Spike and Twilight to sort books, but about three books in, Twilight jumped and ran to a desk with some old dusty book and started flipping through pages, speaking of magic and something called Discord Theory. Spike just shrugged and told Swift that when she gets like this, just ignore her. The two ended up getting many of the books put away when Dash had shown up and the three went out to eat at some place called Sugarcube Corner. Inside was a world of sweets more glorious than anything Swift could imagine he had ever seen. Dash and Spike had just grinned at him until a pink blur shot across the room and introduced herself. Swift missed most of the conversation, but managed to catch her name as Pinkie Pie, and apparently he was just in time for his party-to-plan-the-welcome-party. Again Swift felt he was just along for the ride, and went with what Dash and Spike did. A small party was had, or small for Pinkie Pie as he was later told, and the group was well fed. Before leaving, Pinkie Pie invited them to the actual welcome party in a few days.

After that, Dash and Swift continued around town while Spike went to help finish up things at the library. The pair roamed the town and Dash showed Swift were all the important buildings were before she eventually had to head to some weather team event.

Swift made his way to Sweet Apple Acres and ended up watching after the CMC again while AJ and Mac worked the field. He enjoyed the energy and pure excitement the fillies always seemed to have and found himself sad every time the managed to accomplish a goal, to only end up without their cutie marks that they so clearly desired.

He would then get paid and deal with food, before visiting the library to read a few books on flight and history of the pegasi, or would just explore the town until evening.

Today however, things would finally change.

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"Good news Swift, your wing looks to be fully healed. All other injuries are gone as well, so you are clear to fly, run, or pretty much whatever you want." Dr. Stable explained, smiling to Swift who was flexing his wings to their full span, enjoying the feel of not having to keep the right wing folded up constantly. A huge smile was on Swift's face.

"Awesome! I can finally learn to fly and have a steady job." The hunt for a job each day was his biggest dread. Granted watching the fillies was a majority of what he ended up doing, some of his money came from hauling deliveries or other menial tasks. The doctor simply nodded, understanding the pegasus' excitement, but had one more question.

"Well, I wish you best of luck with that. However, I do need to ask about the amnesia. Have you been able to remember anything?" The doctor asked, carefully. He didn't like bringing up the subject in case it brought depression to the pegasus, but he simply needed to mark it down on the records. Swift paused and thought over the past week.

"I haven't actually tried to remember anything, doctor." He realized. After a moment, he closed his eyes and thought about something simple. His name: What was his name?

"OUCH!" The stabbing pain he hadn't felt in days returned in force as he thought of the past. The doctor jumped forward to catch the wobbling pegasus. A nurse stepped in quickly at the shout as well, but the doctor waved her away. After a few moments, Swift opened his eyes and was able to stand back up.

"Thanks doc. I guess there's been no change on that front. Anytime I really think about stuff prior to waking I get a sharp pain in my head, like I'm being stabbed." He explained, still rubbing at the side of his head. The doctor simply nodded and marked some stuff down on the paperwork.

"Well, that's sad to hear, but shouldn't have any effect on your physical health from what I can see. Just be careful and if the pain get's worse, or if you do remember something, be sure to come by so we can make sure all is well." The doctor explained as he signed the final release papers.
"Other than that, you are good to go Swift. Hopefully we don't have to see you back in here any time soon." The doctor added with a smile. Swift grinned and nodded.

"Thank you doctor. I'll try not to be back." Swift replied before turning to head out the door to the clear and sunny day outside.

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The sun was just short of being directly overhead, letting Rainbow Dash know instinctively it was around 11:00 in the morning. Her had woken earlier than normal today in order to finish up clearing the sky so she could wait at the clinic for Swift to get his final checkup before the first flight lessons. Dash was excited to start teaching Swift in the art of aerial maneuvering, since none of her other friends either had an interest, or ability, to partake in it. Fluttershy was way to timid to try any technical flight maneuvers, and the only other friend she had that had flown was Rarity, and that didn't go over too well.

Swift, however, had expressed interest in not only flying, but high speed flying and stunts. If Dash could get him near her own level of flight (though not equal, she was the best in all of Equestria after all), then she could have a partner to practice multi-pegasi stunts to show off for the Wonderbolts.

'With Swift's help, they will have to take me!' Dash thought with a bit of childlike glee building up.

'Perhaps Swift will get in as well, and we can go from city to city showing off our amazing talent!' Dash's imagination had her flying around Cloudsdale Cloudosseum with Swift and Spitfire to the roar of her adoring fans. Unfortunately for Dash, he body was still leaning against a tree when someone shouted at her from behind.

"SURPRISE!" A voice shouted just inches from behind her, causing Dash's fantasy to dissolve rapidly as she jumped and spun from whoever it was. After a moment of adrenaline, she recognized the laughing form of Swift who seemed quite pleased with himself.
"Haha! I have been waiting for days to do that to you!" He said between laughs. Dash just stood there for a moment, letting her wings slowly relax back down to her side before a grin came to her face at the prank. She had surprised Swift a few times while healing, so turnabouts fair play it seems.

"Ha. Ha. Fair enough, you had your fun, and I guess I did deserve that." Dash admitted as she relaxed and walked back over to where Swift was recovering. Looking down his side at the injured wing, she noticed no new bandages or the like.
"So how is it? Good news?" Dash asked, looking back into his eyes. Swift just nodded and flexed his wings to their maximum span, taking a pose similar to Dash and Scootaloo's when they posed as Wonderbolts.

"Better than ever. Doc says I'm cleared for takeoff, and to be honest, I am excited. I might not remember flying, but being stuck on the ground has kinda been driving me up the wall." Swift explained, the chance to be free of gravity, even slightly, raising his spirits. He noticed after the second day of recovery that he would often look to the sky where pegasi were flying and wish he was up there. Dash just grinned and nodded in understanding.

"You're a pegasus. We are meant for the sky. It's in our blood. Even Fluttershy has to go fly every so often, and you know how she is." Dash explained, flexing her own wings as well, tempted to just take off right there. The desire to feel the wind through her main was always pulling at her, and when she thought about it, it made it worse. Swift's look of excitement to learn flight kept her grounded for the moment however.

"Well, let's do this. I can't stand not knowing flight anymore." Swift said, closing his wings up and moving alongside Dash. Dash nodded and lead the way, a part of her keeping tabs on how close Swift was beside her.

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Dash lead Swift to a field just outside of Sweet Apple Acres. Swift recognized the location instantly as an area he had watched over the Cutie Mark Crusaders the day before. The field was flat and open, good for running around, or in what was sure to be the case, flying low to the ground without hitting things. The sky was mostly clear, with a couple of small clouds lingering.

"Ok! Let's start with the basics and hope your wings are strong enough to support you. They should be, but without your memory let's assume the worst." Dash explained as she spread her wings and flapped them slowly, lifting herself about a foot off the ground. Swift watched her wing movement intently and started emulating what he saw, but gravity remained steadfast in its grip. Frustration kicked in as it tended to and Swift started flapping harder. The grass didn't seem to like it, but other than that, no effect.
"Ok ok ok. Stop. That was way to fast. You aren't catching air when you flap down. Remember you need to have your wings rigid when you press down so you lift off the air." Dash explained, reaching out and grabbing Swifts wing in her hoofs. She lifted it and lowered it in a method showing where he should be changing his muscle tension.
"See, right here, tense up and flap down hard, then rinse and repeat. Keep a steady rhythm." Dash continued. Swift was startled for a moment by the feel of someone holding his wing. Since he had awoken, no one had really touched his wing beyond a slight tap by the doctors and nurses, so he didn't realize exactly how sensitive they were. Luckily Dash knew so she didn't have much pressure on them.

"Ok Dash, let me try again." Swift said, pulling his concentration back to the task at hand. After a deep breath, he lifted his wings up and just a single time pushed down. This time he felt it. The weight on his hoofs lessened slightly. Grinning, the continued the motion, flapping down hard and up gently in a steady rhythm.

"Perfect, just speed up a little and you will have it!" Dash said, excited at the speed that Swift was picking up on flying. It appeared his body did remember how to fly, even if his mind did not. After a few moments, Swift looked down and saw the ground a good five feet below his hoofs. The smile on his face was nearly blinding. Dash couldn't help but feel warm that someone else was enjoying flight as much as she did.

"AWESOME!" Swift shouted, and in doing so, drifted forward nearly crashing into Dash who shot up in the air in time to avoid the hit. After a moment Swift stabilized himself and looked back to Dash.
"Oops, sorry." He laughed, self deprecatingly at his obvious inexperience. Dash joined the laugh and lowered back down.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone drifts their first time in the air. Lucky I wasn't a tree." Dash said, sounding as though she spoke from experience.
"But, now that we have you in the air, I can tell your wings are strong enough to actually do long flights, so just need to relearn how." Dash proceeded to explain how to tilt in order to turn left and right, the logic behind banking, and even how to fly upside down briefly. What shocked her was Swift's ability to rapidly pick it up.

"This is fantastic. Finally no more walking all over the place." Swift cheered as he literally flew circles around Rainbow Dash, who was just watching him from a static spot in the air.

"You're right, it is very fantastic. But how are picking this up so quickly? Even muscle memory wouldn't explain this." Dash finally asked as she lifted up and landed on a cloud. Swift followed and landed beside her, looking out over Ponyville in the distance.

"That would be Twilight's fault." Swift explained as he let his wings rest. Dash's look of supreme shock was priceless, causing Swift to wish he had a camera.
"She had books on pegasus flight, including some practice techniques that would work on the ground, plus the physics behind controlling flight in the air." Swift continued, reaching over and closing Dash's mouth with his hoof.
"Why do you think I spent time at the library each afternoon?" He asked.

"Well I thought you were staying there. Didn't realize you were being an egghead." Dash teased once her shock wore off. Part of her felt bad for brushing off Twilight's offer to help a week ago just before they met Swift. Maybe, just maybe, it was worth looking into. But that would be later, for now, she had a better plan.

"Not at all. Only stayed there the first night out of the hospital. I don't want to impose on anyone." Swift explained as he looked back out over Ponyville. For a moment, they sat in silence. Then Dash simply turned and pushed him off the cloud.
"WHAT THE HAY!" Swift quickly flipped in the air and stopped his fall, raising back up and looking Dash directly in the eyes. He was clearly unamused, whereas Dash was highly amused.

"BWAHAHA!" Dash rolled on her back, laughing enthusiastically.
"You should have seen your face!" She exclaimed between breaths. Swift realized what she had done, and what. The sudden fall forced him to face the fear of falling, which had been hiding in the back of his mind, and proved he could recover from such an issue.

Still, the method of teaching sucked in his opinion.

"Ha ha Dash. You're a riot." He said, deadpanned. Dash just looked at him and nodded that he was absolutely correct.

"I am, I know. But I have a great idea. Now that you have control and seem to have decent speed, how about a race over Ponyville. READYSETGO!" Dash explained then took off, spinning Swift like a top in the air.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Swift yelled, taking off after Rainbow Dash.

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"Hello, Ms. Cheerilee. How are you this day." The shopkeeper stated as the local schoolteacher walked up to purchase some cherries.

"Oh I'm quite fine. How are you?" Ms. Cheerilee responded with a friendly smile, setting down some cherries to purchase.The shop keeper opened his mouth to answer, but a ruckus from down the street pulled their attention.

"BETTER KEEP UP!" A voice yelled as people were diving out of the way. Suddenly a cyan blue with a rainbow trail shot past Ms. Cheerilee on her left, and a purple blur with a matching color trail passed on her right kicking up a cloud of dust.

Dash and Swift continued cutting up and down streets, typically above everyone's head, but dipping down for a challenge. Pulling up beside Dash, who was clearly not using all her speed, Swift glanced over and grinned. The two had been at this for half an hour, trading lead and trying to out maneuver each other. At least Swift was trying to, he had no illusion that Dash couldn't lose him if she tried.

"Swift, we will have you doing stunts like me in no time at this rate!" Dash said, looking over to Swift with a cocky grin. The two shared the moment before looking ahead, right at the cart being pushed into their path.

"OH CRAP." Swift pulled up at the same time as Dash, however the two drifted a bit to close and their wings collided. Typically wings falling out of sync isn't an issue for a pegasus, however with their speed, the impact numbed their respective wings, causing the to fall towards the injured limb. Naturally this means they fell into one another, and rather violently given their speed.

"Ouch!" Dash managed to say before the two collided in mid air. The lack of any wing support at this point caused the two to hit drop towards the ground and hit it hard, rolling across the street and up some stairs.

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"Opal, where are you? We need to get ready to take you to Fluttershy's place. You know you enjoy how she cuts your hair." Rarity searched around her studio for her white fluff ball of a cat. She was such a darling, but sometimes Rarity thought that cat could be more trouble than she was worth. Not that she would ever tell the poor thing such a terrible thing.

"I know you are around here, come on out." She tried to coax the cat into showing herself, but she hadn't had any luck over the last half hour, so why she expected it to work now she had no idea.

'Rainbow might be onto something with that turtle or whatever of hers. I can't imagine it could hide well.' She thought, looking over at the time.

"BAM!"

'What in the world was that!' Rarity jumped at the loud impact of her door.
'Someone must really need a dress, and I really need a break from this wild hunt.' Rarity made her way to the door to see what was going on. Opening it, she met a sight she couldn't image. On her doorstep lay Rainbow Dash and Swift, cuddled up with each other in quite an inappropriate position, wish Dash's head laying against Swifts neck while he lay on his back beneath her. The two didn't move for a moment till Dash moaned slightly.
'Well, um...this is interesting.' Ponyville's professional gossip recovered and started grinning with a grin promising no end of ridicule for Rainbow Dash. The pony in question finally got her senses and looked up to see Rarity standing before them, smile on her face.

'Rarity? OH MY GOD!' Dash thought as she looked down at Swift, then up to Rarity and back a couple of times.

"It's not what it looks like!"

Chapter 6: Friendships

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Rarity walked up stairs to her small sitting room where Rainbow Dash and Swift were currently waiting. She had helped carry an unconscious Swift up to rest on a couch while Rainbow checked over him to make sure he didn't have any severe injuries. While Rainbow did her checkup, Rarity felt it proper to grab some tea.

'Plus, if dear Swift wakes to see Rainbow taking care of him...' A devious grin formed on the designers face as she peeked in the room with her guests. Swift was still unconscious while Rainbow just sat next to the couch looking at him. The worry on Rainbow's face took the grin away from Rarity as she eased her way in.

"How is he?" She asked, careful not to scare Rainbow by her sudden appearance. Rainbow looked over to her with a relaxed, but slightly worried look.
'Hmm, she is definitely worried about him. I'll have to keep an eye out.' Rarity kept a solemn face outwardly, but inwardly she was grinning as she schemed away.

"He's fine. No real injuries, though he will probably have a massive headache. He is just unconscious from the impact right now. I figure he will wake soon, if he is as strong as I think he is." Rainbow explained, almost roboticly. Rarity noticed the out of character nature from Dash, and decided to push on it. If Rainbow was getting into one of her depressed states, getting her out of it would be difficult and everypony had long since learned it was best to just keep her from getting to that point.

"Rainbow dear, what's wrong? I've never seen you look so distant after a crash." Rarity said as she walked over to Rainbow and sat beside her and Swift. Rainbow just shrugged.

"I'm just replaying what happened in my head and it doesn't make sense. We clipped each other and collided, that I get. But we were moving at the same speed side by side as we bounced on the ground. But when we hit your door, he hit it and I hit him. If the hit put him unconscious, why not me?" Rainbow explained from her memory of the crash. Rarity thought about it and the position she had spotted them in.

"Well, when I opened the door, you two fell inward, and you were above him, so during your tumble I can only imagine he pushed himself between you and the door. Probably to protect you." Rarity explained, her matchmaker schemes starting to spin up. It seemed possibly that Swift had protected Rainbow, but without even seeing the wreck, Rarity really had no idea what happened. But what Rainbow didn't know didn't hurt Rarity's plans. Rarity watched as Rainbow looked back to the stallion on the couch, eyes wide at the thought that he had risked injury again for her.

'To protect me? I'm the expert flier, not you.' Rainbow Dash thought, Rarity had a valid point, and her explanation made sense, but she didn't like it. She didn't like being in debt, and if Swift risked such injury just to protect her, she definitely owed him one.
"Stupid Swift. I would have been fine." She said quietly, though still within earshot of Rarity who opened her mouth to reply but was cut off.

"I prefer to be certain." A decidedly male voice spoke, as though just waking. Both of the girls looked down to see Swift opening his eyes slowly and looking around. The pain in his head stopped him from fully opening his eyes, but he could still see who was in the room with him.
"Hey Rarity. Sorry about the sudden visit." He joked, though wincing as he tried to laugh away the worry of his injury. Rarity smiled at his obvious attempt at being chivalrous and offered him some tea.

"I always enjoy a visit from my friends, no matter how sudden. As long as they are safe anyway. But here dear, drink this. It will help with your headache I must assume you have." Rarity floated a cup over to Swift who had now sat up and accepted the drink. As Swift sipped at the drink, Dash just looked at him with confusion.

"Certain about what? Getting yourself grounded again?" She asked, still upset with the situation. She could handle being hurt, but she didn't like her friends getting hurt, especially when she was involved. Swift finished drinking his tea and simply shook his head, looking into Dash's eyes.

"Not at all. I just didn't want you to get hurt. I know flying is very important to you, so I would rather risk being grounded than you." He explained calmly. Dash looked to be about to counter when Swift continued, cutting her off.
"Besides, we are both alright, so there's no big deal." Swift stood up and stretched his wings and back, lifting his front left and rear right hooves off the ground to stretch as many muscles as possible, then swapped to get the rest. Dash and Rarity scooted back slightly to give him room to work the kinks out from the impact.

"Well, you shouldn't be so reckless." Dash finally said. This elicited a snicker from Rarity from the hypocrisy of the comment, which Dash heard and threw an angry glare at the white unicorn.

"Oh come on Rainbow darling. How many times have you crashed because you were being reckless. I think it was quite noble of our dear Swift. He is quite the gentlecolt." Rarity explained, standing up for Swift's actions and casting him a schemy grin. Swift simply smiled and nodded, not noticing the glint in Rarity's eyes.

"I tell you what, Dash. I'll be more careful in the future. But for now, perhaps we should go over weather duties. If I'm going to join the weather team I need to know what it entails, and how to do the job." Swift commented, hoping to change the subject. He had learned that Dash was very focused, but only on a single object at a time, so if he could deflect her from the issue at hand, it would help keep her from acting all angry or sad. Rainbow smiled at the idea and quickly reverted to her normal upbeat self.

"Aw yeah! I'll teach you how to buck clouds to clear the sky. We can cover the rest later but Ponyville is scheduled for clear skies all week!" Rainbow explained, excited to be back in her element. She quickly jogged to the nearby window and looked back to Rarity.

"Thanks for the help Rarity. We'll make it up to you. Come on Swift!" Rainbow called out as she jumped up and shot out the window. Swift and Rarity just glanced at each other before rolling their eyes at Dash's antics.

"Thank you indeed for the tea and letting me recover here. Just let me know if I can help you to make up for it." He said, bowing his head slightly before moving to follow Dash. Rarity nodded as he walked away.

"Of course darling. You two be careful." She said as he reached the window. Swift simply looked back and winked and gave a quick salute before shooting out the window.
'Those too are more alike that I realized. Maybe it's a pegasus thing.' Rarity thought as the two faded into the sky.

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The next few hours found the two pegasi flying over Ponyville clearing clouds. Well, one of them was clearing clouds. Rainbow Dash would fly off and return with a large cloud formation and break off pieces to see how fast Swift could reach each one of them to clear. The more he flew, the cleaner his flying form was becoming Dash noticed. Whatever he did before the incident, clearly he was a good flier.

'Another week of this and he should be ready to learn some stunt flying. Nothing too extreme, but simple stuff.' Dash starting working through her list of tricks for what to train Swift in while he was attacking the latest set of clouds Dash had set up for him to clear. As she thought, she lowered her head to rest it on the puff of cloud she was currently lounging on.

'With his control he can probably be ready to actually go after some more intermediate stuff. Especially if what he did at Rarity's place is true. Adjusting mid-crash is difficult to do, especially at the speeds we were going.' Dash started replaying the crash in her mind and as much as she hated it, it seemed Rarity was right. True, Swift had admitted to it already, but Dash couldn't believe he was able to put himself into the impact zone to protect her.

Nor admit anypony would actually do that for her anyhow.

While Dash was lounging and running through these thoughts, Swift was zipping through the air from one cloud to another.

'Lets see, hit this one,' Swift stepped himself through the pattern he had laid out as he sped up and stopped in front of a small cloud up high and bucked it out of existence.
'then free fall towards that one,' Using gravity as his friend instead of the harsh mistress it had been up to this point, Swift glided rapidly downwards to the next highest cloud, destroying it as he flew through it, getting refreshed by the water that had made it up.
'now bank towards that one Dash moved all the way over there...' Pulling a hard right at nearly ninety degrees, Swift shot directly towards a cloud that was way outside the cluster Dash had set up. Swift understood the need for random outliers, but they annoyed him. Dash wanted to make sure he kept his eyes open so they didn't miss clouds during work, but here he was timing himself, and these clouds were destroying his times.
'there, now for the final cloud by Dash.' Swift stopped before the outlier cloud and bucked it as he shot back towards the final goal, looking as though he simply rebounded off the cloud. As he sped towards the final cloud he glanced down at Dash and noticed she seemed lost in thought.
'Well now, what do we have here?' Swift stopped right as he reached the final cloud and instead of bucking it, landed on it while watching the cyan pegasus in thought.
'Something seems to have her preoccupied. Maybe I should help?' Swift wondered. He hadn't been around long, but of all the ponies he had met, Dash was easily his best friend. The two shared an enjoyment of flight, got along well, and their personalities seemed to have meshed pretty well. That's not to say Swift didn't like the others.

Twilight was very intelligent and her encyclopedic knowledge of what seemed like everything had already helped Swift in many things. Plus her magic was powerful and she was always willing to talk if Swift had questions when his lack of memories caused issues.

Rarity was as generous as anypony Swift had met. Anytime he came by she would offer to set him up with a nice outfit (which he had thus far refused, as he had no need for one, or place for it), and food and drinks were always available. Swift tried to return the favors by helping out around her shop when he could while grounded, but her biggest aid had been conversation. Much like Twilight, Rarity had helped Swift when things were awkward, but whereas Twilight would give him history and knowledge about some topics, Rarity knew society better than anypony. If something didn't make sense to Swift socially, Rarity was his go to mare.

Fluttershy was just that. Shy, but always kind. When Swift or any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were injured during their play or from a job, Fluttershy was always willing to take the time and provide medicine, bandages, or just a kind word. Once Swift had spoken with her a couple of times, and she had gotten over the 'checking out my flank' fiasco from their first meeting, they had become great friends. Swift had even run a few errands for her by the clinic to get supplies for helping the woodland creatures. Swift knew that if he was hurt, but not needing a hospital, there was no pony he would rather visit.

Applejack had helped him straight out of the clinic. He knew no pony but Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, but Applejack had trusted him, provided him a simple (but entertaining) job, and paid him in bits and food. While healing, much of his work came from the Apple family, either watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders, helping to buck trees (which was helping with his training for weather patrol), or fixing up items on the farm. Applejack would let Swift give an honest days work in order to make some bits and no have to rely on charity, something he was grateful to the farmpony for.

Pinkie Pie....well, Pinkie Pie refused to let anypony be down. He had spent the least amount of time with the hyperactive pony, but was assured by her every time the met that they were indeed the best of friends. As random and confusing as she could be, Swift always found himself laughing when she was around, and couldn't imagine that pony ever trying to hurt anypony.

All of them were fantastic ponies, and Swift was proud to call them his friends. Even Spike, who Swift had hung out with on a few occasions (typically when Spike would be asking how he could get Rarity's attention), was a good friend and would stick his neck out for Swift. Swift himself would do anything for the little dragon, who he was starting to see as a little brother. Swift couldn't explain why, but something about the dragon's loyalty to Twilight and the gang, obvious love for Rarity, and childlike sincerity hit Swift solid and Swift wanted to help the little dude out.

The only other ponies Swift was around with regularity were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The three fillies were almost chaos incarnate. Their antics to earn their cutie marks consistently failed, but they never gave up. Swift respected that, and his lessons with Scootaloo in particular to prep her for learning to fly had pulled the two close. Scootaloo always seemed quiet when her friends weren't around, and clearly needed social connection, so Swift would make it a point to talk to the little filly when she was around.

With all these wonderful ponies in town that Swift knew, only Dash seemed to really understand or connect with him. Sometimes, he felt the others saw him as the friend who had amnesia, not as Swift, pegasus and soon to be weather pony. Granted, even Swift didn't know his real name, or when he would recall anything of his past, but Dash was the only pony that didn't seem to think about that. When the two of them walked around, or flew as they could now, he was just Swift. Aspiring weather pony, partner for stunt flying, and friend. Swift knew the others would do anything for him, and given time would treat him the same as Dash did, but that was the future.

The present had him lowering his cloud down just above the oblivious Rainbow Dash. The urge to prank her in some way was building, but the look on her face told him she wasn't just lost in thought, she was deep in thought about something unpleasant. So, with great regret, instead of scaring the pegasus, Swift lowered his cloud beside hers to see what was wrong. As the clouds neared, they merged into a single cloud leaving Swift a body length away from the lost in thought pony.

"Hey Dash, you alright?" Swift spoke quietly to not scare the girl, but Dash just continued to look out at the sky. Reaching over with a wing, Swift poked her in the shoulder.

"Huh? Hey? What?" Dash glanced around and noticed Swift's wing retracting from having pulled her out of thought.
"Oh hey. You done with that course? Good time." She said, trying to sound as though nothing was going on. Swift simply smirked at the poor mare.

"Yeah, I finished a few minutes ago actually. And it was great time. Ten seconds flat easy." He said, drawing an eye roll and smile from the cyan pegasus at hearing her own hype thrown in her face.
"But enough with courses. I'm certain tomorrow I'll be more than ready for entering the apprenticeship on the weather team. What about you? I saw how you were looking out at basically nothing. What's got you down?" Swift's smile had faded into a more concerned look for his friend. Dash noticed this and simply sighed as she looked back out at the 'nothing' Swift referred to.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about earlier. I don't like owing people, and you basically risked your wings for mine. For us pegasus, that's a big deal, and for me it's huge. Every day I can't practice is a day further from me joining the Wonderbolts." Dash explained as she imagined herself out flying through that sky with the Wonderbolts, performing stunts and wowing the crowds. Swift looked out at the sky she was gazing at and just imaged the two of them practicing to get her to the dream. He hadn't seen a Wonderbolt, but it was no secret that Dash wanted to be one more than anything in Equestria.

"Dash, don't worry about it. Like I said, I know how important this is to you, so being hurt to stop you from being grounded was a easy choice. Besides, we already talked about it. No pony was hurt, just a bump on my head. Any friend would do it." Swift said, watching Dash from the corner of his eye, but still watching the sky as well. Dash finally broke from her gaze and really looked at Swift.

"No, I don't think so. Other than Flutters, none of the others can even fly without some crazy spell, so they don't really know what being able to fly freely through the skies means for pegasi like me. Even Flutters doesn't enjoy flying as much as most pegasi, so the impact wouldn't hold as much weight to her either." Dash explained. Swift shook his head and went to speak, but Dash cut him off before he could start.

"I'm not saying they wouldn't try to help me or keep me from being hurt, but they all would try to stop me from crashing, or stop the impact, like Twilight with her magic. I can't say for certain that any of them would risk what makes them who they are for me on the fly like you did. And you know have known me for a week. So when I say I owe you one, I mean it." Dash finished, flopping her head back down on the cloud. Swift was silent for a moment, thinking about what Dash was saying.

'I think she underestimates her friends, but what I think really doesn't matter here.' Swift thought as he looked back out to the sky for a minute. Slowly he started to grin as he made a realization.

"Dash, your debt is repaid. You have taught me to fly, a freedom that I have never known. Sure maybe I did at one point, but I can't remember it, so this is a new gift to me. You have taught me to clear clouds which will give me a way to survive by way of steady income, and you have introduced me to new friends. Those same friends you are talking about. I think they would do more than you give them credit for, but that doesn't matter. This is about you and me, and I say we are even." Dash listened as Swift explained how he viewed the situation while looking down at Ponyville. She couldn't help but smile at his trying to rationalize her debt as paid, and also at the fact that he clearly loved to fly and felt it was a massive payment if enough to pay off taking a potentially grounding hit. The two sat in silence, looking over Ponyville as the sun set in the distance, Celestia passing the skies to her sister.

"Well, thank you Swift. You say we are square, but if you need a favor called in, I'm your pony." Dash finally offered as she stood up from her lounging. Swift stayed put as he watched her stand.
"It's getting late and we have an early call in the morning. Be around here at six am and we will get you set up on the weather team. It's been a long day so I'm headed home to rest and let the bruises from earlier heal up. You should do the same. You flew more than I did, and are going to need all your energy tomorrow." Dash explained as she took off and hovered nearby, looking down to Swift. Swift simply nodded and smiled.

"Sure thing Dash. You get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow." Swift replied warmly to his friend. The two stared at each other for a few moments before Dash finally nodded and shot off into the distance where her cloud house lived. Swift watched as she faded into the distance before resting his head on the cloud again.

'Well, looks like she isn't as down as she was. I'll have to see how she looks tomorrow. In the mean time...' Swift yawned as the day's events finally caught up to him while he relaxed what what he was willing to say was the most comfortable cloud he had been on. With his thoughts on tomorrow, and the rainbow maned partner he would have cleaning the skies, Swift let sleep overtake him on his island in the sky.

Chapter 7: Chaos Magic and Weather Ponies

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The next day Swift was awoken by Rainbow while laying on the same cloud as the evening before. She had come to collect him for signups at the Central Weather Control Office, or C.W.C.O. as most ponies shortened it. It was here that Swift would fill out the paperwork placing him under Rainbow Dash as an apprentice weather pony.

The first part of the day after Dash had left to take care of her own duties had Swift sitting in a small class room filling out questionnaires asking him to identify cloud formations, weather patterns, and essay questions on how to cause a cloud to dissipate or summon lightning from dormant clouds. Swift doubted he had ever been so bored in his entire life.

'How dull can they make these questions? Is that the point even? See if you pass out, if not you pass?' Swift thought as he explained how to use his wings to adjust localized air pressure to build a cloud from latent vapors. Luckily he had read a lot of books at Twilight's while grounded and learned most of this, as all Dash had taught him was how to fly and clear and move clouds.

After a two very very very long hours of testing, he was cleared to the next phase where a medical pegasus checked over his wings and chest, explaining that he needed to make sure there were no major heart issues or flight issues that could arise. Especially the heart, given the amount of exercise they would exert, as well as the slim, but possible chance, of lightning strikes. Swift basically had to stand at attention with his wings spread full out for ten minutes while the doctor and a nurse poked, prodded, and listened to his body. Once he was allowed to sit, the doctor asked him two worrying questions:

"So, do you have any medical conditions we should know about? We don't seem to have a file on you so if anything has happened in your past, we need to know. Anything like perhaps what happened to your cutie mark." The doctor asked. It was odd not to have a file, but it happened on occasion, either because a pony was just very healthy, or was from farther north and the files just didn't make it in time, if at all.

Unfortunately, Swift fell under neither of those categories, and the lack of a cutie mark was once again causing him problems.

"Well, other than a bad crash a week or so ago, I'm completely healthy to the best of my knowledge." Swift said, his voice full of confidence.
'It isn't really a lie, I guess. I can't remember ever being ill.' He thought, rationalizing his answer to himself. The doctor accepted it with ease and wrote a few more things down before stamping a large box at the bottom of the paper.
"As for my lack of a cutie mark, I haven't ever had one as far as I know." He added, hoping it was enough of an explanation.

"Hmm. Well missing a cutie mark shouldn't stop you from flying, and the rest sounds good. Take this to the room at the end of the hall and they will get your paperwork set up. Best of luck." The doctor handed a slip of paper with Swifts patient number and a clean bill of health marked on it before moving to the next room for another pegasus who also was looking to be a weather pony.

Once Swift reached the end of the hall, he found a room with a rather large stallion sitting behind a desk, with several filling cabinets behind him. One was marked for Ponyville, the next for Canterlot, then Philadelphia and Manehatten past that.

'Wow, this guy must deal with every weather pony in Equestria at some point.' Swift realized as he sat down and handed the paper to the pegasus in charge, who was holding a hand out. No words were exchanged as the dark brown pegasus started filling out a thick file with information from the medical slip. Swift noticed this pony had no nameplate, and obviously wasn't keen on introductions since Swift had been standing there for a full minute. Swift started getting impatient when the pegasus spoke abruptly.

"City?" It was short, and at the same time unclear.

"Excuse me?" Swift had no clue what this guy meant. The pegasus took a deep breath and looked up at him, his green eyes almost drilling into Swift.
'What a Jerk. Maybe that's his name.' Swift almost laughed at his own thought, but stayed serious.

"What city are you wanting to work weather in?" 'Jerk' asked, bluntly.

"Oh, Ponyville. I thought Rainbow Dash already set stuff up?" Swift answered, and explained a bit. Hopefully that info would speed this up, as Swift was quickly not wanting to deal with this pony any longer than needed. Perhaps this was the real reason Dash bolted when they got here...

"Rainbow Dash huh? You must be the one she is taking as apprentice. Just what we need, another wild pegasus out there. What's your name?" The pony spoke, his gruff attitude getting more and more sour by the minute. Swift's eyes narrowed as this pony insulted his best friend.

"Swift. And I'm not a.." Swift answered, and started to defend Dash but was cut off.

"Swift what?" The pony looked back up at Swift, expected his last name.

"...just Swift." Swift decided to take a page from this ponies book and just be blunt and to the point.

"You have no last name?" Swift mentally rolled his eyes. Of course once he starts to mimic the guy, the brown pony would change everything. When he asked this question, he sounded very confused. When Swift was about to answer, he noticed the receptionist that had been by the door also was looking at him confused.

'Is it odd to have just one name? Fluttershy only has one name....I think...' Swift started thinking through all the pegasi he had met and most all of them indeed had two names, or two word names at least.

"Yeah, long story, but I'm just Swift." Swift finally answered, hoping saying it was a long story would stop further questions on his name. Luckily it seemed that way, as after a pause and skeptical look from this pony, he simply wrote 'Swift' on the file and continued with his questions. Mostly they were about his age (unknown, but he knew Rainbow was right on seventeen, so best use that), height, weight, and career goal. The last one stumped Swift, so to basically ruffle the brown pegasi's feathers he simply answered:

"Not sure, probably just above your position. Yeah, I wouldn't mind being your boss." Swift's smirk probably didn't help, as his opponent gave him a very frustrated look before closing the file.

"Alright smartypants. You are cleared for flight duty. Rainbow Dash is your direct supervisor. She will be training you and reporting on your progress. In six weeks we will re-evaluate you for removal from apprenticeship and being placed along side Rainbow Dash on her team. You're free to go." He finally said, turning to place the file in a cabinet and calling for the next pony. Swift didn't stick around and walked out of the office, which also put him out of the building.

The C.W.C.O. was located in Cloudsdale, just at the edge of town. As he walked out, he spotted Rainbow Dash waiting for him.

"Hey Swift! How did it go? You cleared to fly?" She asked, flying over and landing beside him. Swift's smile told her all she needed to know and she gave him a friendly hug before he could answer.
"I knew you could do it. All your reading and my flying lessons guaranteed it. No problems I assume?" She asked as she released him and the two started flying up and away from Cloudsdale towards Ponyville. The flight only took a couple of hours at the speeds they would go (Dash could do it in half an hour easy, or so she said), so Swift decided to bring up the one hitch he had.

"Well, mostly it was all well, but everyone seemed confused by my name being just Swift. Possibly more so than just my lack of a cutie mark. Is that odd?" Swift asked as they glided through the sky. Dash simply smiled as she realized the issue.

"I'm sure you have read some history at Twilight's, given your constant trips there." Dash started, her voice almost sounding a bit sour at the end Swift noted, but continued listening after nodding that he had read history books.
"So you know before all three pony tribes were merged, the pegasi lands were very militaristic. Families always had names that tended to their jobs or primary traits, and even today, hundreds of years later, our names and jobs tend to line up. Take my name, Rainbow Dash. We were called the Dash family because before the unification my family were messengers for the rulers and military commanders." Dash explained as the banked around a large cloud formation, flipping around one another in nested barrel rolls, a trick they had practiced a couple of times and found they could do with ease. Swift took in what Dash was explaining and considered the pegasi he knew.

"So you were Dash because you were fast and thus used to deliver messages and the likes. What about Fluttershy, she only has one name?" Swift asked as the leveled out yet again. Dash shook her head, indicating Swift wasn't as correct as the thought.

"We call her Fluttershy, and it is indeed her name, but Flutter Shy would have been her name back then. Though now that you mention it, I'm not sure why they had the name of Shy. It certainly fits her though you must admit." She explained, her own thoughts wondering what Fluttershy's family could have been to get a name such as Shy. Swift simply nodded that the name did fit.

"What about that one Wonderbolt you mentioned. Soarin' I think was his name?" Swift was understanding the reasons Dash was explaining, but there seemed to be a lot of loop holes in this logic.

"Oh, Soarin' is just his first name. Though again I don't know his family name. Spitfire however would have been Spit Fire, and again you would have to ask her what her family did. Most pegasi families know where they came from, but it isn't something we tend to share. No real point in it." Dash looped in place for a moment, stretching her back mid-flight while she explained this bit of information. Swift banked hard to the left in a loop perpendicular to Dash's and met up beside her as she leveled out. A grin was on her face as the linked back up, directed directly at Swift.
"Hey hey, well done timing that. We will get you stunt flying in no time at all!" She shouted, excited at the prospect. Swift joined in her excitement, his curiosity at the name issue from earlier sated.

"Well Dash, first things first. Race you to Ponyville. One,Two,Three,GO!" Swift counted fast and took off before Dash registered.

"Hey, that's my trick!" Dash shot off full speed after her best friend.

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"GAH! What is the trick!" Twilight Sparkle slammed her head against the desk she was sitting at studying. She had found this book the day after Swift got out of the hospital and it was fascinating. The whole premise of the book involved Chaos Magic, which apparently was the opposite of the type of magic she had always been taught. The book, 'Discord Theory', explained how her magic, Order Magic, was basically law abiding, and that because ponykind knew those laws, they could control the magic. Chaos Magic however did not follow laws, and was, for lack of a better word, chaotic.

"Everything follows rules, but according to Discord Theory this magic doesn't. How could it be controlled then. How could you even study something you had no basic way of controlling?!" She spoke aloud again, though part of her mind reminded her that the book had stated that it was theory because a stable point of chaos magic, or result of it, had ever been produced. The only known practitioner of it was Discord, hence the name of the entire theory, and clearly he was not someone to ask for help.

"I need to start all over. There has to be a way to isolate this magic." Twilight turned to get another book and jumped when she saw Spike standing by the door, looking at her oddly.

"GOD Spike! You scared me. Why are you just standing there?" She asked, catching her breath. Spike grinned at the fact that he had made her jump. It hadn't been intentional, but even accidental pranks can be fun. Rainbow Dash had taught him as much.

"Sorry Twilight. I was coming to see if you needed anything from the market, but you were talking to yourself and sounded upset. What's wrong?" Spike asked, his mirth at the incident passing as he moved to help Twilight. She did so much for him that the little dragon always took any chance to help her in return. She was as much a Sister or Mother to him as a friend.

Twilight thought about if she should even try explaining it. Had it been anyone else, she would have passed instantly and just redirected to whatever they had arrived for, but Spike had been around so long she knew even if he didn't understand, he might still have some insight she missed.
"Well Spike, this book I'm reading is discussing chaos magic, but it almost seams to contradict itself. It has all these guidelines about stuff chaos magic does and theory on how it works, but then says we can't test or even verify this stuff because chaos magic can't be controlled. How can we know stuff we can't prove, about something we can't control?" She asked, hoping Spike might have some random bit of inspiration. Spike took what Twilight had explained and mulled it over in his head, his eyes locking on the ceiling as he scratched his chin. Twilight recognized the look and knew Spike was giving it all his thought power currently, which meant a lot to the Element of Magic. Finally Spike looked her in the eye and said just one word.

"Celestia."

Twilight shot Spike a look of confusion.
"What? Celestia? Spike, the Princess is an Alicorn, the ultimate form of Order Magic. She can't do anything with chaos magic." Twilight spoke, almost starting to ramble before Spike cut her off.

"No no, I'm not saying she can use chaos magic, but she has been around for thousands of years. She was around even before the author of that book was born. She probably knows something about chaos magic. Maybe a way of controlling it or at least measuring it. Ask her." Spike explained as he pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. Twilight smiled warmly to the dragon, realizing he was right. Celestia could help her get past this block, so best to send a letter.

"Very well. Spike, take a letter." She began, sharing a smile with the dragon at their customary beginning to these letter writing sessions.

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Dear Princess Celestia,

I apologize for taking so long to send you a letter. Things in Ponyville have been interesting this past week. Nothing bad, but just interesting things.

About a week ago, a strange pegasus crashed into Sweet Apple Acres and was hurt pretty badly. Rainbow Dash and I were brought in to help with his treatment. Rainbow was brought in to see if she could figure out what he was doing to hurt himself (they assumed a failed areal stunt, and Rainbow is the town expert), and with me they wanted help identifying the poor stallion. The odd thing was he has no cutie mark, but is as old as Rainbow or myself. I have never heard of a pony going so long without gaining their cutie mark, and I checked him over for magical spells, and he wasn't enchanted.

After Rainbow and I gave our views on the issue and were about to leave, the pony woke up and revealed he had no memory of who, or even what, he was. After we calmed him down from his understandable panic, we managed to get some further answers, though nothing to help with who he was or why he crashed. After a short discussion he decided to take on the name Swift until he remembers more about himself.

Since then Swift has been helping out around town, and helped me sort new books in the library. At least he helps when he isn't out flying with Rainbow Dash. The two of them have grown close over the week and have become the best of friends. I personally think Rainbow is just happy to have someone as excited for flying around, and Swift is happy to have a friend who can teach him such things. Today he should be in Cloudsdale signing up as a weather pony to work beside Rainbow.

Rarity thinks there is more going on between the two, but the thought of Rainbow in any sort of romantic relationship is laughable at best. She is in love with the spotlight and the sky.

The other thing, specifically the reason I am thinking to write this letter, is a book we got in the library recently. It was an older book from a collection in Manehatten called 'Discord Theory.' The book is facinating, and discusses the existence of chaos magic such as what Discord used during his attacks. I was excited to dive in and learn this new realm of magic.

Only, I can't. Everything the book says is contradictory. Stuff like "chaos magic follows no law" but then says "chaos magic will always do this and that" as well as "chaos magic does x, but we never have studied it as it is impossible." How can any of this make sense. I'm starting to wonder if this book isn't some giant joke and should be filed under fiction. Spike mentioned you might have more information, so I beseech you to help me if you know anything. Especially if I'm right and it is a joke.

That's all the big news here in Ponyville. I hope you are doing well and please tell Princess Luna I hope she is doing well too.

Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle

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A brief plum of green fire and the scroll with Twilight's message was sent.

"There you go Twilight. Now was there anything you wanted from the market?" Spike asked, as he put the quill away and made his way to the front door.

"Just pick up some more hey fries. I know we are out and I enjoy munching on them when studying." Twilight said as she moved back over and opened the book Discord Theory again. Spike simply nodded, the hay fries being the top of his list already, and headed out the door, leaving Twilight alone again.

"Ok, with that done, back to this. There has to be a way to find a nexus of chaos." Twilight knew there must be a way, and she was determined to find it.

Chapter 8: Cutie Mark Fliers and Discord's Magic

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The flight back to Ponyville was filled with random banter between the two best friends. Most time was spent by Rainbow Dash telling Swift of the different events and adventures she had shared with the girls before he came along as well as stuff she had done on her own from time to time. Things ranging from pranks on various ponies in town to stunt practice and her own trips to the hospital. Swift listened intently as he learned about his best friend.

Rainbow Dash, for her part, made sure never to ask Swift of his past, but still gave him opportunities to chip into the conversation. Typically in how he would go about learning a trick or change a prank for future attempts. Dash had come to learn from both this flight and previous conversations that Swift seemed to be talented at thinking up different ways to practice stunts she was trying, and made a point to listen to his input in that regard.

Once the duo were over Ponyville, they realized they hadn't eaten the whole day and decided to stop by Dash's house for some sandwiches and to continue their talking until Dash needed to meet up with Twilight at the library. Swift was greatly enjoying just sitting around with his friend while they could, and found he was looking forward to working along side her to keep the skies over Ponyville in the proper state each day. Eventually, as it always happens, time ran short and Dash led Swift out of the house before giving him a hug goodbye and diving down to the ground below leaving Swift on his own.

As many pegasi do when they are bored with nothing to do, Swift launched into the air and glided around, watching the ground for something, or somepony, to entertain him. Over the market district it was the usual scene of ponies buying and selling goods, or moving from one place to the next. When he glided over Sweet Apple Acres, he saw Big Mac out clearing a field for some reason, Swift had no idea why. He considered landing to help, but a fast moving trail of dirt caught his attention at the edge of the farm headed out towards the empty fields between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest.

'What's that? It looks like...' Swift banked and headed towards the object and saw it was indeed a certain orange filly on a scooter. Swift glided overhead, keeping his shadow out of her sight as he watched her power over hills and ramps.

'It's amazing what she can do with that scooter. She is like a grounded Rainbow Dash. And she would die if she knew anypony made that sort of comparison...' Swift grinned as he thought. His grin vanished as he watched the back wheel of the scooter slide as Scootaloo hit a dirt ramp and started tumbling on the field, landing at least ten feet from where she wrecked.

"SCOOTALOO!" Swift dove down and was quickly beside the filly as she started to stand up, shaking her head as it to clear it of cobwebs.

"Ok, so that won't work." She mumbled before looking around and spotting Swift beside her. She obviously hadn't heard him shout her name as she jumped back in surprise before her face turned a dark shade of red.
"Oh Swift!? Um...when did you get here?" She asked, trying her best to sound as if nothing had happened. Swift wasn't having any of it as he stepped up to her and started looking down each side of her body.

"I was following you while you were on your scooter, and saw the wreck. Are you ok? You look like you got a couple of cuts, but nothing severe. You'll still need a bandage or two." Swift spoke quickly, not allowing the poor filly a chance to reply. Once he paused, Scootaloo took the chance to stop any further worry.

"I'm fine Swift. I have had worse wrecks, and I keep bandages in my bag." She explained as she reached into her bag and pulled a small box of adhesive bandages. Swift calmed, realizing the girl must have had wrecks before if she was moving at such speeds and doing these stunts. The last thing she must want is some adult worrying, or worse, lecturing her about it.

"Smart thinking Scoots. Here, let me help with that. I know you can do it, but some of those cuts are in hard to reach spots." Swift cut off any protest to help and took a couple of bandages to cover the hard to reach spots. The areas Scootaloo could handle on her own he left for her. One thing he knew about Scootaloo was that she was very proud and didn't want help unless absolutely necessary. Swift respected that, so he allowed her to take care of the injuries she could. Once she was bandaged up, she sat down and looked over to Swift.

"Thanks Swift. Those cuts on my back would have been a pain to deal with. Why are you out here anyway? I figure you would be learning to fly from Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo asked, not making the connection to exactly how it was that Swift had arrived where they currently stood.

"Our basic lessons are done. See?" Swift opened his wings and hovered in place as the filly watched, her eyes growing wide at the sight before turning downcast.

"Yeah, I see. You learned to fly in just a day." Scootaloo spoke, depression at her own inability to fly saturating her voice. Swift landed beside the pony and placed a hoof over her back.

"Hey now, don't think of it like that. Look at me, I must have been able to fly at some point, and from what I read, most of flying is muscle memory. All Dash had to do was remind me how and my muscles seemed to handle the rest. Once you are able to fly you could do the same, though I hope you never go through a crash and memory loss like I did." Swift offered as explanation, holding the filly close. In contrast to her normal behavior, the filly leaned into Swift as he basically hugged her from the side. After a deep sigh, Scootaloo finally responded.

"Yeah, that's if I ever get to fly. Sometimes it feels like I'm just not meant to fly." Scootaloo's melancholy was starting to bother Swift, more than he even expected. He had expected she would be excited to learn to fly when she saw him able to fly, but now she seemed ready to give up on the dream.

"Come on, you telling me you don't want to start learning how to fly? And here I was, ready to give you your first lesson." Swift said, almost in a taunting manner to pull the young filly out of her funk. For a moment it seemed to work, as Scootaloo's eyes shot up, looking amazed that anypony would take the time to teach her.

'Why is she always surprised when I offer to help her with anything? I really need to investigate this, she is hiding something...' Swift's thoughts almost started to wonder, but the look on the young face before him pulled him back to the issue at hand.

"I still want to learn, sure. But I have been trying to learn for a long time now." She explained. Swift wasn't sure how to pull her from her depression and it was starting to worry him. If Dash was around he was sure Scoots would be excited in a heartbeat. Glancing around while trying to find a way to cheer up the filly currently leaning against him, he noticed something hanging out of her saddlebag off to the side.

"Scoots, why do you have rope?" He asked, an idea slowly starting to form.

"Huh? Oh, we use it while crusading. It's pretty handy for pulling things, or tying things up when we are building. Not that it has ever worked to get our cutie marks." She explained, still depressed, but curious as to why Swift was currently pulling it out of her bag. Swift simply nodded as he checked it's length.

'Yeah, this should be long enough. I think it's time Scoots got to see the world as a real pegasus.' Swift thought, grinning.

"I have an idea, Scoots."

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Twilight and Spike were working to finish putting away all the books in the library in preparation for their visitor. When Spike returned from the market, he was running with a letter in his hand: a reply from the Princess. It had been a short letter, stating that chaos magic was much to complicated to go over in a letter, and she had other news so she would be stopping by.

Today.

As per the normal, this sent Twilight into a cleaning frenzy. She knew there was something she was forgetting, but chose not to let it distract her from the vital task of making things presentable to the Princess of the Sun, and more importantly her mentor, Princess Celestia.

"Twilight, you do this every time. The Princess is not expecting the place to be spotless." Spike started, though only halfheartedly putting up a defense against the work. He had been with Twilight his whole life, so he knew the futility of such an argument. Enough so, that in his head he near perfectly mocked her predictable reply.

"Spike! You know that's not true. She is the Princess and is used to things being perfect. I can't let her think I'm forgoing my duties as librarian and student! Now help me get this bookshelf top dusted!" She ranted, borderline panicked. Using her magic, she lifted Spike up so he could dust the top of the bookshelf in question. Spike, in the meantime, briefly wondered why she didn't just levitate the duster up and do it herself.

Unfortunately Spike didn't have long to ponder that question as a knock at the door pulled Twilight's attention from the spell, and unceremoniously dropped him to the floor.

"The door! The princess is here! Oh no!" Twilight ran over to a table and quickly threw the remaining books on a shelf while Spike stood and dusted himself off before answering the door, shaking his head at the antics of his guardian. At the door was indeed a famous mare, but not the one expected.

"Rainbow Dash?! Why are you here?" Spike exclaimed, causing the commotion Twilight was raising to stop as well. There in the doorway indeed stood Rainbow Dash, which reminded Twilight of exactly what she had forgotten. The new Daring Do book was out today and Rainbow was supposed to pick it up.

"Hey Spike! New Daring Do! Been planning today for weeks remember?" Rainbow asked as she trotted into the library. The organized state brought her up short as Spike closed the door behind her. Rainbow knew Twilight was a very organized pony, but this was extreme for her which could only mean one thing. A royal visit...

"Uh, Twilight? Why didn't you say somepony was visiting?" Rainbow asked, unsure of who it might be. Most likely Celestia, but even Luna could cause this ruckus. Twilight, who had been silent up to this point released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"It wasn't really scheduled. Princess Celestia is going to be here any minute. As for your book..." Twilight paused and realized the book was in the stack of books on the main table, which had rapidly been thrown in every direction where a spot could be found. Realization of what this meant sent chills down Twilight's spine as she admitted the next statement.

"...I have no idea where it is." Twilight's head hung in defeat as she realized her own panic had not only caused her to misplace a book for a friend who she was trying to get to read more as it was, but also added to her work by making her go through every shelf in the library and resort. Rainbow, on the other hand, reacted very differently.

"BWAHAHA! Twilight! You egghead! You get WAY to worked up about this stuff. The Princess is not going to expect the place to be spotless." Rainbow replied, rolling on the ground laughing at her friends antics. Spike joined her in laughing as she echoed his exact statement from earlier. Twilight just watched the two for a moment, considering how to shut them up when another knock came at the door. Everypony stopped and looked at the door then to each other before Spike stood and answered it.

"Princess Celestia!" Spike said in surprise before jumping back and bowing in respect. Rainbow and Twilight both joined suit as the Princess walked in and nodded to her subjects, a friendly smile on her face.

"Please please my little ponies. You bow every time and every time I tell you there is no need. I am visiting your home. And it's a visit I am quite happy about." Princess Celestia spoke, her voice and soothing and as peaceful as it always was. Twilight and Rainbow both stood up and smiled to the Princess before them as their tension at the royal visit left. Following that, Twilight stepped forward and hugged her mentor.

"I'm excited too Princess. It's been so long. I should have read a book on chaos magic sooner." Twilight laughed as she joked with the Princess, who returned the humor with a laugh of her own.

"Very true my student. It will be good to teach you again. It looks as if you have the book out still, so perhaps we should get comfortable and I can explain why it makes no sense?" Princess Celestia offered, motioning to the lone book at the table. Twilight, forgetting she even had a guest, nodded and followed the Princess to the table, eager to learn. The Princess was more perceptive of the room however.

"Rainbow Dash. Do you wish to learn about chaos magic and order? You might not use magic, but I know weather ponies work near the Everfree and chaos magic is strong there." Princess Celestia offered. Normally Rainbow Dash would run to the hills to avoid a lecture on anything. Especially magic. However something gave her pause. It was the same something that told her to pull up out of a dive, or to bank left in a cloud to prevent hitting something hidden.

"Why not, I have time. Plus I'm curious what some old book could say to confuse Twilight and cause a royal visit." Rainbow said, her typical brashness in full force. The Princess was unaffected, and simply nodded with a knowing smile.

"Well then, let's start with chaos magic that you are familiar with. The magic of Discord."

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AUTHORS NOTE: THIS CHAPTER WAS PLANNED TO BE MUCH LONGER, BUT I FELT BREAKING IT HERE WOULD HELP BEST WITH THE FLOW. BAD NEWS IS THAT YOU WILL NEED TO WAIT A BIT TO LEARN WHAT THE DEAL WITH CHAOS MAGIC IS, AND WHAT SWIFTS PLANS ARE FOR SCOOTALOO. GOOD NEWS IS I ALREADY HAVE IT LINED OUT IN MY HEAD AND EVEN PARTLY WRITTEN DOWN, SO IT SHOULDN'T BE A LONG WAIT.

IN THE MEANTIME, FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THINK OF THE STORY, OR WHERE YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE GOING.

Chapter 9: The Nexus

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Rainbow Dash's ears dropped the instant the Princess mentioned Discord. Of all the enemies she had ever faced, either as an Element of Harmony or just growing up as a competitive pony, Discord was by far the one that worried her the most. No other enemy had ever got her to do what Discord did with ease: break her word and be disloyal to her friends. Even after they had defeated Discord because Twilight reminded them of their bond, Dash had never fully forgiven herself for being duped so easily.

Twilight, having come to terms with the fact that magic was used to cause those same effects, was more interested in learning the one thing that had eluded her about the entire encounter. The 'HOW' of the magic involved. She was very talented with magic, and could defend against most magic because she was familiar with it, but Discord was able to move around her barriers and defenses with ease, so learning more about it would allow her to protect her friends.

Princess Celestia noticed the looks flash across the two ponies before her, and could understand both reactions. With a warm smile, she began.

"Twilight, as you are aware, with our magic there are rules and laws that must be followed. Magic cannot create something from nothing for example." The Princess explained, gaining a nod from Twilight. She recognized it as the First Law of Magic, according to Starswirl the Bearded. The Princess continued before Twilight could start on one of her famous rants.

"These laws are the basis for what we call 'Order Magic'. It is because we know these laws that we can use and develop our magic into spells and abilities. It's through the use of latent order magics in the world that we draw power, arrange the forces, and cast our spells. However there is another form of magic in the world called 'Chaos Magic'." The Princess explained, taking a seat on the nearby couch. Her two pupils moved to join her, sitting on the floor in front of her as the listened. The image warmed Celestia's heart, reminding her of the days in the castle teaching a rapt Twilight Sparkle the basics of magic.

"Chaos Magic, unfortunately, has always been a mystery to ponykind. The default answer we always come to is that it follows no rules, as you obviously read in that book." The Princess motioned to the copy of Discord Theory on the table. Twilight rapidly shook her head before answering.

"Yes Princess, but like I mentioned in my letter: that doesn't make any sense. Everything has to follow rules if it is controlled and Discord controlled it." Twilight asked. Rainbow, for her part, simply listened as the two conversed. Magic was something she had little knowledge in other than 'horn glow, stuff happens', but even she understood the basics of what Twilight was saying. The Princess seemed to agree with the two of them as she nodded.

"This is true Twilight, which is why I said it was much more complicated in my letter. To say chaos magic doesn't follow rules is honestly an easy way to say we can't understand those rules." Celestia, knowing her student, waited for the expectant reply.

"But just because we don't understand them doesn't mean we shouldn't learn them?! Who would just give up so easily and call themselves an expert?" Twilight hated when people dismissed knowledge but claimed to seek it. Many of the nobles in Canterlot were like that. Claiming to be in search of some great knowledge, but honestly just looking for recognition by their peers without putting in any works. Rainbow ended up being the one to surprise the two other ponies in the room, most likely due to the fact that she was ignoring the parts about magic.

"Twilight, she didn't say don't understand, but 'CAN'T understand'," Rainbow offered. Celestia nodded to Rainbow in confirmation, bringing a smile to Rainbow's face.

"Rainbow Dash is correct, Twilight. Chaos magic isn't something we just never learned the rules for. There are teams of unicorns in Canterlot and other cities to this day who continue to research it, but no breakthroughs have been had since the first time Discord attacked. The reason is simply our minds and bodies are not equipped to understand it." Celestia explained. Rainbow accepted this at face value, deciding no more thought on her part would help. Teams of eggheads were working on it, and it wasn't flying related, so she was out of ideas. Twilight, on the other hand, had her own opinion.

"That still doesn't make sense, Princess. It works and affects us, so we should be able to study it." Twilight hated not understanding a topic. This was what drew her to study so much. She would start out knowing nothing, but learn more and more as she researched. With this, she always felt like she was at zero information, even after a large amount of research.

"We can see it's results, but not how it does them. The basis of our magics are fundamentally different. Let me ask you this, Twilight Sparkle: What is two plus two?" The Princess decided to try a new approach. Twilight had always loved math as much as she had loved magic, and both shared a common thread. The base rules were exact and defined, so perhaps destroying that logic would help her understand.

"Huh...oh...It's four Princess. But what does that have to do with magic?" Twilight answered, confused by the sudden shift in topics.

"Correct. And because we know that, we also are able to prove that two times two is four, four times four is sixteen, and so on. All our math can be proven because we know what two plus two is. Now, what if I told you that two plus two equals three?" The Princess let the impact of such a statement sink into her pupils mind. Twilight's instinct was to refute it, but she had learned to respect the Princess's methods of teaching and gave the ridiculous question a bit more thought.

"Well, I would try to explain how that isn't true, and dive into the basics of mathematics." Twilight finally said, not quite grasping the point of the exercise. Rainbow had at this point rested her head on her front hooves and watched the back and forth, finding herself entertained at Twilight's difficulty to understand the concept. Rainbow didn't understand it at all, but magic wasn't her talent either.

"A noble goal, and the right thing to do for this question, but relate this to our original problem. You know how the very basics of magic works: The two plus two if you will. That is the foundation of order magic. Chaos magic's foundation is different, but uses the similar components. Thus for them, two plus two really is three. It isn't an error in their math, it is a provable truth. In the same ways we prove that it isn't a sum of three, but of four, they would be able to do the opposite, prove it isn't four, but three." The Princess explained, smirking as she could watch Twilight trying to rationalize the concept of two plus two not equaling four. After a moment, Twilight seemed to give up on the task and simply nodded.

"I think I understand. We can't understand the basics of chaos magic because our world doesn't follow it's laws of magic?" Twilight asked, which received a slight nod from the Princess.

"That is close. Our world does follow chaos rules to a degree, after all it exists. However life itself follows order, not chaos. So everything we see, from the grass and birds, to the ponies around us, all live within the rules of order. Chaos can affect them, but they don't live based on it. There almost universal, with one near exception." Celestia explained, bringing them back from the math lecture into magic. Twilight and Rainbow both nodded as Twilight spoke.

"Discord. He is the exception, the Nexus of Chaos you mentioned." Twilight stated more than asked. Both she and Rainbow Dash were a bit shocked at the Princess's response.

"Not at all. Discord is indeed the exception, but he is not a Nexus of Chaos. Discord is a being of chaos, so for him the rules of chaos make complete sense. For him, two and two do indeed equal three. However he has the spark of life our world is based on in him. He has a spark of order within his chaos at a core level. Strip all that he is, and there is a bit of order magic giving him life and existence here. How that works is a topic that has been debated for a thousand years." Celestia explained, watching as her student, or students as it currently was, took this in. She could tell Rainbow Dash was mostly just accepting what was said, but Twilight was analyzing it and trying to fit it together.

"If he is chaos with just a bit of order, would that make studying him valuable for learning the rules of chaos?" Twilight finally answered.

"We have studied him, as best we can while he is stone my student. However little can be learned. Think of the conversations you had with him while he was attacking. Much of what he said sounded like nonsense. When he spoke directly to you it would make sense, but beyond that it was, for lack of a better term, chaos. That is what he is, chaos that CAN exist with order, can observe it and adapt to it. If there was a race of beings who were purely based on chaos magic, then Discord would be more valuable to them as a way of learning about order." Celestia explained as she watched Twilight's eyes for understanding. It took a few minutes, but Twilight finally nodded.

"So he isn't a Nexus of Chaos, but is a Nexus of Order?" Twilight asked, thinking she finally understood what the Princess was saying, but needed to make certain. Celestia smiled widely at her student, again impressed with how fast she picked up new information as she nodded in confirmation. Twilight smiled back, a shared smile the two had when the student gained pride in new knowledge and the teacher gained pride in her student. This moment between mentor and pupil was shattered by their third party.

"So why not just find a Nexus of Chaos? Learn from them?" Rainbow said. It seemed simple to her. Find this nexus, learn how your enemies magic works, and get stronger. Problem solved. The Princess spoke before Twilight had a chance, as she knew Twilight was brilliant, but sometimes not the best of teachers, and Rainbow Dash was not the best of students.

"That is the crux of the issue Rainbow Dash. Discord exists as the Nexus of Order because he is a being of chaos with the spark of life, of order magic, within his core. A Nexus of Chaos would be a being of order with the spark of chaos magic within their core, not the spark of order. In all my years of existence I have never seen a being of chaos without order magic granting them life. So based on that information, a Nexus of Chaos can't exist. Theoretically." The Princess explained, adding the last part as an afterthought. Rainbow, surprisingly, understood what the Princess was saying. Life required order, and a nexus required life. Twilight caught the end of Celestia's explanation however.

"Theoretically? I thought life required order?" She asked, confused as to how it could be theory if it was also fact.

"All life we have ever seen or contacted has been based no order magic. There is no direct law stating order is required for life, but all life has been based on order. Life and order magics relationship isn't one of mutual exclusion, but instead is simply the only way we have ever seen it. Could chaos life exist, sure. But have we ever seen it or seen a way for it to work, not at this point." Princess Celestia responded almost automatically. She had explained this to many ponies over the years as the generally incorrect truth about life and order magic being exclusive had been printed over and over. Twilight clearly had read a lot of the books with this misinformation, but her trust of the Princess was stronger.

"I haven't ever seen such statements, but if you say so I will believe it and refocus my research. But, life without rules, it just seems impossible." Twilight said, the last part more to herself as she started planning in her mind how to research such a topic. Celestia simply shook her head as her best student missed the most important part. The part so many ponies before her had missed.

"Who said life without rules? All I said was chaos life was theoretically possible. Remember, chaos magic has rules just the same as order, we just can't comprehend them." Princess Celestia explained, drawing a surprised look from her student as the final piece fell into place. Twilight understood what the Princess had been trying to explain. Glancing around, she realized most of the books she had on the topic would probably be useless, so she would have to start from scratch, but what a start it would be. To learn even a basic truth of chaos would be a huge benefit to unicorns for years, centuries even!

Celestia smiled at her student as she could tell thoughts of research, experiments, and documentation were flying through her head. Turning her own head from that, the Princess looked at the rather quite student of the two.

"Rainbow Dash, do you have any questions? I know magic isn't something you have ever been interested in, but you have sat through this whole lecture." The Princess asked. The polychromatic pegasus was an exciting part of the lecture for the Princess. This was the first time in centuries anything but a unicorn had really listened to her knowledge of chaos magic. Perhaps an outside view would be useful.

"I think I understood it for the most part, which is shocking I know." Rainbow Dash said, joking at the self deprecating comment before continuing.
"Just a shame we don't have one of the Nexus of Chaos thingies to help." Celestia nodded at Rainbow Dash's comment before responding.

"Ponies have been searching for a Nexus of Chaos for several hundred years, if not more. I'm sure some day we might find one, but sadly it isn't something that just falls out of the sky."

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Swift banked hard around one of the clouds lazily floating through the sky. The weather for the day had called for a slight cloud cover and currently those clouds were giving Swift obstacles to practice his maneuvers with. Part of him wanted to attempt some more complicated stuff he had watched Dash do during her practices, but that wasn't his current focus. Right now, his attention was mostly on his passenger.

"AWESOME! Ponyville is so small from up here!" Scootaloo shouted as the glided in the air. Swift looked back to the young filly currently on his back and smiled. He also made a quick check that the harness he had assembled was holding well. The rope he had found was currently tied around his own waist, looping up in front of his wings. From that, two smaller ropes were attached to a matching harness on Scootaloo, one to the left and one to the right. The connecting ropes were slack right now, but Swift had plans for that.

"This is how all pegasi see the world. And when we get you flying on your own, this is how you can see it too." Swift explained, understanding full well the excitement of being in the air for the first time. When he explained the idea to Scootaloo, she admitted she had never been taken for a flight. If nothing else was a factor, that would have been enough to get Swift to take her up, but her depression about never being able to fly hurt to watch, and Swift knew seeing the world from up here would get her over such worries.

"It's better than I imagined! Thank you, Swift!" Scootaloo leaned forward and hugged Swift from behind, wrapping her little arms around his neck as far as they could go and holding tight. She wasn't able to cut off any breathing, so he simply nodded and leaned his head back in acceptance.

"I have a better surprise." Swift started as he leveled off and slowed down as much as he could without falling from the sky.
"You see how my wings are positioned? The way the are straight, but curled slightly? That is a textbook glide position." Swift explained, using this chance to show her how the wing movements worked in action, rather than in theory. Looking back as he flew straight forward, he saw Scootaloo indeed taking in all the angles and remembering them.

"I left a foot of rope slack on the harness. Stand up and spread your wings like that. Do no flap or try to fly, just match my position." Swift said suddenly. Scootaloo's eyes shot forward to look into his, surprise evident on her face.

"Huh? Why?" She asked, confused.

"Simple. I'm not flapping my wings, but I'm still moving forward, not falling. That shape will create lift and hold you up. Once you have it, I can speed up and you should take off as long as you hold the position." He explained, telling her she had a chance to fly, albeit assisted. Scootaloo nearly screamed in excitement as she threw her wings out. Standing tall on Swifts back, trusting him and the ropes to keep her safe, she attempted to mimic his shape, but jumped when he suddenly flapped his wings.

"Sorry Scoots. We were slowing down to much, had to get some more speed. Keep trying, and remember to keep your wings stiff." He apologized and explained, returning to a glide position. Scootaloo nodded and tried again. Swift let her experiment for a moment as he watched her tweek her wing positions until she got it nearly correct. He could tell by the lessening of the weight on his back that she was getting it.
"You about got it squirt. Notice you feel like you are weighing less?" He asked, noticing her nod without breaking her concentration. A few more moments and she lifted completely off Swifts back a good foot before the ropes became taut.

"Ohmygodohmygod! I'm FLYING!" Scootaloo shouted, holding her wing position nearly perfect. She dropped on the left side for a moment as she shouted, but quickly corrected it before Swift even needed to adjust to stay under her.

"Yes you did Scoots! I told you that you had it in you! No reason to be down!" He shouted, looking back and up at her. She looked down at Swift below her, seeing him, and Ponyville behind him, all below her with nothing but a safety rope between. A tear started to role down her face, but she quickly shook it away, ready to blame the wind. Swift smiled, saying nothing: He would blame the wind too.

"So, want to go faster?" He asked, a mischievous grin on his face. Scootaloo simply grinning in response and nodded.

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Two hours later the two pegasi were lazing on a cloud that was quickly becoming Swift's favorite lounge spot. Swift was catching his breath after pulling Scootaloo around while she practiced steering and banking with her wings. She even had started to attempt flight control via wing flaps rather than just gliding, but that was going to take more ground work. Nonetheless Swift was highly impressed with the young filly. She clearly was a talented flier, if only someone had taken the time to teach her.

That talented young filly was currently laying on top of Swift on the cloud, still tethered to his back by the loose ropes. Taking them off was going to be tricky and she was still trying to talk him into more flying. Swift knew she would love to do so, but her yawns as they landed showed how tired she was from the constant thinking and learning, hence her currently being passed out, cuddling her face into Swifts mane as she slept. Swift couldn't help but smile at the sight, or what he could easily see of it. He had spent many hours watching over the three fillies who called themselves Cutie Mark Crusaders, but Scootaloo had managed to earn a special spot in his heart. She was the only one who couldn't use their natural abilities, and was always upbeat about learning it and had her eyes on a future dream. Needless to say, Swift was determined to make sure she saw that dream.

"She is strong. Soon she will be up here with Dash and I flying fast and doing her stunts." Swift thought aloud as he shifted his head and rested it on a tuft of cloud acting as a pillow. His thoughts shifted with the comment to the other pony he spent a lot of time with. Rainbow Dash was very much like a grown up Scootaloo. Very sure of herself, proud, loyal, and fiercely competitive. As far as Swift could tell, she had every right to be as well.

Swift's thoughts continued to go over the time he and Dash had spent together when a voice finally caught his attention.

"Swift!" Scootaloo said, surprisingly loudly, causing Swift to whip is head around to look at the filly who was currently sitting up on his back.

"Oh yeah? You awake?" He asked, smiling to the filly. Scootaloo gave him a skeptical look as she nodded.

"Yeah, and called your name three times. What were you all lost in thought about?" Scootaloo asked, wondering what kept him preoccupied. Swift shook his head to show nothing was wrong.

"Nothing Scoots. Was just thinking about things." Swift explained, not wanting to bring up Rainbow Dash while tied together with Scootaloo. She was a wonderful pony, but when Dash came up, she tended to go crazy. Swift smirked at the thought, which Scootaloo noticed. The image reminded her of a look Rarity had had when she was talking to Fluttershy the other day while Scootaloo had been visiting Sweetie Bell. The conversation the two had at the time was about Swift actually.

"Were you thinking about Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked, figuring more info could be useful. Swift's eyes locked on Scootaloo, surprised by the random question, plus the lack of fangirl mode she was currently displaying.

"Some of it was, yeah. Aside from you, she is my best friend." Swift said, smiling warmly to the young pegasus. Scootaloo smiled in return before asking more about what she had heard. Rarity had sworn to Fluttershy that by now her plan would have come to work. They then had spoken, or rather Rarity had spoke, at great lengths about what was planned, ending with a comment that she couldn't wait to find out. Perhaps Scootaloo could find out.

"Did you ask her out yet?"

Chapter 10: Celestia the Matchmaker

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The breeze blew by gently, slightly rustling the hair in Swift's mane as he stared directly at Scootaloo, his eyes wide in surprise. Scootaloo meanwhile simply watched him as she waited for an answer to her question. A question that, for her was a simple curiosity, and for him was a door he hadn't planned on opening for a long while.

"Um...well no. I haven't asked her out." Swift managed to get out, but the thoughts in his head were barely even paying attention to his words. Before she had asked, he had indeed been thinking about the cyan pegasus. How she flew through the air during practice when he would watch from the ground and cheer, and more recently when he would be flying beside her, and how she would love to prank their friends, himself included sometimes, but would always help when needed.

The whole time he had thought it before, it was just his thinking about how good a friend she was. Sure she was very attractive; Swift couldn't imagine how some people said otherwise. The way her mane would glisten as she shot through a cloud, and the rainbow trail that would follow her all had a beauty to them, though he wouldn't have used that term before.

Now though, his brain was running through the same visions and instead of the event: the practice, the prank, or the meal, all he saw was Rainbow Dash. Her personality, her loyalty, and even her beauty were all running through his head. He hadn't considered it before because he just didn't have time to think about such things. With the amnesia, constant job hunting and food hunting, then researching at Twilight's while helping the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a relationship wasn't on the table. However, now that this filly on his back had asked her somewhat innocent question, Swift couldn't help but think about a relationship with Dash.

Before pursuing that thought any further, another question rose to Swifts mind.

"Why do you ask? Did she say something?" Swift didn't think such a question would be something a young filly would ask without a prompt from someone. He watched as Scootaloo shook her head no.

"Nope. I don't get to talk to Rainbow Dash often. I just heard Rarity mention it when I was visiting Sweetie Belle the other day." Scootaloo answered as she started preening one of her wings, making sure her feathers were straight. She clearly didn't see a reason to keep it a secret, after all Rarity had been openly discussing it when she heard it. Swift's eyes narrowed as he thought about the town gossip and dressmaker.

"Rarity you say?" Swift said, passively as he looked back out over the town. This bit of information suddenly made that unicorn's behavior recently make a lot more sense. Dash had mentioned odd looks she had noticed from Rarity from time to time, but they decided it wasn't worth looking into. Now the answer seems to have found Swift himself. Deciding it was time to move along, he slowly started to stand so Scootaloo could adjust and remain on his back.

"Well, ready to return to land?" Swift half asked, half told Scootaloo. They had gotten a good bit of flying in and Swift wanted to stop by the library to look into some more books on being a weather pony. Scootaloo, excited to feel the wind in her mane again, nodded as she braced for take off. With a quick jump and dive, the two rapidly returned to the ground to unhook and separate: Scootaloo to go off with the other crusaders, and Swift to the library.

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Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle were all gathered around the central table in the library sharing tea and cake while talking about more common topics. Their discussion on chaos magic had ended and Twilight wanted to spend more time with her mentor, while Rainbow Dash simply had nothing better to do for the time being since her new Daring Do book was lost in the stacks of the library.

"So they have to redo the construction to the main hall after all. Last time we hire a griffon mason to build pillar work." The princess explained, referring to the project to rebuild the main hall after the Grand Galloping Gala incident. Rainbow Dash had the decency to blush when the topic of HOW those older pillars got destroyed came up.

"I'm still sorry about that, Princess." She said, for the hundredth time. The princess simply smiled at the pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash, I told you it was ok. No one was hurt, and it was time for a remodel of that room anyhow. That and you were just trying to help." She reassured the young pegasus. Rainbow nodded in acceptance, while Twilight simply smiled warmly at the exchange, before getting concerned at the devious expression the princess had assumed.

'Uh oh.' Twilight thought, recognizing that face. What was the princess about to do?

"Oh, and Rainbow, tell me about this new colt you have been with. Twilight mentioned him in her letter, but you seem to be the go to mare about him." She asked, grinning. Rainbow came out of her depression about the ruckus at the gala and grinned at the new topic, not noticing the look from Celestia.

"Oh Swift is great. We just got him set up as an apprentice weather pony for Ponyville, and he is flying already as well. Soon I will start teaching him stunts so we can practice to get me into the Wonderbolts! Who knows, maybe he can join too!" She explained, her excitement ever present in her voice. Twilight simply shook her head at the predictable antics of the daredevil when the Wonderbolts came into conversation and excused herself to take dishes into the kitchen. Celestia and Dash both nodded before continuing their conversation.

"Sounds like he is an amazing colt then. You are a lucky mare." The princess said in her soothing, almost motherly voice. Rainbow nodded before realizing what the princess was insinuating.

"Wait, no. We are just friends." Dash quickly explained, finally noticing the grin the princess had been showing.
"He just woke up a couple weeks ago without his memory. The last thing he is going to want is to have get into a relationship." Dash explained, not even noticing her own voice going a bit flat at the end of her own statement. Princess Celestia smiled at the pegasus' slip.

"I notice you say he wouldn't want such a relationship. You didn't say anything about your own feelings." The Princess commented. Rainbow's eyes locked up at the princess, looking for the right response. She could flat out deny it, but this was the princess. She was as good as Applejack at seeing someones lies usually, and the truth was Rainbow had thought about such a thing with Swift more than she cared to admit recently.

'He is a great guy, but he doesn't remember his past. I can't get involved with him and he remember someone from before, can I?' She had argued this thought with herself before and found herself losing the argument more and more. Especially since Swing and she had started flying together, she had grown to desire the time in the air with him as much as she did the time she got to fly in the air on her own. Rainbow felt panic build up in her chest as she realized the princess was waiting for an answer, but she didn't know what to say.

Thankfully she was saved as the door to the library opened and a customer stepped inside.

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Swift slowed from his sprint through the market district as he approached the library. He had landed out in the fields where he found Scootaloo earlier in the day and after tearing down the harness, she had run off to play with the other crusaders. No doubt to brag about her flight and proclaim she would soon be flying alongside her hero, Rainbow Dash.

That was the current pony taking up a majority of Swift's thoughts as he jogged through town, smiling to vendors who had grown to recognize him in his time in town. He even spotted Big Mac towering over others at a produce stand, but didn't stop to say hello. The large stallion was haggling with the shop keeper, and Swift didn't want to interrupt (though hearing Big Mac speak haggle in one word comments was something Swift really wanted to see).

Throughout the jog, his thoughts remained heavily on the rainbow maned pony who had become his friend. Often he would think about her, but ever since Scootaloo's 'innocent' question, he couldn't stop thinking of new possibilities with his friend.

'Her mane. Her eyes. Even her toned body. Gah Scootaloo! I blame you, you filly!' He shook his head, cursing the crusader for her question. Thankfully he knew Rainbow Dash had already been by the library to pick up her new Daring Do book and would be at her house reading, so the library would be a nice quiet place to organize his thoughts and decide what to do next.

So lost in these thoughts was Swift that he failed to notice the golden chariot outside or the armored ponies around as he opened the door to the library.

"Hey Twilight! How's it....going...." Swift strode in, shouting for Twilight and expecting the typical shush reaction when he found himself looking at a tall, regal looking pony he had never seen before. Her hair seemed to flow in wind that wasn't around, and upon closer examination Swift absently noticed she had wings and a horn.

"Uh...um....hi." Swift's power over the Equestrian language showing just how strong it currently was, he managed to fumble out a weak greeting. The pony simply smiled with a motherly smile and nodded her head. Somehow this helped Swift relax slightly from his shock, but not his nervousness. This was clearly a pony of some import. Before he could inquire, or embarrass, himself further, Twilight Sparkle entered the room.

"Did I hear my name?" She asked as she rounded the corner and saw Swift standing before the Princess, the former shocked and confused, and the latter amused.

"Ah, Swift. Allow me to introduce Princess Celestia." Twilight walked up beside her mentor. Swift's eyes widened greatly at this introduction.

"Celestia?! PRINCESS Celestia?! My apologies!" Swift dropped to a bow in respect for the regent of the sun, who finally broke out with a small giggle at the antics before her.

"Now now, rise my little pony. Your respect is appreciated, but there is little need for the formalities. Besides, I was just talking about you with Rainbow Dash here." the Princess explained, motioning her head towards where Dash was currently sitting. Swift's head shot around and saw Dash staring at him in shock for some reason. Swift quietly thanked the maker that his coat was purple, so the blush he could feel running to his face would be heavily masked.

Unfortunately Rainbow Dash had no such luck. With her cyan coat, the red tint was quite evident on her face. She couldn't believe of all the ponies in Ponyville, it had to be Swift to walk through the door right at that point. Dash waved sheepishly to Swift as he looked at her before motioning back to the Princess. She didn't want Swift's eyes on her right now, at least until she got herself under control. Thankfully for her, Swift looked back to the princess, leaving her to her thoughts.

"Talking about me? I didn't realize I was discussion worthy for royalty." He said, trying to take his mind off Rainbow Dash. The Princess had an all knowing smile and simply nodded.

"But of course. You are one of my subjects, and given your history from what Twilight here has told me, you are a fascinating subject. You have my condolences about your lost memory, but you seem to have made some wonderful friends here in Ponyville," the Princess said, motioning primarily to Dash, but including Twilight in her motion as well. Twilight simply nodded, but felt sorry for the two other ponies in the room. When the Princess got this way, Twilight knew any number of things could happen.

"Unfortunately I must be on my way. There are nobles from the Griffon Lands who want to discuss trade agreements, and I mustn't be late." The Princess explained as she stood to leave. The ponies all stood with her (Swift already having been standing stepped aside so she could reach the door, and in turn a step closer to Rainbow Dash) and made ready to wish her well.

"Princess, thank you again for the help with that lecture." Twilight said, wanting the Princess to know shew as truly thankful for the chance to learn from her mentor once again.

"Yeah, it was pretty interesting, even for me!" Dash said, smiling as she waved. The Princess nodded to the pegasus before turning to her student.

"Twilight Sparkle, there is one last thing. Formal invites and missives will come within the week, but I have news from Canterlot. In two months, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza will be getting married to the Captain of the Royal Guard." The Princess said, smiling. Twilight looked confused as she was speaking until the end.

"WHAT?! The Captain?!" Twilight's shock reverberated through the library as the Princess simply nodded.

"I felt you would like to know as soon as possible. Things have been busy for the guard, so he hasn't been able to send out notice, but all of your friends are invited, and I personally have tasks I would like each of them to perform." She explained, then after a pause turned to Swift.

"You are invited as well, Swift. The letters won't mention you, but I will make sure you are on the list." She offered with a smile. Swift simply nodded in agreement, shocked to be invited to such a high class event in the first place.
"But I really must be off. I shall see you all soon, and I look forward to your letters my dear student." Celestia said, bidding farewell to the library as a chorus of goodbyes followed her out the door.

Once the door closed, Swift and Dash both looked to Twilight, who appeared to be shocked about something.

"Hey Twi? What's up? You don't look so good." Dash said, hovering over to her. Twilight glanced up to Dash then over to Swift.

"Shining Armor is getting married. The Captain of the Guard," she mumbled loud enough for the duo to hear. Swift and Dash shard a confused (and awkward given their previous thoughts) look about what the big deal was when Twilight spoke again.

"He is my brother."

Chapter 11: Swift Advance

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Swift and Rainbow Dash looked surprised at Twilight Sparkle's revelation: the latter more than the former.

"Your brother? I didn't know you had a brother." Dash said, watching her good friend. The expression on Twilight's face seemed void of most emotion other than a faint hint of confusion. After a moment of silence between the two, she finally snapped back to reality and looked to Dash.

"Huh? Oh..yeah. Shining Armor, the Captain of the Royal Guard, is my BBBFF." She explained as she stepped over to her table and sat, or rather dropped, on the floor.
"He hasn't even told me he was seeing somepony, and now he is getting married?!" She asked, most likely to just herself judging by the volume. Rainbow Dash looked over to Swift, unsure how to react and hoping he had an idea. He simply had a single question, as he stepped towards their mutual friend.

"Um, Twilight. What's a BBBFF?" Swift asked as Dash smacked her hoof to her forehead behind him. Of all the questions about the situation, THAT was his first?!

Twilight smiled as she looked to the purple pegasus.

"BBBFF. You know, Big Brother, Best Friend Forever." Twilight explained as though it should have been clear as day.
"Or at least he used to be. Not telling me about a marefriend, and only learning of the marriage from the Princess. Why didn't he tell me." Slipping into her own thoughts, Twilight's voice faded as she tried to reason out why her big brother would keep such a thing from her. Swift placed a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You heard the princess, he is busy with his duties. When was the last time you two spoke?" He asked, hoping to prove that it was simply a busy time for the soon to be groom.

"We haven't written each other in a while. When I first moved to Ponyville we wrote a couple of times, but even so, this is something he should have told me!" She said, getting angry at the end. Swift lifted his hoofs in a 'don't shoot the messenger' pose while trying to calm Equestria's most powerful unicorn.

"He probably doesn't want to have you worrying about him. He knows you have a life here. Besides, did you immediately tell him about being an Element of Harmony, or about defeating Discord, or even about the other not-so-grand adventures you and your friends have had?" Swift asked, hoping it helped the unicorn calm down, though even he would admit he wasn't sure how. Luckily it seemed to have an affect, as Twilight visibly relaxed.

"No, he found out about the elements from the Princess. I was too busy to write at the time." She mumbled, but it was still clear to Dash and Swift, who just smiled to each other. Twilight looked up at the two before smiling a small smile as well.

"I guess I really can't be upset, though I'm sure this 'Princess Mi Amore' isn't worthy of him. I'll need to have a talk with her as soon as possible." Twilight said, shifting her frustration to the bride to be. Swift simply nodded as Dash looked confused.

"Wait Twilight, you don't know this princess? I thought you would, living all up in the snooty capital." Dash asked, referring to Twilight growing up around the Princess. Twilight looked highly embarrassed.

"Well....I spent all my time in the library. I only knew a few ponies before moving to Ponyville." She said, embarrassed that she didn't know more of the big names around Canterlot. After a moment of thinking about how much time she wasted not getting to know people, she snapped back to the issue at hand.
"But that doesn't matter. She still has to pass my test before I consider her worthy of my big brother!" Twilight said, no longer sounding like an all powerful unicorn and keeper of the library, but rather like a younger sister watching out for her big brother. Swift nodded in agreement with Twilight, drawing a confused look from Dash.

"Most certainly. I wouldn't expect any less from you Twilight. But let's condemn her after the wedding. We have plenty of time for you to get ready, and as Princess Celestia said, you all will have jobs to do." Swift explained, showing support for Twilight without building on her frustration. Twilight simply nodded and relaxed into a more comfortable sitting position.

"Yes, of course. Thank you Swift. I need to start sorting the library again anyhow after my panic earlier. You two are free to stick around and help..." Twilight started, slowing as she presented the offer. A smile grew on her face as she watched the two pegasi reel back and look at each other in panic.

"NO NO! We...uh....gotta practice!" Dash said hastily throwing together an excuse. Swift nodded a bit to vigerously in agreement.

"Yes yes! Practice. You know how it is, weather ponies gotta stay in perfect health, and with Wonderbolt training and other stuff we simply don't have the time!" Swift added as the two started moving slowly towards the door as if slow movement would hide them from Twilight's gaze. The purple unicorn laughed at the predictable antics and simply nodded.

"I figured as much. You two have fun practicing. I'll see you next time I guess." Twilight waved to her friends, who were now by the door and ready to run for their lives. The two relaxed once they knew they weren't being roped into helping reorganize the library.

"Sure thing Twilight. If you need help, be sure to let AJ know!" Dash said before opening the door and jetting out with a cocky grin on her face. Swift started out the door behind her, but stopped and looked back to Twilight, his conscience getting the better of him.

"You sure you don't need help?" He asked, willing to help, but also hoping the answer was....

"No no. I can handle it. I have done this several times before and have a system. You two have fun." Twilight waved him out the door with a shooing motion before turning to face her wall of books, all in the wrong spot. She heard the door shut behind her as Swift left as the task ahead of her sunk in. The only words in her mind sounded more like Rainbow Dash than her own thoughts.

"This sucks."

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Outside the library, Rainbow Dash and Swift stood looking out at the town of Ponyville. Silence stood between the two of them for a bit before Dash finally spoke up.

"Well, I guess I'll head on home. Haven't eaten yet and have some daisy sandwiches I can make." She said, unsure of what to do. The deal with Twilight's brother had helped distract her from the comments made by the Princess in regards to the colt standing next to her, but now out under the afternoon sun, all the thoughts were returning in force. The look of uncertainty on her face showed her inner thoughts more than she would care, and she was worried Swift would notice.

Had she had a clearer mind, she would have instead noticed the same look on Swift's face as well. The conversation with Scootaloo earlier was back in his mind, and with the object of the discussion standing beside him now, he wasn't sure what to do. Should he take the risk? Was it worth risking their friendship? He had just about decided to escape as well when Dash spoke about food. Somehow that hit him in a way he hadn't expected. The thought of her flying off bothered him more than other thoughts he had had, and even more so the idea of her eating alone in her house. Before he even knew what he was doing, he found himself speaking up.

"Actually Dash, how about we go get food. Together." Swift's own heart froze as he spoke, realizing he was opening a door that couldn't be closed. Dash stopped cold dead in her tracks and looked over to the purple stallion, directly into his eyes.

'Did he just ask me to dinner?' Her thoughts started racing about what was intended by the request. Food as friends? Or food as a date?

"Swift, did you just ask me on a date?" Dash asked, trying to sound playful, but a bit of uneasiness creeping into her voice. Swift didn't respond, but simply nodded. That simple nod, a gesture requiring minimal movement, nailed down the final resistances Dash had put up to any sort of date with her best friend. The tension in her stance relaxed as she grinned to the stallion.
"Dinner sounds wonderful. How about we meet here in a couple of hours. I need to get ready and check on Tank." She explained.

Swift saw the muscles relax in Dash's stance and his own followed suit. Releasing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, he smiled warmly back to the daredevil.
"Sounds wonderful. Two hours from now, we will have dinner together. I can't wait." He replied, accepting the time. Now he just needed to find a place to get cleaned up and ready. Before he had a chance to consider his options on that front, the door to the library swung open with Twilight using her magic to carry a book.

"Rainbow Dash? Oh, it's just you Swift." Twilight said, bringing a confused look to Swift's face, along with a sly grin.

"Wow, way to make a colt feel special Twi." Swift joked. Twilight realized how she had sounded and had the good decency to blush in embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry about that. I just found the book Rainbow had been here to pick up and heard you outside. I was hoping to give it to her now, but I will just hold it until next time." Twilight explained as she turned back to step into the library. Swift realized he might have found an answer to his problem and stepped forward.

"Actually, Dash and I are having dinner this evening, so I can give it to her then if you want so it isn't taking up space." He explained, building up to ask to borrow her shower. Unfortunately he didn't get to continue before Twilight's head jerked around suddenly.

"Dinner?! Seriously? Drat, I'll owe Rarity twenty bits now." Twilight said, not realizing exactly what she was admitting to as she looked to the side in slight frustration. Swift's eyes narrowed as he realized what she was talking about.

"You will owe Rarity twenty bits why?" He asked bluntly. He wasn't really upset, but if it was as he thought, then Twilight had apparently bet against him, which sort of hurt the pegasus.

"Oh...um....he..he..." Twilight started backpedaling to find a way out of her foot-in-mouth moment, but realized she had dug a ten foot pit with no ladder.
"Well see. Rarity thought the two of you would end up on a date, but I never imaged Rainbow Dash would ever be into something like that, given that all she thinks about is flying. Serves me right for agreeing to a bet with a socialite like Rarity on a social issue..." Twilight explained, bringing a grin to Swift's face. She hadn't bet against him, she had bet against Rainbow Dash. Most importantly, she realized how ridiculous that bet was to begin with, considering her opponent.

"That's ok, Twilight. You seem to have learned your lesson, so we can leave it at that. That being said, can I borrow your shower to get ready? You can box the book and I'll take it with me when I meet Dash in a couple of hours." Swift explained, following Twilight back into the library. Twilight nodded in agreement as the door closed.

Outside, just around the corner, a certain purple haired unicorn who had overhead everything grinned and held back a very girlish giggle.
'Oh I KNEW those two would end up together. Though if I know our dear Rainbow Dash, she isn't going to get ready properly at all. She simply HAS to let us take her to the spa for this.' She thought as she took off running towards Rainbow Dash's cloud home.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: HI EVERYONE, BEEN A WHILE SINCE I DID AN AUTHOR'S NOTE. THIS CHAPTER IS VERY SHORT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT PEOPLE THINKING I HAVE ABANDONED IT BUT WORK HAS KEPT ME TOO BUSY THIS PAST WEEK AND A HALF. LUCKILY I PROMISE IT WILL SPEED UP FROM HERE.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE EXCITED THAT THE SHIPPING MIGHT BE ABOUT TO HAPPEN, YOU'RE WELCOME.

Chapter 12: A Night on the Town

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Rainbow Dash was pacing in front of her house. When she had agreed to this date with Swift, she hadn't really been thinking about what it could mean, or even what she was supposed to do on a date. Her reputation in flight school hadn't really drawn her a lot of attention from the male population, though the rumors that had somehow gotten around about her drew the attention of one or two mares, much to Dash's dislike. She didn't care who someone liked, but she did not swing that way, no matter how many rumors had started.

Shaking her head to clear it of the memories of the past, Rainbow Dash decided to address her concern as she would any new trick. She would sit down, analyze what her goal was, set a plan of action, and run it by Swift....

'Perhaps that won't work. Wow, I hadn't realized how much I had come to rely on his input for my flying. Hard to believe he only just relearned how to fly recently.' Dash thought, momentarily forgetting the issue she was trying to resolve. Instead, her mind drifted to the pair soaring through the sky, banking around clouds and performing rather simple, but still fun pair stunts designed for two ponies. As was common when her thoughts drifted to her flying, she soon found herself fantasizing about her days with the Wonderbolts, and this time Swift flying alongside her in the signature blue flight suit adorned with yellow lightning bolts. She could even hear the crowd shouting her name.

"Rainbow! Rainbow Dash darling!"

'Darling? What crowd yells that?' Dash thought as she was pulled back to reality. She looked around for a moment before hearing the voice again, this time outside of her fantasy.

"Rainbow dear! I know you are up there!"

'Oh, I know that voice...' Rainbow made her way outside and looked down over the edge of her foundation to see a familiar white unicorn with a very excited expression on her face.
'I guess she knows about Swift.' Dash waved back with a confused look on her face.

"Hey Rarity! Um...what?" Dash shouted down, not bothering to fly down so the two could talk as 'civilized ponies' as Rarity was sure to put it.

"Rainbow Dash, get down here! We simply MUST go to the spa!" The fashionista yelled back up, glancing around to see that no one was watching the two have such a ridiculous shouting conversation. Thankfully for her senses, Rainbow Dash didn't argue and lept off her cloud to join her on the ground with a solid landing.

"Rares, you know I hate the spa, so why do you possibly think I would go?" Dash asked, not giving up any information to the local gossip. She still hoped this was a random visit rather than what she was almost sure it was. Unfortunately for the cyan stuntmare, it was no such luck.

"Really Rainbow. You finally get a date with that wonderful gentlecolt and you expect I wouldn't know. This is a great opportunity for you, but I know you will just let it slip without proper prep. That's why I am here. Come with me to the spa and we will get you ready for a real date." Rarity gushed in excitement. She had always wanted to get Rainbow to actually try the spa for more than a few minutes, and tonight her hope might actually come true. AND she was going to help a friend in the process.
"I promise Rainbow, you do this and you will knock the breath from our dear Swift's lungs when he sees you. Lotus and Aloe will make you simply stunning!" She added, hoping to push Dash over the edge.

Dash herself nearly rallied against it in autopilot, but stopped for a moment. She really didn't know what she was supposed to do and it had just been bothering her, and as much as she hated to admit it, she needed help and Rarity was the best pony to provide this particular bit of assistance. Rarity was as much an expert of the social world as Dash was of the stunt performer world. Taking a deep breath, Dash said words she never imagined would pass from her mouth.

"Ok Rarity. Lead the way."

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Swift stepped out of the shower at the library, having just finished brushing his hair and getting as presentable as possible. In the central room of the library he spotted a box sitting on the table that he assumed held the book for Dash. Without pausing, Swift made his way over to the table for a closer look.

"Wow, what are you all cleaned up for?" A voice spoke from the corner causing Swift to jump into the air and fly up to the ceiling in surprise as he looked for the voice. After a moment, his eyes fell on Spike sitting over at a small table with some large book open in front of him. The look on his face showed how hard he was trying not to laugh at Swift's reaction.

"Not funny Spike." Swift said as he lowered to the ground, a grin on his face to show he wasn't upset. That was all it took to send Spike over the edge laughing.

"Bwahaha! You jump so easily! But seriously, why are you so proper looking? Got a big date?" Spike recovered enough to speak, throwing a light taunt at Swift. His humor died slightly when Swift simply nodded yes with a cocky grin of his own. Before Spike could ask who with, Twilight entered from the basement stairs.

"Ah, there you are Swift. Hope the shower was good. Are you ready for tonight?" She asked, drawing a confused look from Spike. Swift's attention shifted to the purple unicorn as he replied,

"Not really, I have no clue where we are going. I kinda planned on just winging it, as much as I know you hate that." He explained, looking a bit sheepish at admitting to Twilight Sparkle that he had no plan. Twilight laughed warmly as she shook her head.

"True, I would much prefer a plan beforehand. You don't need much of one though. Just a good place for food, then something fun afterwards. I enjoy walks out towards Sweet Apple Acres myself." Twilight explained to provide ideas. In the meantime, Spike simply watched the banter between the two and drew the most obvious realization.

"YOU TWO ARE DATING!?" He finally exclaimed. He knew Swift was over often reading books and knew the two of them were good friends, but he didn't realize how close apparently. Not that he minded: Swift was a great pony who had helped him out a few times. He mostly was hurt they didn't tell him.

The two ponies in question were staring at Spike with looks of extreme confusion for a full minute in silence before realization of what happened kicked in. Twilight and Swift looked back to each other and smiled before Swift finally spoke up.

"Uh, not quite buddy. Twilight is just helping me plan for my date in a couple of hours. I mean no offense to Twilight, she is a great mare, but not my type." He said, as Twilight simply nodded in agreement.

"Most certainly. Swift is a bit to high impact for my tastes, romantically." She added, laughing at the thought of the two being together. Spike's purple scales took on a tint of red as he realized his mistake and looked down sheepishly before finally speaking up.

"Oh, well, if not Twilight then who? Rarity?" He asked, fear in his voice at the idea. Swift was a friendly guy, and Rarity was...well..Rarity. Who wouldn't go after her?!

"Hah, certainly not buddy. I know you got a thing for her and wouldn't do that to you." Swift explained, drawing a relieved sigh from the dragon. Swift left unsaid that he didn't think he could stand being around Rarity that often. She was a great mare, but she and he had just about nothing in common. Spike started thinking through everyone they knew that Swift would be good for.

Fluttershy was way to shy to go on a date.

Applejack worked all the time, so he couldn't see her taking time from the farm to date someone she didn't know very well other than as an employee.

Pinkie Pie was...well...Pinkie Pie.

That just left...

"Wait, don't tell me Rainbow Dash actually agreed on a date?!" Spike suddenly deduced. Swift nodded, smiling happily at the idea.
"Darn. I owe Rarity twenty bits." He mumbled, drawing a flat look from Swift, and a laugh from Twilight. He continued before Swift had a chance to speak up.
"It totally makes sense though. You two are always hanging out, I guess it was just a matter of time. I wouldn't go for a walk with her though. Twilight might like that, but this is Rainbow Dash we are talking about!" Spike said, his voice rising much the same as Dash's own voice would when talking about herself. Swift and Twilight looked to each other and nodded in agreement with the dragon.

"You're very right, Spike. Dash and I both would probably get bored just walking around, but I do have an idea for after dinner. Something simple, but I know she will love it." He explained, looking out the window as the librarian and her assistant shared a confused look at whatever Swift might be planning.

"Well, I hope whatever you have planned works out Swift. If you need help feel free to ask. In the meantime, you might need to go set up reservations." Twilight offered as advice, moving over to get to work on reorganizing the bookshelves she ruined earlier in the day. The sight of all the chaos on the shelves nearly drew a whimper, but Spike stood beside her with a comforting hand on the shoulder. Swift noticed this and decided to advance out before he felt the need to help organize.

"Very true Twilight. I will go do that now. Thanks for boxing the book and for the use of the shower. I'll see you two later!" Swift said quickly as he made his way out the door before the work began, drawing a humored sigh from the remaining attendants.

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Two ponies walked down the roadway leading away from the Ponyville Spa. One looked rather refreshed, the afternoon sunlight bringing out a shine in her polychromatic mane as she trotted alongside her friend. Said friend looked a bit disheveled, and slightly exasperated: all in all looking like she really needed a trip to the spa. Unfortunately she had other issues to attend to.

"I mean it Rainbow darling. You look fantastic, but for a date you really should have a new dress, and I have just the thing." Rarity explained, yet again, to the future Wonderbolt. The last hour had been chaos with the spa, and the rest of their time together didn't look to be improving.

When they first arrived at the spa, Aloe had greeted them and taken them in the back. Once she heard that Rainbow Dash had a date, she started asking hundreds of questions, all of which Rainbow wasn't to keen to answer. Rarity herself ended up explaining that it was with Swift, the new local weather pony, as well as how most of this came to be (as best as she could tell. Rainbow wasn't very forthcoming with details). Rarity knew if she got a fact wrong Rainbow would correct her, and used that to force her into the conversation. After a ten minute soak, Rainbow and Aloe were actually talking leisurely about the plans for the night.

Once they left the soak, it was time for the hooficures. All the progress to get Rainbow relaxed quickly ran screaming out the front door, likely swearing great vengeance on whatever foul beast lured it to the spa. Aloe tried to explain what she was going to do, but Rainbow absolutely wasn't having it, saying that she absolutely hated ponies handling her hooves and simply wouldn't take part in it. After five minutes of arguing, Aloe finally gave up and simply had Rainbow soak her hooves in a mixture that would help make them look as nice as possible without really working on them correctly. Rarity enjoyed her own hooficure while deciding what sort of shoes she could put Rainbow in to make up for this part.

After the hooficure (and simple hoof soak), Rainbow was showing her typical signs of being bored. A bored Rainbow is a dangerous thing, so Rarity started damage control by asking how training was going as they moved to the next part of the treatment, the massage room. Turns out that was about the best possible thing, as Rainbow explained her and Swift had practiced a few high impact turns (whatever that was), and torque rotations (which sounded painful), but she needed more strength training as the force would cause her wings to get sore. Laying on the massage bed that Aloe pointed at, Rainbow slowly spread her wings to allow the spa pony to massage them, clearly not liking the idea of her wings in someones hooves, but not hating it as bad as her hooves in someones hooves.

Her apprehension was short lived as Aloe started working out knots Rainbow didn't even know she had. After just a couple of minutes, Rainbow was silent, living in the moment which drew a grin from Rarity who enjoyed her own massage. The peace was welcome after the hooficure stuff. Sadly it was the only peace she had. After the massage was the hair treatment, which again came down to Rarity keeping Rainbow sidetracked while Aloe worked out knots in her mane and tail, shampooed her, and styled her mane in a common, but very nice, pegasus style that could handle flying without being destroyed. As they left, Rainbow admitted that the trip in all wasn't as bad as she expected.

Rarity laughed, trying to hide how stressful it had been for her.

Thankfully for Rarity, the Spa experience was behind them, and now she just had to talk Rainbow Dash into a nice outfit for the date.

"Truly, Rainbow. You can't just show up with nothing. I know you hate being dragged down by dresses, but I have an outfit that you will just LOVE!" Rarity explained, her excitement building at the thought. Rainbow Dash simply looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Like you said Rares, I hate anything that limits my flying a lot." Dash explained, trying to get her fashion friend off the topic, but before she could continue Rarity spoke up.

"Yes yes dear. This outfit will look wonderful, and you could even do one of your rainbooms in it and it would be fine." Rarity assured here daredevil friend as the approached the boutique. Rainbow Dash looked at the dress maker with a look of distrust, but deep inside she knew Rarity never lied about her dresses.

"Ok fine. I'll at least look at it. Let's see this dress you claim can survive a sonic rainboom."

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Two hours later found Swift standing outside of the library where he had agreed to meet up with Dash. Luckily he managed to secure reservations at a nice restaurant that specialized in Cloudsdale dishes that tended to be a big hit with pegasi, and acquired a single pin on flower that was currently clipped to his chest. The flower was a blue one of some kind, Swift had no idea. He just knew it matched Dash's coat and something told him to pick it up. It had to be better than nothing since he had no fancy outfits.

Besides, he doubted Dash would dress up anyhow.

Swift looked up to the afternoon sky where the sun was nearing the horizon and started going over the plans for the evening in his mind. He made it part way through when there was a tap on his shoulder. He jumped slightly at the surprise, and turned to face whoever tapped him.

"Yessss....uhhh....." Swift's voice quickly failed him as he took in the site before him. Apparently he was wrong about what Dash would do. Before him she currently stood, looking less like a future Wonderbolt and more like nobility. Her hair was tied back into several small ponytails, but still held the natural flow it tended to have when loose. The locks simply appeared to prevent it from getting messy as she flew. The effect was stunning, not to mention the dress she was wearing.

Unlike the dresses Swift had seen at Rarity's for the various galas, this one did not go all the way down to the ground on Dash. It's purple material (the same color as his own coat he noticed) held close to her body and lowered just half way to the ground. It was still enough to cover her cutie mark, but showed off her powerful and muscular legs while hinting at a flank that would simply be to die for (as Swift was very aware).

The effect in all made Swift realize he might not be dressed enough, considering he wasn't really dressed at all. His eyes quickly shot back to Dash's with this thought and saw her typical cocky grin, but her eyes themselves seemed just happy to be there instead of upset at his ill preparedness.

"Wow Dash. You look fantastic." He finally managed to squeak out, shaking his head slightly to clear it beforehand. Dash just laughed as she walked up to Swift and pulled him into a friendly hug.

"Thanks. You have no idea what hell Rarity put me through to look this good. Don't get used to it." She said as he returned the hug, laughing. Swift chuckled with her as the pulled away before commenting.

"Too late. You always look great. And I can imagine Rarity putting you through a nightmare. That seems to be her way." Swift said, a bit louder than normal. From around the corner, the duo could here a gasp followed by muffled words that were unclear, but clearly unhappy. Dash just shook her head at how predictable Rarity could be.
"Nonetheless, shall we be on our way?" Swift turned and looked to Dash, who trotted up beside him, smiling and nodding for him to lead the way.

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Just ten minutes of walking had passed when the duo arrived at Cloud Nine, the restaurant Swift had managed to snag reservations at. As he stopped at the door, indicating to Rainbow Dash that this was the destination, her jaw dropped. She spent a moment looking from Swift to the restaurant and back before finally speaking.

"You got us in here? How?! Wait for this place is months long!" Dash asked, confused as to how he had managed such a thing. Swift smiled and started to explain.

"It's pretty simple. Back when I first got out of the clinic and was looking for work, I helped this guy out in the market locate his lost bitbag. When I found it, he thanked me and offered to put me on the list of this place he owned. Turns out, this was it." Swift explained as he reached for the door and held it open for his date. Dash smiled and walked in, still amazed that she was finally getting to eat at this place.

Once inside, the greeter approached and smiled at the two.

"Good evening. Do you have a reservation?" She asked politely. Swift nodded and gave his name while Rainbow was looking around at the decorations. The entire place reminded her of Cloudsdale.

"Ah yes. Mr.Swift, right this way. You're table has been prepared." The pegasus guided Swift and Dash through the main floor and up a short half set of stairs to a round table that was placed in a spot where it was surrounded most of the way by a window that allowed perfect view of the hills around Ponyville, as well as the sky which was quickly darkening as the evening approached. The entrance to the alcove where the table sat had a curtain that could close to provide privacy for the couple enjoying their dinner. Dash and Swift took their seats as menus were placed down.

"Your waiter will be with you shortly. Thank you for choosing Cloud Nine for your evening." The pegasus bowed politely before stepping away and allowing the curtain to fall, leaving the couple in their own slice of Cloudsdale. Faint music from a piano and cello could be heard to provide an ambiance as the couple looked out the window and up to the sky.

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Out in the hedge maze garden, Princess Celestia stood before a statue of one of their most dangerous enemies. Few ponies knew the truth of the statue: that it was actually a prison for Discord, and not just a statue to remind ponies of what he had done. It was rare that the Princess found her way out here as the times that Discord had attacked were as bad for her as they were for all other ponies. Unfortunately she was their leader, so she had to appear strong in front of them. It was only now, in the privacy of the garden that she could entertain the thoughts she suppressed when standing as the Princess of Equestria.

Though she couldn't hide from everyone. With the lack of ponies around, she could hear someone approaching from behind, and could tell who it was without turning.

"Good evening sister." Celestia said, still sitting in front of the statue. Luna walked up alongside her and sat down gently, looking more to her sister than the statue.

"Good evening to you as well. What brings you out here this evening? I know this place makes you uncomfortable." Luna asked, worried about her sister. Her sister was strong, but every pony had a limit, and sometimes she felt Celestia needed to take a break to be a pony and not a princess.

"Very much so, but it also serves as a reminder. Discord was our most powerful enemy, and sometimes things remind me that he is still here." She explained, finally looking to her sister and giving a faint smile. Luna took a moment to look at the statue before them as she recalled the first time he had attacked. It had been much more destructive than the second. Many ponies were captured and never recovered. Once of Equestria's biggest mysteries is what had happened that day.

"Look here. He is still in stone, and very little of his chaos aura is detectable. You and I both know that means the prison is holding strong. What could give you worry now, 'Tia?" Luna asked, trying to reassure her sister. Celestia narrowed her eyes at the pet name Luna had always used, but relaxed as they were in private. With a deep breath, she explained.

"Twilight contacted me today about Chaos magic. I had to give her to true explanation on how it worked, instead of that drivel ponies keep publishing about no rules. She seemed to understand it after a while, and is certainly going to start doing her own research on it." Celestia explained, glancing back over to the statue. Luna simply looked confused as to why this would make Celestia this down. Sure, such a talk about chaos magic would get tricky, but she had done it before and it didn't pull her out here.

"Twilight is a brilliant pony. If anypony can learn something new about chaos, it will be her." Luna assured her sister, who simply smiled and nodded.

"Very true. She isn't what concerned me. There is a new pony in Ponyville. A pegasus named Swift." Celestia continued. Luna nodded, not having heard of the name, but a new pony didn't seem like that big a deal.

"Yes? What about him? That's an odd name for a pegasus." She asked and commented. Living as long as the two of them had, she knew the origin of pegasi names as well as anyone.

"It isn't his real name. He claims to have amnesia and doesn't know who he is." Celestia explained, never looking back to her sister. Luna immediately caught onto what her sister was hinting at and got very serious.

" 'Claim's to' ? You think he is hiding something? I have agents in Ponyville who can give us more intelligence. They are some of our best contacts for information." Luna explained, starting to plan how to advance. She had always been in charge of the intelligence and espionage for Equestria before her banishment, and upon returning had resumed her role. Night time was the best for learning what ponies didn't want you to learn, and her role as Princess of the Moon meant she was the best to lead such a group. Celestia, on the other hoof, was quiet for a moment before nodding slightly.

"I think it is for the best. But tell them to be careful. He was very nice when I spoke to him, but I sensed something odd. He didn't seem spelled, but there was something about him different from other ponies. Maybe it is just because we had been talking about chaos, so Discord was on my mind, but he made me think of Discord more than normal. Thus, here I am." Celestia explained to her sister before standing up and stretching slightly.
"But, I have been here long enough. I need to get rest for tomorrow, and I trust you have the night handled." Celestia said, her voice back to normal after talking with her sister, but exhaustion still clear in her voice. Luna stood with her and nodded that she had things in hoof.

"Of course sister. Go get rest. I will wake you when it is time to raise the sun. And let this bother you no further. I shall look directly into it." Luna promised as she followed her sister towards the exit of the garden. Celestia silently nodded with a smile before heading up to her private chambers for the evening. Luna instead made her way into the Throne Room and called for her head shadow agent. After a few minutes of waiting, a grey pegasus wearing simple outfit that any citizen of Canterlot would be seeing. One look instantly explained why he was the head of the intelligence agency under Luna. He managed to look completely invisible without standing out as such. You could look at him in a crowd and barely even take notice, not to mention describing him would be difficult as his only distinguishing feature was a lack of any distinguishing features.

"Yes, my Princess? You summoned?" The colt asked, bowing before the princess.

"Yes Mist Breeze, I need you to gather intelligence on a new pony in Ponyville. I believe you have a few contacts there?" Luna explained. Mist simply nodded in response before explaining his assets.

"Correct Princess. We have three steady lightly trained contacts, one being a bloodline agent." Mist began, still not looking up at his princess.
"She is exceptional at gathering information when needed, but her combat skills aren't to great if such a skill is need. Excellent interrogation skills if she really needs the information." Mist began, speaking of the bloodline agent.
"Our best combat specialist is a unicorn, so if the target has magic on its side, she can easily counter it." He continued, referring to a different agent. He himself mentally corrected that if the target was Twilight Sparkle, that statement might not be true, but why would the princess need a spy on the leader of the Elements. Plus if that was the case, he had other options for that.
"The final option is more of a contract agent, but she has never done us wrong, and her knowledge of potions is fantastic." He finished, laying out their assets in the area.
"Whatever you need, we can accomplish it, Princess." He finalized.

Princess Luna simply nodded at his details. Combat was not going to be needed unless things got really bad. Even Celestia didn't seem to think this Swift character was a danger, just someone to watch. So the unicorn could stay on standby and continue whatever operations it had going on. Besides, that unicorn had a tendency to get a bit lost in her fantasies of otherworldly creatures. The contractor was out as Luna knew 'potions' was most likely meaning poisons. Besides, Luna knew first hoof that the contractor wouldn't be in the right circles to reach this Swift often enough to gather intel. That, plus the bloodline agent was already in a perfect spot to gather intel. Luna came to her decision and spoke again.

"Use the bloodline agent. She should be in the best position. The target is named Swift and is a pegasus who is recently arrived. We are to know if he does anything questionable or dangerous, or if he threatens any of the Elements. Secrecy is of most import, so tell her that is priority." Luna explained her orders, avoiding using any names. She knew ever agent they had, including the few bloodlines who still practiced espionage all these years after the unification of the three pony tribes. As such, no name was needed in order to maintain the highest level of secrecy. Mist nodded and turned to leave, no dismiss needed as he set about for his trip to Ponyville.

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An hour had passed as the tentative couple enjoyed a relaxing dinner in comfort and privacy. Swift was thankful that the service had been as top notch as he was lead to believe from around town. The two had ordered a spread of salads, sandwiches, and even some fish and shrimp. The look on Dash's eyes when she saw they had that had been priceless. Apparently since moving to Ponyville, she had not had any fish or shrimp, as it was something almost exclusively pegasi related. Other ponies COULD eat it, but most hated it. Only pegasi seemed to enjoy it.

Currently the two were sitting side by side with the moon shining through the window, leaning against each other. They had spent dinner talking about flying, stunts to try, the various times Dash had met the Wonderbolts, and even how much Scootaloo had improved with Swifts direction earlier that day.

"Wait wait wait! You tied her to your back to teach her how to glide?!" Dash exclaimed as Swift had detailed the most recent flying lesson for the orange filly. Swift nodded slowly, unsure as to if he had messed up. Dash seemed genuinely shocked, and didn't seem to be smiling.

'Uh oh. Did I break a law or something?' Swift thought as he watched Dash intently. After a few moments, which felt like hours to Swift, her face cracked into a small smile, then a huge grin as she bust out laughing.

"BWAHAHA! That's awesome! You had a filly as a kite! I never would have thought of that!" Dash said between laughs. Swift joined her in laughing as she leaned heavily against him, more so than they had been sitting, and her body shaking as she laughed.
"Knowing her, she was probably extremely excited too. That's a good thing you did." Dash finally added as she got herself under control. Swift nodded his agreement, noting that Dash didn't seem to be returning to her previous position. This made him smile even more. Sitting here in the restaurant with her leaning into him: there was no place he would rather be.

"She was very excited. She is a great filly and seems to get the short end of the stick more often that not. I figured she deserved something good. She was upset when she saw how fast I learned to fly and that I was learning from you, so I had to do something. Teaching her flight and showing her the world from a pegasus point of view seemed natural." Swift explained, their voices returning to appropriate indoor levels. Dash looked at Swift with a warm smile on her face as he described his adventure with the young filly.

Truth be told, Scootaloo had originally annoyed Dash to no end. Dash loved the initial attention, but every time the two crossed paths, the filly would go insane with excitement. As such she had worked to avoid Scootaloo for a while, and noticed that the filly seemed to finally back off. Occasionally she would still go insane when they saw each other, but many times she would contain herself.

A few months after that, Dash happened by a field in the orchard and saw several fillies with signs bearing Rainbow Dash's own cutie mark. Confused, she had landed on a cloud to see what was going on. Nothing major was happening, and Dash almost decided to leave when she saw Scootaloo walk up and everyone go silent. She called the latest session of the Rainbow Dash fan club to order. For some reason, this had warmed the future wonderbolt's heart to the filly. She might have eased off the manic behavior, but she was still a solid fan, and true to her hero.

Though, truth be told, she never really changed how she acted around the filly. How many times had she been too busy to help Scootaloo with flight practice, just to sleep on a cloud. Yet Swift, who had worked several jobs before becoming a weather pony, took time out for her. Guilt crept into Rainbow's unconscious.

"Perhaps tomorrow we can both go help teach her. I haven't seen the squirt in a while." Rainbow suggested, deciding it was time to treat the little pegasus a bit better. Most other pegasi could fly by her age, but apparently Scootaloo's parents either hadn't taught her, or if they weren't pegasi, hadn't hired an instructor, an odd thing in Rainbow's eyes.

"That sounds great Dashie. I'm sure she will be excited to see her hero show up." Swift hugged Rainbow to show his support of the idea as she smiled. As he let go, her smile disappeared with confusion.

"Wait! Dashie?" She said, not sounding angry, or amused. Swift just laughed uneasily.

"Well, yeah. Or Dash. Either or." He sputtered out, wondering if he was in a minefield. Dash simply grinned.

"Ok, Dashie is fine, but only from you. AJ starts that crap and I'll buck her right in the nose." Dash said, acting overly tough, which drew a laugh from Swift. After a moment of acting tough, Dash joined in on the laughter as the waiter arrived with a check.

"I hope the dinner was to your liking. I'll leave the check here, and when you are ready just leave the bits on the table. The night is pretty clear, so the window doors are unlocked if you prefer an aerial exit." The pegasus pointed to the top of the window, which Swift now noticed was hinged to open. A clever exit as this was a place primarily for pegasi.

"Dinner was wonderful. Thank you very much." Swift said while Dash took time to look up towards the door built into the window. The waiter nodded and left, leaving the couple alone again.
"Well, what say we finish up here and take off into the night sky?" Swift asked, reaching down for his bits to cover the dinner. It was going to take most of what he had saved, but for a night like this, it was more than worth it. Dash simply nodded and hovered up to open the window as Swift placed the bits on the table then followed her just outside the glass. Once the window was closed, the couple could see a nearly clear sky with the moon now well overhead. Hovering very close to each other, Dash finally spoke in a lower whisper.

"Swift. Dinner was wonderful. Thanks for a great time. NowRaceToThatCloud!" Dash suddenly shouted as she took off at full speed. Swift, who was being entranced by her soft voice was rattled buy the shift, then the rainbow streak he was suddenly looking at.

"Oh you cheat!" He shouted as he took off after her, mimicking her stunts as the flew across the starlit sky.

Chapter 13: The Following Day

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The light beat down on Swift's eyes as he tried to sleep. The air around his cloud felt calm, though he found himself warmer than usual. Without opening his eyes he attempted to bury his head into the mess of hair it was against to block out the sun.

'Go away sun. I don't get up until Dash gets me for work.' Swift's thoughts slowed as several parts of that thought clicked into place. First was that he indeed had to work today, which given that he worked with Rainbow Dash was a good thing.

Second was that he didn't remember taking Dash home last night, which means....

'Yep. This could end badly...' Swift slowly opened his eyes and found a mess of rainbow colored hair beside him on the cloud, his wing draped across the other body as a makeshift blanket. Sure enough, Rainbow Dash was out cold beside him on his cloud floating above Ponyville. His thoughts drifted through the past evening to recall exactly what happened.

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"Swift. Dinner was wonderful. Thanks for a great time. NowRaceToThatCloud!" Dash suddenly shouted as she took off at full speed. Swift, who was being entranced by her soft voice was rattled by the shift, then the rainbow streak he was suddenly looking at.

"Oh you cheat!" He shouted as he took off after her. Dash started banking into a spiral as she climbed towards the cloud in question as Swift choose to go for the direct path. Typically he would match her since she always won their races, but if she was going to get showy, then perhaps this was his chance.

As the he neared the target cloud, he shot past Rainbow Dash who had a shocked look at the sheer concept of being passed in a race.

"Oh no you don't!" She shouted as she straightened out and took off after her opponent. Unfortunately they were already close to the cloud and she arrived at the destination just as Swift did as well.
"Hah! I win!" She exclaimed as they sat on the cloud, Swift panting slightly from the exertion.

"No...way...I totally...won!" Swift stated between breaths. He did his best to look as arrogant as possible while speaking, but until he caught his breath, he simply looked out of shape.

"As if. Rainbow Dash doesn't lose! Besides, look how out of breath you are. I don't think I have ever seen you push yourself that hard. We need to train you better." Dash explained, poking Swift in the chest to make her point. Swift had managed to catch his breath at this point and simply grinned at his partner.

"I will beat you in a fair race one of these days. But for now, let's just enjoy the evening." Swift said as he sat down on all four legs, looking out over Ponyville in the distance. The cloud they had landed on sat between the Everfree and Ponyville, not too far from Fluttershy's cottage. The lights of Ponyville looked like a reflection of the stars in the sky from where the two sat.

"It is rather peaceful tonight." Dash said as she sat down next to Swift, sharing his body warmth. The sky was a bit cool at this altitude and while pegasi were set up to handle it, that didn't mean they didn't enjoy warmth. Swift smiled at Dash as she got comfortable and placed a wing over her shoulder to provide a bit more warmth.
"Oh wow. This is comfy." She mumbled as she rested her head on a tuft of cloud and watched the city below.

"Very much. Though it is odd to see you slow down." Swift commented as he watched her laying beside him.

"Mmhmm. Don't tell anyone, but I like to slow down from time to time." Dash explained as her eyelids visibly seemed to grow heavy. Swift's face reddened slightly at the adorable image before him.

"It will be our little secret." Swift promised as he nuzzled behind Dash's ear affectionately. This caused Dash's face to brighten up with a smile as she turned to look into Swift's blue eyes while keeping her head rested on the cloud. It was simply too comfortable to get up from. It was obvious as she lay there that sleep was calling her. Swift noticed this and felt himself growing tired quickly as well. The food and the subsequent race had him ready for a long nap, so he rested his head beside Dash who was still smiling. The two intended to relax for a moment as their eyes closed, Swift's blue eyes being the last thing Dash saw, and her own Magenta eyes sending Swift into sweet dreams.

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'What a great night.' Swift thought, smiling for a moment while lost in thoughts. Movement beside him quickly snapped him out of it as the mare beside him reached up and grabbed his wing she was using for a blanket and pulled it up over her eyes and cuddled up next to Swift. Swift couldn't be sure, but for a moment the could have sworn he heard her give a slight purr in comfort.
'Cute. Now how do I get out of this....' Swift smiled and wondered, the panic having eased up the more time he had to formulate a plan. If he slowly rolled away, perhaps she wouldn't wake. Then he could push the cloud up to her house and get her inside. Thankfully cloud houses didn't really have locks so it could work.

Or so Swift thought, until the ball of cyan fur next to him started moving a bit more alertly.

"Mmm. It's too early. Go away sun." Dash mumbled as she rolled over and came face to face with Swift. She had kept her eyes shut while moving, but briefly opened them once comfortable and was looking directly into Swift's cobalt eyes.
"Morning Swift." She mumbled and closed her eyes again, confusing the stallion at the casual nature of the greeting.

'Odd. I expected...' Swift's thoughts were violently interrupted as the mare beside him obviously came to her senses.

"SWIFT!" Dash lept back as best as possible from laying on her side half snuggled up to Swift and covered by his wing. As she shot away, Swift lifted his wing up and slowly rested it against his side as he sat up.

"Umm yeah. Morning Dash. Guess we fell asleep last night." Swift tried explaining, unsure of how this was going to play out. Dash had always been unpredictable. it was one of the things he really liked about her, but in this case it was playing nightmares on his ability to get a feel for the situation. The air between the two was heavy with tension for the briefest of moments (which felt like hours to both Dash and Swift, though neither would admit to being so nervous later) before Dash finally grinned.

"Looks like it. You're pretty comfy!" She exclaimed as she stretched her back, smiling at the stallion she had shared a cloud with. Swift simply returned the grin as the tension left the situation.

"So are you. I've never had a better sleep on a cloud." Swift replied, mirroring Dash's actions to stretch out for the day. A few loud pops came from the two ponies, drawing laughter at the synchronized nature.

"I guess we need to get to work. Supposed to be slight cloud cover if I'm recalling correctly for the day. Then we can spend the day together." Dash said, approaching the edge of the cloud before realizing exactly what she had said.
"Um...if you want to, that is?" She added, suddenly unsure if he wanted to spend the time together. She mentally cursed herself at the sudden timidness her voice had taken.

Swift simply smiled and walked up beside the suddenly timid mare with a grin.

"I would love to spend the day with you Fluttershy." Swift responded, poking fun at how much Dash sounded like their animal loving friend. A joke that Dash immediately caught as Swift took off from the cloud.

"HEY! Get back here!" She shouted, taking off after Swift to extract revenge, though in the back of her mind wondering how her flight school friend was doing. It had been a couple of days since she had seen her.

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A figure in a simple travelers cloak walked along the road leading out of Ponyville towards the Everfree. He had a couple of small saddlebags on and appeared to be a simple salesman. Many salesmen would travel through Ponyville throughout the year to sale their wares, so this colt drew no attention from locals.

Exactly as he intended.

After several minutes of walking, a large house built within a tree came into view surrounded by several animals. Many of these animals appeared to simply have taken up residence because the owner of this house helped take care of them when they were sick, and for many this was indeed the case, but a few were special. A few, the pony knew, were also a sort of guard system in exchange for the residents help.

This was proven as a small bird flew overhead and then took off towards the house.

'Well trained indeed, though she would hate my use of that phrase. She would just say that the bird is a good friend.' The pony thought as he finally reached the front door. Without even knocking, the door opened just as the pony reached arms length, with a familiar yellow pegasus peaking around the edge of the door.

"Ms. Fluttershy. So glad to see you again. Just here to drop off a package from Canterlot. Directly from my boss, lucky you." The pony said with a genuinely friendly voice, sounding as though he and Fluttershy had talked often and were friends. Out of one of his bags came a large folder that seemed plain, but with close inspection had a simple crescent moon stamped in black ink on the front.

"Oh..um. Thank you. Tell your boss I'll..um...look right into it." the timid pegasus responded as she took the envelope with an equally honest smile. The visitor continued smiling and nodded in agreement.

"I'll be sure to pass it on. Have a wonderful day." He bade her goodbye, noticing the bird from earlier just behind her inside the house eating from a food tray, it's job as an alert done. As he turned, he heard Fluttershy quietly close the door and made his way down the stairs back towards town. He wanted to catch the first train back to Canterlot without a long wait.

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"SPIKE!" Twilight shouted to her number one assistant from the large main room of the Ponyville Library. The massive wall that she recently destroyed by placing all the books in the wrong spot had finally been stripped and resorted. She had also taken the time to clear dust off each book and the shelf itself.

"YEAH TWILIGHT!" Spike's shout echoed down the stairs from their bedroom where he was currently working on some project he started recently. Twilight had tried to learn more about it when he started shortly after Swift showed up, but the little dragon had asked for privacy and Twilight relented. Ever since then, he spent an hour each day either out around town, or up in the room working.

Currently though, Twilight was staring at an empty spot on the shelf where an old book should be. Luckily she knew right where it was.

"GRAB THAT BOOK OFF THE NIGHTSTAND AND BRING IT HERE PLEASE!" She shouted back without looking to the stairs. Moments later she heard small feet running down the stairs to deliver the book.
"Careful Spike. I appreciate the speed, but that is an old book." Twilight warned as he reached the bottom. Taking the copy of 'The Theory of Equivalency: A Study on Chaos and Order' that she had been reading with her magic, she floated it up to the spot on the shelf, finishing the collection.

While this was a library, this shelf rarely was touched as it mostly just reference books for powerful or obscure magic: a topic not really sought out in a town like Ponyville. As such the shelf was perfectly filled with not a single book missing.

"Wow, that took all morning and most of last night, but finally finished." Twilight said, more to herself than Spike who had already started towards the stairs to work more on his project.
"Perhaps I should work through all the shelves like that. A bit of cleaning couldn't hurt." Twilight craned her neck and took in all the stacks and shelves around her now cleaned up library. The towers of books being put away make this place look completely different from the lair of knowledge it usually presented to customers.

"DASH! WATCH OUT!" A voice shouted from outside, both loudly and clearly getting closer. Normally this would worry a unicorn with a business that is also their home, but things were rarely normal for Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh horseapples." Twilight deadpanned as she ducked her head below the table in the center of the room. Like clockwork a cyan pegasus shot through her window and directly into the shelve she had just finished sorting. Inevitably, ever book managed to fall off and bury the blue Wonderbolt wannabe under a couple hundred tomes.

"Ooowww." A moan could be heard from under the pile as a second set of hooves were heard clicking against the wall. Lifting her head from its safe spot, Twilight spotted Swift hanging in through the window that Dash just fired through. His face showed a small empathy for the pain Dash probably felt, but when his eyes fell on Twilight after the chaos they had just caused, a greater empathy showed.

"Sorry Twilight. I tried to stop her." He explained as he finally flew in and landed next to the pile of books that were still shuffling from Dash attempting to get free.
"I'll help you resort if you want. We could definitely use a break anyhow." He offered, reaching down and pulling a few books from the pile and standing them in a neat stack to sort.

Twilight smiled at the offer as Dash's head finally popped free of the bound prison she had put herself in. A quick shake of her head to clear the cobwebs and she had the sense to look sheepish as well.

"Yeah, sorry Twi. Swift said I was getting lazy and he could beat me in a race. One thing let to another and here we are." She explained, managing to tell Twilight both absolutely nothing, yet also everything she needed to hear to know what was going on.

"That's alright guys. I'm used to having to re-stack these shelves, either from Discord's tricks, the Crusaders, or even Ms. Wonderbolt over here." Twilight said, using her magic to lift several books and quickly place them on the shelf where they belonged while also sending a jab at her friend. Dash managed to hold back any retort given that she was already in trouble with the shelf...again.
"How did last night go by the way? I'm sure Rarity is going to want to know and I'm seeing her later. Unless you really want to talk to her about it." Twilight teased, knowing that was the last thing either of them would want to do. Her suspicion was immediately verified by both of them looking at each other with an expression of panic.

"Um..yeah. Not really something I was looking forward to." Dash said. Swift quietly agreed. Twilight opened her mouth to ask further questions about the evening in question when the door to the library opened, revealing a canary yellow pegasus.

"Um, Hello?" Fluttershy quietly asked as she glanced around before spotting her friends next to a pile of books haphazardly strewn across the floor.
"Oh, did I come at a bad time?" She asked, looking at Twilight and Dash, then glancing quickly to Swift. He was part of the reason she was here, but she hadn't expected to have to see him just yet.

"Not at all Fluttershy. Did you need something or just want to visit?" Twilight asked, approaching the mare from around the table. Swift and Dash approached as well to greet their friend. Fluttershy watched the group approach and hid slightly behind her mane.

"A little bit of both. I need some letter writing ink and know you have a lot. And I thought we might visit as well. It's been a while." The mare spoke softly as always, but her friends had grown used to it (aside from Swift, who didn't quite hear everything) and moved without pause.

"Of course I have plenty. Let me grab a spare vial and then we can visit. Dash was just about to tell us about her and Swift's date last night." Twilight said, teasing the couple by the table. Fluttershy's eyes shot to the duo, specifically to Swift, for a brief moment, but drew no attention. It was one of her many special talents aside from dealing with animals. People tended to not notice when she focused on them. It had been a blessing for her more than once.

A minute passed before Twilight returned with a brass vial filled with letter ink. She wondered for a moment who Fluttershy would be writing to, but it wasn't really her business and she didn't want to pry into the timid mares affairs.

"Here ya go, should be more than enough for whatever you have to write. Keep it as long as you need." Twilight offered as she handed it over to Fluttershy, who immediately placed it in her saddlebag. The group joined around the table as Twilight levitated a jug of tea and four cups, but was stopped by Swift.

"Actually, and I do hate to do this," he started, though part of his voice hinted he wasn't sorry at all, "but I did promise Scootaloo some more flying lessons and if I don't leave now I will be late." He explained as he looked out the window he came in. Dash started to give him a 'Don't you leave me!' glare, but stopped when she realized that it was Scootaloo who he had promised time to. After the talk last night, she realized she needed to be nicer to the small filly.

"Sounds good Swift. I remember where you said it was, so I'll probably swing by after my interrogation." Dash said, her voice not sounding at all excited about talking with the two mares about the date, but at least Rarity wasn't here. Twilight and Fluttershy both nodded, with Fluttershy again looking slightly confused.

'He is dating Rainbow Dash and teaching Scootaloo how to fly? I didn't realize he was getting around that much.' Fluttershy realized she only had spoken to the colt a few times outside of treating injuries or him helping with the animals. Thankfully he had never given her cause to think he was a bad pony, but she still had a job to do.

"Excellent Dashie, I'll see ya when you arrive. Later!" Swift hopped up and shot out the window before Dash could say anything about his use of her pet name in front of their friends. Slowly she looked at her now grinning friends with a bit of dread. Twilight was the first to speak.

"Dashie?"

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Rarity was happily trotting down the road towards Ponyville Library after having just completed her shopping in the market square. Occasionally her eyes would venture to the sky, a place she wasn't typically known for watching. This day however she had very good reason to watch the sky. Throughout the morning a certain rainbow streak could be seen bouncing from cloud to cloud, occasionally paired up with a purple blur. Other times the sky would be empty of the local weather ponies and for the last hour the cloud pattern hadn't changed.

'I guess they are done for the day. I can't wait to corner Rainbow Dash for the details of last night!' Rarity continued her trip towards the library with a mischievous grin on her face. As she rounded the corner to see the library, a familiar purple pegasus shot out of the window towards the edge of town.
'That was Swift. I wonder what he was doing at the library.' Rarity sped up to the library to make sure everything was ok as she couldn't imagine Swift not being with Rainbow Dash unless something had gone wrong last night. To her, they should still be gazing into each others eyes on some cloud or flying side by side through the blue sky. She reached the door and opened it to a set of familiar voices.

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"Dashie?" Twilight asked, grinning to the pegasus with an expression promising that this wouldn't be the last time she used such a phrase.

"Twilight, don't start! He can get away with it, but not you." Dash said, panic in her eyes while she tried to sound overly tough on the subject. Fluttershy simply covered her mouth with a hoof as she tried not to giggle. Tried, and failed.

"Can't get away with what darling?" Rarity asked as she opened the door, drawing the attention of the group.
"And why aren't you out there with Swift. Don't tell me you ruined the date?" She added as the door closed behind her. Rainbow Dash puffed her chest out in response to the insult.

"What?! No, why do you assume I would have ruined it!" She shouted, offended that Rarity just assumed SHE ruined the date instead of it possibly being Swift.

"Well come on dear. You aren't really the type to have a dinner date, so I think it is a fair assumption." Rarity casually explained, getting looks of agreement from the other ponies in the room.
"But that doesn't matter. Tell us what happened. Come on, do tell!" Excitement overflowing suddenly as Rarity wanted to learn every detail of the date. Twilight and Fluttershy joined her request with a nod as they all sat down at the table.

"Fine fine. You all won't drop it unless I spill, so listen up." Rainbow Dash spoke, defeat in her voice. She knew she was going to have to go over what happened eventually, but the act of having to do it still sucked.

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"What?! You woke up where?!" Rarity's voice echoed throughout the library, drawing a grimace from the present librarian at the disruption. Dash herself almost fell backwards from the outburst but managed to right herself quickly.

"What the hay?! Watch the volume." Dash chided the fashionista, gaining an approving nod from Twilight.

"Dash is right, this is still a library Rarity." Twilight added, trying to get the ringing in her ears to stop. Rarity had the good social sense to blush in embarrassment at her outburst, but nonetheless pushed the issue.

"I'm sorry darling, I just can't believe what she just said." Rarity offered as apology to Twilight, before turning to Dash.
"Did you say you and he slept together on a cloud?" She asked, shocked that Dash would go so far on a first date. The fact that Dash even went on a date was surprising enough (though Rarity herself had bet that it would happen eventually), but to sleep with Swift on that same date was beyond even what she herself thought possible. Dash simply nodded, not quite understanding what the big deal was.

"Yeah, we fooled around for a bit and got tired. It wasn't like I planned to, it just sort of happened." Dash explained, looking from Twilight to Rarity and back. Twilight nodded in understanding. It seemed perfectly fine. Rarity on the other hoof looked almost horrified.

"Did you at least use protection or anything?" She almost regretted the question. It truly wasn't her business, but hearing Dash talk about this so casually was throwing her entire social balance off. Dash's eyes connected with Rarity's and Dash's expression took on a look of confusion.

"Why? We didn't do anything we hadn't done before, so the risk was minimal. Sure, being at night this time was new, but made it somewhat more exciting." Dash explained, a warm smile forming as she thought back to the stunts they had performed that night. Poor Rarity however was about to hyperventilate.

"That's not how it works Rainbow Dash!" She finally snapped, slapping a hoof against her own forehead. The three other mares at the table all leaned back in surprise.

"Um...excuse me...I think you two are confusing each other." Fluttershy, who had been silence during the whole story, spoke up in her typical quiet voice. Normally she wouldn't have been heard, but the silence in the room allowed her voice to carry with ease.

"What do you mean, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, being the first to regain her composure.

"Oh..um...well.. I think Rainbow Dash is talking about stunt flying and then actually falling asleep on a cloud next to Swift." She nearly whispered, worried she was wrong or going to upset someone.

"Exactly. We have practiced our stunts many times, but after the meal and such we got exhausted and ended up passing out on the cloud." Dash agreed with Fluttershy, not understanding what could be so unclear about that. Rarity's eyes shot open in realization, drawing attention from Dash and Twilight, both of who understood things from Dash's perspective.
"Wait, what did she think I was talking about." Dash asked, suspicion on her face.

"Um..she thought you were..um..talking about...um..." Fluttershy shrank down more and more into her mane as she tried to say what Rarity was on about, while Rarity herself had a face as red as Big Mac's.

"Yeah, what?" Dash asked, pushing for an answer. Rarity finally had to say something, if for nothing else than to help her best friend.

"What she is trying to say Rainbow is that I thought you meant you had 'slept' with Swift." She explained, air quoting the word slept with her hoofs. Dash, thankfully not being as sheltered as Twilight, only took a brief moment to understand and immediately matched the white unicorns blush at the implications. Twilight however still looked confused.

"That's exactly what Dash said. The slept together on a cloud." Twilight, in her infinite book wisdom, managed to miss the point completely. This comment didn't help Dash recover herself at all, which was accentuated by her wings lifting slightly away from her body. Fluttershy leaned over and quietly whispered into Twilight's ear while Dash and Rarity watched. The confused look on Twilight's face quickly jumped to shock as Fluttershy leaned back to her normal spot.

"Oh...."

"Yeah, and like I said, that did not happen. We just laid next to each other. And when we woke up, we started our weather duties and here I am." Dash said, finishing her story quickly and trying to get past the huge misunderstanding. The group nodded, silently agreeing to move on from the miscommunication.

"Well darling, I'm happy for you. Swift is quite the gentlecolt and he will be a perfect coltfriend for you." Rarity said as she stood and stretched her legs.
"That being said, unfortunately I really must be getting back to the boutique. Sweetie Belle should be back soon, and I have several orders still waiting to be put together." She explained as she slowly made her way to the door. Fluttershy followed her, also needing to get back home. She had a very important paper to start writing.

"We'll see. He has to keep up with me though." Dash said, smiling at the thought of a true coltfriend. Looking outside, she noticed how long had passed.
"Oh horseapples, I need to find Swift and see if he is still with Scootaloo. I'll talk to you girls later." Dash said suddenly before shooting out the window in the directly Swift had flown a couple of hours prior. The girls remaining just watched as the rainbow trail faded.

"Yeah, I think they will be just fine." Twilight said with a smile, drawing grins from the other two as the stepped out of the door saying their goodbyes. Once the door was shut, Twilight stared at the table with cups of tea sitting on it, her thoughts drifting to Dash and Swift.

"This is going to be an interesting relationship to watch."

Chapter 14: Reports

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TO: LUNA, PRINCESS OF THE MOON

DIRECTOR, EQUESTRIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES

HEAD OFFICE

FROM: AGENT IN THE FIELD

AGENT ID: BLA-FS-G4

SUBJECT: LONG TERM OBSERVATION OF TARGET: SWIFT *NO LAST NAME*

REPORT TO FOLLOW

As per my recent orders, I have been maintaining an eye on the target listed above. Thankfully my increased communication and contact with the target was largely unnoticed by all parties involved.

The primary concern that caused the orders to be issued was that the target might be hiding a secret agenda, or be an agent to an enemy of the kingdom. After six weeks of constant observation, I can say with near perfect certainty that these worries are unwarranted.

Shortly after receiving my orders, the target began to date Rainbow Dash, a high priority citizen due to her status on the Wonderbolt Watch List as well as her status as the Element of Loyalty. Upon learning of this, I watched for any mistreatment or attempts to turn the Element of Loyalty from her own loyalty to the Crown. At no time did I see any attempts of this by the target. In fact, the target several times helped the Element of Loyalty with tasks around town, as well as helped with her flight practice, preventing her from being injured at the same rate she typically has been. This means that thanks to the target's intervention, the Element of Loyalty has been better prepared to serve the kingdom if an event occurs requiring her to step forward.

As for their relationship, I see no reason for concern on this. It has been six weeks since their first date, and while they have gone out several times, I see nothing to indicate mistreatment. In fact, the target and the Element of Loyalty have grown very close throughout this time.

Potential Risk: Being the Element of Loyalty, I cannot say how the element would behave were she required to chose between the target and the Crown. This is nothing new, as the biggest risk with the Element of Loyalty is determining how her loyalty will divide if she finds it split. Still, this is something worth considering.

The target has also taken on the role of weather pony within Ponyville, alongside the Element of Loyalty. Recently he exited his apprenticeship and is the second in command over weather in Ponyville. Given that we only have the two weather ponies in town that isn't saying much, but apparently our paperwork and reports back to Cloudsdale have seen a marked improvement.

When the target is not with the Element of Loyalty, he typically can be found in one of two places. The first is in the Ponyville LIbrary, where the Element of Magic works as librarian. Through communication with the Element of Magic, I have learned that the target generally studies Equestrian History as well as several books on the mechanics of flight. He also has helped to clean up around the library, especially when the Element of Loyalty or a group of fillies calling themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders (a simple foalhood club, so no forms are being submitted about this group) cause a mess.

The target has also been helping the Element of Magic with her studies on chaos magic and something called a 'Nexus of Chaos,' which I have not been able to learn much about. Magic not being my area of knowledge, what was explained to me was beyond what I could understand.

Lately, the target has been assisting with preparation for the wedding of Princess Mi Amore to Shining Armor. While he was not specifically given a task from the Princess, he was invited, and will be coming as escort with the Element of Loyalty and has been assisting all the Elements with the tasks assigned to them.

In closing, I see no threat from the target to the Crown, Kingdom, or its subjects. I will continue to observe the target until ordered otherwise.

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Princess Luna lowered the report she held magically before as she looked across the small table at the other two princesses in the small meeting room. Princess Celestia sat quietly as Luna had read over the report, eyes closed as she thought about what the next course of action should be. Also at the round table sat Princess Mi Amore, also known as Cadence. Cadence simply sat there, watching the two rulers of Equestria in their discussion about this new pony named Swift.

"It would appear my agent has come to the same decision as you on the matter of Swift, dear sister." Princess Luna commented as she packaged the report into the envelope it arrived in. Over the past month, Princess Celestia had noticed the occasional mention of Swift in the letters she got from Twilight Sparkle, and all of them sounded positive. Even so, Celestia didn't assume that meant he wasn't just hiding something from Twilight, and the report from Princess Luna's agent helped further relieve the princess's worries.
"Shall I have her continue her observations?" Princess Luna finally inquired after her sister made no move to reply to the report. After yet another extended silence among the three princesses, Celestia finally opened her eyes.

"I see no need in that. It would seem my concerns about Swift and Discord are unfounded." Princess Celestia explained, looking more relaxed about this topic than she had in a long while. Cadence perked up slightly at the mention of Discord, but tried to hide it quickly. No need to draw undue attention right now. Thankfully the sisters took no notice at her sudden interest.

'So this Swift might be connected to Discord, and is close to the Element of Harmony? Hmmm.' Her thoughts soon shifted to her upcoming wedding. The elements would be arriving soon, as would other guests. There was just a couple of days left of planning.

"Very well sister, I shall order the agent to stand down. I'm glad to have lessened your worries. I am going to return to bed, as it is far to early for me to be awake." Luna turned from the other two ailicorns, suppressing a yawn as she did. Celestia simply nodded to her sister as Luna walked from the room, leaving the two alone.

"As for you, You should go relax. I'll oversee the remaining preperations for your wedding. No need for you to be stressed before your big day." Celestia offered to Cadence with a warm loving smile. Over the last week, Celestia noticed that Cadence seemed a bit more high strung than usual and figured she needed time to relax before the wedding. Cadence herself smiled back, a bit forcefully, and nodded.

"Yes yes, thank you. I'll just head on to my room to relax." Cadence stood and headed to the door, stopping to look back at Princess Celestia, who had already turned her attention to some book on the table. Her forced smile quickly shifted a more natural one, although one that seemed to hold a much more devious appearance as well.

'A couple of days resting to build up my strength sounds just perfect. Plus perhaps I should look into this Swift character. If he is connected to chaos magic, he could prove...useful.'

Chapter 15: A Canterlot Wedding Pt. 1

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"Canterlot! Last stop! Please check for your bags before exiting the train!" A voice carried through the intercom within the passenger car as the train pulled to a stop inside a highly decorated station.

"Thank Celestia! I forgot how long that trip is when you are stuck on the ground!" Rainbow Dash was the first to escape their mobile cell to inhale the fresh air of freedom. Her wings spread wide to stretch the sore muscles down her back as her friends stepped out of the car as well.

"Come on Dashie. It wasn't that bad." Swift tried to console the mare who had become his marefriend over the last few weeks. Things hadn't gotten serious beyond a couple of dates a week and usually a night relaxing at her house after a long day of stunt practice. He wouldn't say it to her, but those were his favorite times. Simply relaxing on her couch, her laying against him with her Daring Do book open and drawing all her attention while Swift would be absently looking over weather reports or reading over her shoulder.

"Seriously sugarcube. Listen to yer coltfriend, tha trip wasn't all that bad." Applejack, along with the rest of their friends, exited the train behind the two pegasi. Rarity was sporting one of her typical high class, wide brimmed hats with some sort of designer sunglasses on. Beside her, Sweetie Belle walked, standing as tall as the small filly could. Her sister's influence on being a proper mare was clearly at work with the young filly's behavior.

Beside Sweetie Belle, Applebloom was standing, looking around at the surrounding buildings with awe. It was clear the young Apple had never been outside of Ponyville, and Canterlot was more than just a step up from the small village. Her sister, however, had been here a couple of times before. Shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident, then for the Grand Galloping Gala and the Discord fiasco. The countrypony was clearly used to it, judging by the relaxed stance she currently held alongside her sister.

Fluttershy surprisingly wasn't the last one off the train, stepping off just after the Apple clan. She did decide to stay fairly hidden behind the group however, and was currently doing her best not the be noticed while glancing around at all the other ponies on the platform. Just after her, an orange blur shot off the train and lept up onto Swift's back.

"This is going to be SO AWESOME!" Scootaloo shouted as she placed her front hoofs on Swifts head and stood, looking around from as high a vantage as she could get, drawing a laugh from both Rainbow Dash and Swift. Also joining in the laughter was Pinkie Pie, who suddenly was next to Swift, looking from feature to feature, mirroring Scootaloo's head motions.

"Yes, this is going to be the greatest party EVER!" Swift winced as the pink mare shouted her excitement, which also drew some odd glances from the crowd.

Finally Twilight exited the train along with Spike, who was already talking about something with the purple unicorn.

"Come on Twi, I thought you were okay with it by now." Spike's comment caused the group to collectively roll their eyes. Twilight had constantly been shifting between staying calm about this mare her BBBFF was marrying, and then demanding that she wasn't good enough. Clearly it was currently the latter of the two.

"Spike, I know most of the Lords and Ladies of Canterlot, and this Mi Amore doesn't ring a bell. She is probably just after him for his position. It is my responsibility as his sister to protect him from that." Twilight explained as though teaching a class. The group realized that this could only end in trouble.

"Twi, perhaps y'all should jus' wait till ya get to meet her. She might not be so bad." Applejack tried to reason with her, using logic. Normally this would get through to Twilight, but today she was being more stubborn than usual.

"Applejack, I intend to meet her alright. Then I'm going to find out what it is she is after!" Twilight stormed forward, most likely to find her brother. As the left the platform, Swift noticed Dash seemed to be looking around with a confused look. Leaning towards her, he spoke quietly to prevent drawing attention.

"What's wrong? You look concerned?" He whispered, almost making Dash jump. After she composed herself, she tilted her head to the guards ahead at the entrance to the castle grounds.

"The guards. There are a lot more than there were the last few times I was here. I think something is going on." She answered, gaining a nod from Swift who now realized that there were indeed guards just about everywhere. It felt as though the guards were on high alert, though with a royal wedding coming up that might be standard procedure. Nonetheless, Swift couldn't shake an odd feeling he had felt since the group passed through the security checkpoint on the train.

When they had started passing populated areas in Canterlot as they approached the station, this feeling had been growing in the back of Swift's mind. He had shaken it as nerves about being in a new city, and taking part in something as important as a wedding, but even now the feeling was there, faintly in the back of his mind. With a shake of his head, Swift pushed the thought out of mind again. Unfortunately for his passenger, this action knocked Scootaloo off balance, who dropped from Swift's back.

"Oh crap! Are you okay, Scoots?" Swift turned his attention to the young filly when he realized what had happened. Dash also dropped her concerns and turned to check on her greatest fan.

"Yeah kiddo, you alright?" Dash joined in on the questioning. Scootaloo sat up and shook the cobwebs from her head before looking up to her two friends.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I've had worse from practicing. Just need to walk if off." Scootaloo stood up and stretched her back while flexing out her wings to work out the soreness from the fall. Swift and Dash shared a look of relief. If Scoots said she was fine, then they had no need to worry. Before anything else could be said, the remaining crusaders were running over, followed by Rarity.

"Scootaloo! We saw you fall! Are you alright?" Sweetie Belle asked as the two fillies approached their friend, who waved off their concerns.

"Yeah yeah, like I told Swift. I get worse from practice." The two friends nodded, having seen the crashes Scootaloo had had in the past. Without any other thought, they immediately started talking about the wedding and what they were going to do to help.

As they spoke, Rarity approached Swift and Rainbow Dash with a smile on her face.

"If it is alright with the two of you, I will take Scootaloo with me. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom are helping with some projects I have while in town, and I'm sure the two of you have plenty to deal with." Rarity offered to the two pegasi. Given Scootaloo's inability to fly yet, it would be easier for the pegasi to deal with the air details if they didn't have a filly to watch.

"Sure thing Rarity. Hey Scootaloo, you go with Rarity and your friends. I'll meet up with you later." Swift accepted the offer and instructed Scootaloo. Since Scootaloo didn't have any family on the trip (she had said they were busy and couldn't make it, which added further concern about her home life to Swift), Swift had taken it on himself to watch after the young filly. Scootaloo nodded briefly before turning back to her friends to talk about whatever fillies talk about before a wedding. Rarity nodded and collected the crusaders before heading on her way, leaving Swift and Dash alone on the platform. A glance around and Swift could see the various members of their group going in different direction.

"Well, I'm going to go scout the location for the rainboom. Should be near that tower. Wanna join me?" Dash asked to Swift, a smile on her face. Swift almost agreed out of habit, but paused when he spotted Twilight not too far off, storming towards the castle.

"Actually Dashie, I'm going to follow Twilight. I would like to see the Princess and I'm sure she will head that way. Plus if she runs into this Mi Amore, it would be good for someone to keep her sane. You know how she can get." Swift explained, looking his marefriend in the eye. Dash started to look a bit saddened that he didn't want to join her, but his reason quickly cleared any concern. He had a good point about Twilight going off the deep end at times.

"That's fine. You know where to find me." Dash smiled and gave Swift a quick hug before launching into the air leaving a rainbow streak in her wake. Swift watched as she took off with a smile on his face, wondering how he managed to get as lucky as he had. As Dash grew smaller, Swift turned his attention to the unicorn currently storming to the castle.

"Twilight, wait up!"

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"Thanks again for coming along Swift." Twilight walked past the main gate into the courtyard of the Royal Guard Barracks where her brother should be located. As they had walked, Swift had remained silent while simply being present as support for Twilight.

"Not a problem Twi. Just doing what a friend should do." Swift smiled, puffing his chest in a self mocking manner. Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the antics of her friend.

"Yeah, keeping me company and preventing me from going crazy?" Twilight's comment caused Swift to stumble slightly before he noticed the grin on her face.

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything specific, but yeah kinda." Swift bumped shoulders with Twi as they walked in a friendly manner.
"But hey, you will be fine. I'm just here in case something goes terribly wrong, but what are the odds of that honestly?" Both ponies froze as the words left Swift's mouth and shared a panicked look. After a moment, their views shifted to the surrounding area, watching for whatever inevitable disaster that follows such a phrase to occur. Moments of silence assured them that all was well with the world.

"Careful, don't jinx us Swift." Twilight continued walking with Swift taking up step after her. Swift smiled once again to the unicorn.

"Oh, you don't believe in all that jinx and karma stuff. You are way to scientific for that." Swift explained as they walked.

"I used to, but then I met Pinkie Pie. And besides..." Twilight started to go into her research on their party friend, but stopped when she saw a pony up ahead giving orders to guards.
"There he is. Now to find out what is going on." Twilight advanced upon the pony that Swift had deduced must be Shining Armor.
"I've got something to say to you, mister!" Twilight spoke up, drawing an immediate reaction of the guards. Many put lances at the ready, as though Twilight intended to attack the captain. Luckily the captain turned and smiled widely at the sight.

"Twiley!" Shining shouted as he took his helmet off and approached the duo. His eyes glanced over Swift, but just for a moment before returning to his sister.
"I missed you kid! How was the train ride?" Shining moved to give Twilight a hug, but she stepped back, now allowing him a moment before venting her frustrations.

"How DARE you not tell me in person that you were getting married! I'm your sister for ponysake!" Twilight berated the guard captain in front of all his troops. Swift noticed a few of the guards grin at their captains predicament, and joined them in snickering as quietly as possible. Shining didn't find any humor in his sister's upset nature.

"It's not my fault. Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn't you see all the guards at the train station?" Shining waved his hoof out towards where the two had approached. Swift grew serious on this comment. Dash had noticed as much and thought something was going on. Sounded like she might have been more accurate then they thought. Twilight on the other hoof wasn't having any of it and walked off slightly from the two colts.

"Yeah, there's a big wedding coming up! Maybe you heard about it!" It was clear all the talk she and Swift had done over the past month about why he hadn't contacted her was going right out the window. Shining didn't seem to be hurt by the scathing comment. Clearly at some level he had expected this.

"It has nothing to do with the wedding. A threat has been made against Canterlot." Shining's comment drew Twilight out of her frustration, as evident by the shocked look on her face. A look that Swift currently shared as he approached the two. A threat against the capital was definitely a reason for all the guards, but Swift couldn't help but wonder who would dare to threaten the seat of power to all Equestria.
"We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia has requested that I help by providing additional protection. This, you need to see." Swift and Twilight listened as Shining confirmed that they also did not have any idea who would threaten the kingdom, and watched as he stepped away from the two. As Shining's eyes closed, his horn started glowing a dark purple as he built power. After a moment of it charging, a beam shot straight up in the air and collided with the shield surrounding the city. Swift noticed instantly that the shield was the same color as the magic from Twilight's brother and realized he was the one maintaining the shield from whatever threat was out there. This kind of power amazed Swift, and caused him to look at Shining Armor in a new light.

Once the spell was complete, Shining opened his eyes and appeared drained for a moment. The shield was exhausting him, but he had to maintain it until the threat was over. After his head cleared, he started walking up the stairs to the archway. Twilight fell in step beside him, having noticed his exhaustion as well and was worried for his safety. Swift chose to instead hover just over the steps behind the two, staying out of their way and providing them a bit of privacy.

"The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders. Staying focused on the task at hoof has been my top priority." Shining explained to his sister, who realized how childish she had sounded earlier. Nonetheless, the pain of having found out about the wedding was still within her.

"Ok, ok. I get it. You have a really important job protecting all of Canterlot. But still, how could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding. Am I not that important to you anymore?" Swift felt terrible for his friend as she asked her brother of her own importance. He hadn't looked at it that way from her point of view all this time. That was the ultimate issue, and Swift hoped Shining handled it correctly.

"Hey! You're my little sister. Of course you're important to me. But I'd understand if you didn't want to be my best mare now." Shining spoke with kindness, then dropped the question on Twilight, drawing a smile from Swift who was doing his best to blend into the background, and failing since he wasn't wearing armor. Twilight heard the question and all her worries seemed to fall away.

"You want ME to be your best mare?" She asked, her excitement at such an honor building.

"Well, yeah." Shining said as he approached his sister who finally accepted his hug from earlier.

"I would be honored." Twilight did well maintaining her composure as she accepted the offer, and held her brother tight as they hugged. She was as glad as he was to have cleared the air on the issue.

"Oh, also, who is this? Some new coltfriend?" Shining asked, giving Swift a stare. Swift might not have all his memories, but he knew instantly what was happening here. Brother and sister were okay with each other again, now brother realizes sister arrived with a strange colt. Brother is also Captain of the Royal Guard, and not someone you want disliking you.

Crap.

Thankfully, before Swift could say anything that would cause trouble, Twilight just laughed as she shook her head.

"No no. He is just a good friend. Swift, meet my brother, Shining Armor. Shining Armor, this is a good friend of mine from Ponyville, Swift." Twilight formally introduced the two as Swift approached and locked hoofs with Shining. Shining didn't seem to relax at the mention of this 'friend from Ponyville' routine. Twilight watched as they shook, but noticed her brother was maintaining a steady gaze on her friend.
"He is the colt dating Rainbow Dash, if you heard about that." Twilight added, to prove to her brother he had nothing to worry about. This seemed to do the trick as his eyes shot wide in surprise.

"Ah, well then welcome to Canterlot, Swift. Feel free to visit anyplace you like." Shining offered politely. Swift nodded and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as Twilight suddenly pushed a hoof against her brother's chest and appeared very upset again suddenly.

"I'm still pretty ticked you marrying some pony I don't even know! When did you even meet this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?" Twilight asked with a stern tone to her brother. Swift was a bit surprised not just at Twilight's outburst, but at the smile Shining Armor had on his face.

"Twilight. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadence. Your old foalsitter." Shining explained. Twilight appeared confused momentarily until some distant memory appeared to surface.

"Cadence? As in THE Cadence? As in the greatest foalsitter in all the history of foalsitters!!!" Swift wasn't sure he could follow Twilight on this rollercoaster of emotions much further. Her brother and her continued talking about Cadence as Swift walked to the other side of the path and looked out over the guard compound. Twilight's excitement over Cadence meant Swift didn't need to worry about any further issues thankfully, so he could start taking in the sights. The guard compound looked to also serve as a gate into the city. Not far from where he stood, he could see archway doors that opened into shopping centers and various street paths. Canterlot was even larger than Cloudsdale, and he had been amazed at the size of even that town.

Swift let the sounds of Twilight dancing around and singing fade as he wondered what to do in the town now. Rainbow Dash would be easy to find. He just had to fly up and look for a rainbow streak flying around. If a rainboom happened to take place, that would make it even easier. He could always help Rarity out as well. The crusaders no doubt would be causing her no end of trouble.

Before his thoughts could progress further, a new voice spoke up behind him, drawing his attention to a beautiful mare who had joined them on the archway. Her purple coat and hair was pristine, and her wings and horn meant she must be a princess.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" She spoke with a rather frustrated tone to her voice. That feeling in the back of Swift's mind started flaring up again, but he pushed it aside. Nonetheless, he kept his eye on this pony. Twilight however seemed perfectly find with her leaped over to stand in front of her. Swift had always know Twilight could be a little goofy, but overall he viewed her as a level headed scientist/bookworm. He never imagined he would see Twilight dancing like a small filly.

"Cadence! Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Twilight ended her dance, as best as Swift could tell it was, and looked to Cadence for some sort of reaction.

"What are you doing?" Swift really didn't like the way this pony was addressing his friend, especially as he saw the hurt look flash across Twilight's eyes. Twilight didn't seem to be hurt for long, and quickly stood to face her former foalsitter.

"Cadence, it's me. Twilight!" Twilight explained, a look that screamed how she expected Cadence to respond at this point. Unfortunately, Swift doubted this Cadence would follow suit. The feeling he had been shutting out seemed to flare again. Swift got ready to follow his intuition and would help Twilight if she needed it. He didn't have any childhood connection to this pony, or anypony for that matter, so he could see things as they really happened.

Swift's worry was confirmed as Cadence snubbed Twilight as she approached Shining Armor. The hurt look on Twilight's face returned, strengthening Swift's suspicion of this pony. Swift walked forward to stand beside Twilight and as supportive as possible. Cadence watched as Swift approached Twilight and gave a genuinely surprised look. After a moment, she got herself under control and glanced to make sure no one noticed. Thankfully everyone was either watching Shining or his sister.

"I have to return to my station, but Cadence will be making sure all preparation for the wedding is taken care of." Shining explained before excusing himself and Cadence as they walked towards a set of guards to escort them. Swift ignored the duo and looked to Twilight. He could tell she was holding back her emotions and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked, carefully. He thought she looked sad, but if she was angry, he didn't want her to snap at him, especially with how powerful she really was.

Twilight jumped slightly at the touch and looked to Swift. She had completely forgotten he was there after learning who Mi Amore was. With all that had just happened though, she was glad a friend was nearby.

"I...I'll be fine. I just thought she would be, I don't know, nicer. She helped raise me and was the best pony ever back then. I can't believe she could have become so, so, so MEAN!" Twilight clearly was growing angry as spoke. Swift didn't bother trying to calm her down, since he felt she was more than just mean. Before he could speak, Twilight simply sighed and lowered her head, letting the tension fade from her muscles.

"Hey now, don't be down. I thought she was really mean as well. Nothing like the pony you described. Maybe..." Swift tried to start explaining that maybe something had happened to make her so mean. Perhaps after Twilight left, she had family issues or something else had occurred. Unfortunately, Swift never got the chance to make such a suggestion.

"Maybe...she wasn't really that nice all along! Or maybe she is under a spell. A spell could cause such a change. I need to check on this." Twilight started speaking faster than even Swift could follow, but the drive he knew her to possess was showing itself and he knew better than to stop it.
"Thank you Swift. Go find Rainbow Dash. I am going to check on the tasks for the wedding, then research what is happening with Cadence." Twilight turned and sprinted away before Swift could reply, leaving him alone on the archway.

"Well, I guess that will keep her occupied at least." Swift mumbled to himself as his thoughts returned to the princess in question. The feeling had faded a bit when she had left, though hadn't left completely. After this disaster, he decided it was worth listening to that feeling since it was right about Cadence being a rude pony. Looks like he had a good intuition about it.

After his moment of thought, Swift suddenly spread his wings and shot off into the air as fast as he could, drawing attention from a few guards. Most ignored his flight away, though a few tracked his path, their eyes seeming to turn emerald for a moment.

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Cadence had separated from her betrothed and was currently sitting in her bedroom as some servant was doing her hair.

'That Twilight is more juvenile than I expected. What was that dance all about? Still, I should be careful. She is the holder of the Element of Magic, and Celestia's personal student. She couldn't have all that if she wasn't powerful.' Cadence thought, her dislike of Celestia dripping through her thoughts. A tug at her head pulled her from her planning and she cast an angry glare at the servant.

"Apologies Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. You're flight here really knotted up your mane. That should be the last of it though, so just a bit more." The servant explained, as if Cadence cared WHY she had yanked at her. Cadence simply didn't want it to occur again. Slowly the servant continued to work on her mane while Cadence returned to her thoughts.

'Yes, Twilight shouldn't be a problem. That other pony however, that one must be Swift. He didn't have a cutie mark and Celestia made a big deal about that. He was different. Felt different. I've never seen a pegasus that felt like they had any magic, and clearly he didn't possess magic, but he possessed something. I'll have to keep an eye on him.'

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"That should handle the costs for the wedding. I believe doing the books is possibly the worst part of being a princess." Luna looked up from the ledger she levitated in front of her face as she and her sister worked on the royal budget. Every year the ledger got messier and messier, and every one hundred years they always needed to gather all the ponies with talents in finance to clean up the disaster. Glancing over to her sister, Luna could see a smirk on the older sister's face.
"What?"

"I'm sorry dear sister. You just get so exasperated when we handle the budget." Celestia explained as she took control of the magic holding the book and moved it to the side where other papers lay on a desk.
"I tell you what, while you are away I will see about getting Twilight to look over the books. Her attention to detail will help clear it up quickly." Celestia offered to her sister to cheer her up. Luna hated dealing with the budget and Celestia always stuck her with it. The reason being that Celestia hated the budget work as well, and gained a little sisterly joy from dragging her sister into it as well.

"About that, are you sure it's alright that I leave before such a large event, especially with the threat looming?" Luna asked, standing from her seat and stretching her legs. Sitting and dealing with the budget had caused her flank to cramp. Yet again more reason to hate the budget meetings.

"I'm assure you it is okay. With Shining Armor keeping the shield up and all the element bearers in Canterlot, we will be safe for a few days while you are gone." Celestia assured her sister with a warm smile. Unspoken was also the fact that if the worst did happen, only Celestia was at threat, and Luna would be safe to pull forces together or lead an investigation. Luna didn't need to be told that. Best keep the worry as minimal as possible.
"You just worry about the trade agreements with Saddle Arabia. Also be sure to offer them a chance to visit here." With that, Celestia stood as well, also stretching to work out the soreness of sitting in one place for too long. Luna nodded and opened her mouth to explain how she planned to present the agreements when a loud noise from outside the door distracted them. A metal sound crashed just behind the door and a scratchy, and familiar, voice could be heard laughing and quickly fading.

"Hey, get back here! Catch them!" Guards could be heard chasing whoever caused the commotion fading into the distance. Luna looked from the door back to her sister.

"What was that? Are we under attack?" Luna sounded somewhat nervous. She hadn't expected an attack to come so sudden. The laughter from her sister banished such thoughts and replaced them with simple confusion.

"No sister. I believe Rainbow Dash and her colt friend might be having more fun than our guards appreciate though." Celestia explained as she laughed. Rainbow had tried pranking and getting reactions from the guard before, and now she seemed to have succeeded.

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Two pegasi shot through the air faster than any pony could dream to keep up with. Behind them, the fading sound of armored ponies doing their best to do so could be heard, along with the occasional shout to stop. Swift had no intention of slowing down, especially for the pony they had managed to surprise into jumping, thus dropping his spear and hitting another guard, who then lost balance and fell over, drawing the attention of a patrol.

Rainbow Dash didn't appear to be slowing either, and Swift could clearly hear the laughter coming from her direction. She had explained to him her plan to finally get a reaction out of the guards once he met up with her after the odd meeting with Cadence. The ensuing hijinks had helped to get his mind off that, as now his full concentration was on loosing the guards.

After spinning around the spires of Canterlot Castle, the duo realized they were no longer being followed and headed towards the ground to rest.

"Wow, they gave up quicker than I expected." Dash commented, almost sounding as if she was complaining that the Royal Guards were no longer chasing them. Swift just shook his head and smiled, the antics of his marefriend never surprising him.

"They just aren't in as good a shape as we are. We set weather, they stand all day. We win." Swift puffed his chest out in pride at the workout both of them put in each day. Dash laughed as she moved next to Swift and bumped him with her flank.

"Don't get too cocky now. I can still destroy you in a race." Dash always taunted him when he started talking about how fast he had gotten. To many, it sometimes sounded mean, but between the two it had become a sort of challenge. Dash would taunt Swift to force him to push harder, and as he pushed harder, she had to practice more to stay ahead. She would never admit it, but having someone snapping at her heals helped her push herself even harder.

Her smile faded when her flirty jab drew no reaction from Swift as his attention was locked onto something else. Following his eye line, she realized what he was staring at and grew somber as well. They had landed in the palace hedge maze garden. Specifically, they were in the statue courtyard within the garden. The courtyard had statues of ancient ponies, including the leaders who had helped found Equestria. Starswirl the bearded also possessed a statue out here, as did both of the princesses. There was even a statue of Nightmare Moon to stand as a reminder of what happened when you gave in to your dark desires. Luna herself had commissioned that statue to be placed out here.

None of that mattered, as the statue Swift was locked onto, and Rainbow herself couldn't stop thinking about, was one she had helped create. The twisted, panicked expression on the face forever echoed the final thoughts Discord must have had as she and her friends sentenced him to an eternity of stone.

"That statue. It seems...different." Swift finally muttered aloud. It was more a thought to himself, but Dash heard it all the same.

"That's Discord. We fought him shortly before you showed up. He is the embodiment of chaos, and was a monster." Dash passively explained as she recalled how he had tricked her into betraying her friends. She still had bad dreams about that encounter.

Swift slowly approached the statue, registering what Dash told him but not reacting to it. This statue was calling him, almost screaming at him. Where he had an odd feeling in other parts of the castle, here it wasn't just a small feeling but a huge force.

Dash watched as her coltfriend slowly approached the statue. Swift had never dealt with Discord, or didn't remember it in any case, so he wouldn't understand how much she hated being in the presence of this statue. Waiting to the extent of her famously short patience, she finally approached Swift as he was a few paces from the statue and tapped his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"Oh! What?" Swift's mind cleared as he looked to Dash and realized she seemed odd. The way she was glancing at the statue constantly, and the way she stood as though prepared to run, hinted at her discomfort.

"You seemed off in your own cloud. Just pulling you back to reality." Dash tried to project her typical bravado, but Swift could tell she was highly troubled around the statue of Discord. Pulling himself from the statue as well, a task he noticed was harder than he expected, he simply smiled and turned towards the courtyard exit.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Just I have heard a lot about this Discord, so seeing what he looked like was interesting. Sorry about that." Swift brushed off the concern and motioned for Dash to follow him. Dash wasted no time in accepting the offer, spreading her wings and taking off with Swift following behind.

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"Twilight, trust us. You are looking too much into this. She is just making sure her wedding is perfect." Rarity's voice echoed up to the duo as they landed where their friends had gathered by an outdoor cafe. Everyone had a confused look on their face with the exception of Twilight, who appeared frustrated. Swift imagined he knew the reason but chose to be silent for the moment.

"Rainbow Dash, glad you are here! Haven't you noticed Cadence acting strange?" Twilight pounced on the opportunity for fresh input. Apparently she had already heard from each of their friends that she was being overly critical. Rainbow Dash however hadn't dealt with Cadence, so all she could contribute was a confused look.

"Twilight, I have been practicing for my sonic rainboom all day." Dash explained as she motioned to the sky near the castle.
"I haven't even seen whoever this Cadence is." Twilight's ears dropped as she realized Dash had indeed left before finding out that Cadence was the bride-to-be, so of course she had nothing to add.

"I hear you were practicin' more than just yer sonic rainboom. Had some guards askin of I had seen a pegasus causin' trouble. Cyan coat, and very fast. Followed by a purple pegasus, almost as fast. Sound familiar?" Applejack cast a knowing smirk at Dash and Swift, who simply grinned to each other and high-fived with their wings. The attention to Swift however brought a thought to Twilight.

"Swift! You met Cadence. Didn't she seem odd to you? You said so yourself, that she was mean." Twilight almost sounded like she was begging for someone to believe her. Their friends all rolled their eyes at the continued antics of the book worm, drawing a sympathetic glance from Swift who noticed it.

"Actually, yes. She didn't seem very nice to me either. She had a glare about her that felt uncomfortable." Swift explained, supporting his friend. Everyone else just shifted their exasperation on to Swift, including Rainbow Dash.

"Swift, she is a princess, of course she has a glare. I doubt she meant anything by it." Rainbow replied, dismissing Swift and Twilight's concern. Twilight's frustrated expression grew harder at the continued distrust of her concerns, and Swift's expression drooped as Rainbow Dash dismissed his own concern.

"Rainbow is right. Cadence is just making sure everything goes fine. Just watch, after the wedding, she will be back to her old self in no time." Rarity spoke as she stood up, lending an air of finality to the conversation.
"It's getting late, and we have practice for the wedding in the morning. I say we all get some rest and do our best to make this wedding the perfect wedding Cadence is trying so hard for." As Rarity spoke, the rest of the ponies except Swift and Twilight stood to join her. As the started to walk off, Rainbow and Applejack looked back to the two ponies staying behind.

"Y'all two comin'?" Applejack asked, a hint of sadness at the way the group had dismissed their concerns present in her voice. She knew Twilight was just worried, and Swift had no experience around these royal types, but they were still friends after all.

"No, you guys go on ahead. I'll finish my tea and make my way in a bit." Twilight's response was polite, but her frustration was not masked in the slightest. AJ simply nodded and looked to Swift.

"Swift, you coming? You don't know where our rooms are at." Dash pointed out further proof of Swift's lack of experience in Canterlot, and expected him to join them back to the castle. A motion of his head said otherwise.

"I think I'll stay out here for a bit as well. Twilight can show me the way to the rooms. I could use some tea to help wind down." Swift's excuse made enough sense to Dash, who drank tea after a long day as well. AJ knew it for what it was though: a lie. She didn't know why, but Swift wanted to talk to Twilight, likely about these imaginary issues with Cadence.

"Oh. Ok. Well, I'll see you in the morning then." It was Dash's turn to be hurt by Swift suddenly not wanting to walk with her, but given his reason, she could understand why. With a look to AJ, she headed on towards the rest of the group who had already gotten pretty far ahead. AJ simply nodded and followed, hoping her friends were okay.

"You didn't have to stay behind Swift." Twilight spoke after her friends were out of earshot. The fact that he had stayed did help relieve some of her frustration however, and she took a small sip of her tea.
"Thank you for standing up for my side of the argument though. I can't believe they don't see the way Cadence is acting."

"They haven't ever met her, so their thoughts aren't that hard to understand. Surely you can see that Twi." Swift explained as he relaxed backwards.
"They aren't trying to be dismissive of your claims, but they can't help it either."

"Why do you believe me then? You never had met her, so you could see it the same way they do." Twilight asked, realizing that Swift was right, but that his explanation had that hole in it. Swift's thoughts shot back to that feeling he had been having all over the castle, and heavily at the statue of Discord. Twilight might have an idea of what it is, so telling her could help. However Twilight was also one to go to the extremes with things like this and might assume Discord is coming back or some other great evil is out there, when it could simply be his nerves. Making a snap decision, Swift decided that it wasn't worth mentioning.

"I can't say. She seemed odd to me, and I can't imagine any of the princesses being that mean, even for a wedding. I guess hearing you describe her, then seeing how she acted made what you say make more sense." Swift explained. It was also the truth, but just not the entire truth. After the wedding he could explain the details more.

"Fair. Well I appreciate your support on this. Something is certainly going on and I will find out what. But I guess for now, we should head on back." Twilight finished up her tea in one gulp and stood from the table. Swift nodded and began following her to the castle, sharing small talk about the town and staying away from the subject of the princess.

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The two friends arrived at the castle corridor where they were staying after a peaceful walk through the grounds. Swift noticed Twilight seemed to be relaxing with the entire Cadence issue, but said nothing about it. Better to let her cool off than to bring it back up was his thoughts.

"Here we are Swift. Your room is two doors down. I'll see you and the girls tomorrow." Twilight stopped and directed Swift to his room before turning to leave again. Swift saw her moving to leave and called out, confused.

"Twilight? Where are you going?" Swift knew she could get a bit fixated on things when her mind got onto something, and all of the girls needed their sleep for the practice tomorrow. Twilight looked back to Swift with an expression he found hard to read. She almost looked ashamed.

"I'm going to go talk to Shining. I've been thinking about what the girls said, and maybe I am overreacting. After all, Shining still seems to love her, and if she is as bad as I think she has been, I can't imagine he would." Twilight's explanation drew a nod from Swift who agreed with the idea. Something about Cadence still rubbed him the wrong way, but Twilight's brother would be able to explain if anything odd was happening.

"Ok Twilight, just be careful. I'll see you tomorrow." Swift motioned for her to go ahead with her plan before turning back down the hallway to his room. Swift hadn't realized how tired he actually was. As quietly as possible, he opened the door to his room which was dark, with just the light of the moon shining in through the window. Up on the large bed, Swift could see a small orange filly who was currently snoring quietly to herself. Even through his exhaustion, the sight brought a smile to Swift's face. Closing the door and approaching the bed, Swift noticed some spare blankets he could use as he curled up on the couch, letting the filly he was in charge of have the massive bed.

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"Perfect girls. No need to rush." Celestia directed as the five elements walked down the carpet towards the raised platform where Shining Armor and herself stood. Swift stood silently by the door alongside two guards. During the actual ceremony, he would be seated near the front, but since there were no chairs currently in the room, he simply stayed out of the way. Swift grinned as he watched Rainbow Dash and Rarity share a giddy school filly smile, and planned to taunt his marefriend about such girlish antics later.

"Now, Cadence will enter." Once the elements were in position, Celestia guided them to the next part of the ceremony. The door beside Swift opened to show Cadence waiting on the other side. Pushing aside the feeling that unfortunately hadn't left after a night of sleep, he silently watched as she walked in and approached Shining and Celestia on the dais.

"I'll say a few words, and then we'll begin with the vows. Shining Armor, you'll get the ring from your best mare..." Swift, along with the rest of the group, noticed at this point that Twilight had still failed to arrive.

"Has anypony seen Twilight?" Shining's question confused Swift, as Twilight supposedly spoke with him last night.

'Did she not show up? What's going on?' Swift's thoughts were pulled to a halt as the door magically swung open again, answering the question of where Twilight was. Before anyone could ask where she had been, Twilight angrily stepped forward and started speaking.

"I'm here! I'm not going to stand next to her, and neither should you!" Twilight declared with a fury in her eyes as she approached the group, walking past Swift as he stood in shock at her behavior. Shining moved to his fiance and tried to diffuse the situation.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why she is acting like this." His attempts to calm everyone down being only marginally more effective than had Fluttershy herself tried. Cadence scowled towards Twilight while speaking to Shining.

"Maybe we should just ignore her." Swift couldn't help but get a bit angry, hearing someone so callously dismiss one of his best friends. He moved to speak, but was cut off by Twilight who didn't seem the least bit put off by Cadence's words.

"You have to listen to me! She's evil!" Twilight pointed directly to Cadence, who suddenly looked shocked before being blocked from view by Shining. The expression on Shining Armor's face was clear: he was done putting up with Twilight's behavior. Gasps from their friends added to the suspense in the room.
"She's been horrible to my friends, she's obviously done something to her bridesmaids, and if that wasn't enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all wobbly!" Twilight threw accusation after accusation at the bride to be, teleporting around and walking her into a corner. Cadence looked genuinely afraid of the purple unicorn pinning to towards the wall. Silence hung in the room as everyone watched the two with mixed thoughts. Swift wondered how they would take the news that Twilight seemed to be throwing at them with no evidence. Shining was clearly appalled by Twilight's behavior, while Princess Celestia was impossible to read, keeping a straight face during the entire ordeal.

After moments of nothing, Cadence finally broke down crying and ran from the room.

"Why are you doing this to me?" was all that could be heard as she ran by, drawing no compassion from the enraged Twilight.

"Because you're evil!" Twilight teleported to the door to shout her final barb at the princess before slamming the door. With that done, a much happier Twilight turned and marched into the room, slamming into her brother who had moved just behind her. Looking up to her brother's eyes, her smile quickly vanished as he looked anything but pleased.

"You want to know WHY my eyes were all wobbly? Because ever since I started having to perform my protection spell I've been getting terrible migraines." Shining explained in part what apparently Twilight had seen when she went to visit as best as Swift could gather. Twilight's ears drooped as she heard his explanation of what had happened.
"Cadence hasn't been casting spells on me, she's been using her magic to heal me!" Shining walked around Twilight, never taking his glare off her as he approached the door.
"And she decided to replace her bridesmaids because she found out the only reason they wanted to be in the wedding was so they could meet Canterlot royalty!" Shocked looks at the venom in Shining's voice were on the faces of every pony in the room, including Twilight. Shining wasn't finished yet though as he continued.
"And if she hasn't been on her best behavior with your friends, it's because with me being so busy she's had to make all the decisions about the wedding!" Shining circled around his sister as he continued.
"She has been stressed out because she wanted this day to be perfect! Something that obviously wasn't that important to you!" His final accusation against Twilight caused everypony in the room to recoil. Swift couldn't help but feel terrible for his friend who was beginning to see the terrible mistake she had made. Shining finally stood and headed for the exit.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and comfort my bride." Twilight reached out to her brother as he reached the door, but he never stopped, speaking only as he reached the door.
"And you can forget about being my best mare! In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all!" Shining slammed the door behind him, causing Swift and the guards to lean away from the noise of the large wooden doors coming to rest. Silence hung in the room as everyone took in what had happened. Swift looked to their friends, waiting to see how they planned to comfort Twilight after all this.

"Come on y'all. Let's go comfort tha princess." Applejack spoke and lead the group around Twilight and towards the doors, never stopping to check on her. The guards opened the doors to let the group out, while Swift stood shocked that they would just leave Twilight. A voice pulled Swift's attention from watching the group leave the room.

"You have a lot to think about!" Celestia's voice carried an anger that Swift didn't think was possible. As she reached the door everyone else had exited through, she paused and looked to Swift, her anger present in her eyes.
"Swift, it's time we left so she can do just that." Celestia all but ordered that Swift follow her. Looking between Celestia and Twilight, Swift wasn't sure what to do. The look on Twilight's face betrayed the pain she was feeling in her heart, but Celestia was the ruler, and Twilight had behaved horribly. After moments of debate internally, Swift nodded and followed Celestia and the guards out of the room with his head hung, sighing at the sound of the doors slamming shut behind him.

Outside of the room, Rainbow Dash and Rarity had stayed behind. Noticing the look on Celestia's face, the two decided a proper bow was warranted as the princess stormed past. Once it was just the three of them, Rainbow Dash walked over.
"Come on Swift. Let's go get your outfit finished at Rarity's shop, then we can go practice some flight." Dash offered, appearing much better than she had moments ago. Rarity chimed in information about his outfit.

"Rainbow is right dear. I have some fabric that will bring out the purple of your coat. It will look..." Rarity jumped back as she was cut off by Swift, who clearly wasn't in a good mood.

"Really! Our friend just got destroyed in there, and you want to talk about getting me an outfit?" Swift pointed a hoof at Rarity accusingly, then turned his attention to Rainbow Dash.
"And you want to just go flying? We should be helping Twilight, not just standing around." Swift's voice lowered as he vented at his friends. The two of them had leaned back as he yelled, and glanced at each other after listening to his words. Finally Rarity spoke up.

"Swift. We know she just went through something terrible, but you heard what she said about Cadence. She jumped at her with no evidence or provocation. I love Twilight, I really do, but this is a life lesson she has to learn." Rarity explained, getting a nod from Rainbow who chose to stay quiet. She knew good and well she couldn't voice these thoughts as well as Rarity and let her take the lead. Swift simply listened as he calmed down. They had valid points and he shouldn't be yelling at them.

"I'm sorry, you're right. It's just not like Twilight to act this way." Swift explained, drawing a nod from his friends who forgave his outburst.

"True dear, but everyone makes mistakes. So what do you say? Come get fitted for an outfit?" Rarity asked, placing a hoof on his shoulder. Swift thought about it, debating on what he should do. As he did, that feeling in the back of his mind flared up sharply, helping him make his decision.

"No, not right now. You guys go on ahead. I'm going to clear my head." Swift motioned for the two mares to head on as he stayed behind. Rarity sighed before simply nodded and turning away.

"Sure, but do make it by when you can. I need to fit you before the actual wedding. Come on Rainbow, let's head on to fix your dress." Rarity paused to wait for Rainbow, who looked between Rarity and Swift, debating on where to go.

"Go ahead Dashie, I'll catch up later." Swift motioned for her to go ahead, that he wouldn't be upset for her leaving. Dash looked into Swift's blue eyes for a moment before nodding and following Rarity around the corner. With the hall cleared, Swift turned back to the doors and flung them open. He wasn't going to let Twilight suffer alone. She and Rainbow were the first ponies to talk to him when he woke up from his coma, and were the ponies he knew longer than anyone else. If one of them needed his help, he would do what he could.

Walking into the room, Swift started to call out but was caught short by the sight before him. Cadence was standing over Twilight with a sinister look on her face. More importantly was the green flames and field of magic currently dragging Twilight into the ground to who knows where.

"TWILIGHT!" Swift, without thinking, shot off through the air using all the speed he had developed while practicing with Rainbow Dash. In what seemed like an instant, he was across the room, zeroing in on his target, the princess currently casting whatever magic was at play. Inches from slamming into the princes, a magic field wrapped around him and stopped him dead in the air.

"What have we here? Another pony who snoops to much? This pony is special though." Cadence finally looked up directly into Swift's eyes, where he noticed they flickered an emerald color as she used her magic.

"What was that? What did you do with Twilight?!" Swift shouted at his opponent while trying to break free from the magic holding him in place. Cadence laughed as she walked around Swift.

"Oh, she is where I can deal with her later. The question is what should I do with you? For a pegasus, you have an immense power in you. I sensed it every time you were near." Cadence explained as she continued to inspect Swift from every angle. The comment struck Swift and made him realize the feeling in his mind was stronger than ever while this close to Cadence. Maybe she sensed this feeling too. What it was, however, was a mystery to the pegasus.
"I guess you can go into storage as well. Once I finish with everyone else, I can research you more."

"Finish with everyone? What are you planning?" Swift hoped to keep her talking, and perhaps someone would come in and see that Twilight was right all along.

"Simple. I'm going to overthrow Celestia. I thought that was obvious. But first, I have to kill off those elements of harmony." Cadence drew close as she taunted the group that Swift and come to think of as his closest friends.
"First, I'll skin the dress maker. Perhaps turn her coat into a nice dress to wear to formal events. I'll turn the yellow one into a throw rug, or maybe a statue like Celestia tends to do. And the rainbow maned one..." Cadence had finally made a mistake bringing up any plan to hurt Rainbow Dash. Swift grew even more furious and managed to snap free from the magic just long enough to slam his hoof into the side of Cadences face. The instant they made contact, a large concussion knocked them away from each other, throwing Swift across the room and into the floor hard. Landing on his back, Swift fought the urge to black out from the blow to his head as he watched his enemy. Even through hazy vision, he could make out that she had changed. Where the pink ailcorn had been, a black monster with holes in it's body now stood.

Unfortunately for Swift, the blast hadn't knocked her down, or even back far at all. She was simply dazed and could shake it off quickly. As Swift tried to get back to his hooves, he could hear her gasp.

"What? How did you force me out of my disguise!? That power you have, it must be..." 'Cadence' seemed to have an idea of what had happened, though Swift could care less at the moment. All he wanted was to get his balance, then to force this creature to bring Twilight back. As he finally got on to his legs, he felt the magic from before grab him again and hold him down as green fire spread around him as it did with Twilight.
"You will be very useful. Once I destroy your friends, you and I will have plenty of time to find out just what you are." The fire blocked Swift's view as he felt the ground below him shift and he started sinking. Fighting as best as he could to prevent whatever was happening, all he could hear was the sound of the creature laughing before he fell completely into the portal, and into darkness.

Chapter 16: A Canterlot Wedding Pt. 2

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Darkness.

Swift had never really considered dying, but even so he expected something greater than simply floating in a pitch black void. Looking around, Swift couldn't determine any features in wherever he was. The feeling of weightlessness was beginning to unnerve him more than the lack of vision. Pegasi used their sense of balance and gravity to keep level in flight and not hit the ground, yet here, Swift felt neither. Even when lifted by Twilight's magic, he could still tell where the ground was, yet here, there was nothing.

"This is rather dull." Swift spoke to himself, mostly to ease his nerves. The complete lack of anything to echo on gave his voice a slightly deadened tone, adding to the unnerving quality of this place.

"Indeed! Unfortunately it's the best I can do given my current powers." The sudden voice caused Swift to spin in place looking for who was there. Still blackness met him, with no sign of his companion.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Swift puffed his chest out and flared his wings to appear as threatening as possible, assuming his opponent could see him. Suddenly, just a short distance from where Swift floated, a pair of yellow eyes opened with red irises.

"Come now Swift. What do you plan to do in this place? Without flying, what good are you?" The voice sounded simply amused at the threat Swift tried to present. Swift opened his mouth to speak but realized he had no answer. Other than flying all day, he didn't really do anything that would lend itself to fighting whatever this creature was. It seemed to detect his hesitation and stopped him from continuing.
"My appologies, I should be a bit nicer, given what you are after all." The voice sounded as though it was grinning, further indicated by the squint the eyes showed as the floated around Swift.

"Who I am? What are you talking about? Who are you?" Swift rattled off the questions in his head, not giving the being time to respond individually. When he stopped, the voice laughed, entertained by Swift's confusion before continuing.

"We will meet soon enough. I just had to take this moment to piggy back on little Chrysalis' spell and finally see you in person. She seems to have an idea of what you are, but the why escaped her. This is going to be so much fun to watch!" The voice was extremely excited about whatever was going to happen, and apparently by whatever Swift was.

"What are you talking about!? You aren't making any sense!" Swift yelled, trying to assert some form of dominance over the voice. Such attempts were for naught as the eyes drifted away, fading into the darkness as it's voice echoed and faded.

"Sense? Where's the fun in making sense."

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"Swift! Swift!"

Slowly, Swift cracked his eyes open, the echo of whoever had spoken with him still echoing in his mind. Above him stood Twilight, shaking him to make sure he was alive.

"I'm up, I'm up." Swift placed a hoof on Twilight to stop her shaking as he sat up to clear his head. The first thing Swift noticed, aside from actually being able to see, was the room they were in. It was some sort of crystalline cave with an errie glow all around. As he looked around, several copies of himself and Twilight were scattered around on the surfaces of the crystals.
"Where in Equestria are we?"

"I think these are the old caves beneath Canterlot. I read about them in a book when I was younger, but hadn't ever seen them. They are pretty ancient, and mostly forgotten." Twilight explained as the two walked towards one large crystal face. After she finished her explenation, the wall suddenly flickered and Cadence's face appeared.

"And the perfect place to put ponies who want to interfere with my plans!" Cadence's voice echoed through the cavern as Swift quickly lept between Twilight and the reflection. He had failed to protect her once, so there was no way he was failing like that again. Twilight also assumed a defensive stance, and cast a confused look to Swift. Were a fight to break out, her magic would be a lot more useful than Swift just flying.

"And what plan is that?" Twilight asked, watching as the reflection shifted from crystal to crystal around the cavern. Swift followed suit and tracked the threat.

"Oh, my plans for your brother of course." Cadence answered with an unquestionably evil tone and grin. This had the added effect of setting Twilight off.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Twilight charged a powerful blast of magic in her anger and pointed it at the image. Swift, who wasn't as quickly enraged, noticed what was happening and moved to stop her.

"Twilight! NO!" As the words left Swift's mouth, Twilight let loose a powerful bolt of magic. It was a direct hit on the wall, but unfortunately the angle reflected it and suddenly the room was bathed in a wild blast bounding from wall to wall. Swift dove and took Twilight to the ground, preventing either of them from being hit and the bolt traveled just a few hooves overhead and finally slammed into a flat wall, shattering it into dozens of pieces. Slowly the dust started to settle and Swift and Twilight realized they could see the outline of another pony. As the air cleared, they could easily make out Cadence sitting there, covered in cuts and her hair a mess. Swift was surprised finding her was so easy when Twilight took off.

"No! Wait!" Cadence couldn't get anymore out before Twilight tackled her to the ground and started charging her magic. Swift ran to where they landed, wondering what plan Cadence had at this point.
"Please! Don't hurt me!" Swift drew back as Cadence pleaded. This didn't feel right.

"Why should I?" Twilight asked, holding her anger back.

"Twilight its me. Please, you have to believe me. I've been imprisoned like you. The Cadence that trapped you is an imposter." Cadence explained in a last ditch effort to save herself. Twilight didn't seem to be buying it and her horn flared up again.

"Twilight, stop!" Swift forced Twilight to look at him with a hoof under her chin. As Cadence was pleading, Swift realized he didn't feel that feeling from earlier.

"Swift, she threatened my brother! I'm not letting her get away with it!" Twilight exclaimed, somewhat confused as to why Swift was suddenly stopping her.

"That isn't her. She is telling you the truth. I saw it myself. Before I was sent down here, I fought Cadence and somehow when I touched her, she changed into a black creature filled with holes and emerald eyes." Swift explained as he reached down and carefully touched Cadence on the shoulder. Nothing happened, causing Swift to sigh in relief. Twilight allowed her magic to dissipate as she listened to Swift tell his story.

"She changed?" Twilight had a dozen questions, but that was the only one she could seem to formulate at the moment as she moved to allow the Cadence beneath her a chance to sit up. Swift backed up to allow Twilight and Cadence their space, though Twilight wasn't about to let Cadence free from her hold.

"Yeah, I don't know why, but it happened as soon as my hoof connected with her face. She seemed to know something about it, which is why she sent me down here instead of out right killing me." Swift explained, drawing a nod from Cadence.

"He's right. She isn't a normal pony. She is called a changeling." Cadence added, trying to win herself back into good favor. Twilight's eyes widened in realization as Cadence spoke.

"I know of those. They were in a book I studied a few years ago." Twilight spoke, mostly to herself. Swift rolled his eyes at the predictable statement. Everything Twilight knew of seemed to be from a book. After a moment of silence, Cadence cleared her throat to draw attention to the fact that she was still pinned beneath Twilight.
"Oh my gosh! Here, get up! I'm so sorry!" Twilight rambled as she let Cadence return to her hooves.

"It's okay Twilight. After what Chrysalis did, I can't blame you for not trusting me." Cadence explained, catching Swift's attention with the mention of Chrysalis. The voice had mentioned her by name as well.

'So that wasn't just some dream....' Swift's thoughts started to recall what else the voice said, but was cut short by Twilight speaking up.

"Swift, did anything else happen with Chrysalis in the hall?" Twilight seemed to be doing what she did best, building a plan, and was gathering intel to that goal.

"Just that she planned on taking over Equestria. She plans on killing our friends, but that's all I heard. I sorta lost it and punched her, then got sent here." Swift explained, holding his anger as best as possible at what Chrysalis had said. Twilight surprisingly took the news of their friends danger better than expected, and remained calm. Cadence, however, didn't seem so composed.

"How can we stop them? They can change form and look just like us. Did you see anything in that book that we can use against them Twilight?" Cadence asked of the Element of Magic. Twilight shook her head with her eyes closed as she recalled what she had read years ago.

"It was mostly history. Shortly after Discord first attacked, insect-like ponies with the abilities to change their shape and absorb the love from other ponies started to show up. No one ever really learned much about them, as they are very good at not being found. We don't even know how the magic they use to absorb love and change their form works. It's not simply an illusion, but a full metamorphosis." Twilight was in her typical lecture mode, and as such was nearly putting the two other ponies to sleep with the clinical explanation. Only the seriousness of the situation kept them alert, though the mention of Discord brought memories of the previous day at the hedge maze with Rainbow back into mind.

"Twilight, as interesting as this is, we really need to get back to the castle and stop this wedding. If there is no way to hurt them from what you read, we can figure it out as we go. Besides, my touch pulled Chrysalis out of her disguise, so perhaps I can do it to others." Swift explained, thinking his feelings from the trip that had been coming and going might be related. It had flared up when Chrysalis was nearby, so maybe somehow he was detecting them. Cadence seemed to agree, as she stood and started making her way towards a bridge of rock that appeared to lead to an exit.

"Then come on! I don't want to leave her up there with my fiance any longer than we need! Let's go!" Cadence spoke over her shoulder before taking off. Swift and Twilight simply nodded and followed after her, thought's of the fight ahead of them on their mind.

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"What's up, sugarcube? You've been lookin down all day." Applejack stood next to Rainbow Dash as various ponies were fixing up their hair and making sure their outfits were perfect for the approaching wedding. Since the group had awoken, it had been nonstop errands to get prepared for the big event. AJ had been alongside Dash for each task, and noticed she wasn't fighting against all the primping like she normally would.

"It's nothin' AJ. Just thinking." Dash's answer wasn't rude, but was very short. It was obvious to everyone in the room that she hadn't even been paying attention as she answered. Whatever was distracting her had all of her attention. A hoof on the shoulder managed to pull her to reality though as her best friend and sometimes rival looked upon her with worry.

"Dash, I know you. Somethin' has you worried. Talk to me. What's wrong?" AJ tried again to get her friend to open up. For a moment, it didn't look like it would work, but finally Dash decided to speak.

"I'm worried about Swift and Twilight. Twilight really messed up yesterday and we all abandoned her. Even Princess Celestia scolded her. Only Swift went back, and now the both are missing." Dash explained, looking away from her friend and out the window towards the clouds. AJ nodded in understanding, but worried that Dash might be, ironically, overthinking the situation.

"Ah wouldn't worry too much. Ah feel bad for Twi too, but like ya said, she messed up pretty bad. She is probably just down in the library trying to clear her mind. As for Swift, his job is to make sure the sky is ready for your rainboom. You don't worry yerself over it. Come on, we got ah weddin to attend." AJ attempted to ease her friends mind. Dash smiled slightly and nodded in agreement to what AJ was saying, though the smile was hollow to Dash. She knew Swift, and there was no way he would have just disappeared on a day like today. She just knew he must have gotten into trouble.

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"This could be trouble." Swift whispered to the mares behind him as he peaked around the hall. A guard was standing watch as normal, however Swift was feeling that sense again that something was off. Twilight and Cadence nodded and backed from the corner. So far, aside from an encounter with the former brides maids who appeared to be mind controlled, the trip through the castle had been simple. The caves had access in the abandoned dungeon that wasn't guarded anymore as it was the only entrance and exit, and with the wedding going on the halls were empty aside from minimal guard presence. Cadence knew where they would be, so avoiding them until now had been simple.

"What about a distraction spell? We can lure him away?" Twilight offered in a hushed tone. Swift nodded, but Cadence shook her head that it wouldn't work.

"No, if it is a changeling, it will call for help as soon as it detects something wrong. We need to drop him quickly, if he is indeed a changeling." Cadence looked to Swift with that comment. She still couldn't quite believe that a pegasus would have some magical ability to sense changelings, and he couldn't blame her. He couldn't quite believe it either.

"Well, we can always check. I'll just casually walk down the hall and tap him on the shoulder as though I'm lost. If he is forced out of form, we know I'm right. If not, we assume he is real and there's no problem." Swift offered as a suggestion. Twilight and Cadence looked at each other, hoping one of them had a better idea. After a moment of silence, Twilight signed and nodded.

"Ok, go, but I'm keeping a spell ready to knock him out if he is a changeling." Twilight said as she approached the corner. Cadence held back while Swift followed, and with a calming breath, walked around the corner. The guard maintained his rigid pose as all guards were trained to do as Swift trotted down the hall while looking back and forth as if trying to find his way. As he reached the guard, he spoke up.

"Excuse me, sir. I seem to be turned around." Swift casually reached up and placed his hoof on the guard's shoulder where his armor failed to cover. A small flash of green could be seen from down the hall and the guard was no longer just a guard. Swift jumped back, allowing Twilight a clear shot at the changeling who had hunched down and was ready to pounce.
"Anytime Twi!" Swift shouted, just as an invisible force slammed the changeling to the ground hard enough to knock it out. Twilight and Cadence ran around the corner and approached the downed enemy.

"Ok, I'm convinced. I'm sorry for doubting you Swift." Cadence offered in apology as she looked at the changeling. Swift shook his head as he approached the foe and removed the armor.

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't sure it would work either." Brushing off the apology, Swift proceeded to don the royal pegasi armor the changeling had been wearing, sans the helmet that had broken when the changeling horn shot through it. Twilight and Cadence watched him with confused looks, which Swift saw when he turned around.

"What? Most likely we will have to fight, and I don't have your magic. I figure armor might not be a bad idea." Swift explained as the light from the windows gleamed on the armor. Luckily for Swift, it seemed to fit his build perfectly and did not hinder his wing movement at all. This armor was definitely of the highest quality.

Twilight nodded at the logic of his thoughts, and briefly wondered how Rainbow Dash would react to him in such armor. While she had stated no romantic interests in Swift many times, she was still a mare, and knew when a stallion looked good, and the armor looked made to fit on Swift's body. Cadence meanwhile had no qualms about such thoughts.

"You wear that armor too long and it won't be changelings you have to fight off." A smirk on Cadence's face proved contagious as Swift grinned as well, appearing as cocky as he did when he and Dash would be pranking someone.

"Careful now, you are getting married. Watch where you are staring." Swift replied, getting into the taunting game. The mention of the wedding however drew the group back to the task at hoof.
"Oh no, how long do we have?" Swift, realizing they were wasting time, asked quickly to Twilight.

"The wedding starts at noon. 'Cadence' should walk down the aisle after the bells ring noon." Twilight recalled from the original wedding plan. Hopefully they hadn't changed anything. Swift looked back out the window to where the sun stood and estimated it was around a quarter til noon.

"We don't have much time. We have to go." Swift started down the hall, his new armor not helping their stealth, while the two mares followed behind.

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*Ding! Ding!*

The final two chimes of the bells echoed into the distance. As they faded, the massive doors to the ballroom opened and Cadence appeared in a flowing white wedding dress. Everyone in the audience turned and smiled tot he bride as she approached the alter, beautiful music filling the hall as she walked.

Beside the alter, Shining Armor smiled to his beautiful bride-to-be. In place of his standard military armor, he was wearing his formal uniform. While not as elegant as the dress his fiance wore, the outfit commanded respect and represented his position within the Royal Guard.

Alongside where Celestia and Shining Armor stood, five mares in unique and wonderful dresses stood as bridesmares. All of them had their eyes fixed on the bride as she made her way down the aisle. All but one of them.

Rainbow Dash knew she would get in trouble if she didn't follow script and ooh and ahh over the bride, but Swift's disappearance was still bothering her. Applejack had perfectly valid points earlier, but something about it didn't sit right with Dash, who was now fighting every urge to bail and go find him. Currently, she was casting glances out the skylights to the sky, which was spotted with clouds. Had the sky been clear, she wouldn't be as concerned, but it was Swift's job to clear the sky and Swift took his work very seriously, much like Rainbow Dash herself. A sudden tap on her shoulder by Applejack brought her back to the ceremony. Cadence had joined Shining Armor at the altar and exchanged vows, so she needed to being to slip away to get into position for her sonic rainboom. She lifted a hoof to step away when the sound of the main doors slamming open echoed through the room followed by a familiar voice.

"STOP!"

All eyes in the hall turned to see Twilight Sparkle walking into the hall, followed by Swift in his borrowed guard armor. Rainbow nearly tripped at the site of her coltfriend in full guard armor sans a helmet. Swift had never seemed like someone who would be in the military, but that armor looked like he was born to wear it. So absorbed was Dash that she almost missed Cadence's comment.

"Gah. Why does she have to be sooo possessive of her brother?!" Cadence stomped her hoof in frustration as she spoke, garnering odd looks from both Princess Celestia. The awkward silence passed for just a moment before she seemed to realize herself and continued.
"Why does she have to ruin my special day?" This time, she sounded more hurt rather than frustrated. As she began to cry at the injustice before her, a voice spoke through the crowd.

"Because it's not your special day! It's MINE!" Several ponies appeared confused as Cadence was the voice they heard, but the Cadence on stage wasn't speaking. A quick glance showed a third pony had joined Twilight and Swift, looking identical to the bride. This brought a gasp through the crowd, and even Celestia herself looked shocked by this disheveled version of Cadence.

"What?! But how did you escape my bridesmaids?" Cadence on the stage spoke out, sounding angrier than ever. The three ponies across the room smirked to each other. Twilight spoke, the humor of the situation evident in her voice.

"You shouldn't have sent them to guard a bride with a bouquet." Twilight spoke simply, allowing her opponent to piece together what happened. All of Twilight's friends realized what it meant and shook their head at the ridiculousness of the solution. Cadence appeared slightly annoyed at her guards being defeated by flowers, but continued on.

"Clever, but you're still too late." Everyone at this point had grown more and more confused by the dual princesses, sparking Applejack to finally speak up.

"Wait, I don't understand. How can there be two of them?" A simple question, drawing a nod from all the other ponies who shared the question. Cadence beside Twilight stepped forward, ready to answer just that.

"She's a changeling. She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them!" Cadence pointed a hoof accusingly at her doppelganger, causing everyone to shift their attention to the bride, expecting some sort of proof against such outrageous accusations. As they looked her way, she was suddenly engulfed in green fire that covered her from sight completely. As quickly as it spawned, the flames went out, leaving behind a black creature as tall as Celestia. Her body was covered in holes as though she had been stabbed through with a fencepost, but never healed, or even took damage. Her eyes were an emerald that matched the fire from moments before.

"Bwahaha. Right you are princess! And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects! Equestria has more love than anyplace I have ever encountered." Slowly, the queen made her way down the stairs towards the princess.
"My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it. Then we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed off!" Hushed panic washed through the room as the gravity of the situation was realized by many of the ponies. Twilight's friends on the stage all looked to each other, silently nodding that they needed to regroup, slowly making their way from the stage.

"They'll never get the chance. Shining Armors protection spell will keep them from even reaching us." Cadence grinned at the slip of Chrysalis' plan. With the shield in place, no changeling would be able to help her, and with the Elements present, not to mention herself, they had more than enough power to fight this queen. Chrysalis simply laughed off the threat however as she turned her head to face Shining Armor who had yet to move from his spot on the stage.

"I doubt that. Isn't that right dear?" An emerald aura formed around the queen's wicked looking horn, and a matching aura flared across Shining Armor's eyes. Pain could also be seen flashing across his face as whatever power Chrysalis had was burrowing its way into him. Cadence couldn't hold back as she cried out to her love, taking off down the aisle only to be cut off by Chrysalis.

"Uh uh uh. Don't wanna go back to the cave do you? Ever since I took your place, I've been feeding off Shining Armor's love for you. Every moment, he grows weaker and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it." Chrysalis took a guarded position, ready to fight off an attack as she taunted the princess before her. The Elements all looked out the window into the distance where they could barely make out hundreds of black specks beyond the shield. The worrying part was the shade of magic forming the shield. When they had arrived, it was a dark purple, but now it appeared faded, an obvious sign of the magic weakening.
"He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control, and I'm sorry to say unable to perform his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard!"

"Not my Shining Armor!" Cadence stepped to the left and right, looking for an opening to pass the queen, but Chrysalis wasn't allowing anyone near the lynchpin of her plans. Finally Cadence seemed to relent and focused her attention on the threat before her, drawing another bout of laughter from the changeling queen.

"First, my changeling army will break through and we take Canterlot. Then ALL of Equestria!" Chrysalis started laughing at the helplessness in the eyes of the party guests and Cadence before her. Her laughter was quickly cut off by a voice from behind her that had stayed quiet for long enough.

"No. You won't." Turning, Chrysalis found herself face to face with Princess Celestia, ruler of the kingdom of Equestria.
"You may have made it impossible for shining armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self, I can protect my subjects...from you!" Without further warning, Celestia lifted up into the air and a golden aura formed around her horn, firing a beam of pure magic at the enemy before her. Chrysalis panicked as she quickly launched her own beam powered by the love she had drained back at Celestia. The two beams hit with such force that it knocked nearby ponies on their flanks. This caused many of the guests to take off running out the door with the villain occupied, and the Elements of Harmony all gathered together to watch the battle of magic.

The beam seemed locked in place, but a careful eye could see Celestia slowly overpowering her opponent. Slowly, the changeling queen was pushed back. Just as the beam was about to engulf her, her eyes suddenly lit up a bright green, the same shade as Shining Armor had had on his own eyes. Suddenly Chrysalis' power seemed to double, and Swift noticed Shining Armor sink down as Chrysalis obviously pulled power from him into her attack. The result of such a sudden surge of magic was devastating. The beam shot up and slammed into Celestia, knocking her from the air to the ground hard.

"Princess Celestia!" The Elements and Swift all ran to the princess as Chrysalis recovered from the exertion. After a moment to collect herself, she realized exactly what she had done. She had defeated Celestia. Cadence stood ready to attack her, but seeing Celestia fall was clearly causing her to question her chances. Chrysalis spoke up, taking a chance to cement such doubt.

"HA, Shining Armor's love for you is even stronger than I thought! Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!" Everyone heard Chrysalis' claim, and given what just happened couldn't argue it. Rainbow Dash and Swift were the first to stand, but Celestia's voice held them back.

"The Elements of Harmony. You must get to them and use their power to defeat the queen! Swift, help them. That armor is for someone who protects Canterlot, so wear it well!" The girls nodded in agreement that the Elements were first priority. They couldn't stop the queen without them. Swift nodded as well, recognizing his role in the situation. He would make sure they got their elements, or he would die trying.

Outside, a loud thunderclap roared overhead, and a glance out the window showed the shield had fallen, and hundreds of changelings were descending on the city. Outside, screams could be heard as ponies ran for safety to avoid the invading forces. A final look at Celestia, who had finally succumbed to her injury and passed out, was all the group spared as the turned an ran out into the fray.

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Cadence and Chrysalis watch as the Elements galloped from the hall, leaving the ruling princess sprawled out on the ground. Cadence was surprised as Chrysalis did nothing to prevent their fleeing, and instead smiled as the group ran.

"Pretty foolish, letting the Elements escape." Cadence taunted her foe, hoping to find a way to defeat her and rescue her love. Chrysalis looked to Cadence as her smile grew even further. Without speaking a word, the Queen opened her wings and buzzed them rapidly, though not taking off. Cadence was braced for an attack, but when nothing appeared to happen she relaxed slightly.
'What is she doing?' Cadence slowly took a step forward, confused by her enemy's tactic when suddenly two changelings landed beside the queen, backs facing Cadence. These two changelings appeared much different from the ones they had seen before. The were much larger, and their armor looked more uniform, as though an officer in the changeling forces. This worried Cadence, as so far the changelings appeared to be a mob rather than an army, but if they had some sort of regiment organization, this fight could be much worse. As she considered the ramifications of this knowledge, the Queen started speaking in a strange combinations of clicks and buzzes that Cadence could only assume was the changeling language.

"Take your force and secure the cargo. If the Elements manage to get their focus', then we need to be prepared." Chrysalis waited for the changeling in question to salute and fly off, being joined by five other changelings who had remained near the window they arrived in. Cadence watched them fly off, wondering what the Queen had said when she started speaking again.
"You need to get our insurance against the Elements ready. Go grab the three that ran and make sure the Elements know what happens if they fight back." This changeling quickly saluted and took off out the main door, flying just over Cadence who dove out of the way, surprised by what she thought was a sudden attack.
"Worry not, princess. My changelings won't attack you. You are my toy..." the Queen slowly stepped towards Cadence as she stood up, ready for the fight to come.
"...and nopony takes what is MINE!"

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Outside, the chaotic sound of battle filled the streets of Canterlot. Ponies ran from the invading force as this day that was supposed to be perfect was rapidly turned into a nightmare. Street vendor carts were overturned from ponies being chased by changelings down the street. A few ponies were unconscious along the road, drained of the love they had been filled with just minutes ago in light of the wedding. Nearby, others could be seen hiding in shrubs, or inside buildings as yet more changelings tried to break in.

Swift was shocked at the sight of the battlefield before him. He hadn't imagined how massive the enemy force could be, and respected Shining Armor all the more for having been able to hold back such a force with is magic. Currently however, Swift needed to take action. The girls needed to get the Elements, and he was ordered by the Princess herself to protect them.

"Where did they go?!" Swift mumbled as he flew up in the air, watching for a sign. Up ahead, the street was covered with the bodies of unconscious changelings and the sounds of battle.
"That way is as good as any!" Swift pulled all the speed he had and charged to the battle. He knew he was in the right place when he saw Fluttershy running from the fight but get stopped by Rainbow Dash.

Or rather, four Rainbow Dashes. Swift realized he couldn't tell where his real friends were for a moment as he watched the four advance on Fluttershy. Moments before he moved to take the group out, one of them suddenly broke ranks and attacked its allies before helping Fluttershy up with a friendly hug.

'Wait, she doesn't give off that feeling. I can detect them!' Swift tested his thought as he looked around the battlefield some more and saw Applejack and Twilight getting backed to each other, surrounded by the hive.

'That's not Twilight...' Swift's thought proved true as 'Twilight' transformed and was kicked by Applejack who appeared to vent some frustration.

'Perfect, I can do this...oops.' Swift ducked as he noticed a changeling flying at him full force. His presence on the field had been noticed.

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Rainbow Dash left Fluttershy and took off to fight a group that was surrounding Rarity. The fashonista was surprisingly holding her own quite well against the horde, but was being overrun.

'We can do this! Once we have the Elements, we can stop this army!' Spurred on with her thoughts, Rainbow Dash slammed directly into one of the changelings who was disguised as herself, knocking it into several of its allies, scattering them like bowling pins.

"Rainbow darling! Thank you so much for the help!" Rarity sounded genuinely relieved to have the help as she dodged a changeling and used her magic to trip it before kicking it into the crowd of enemies.

"You know me Rares, always willing to help!" Dash threw banter to her friend as she also dealt with a group of changelings on her end. As she punched one looking like Fluttershy in the face, the rest of the changelings in the group suddenly stopped and looked at each other for a moment.
'Uh oh, what's this...' Rainbow took a defensive stance to see what was about to happen when the group suddenly shot into the air. Following their path, Rainbow saw what at first appeared to be a guard fighting, but after a moment realized who it was.
"Swift! I gotta help him!" Dash punched on last changeling down and kicked him away as she looked to Rarity to see how she was doing. A smaller group was arriving, but Rarity was simply smiling as she fixed her hair from the fight.

"Go ahead Rainbow. I can take care of these ruffians." Dash didn't want to admit it, but the grin Rarity was wearing made her suddenly feel sorry for the changelings about to attack her. With a nod, Dash took off to her coltfriend, leaving the changelings on the ground to their fate.

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Swift dodged and kicked at the various changelings around him. A group of five had apparently spotted him originally, and three of them were now unconscious. He tried not to concern himself with what happened when they landed, as firstly he had more pressing matters, as well as he hoped he didn't kill them. He would fight them as far as was needed, but even so the thought of them dying wouldn't raise his spirits any. Dispatching another enemy left him face to face with his final opponent. This one seemed to be rethinking his options as he had seen his friends taken down.

"Leave, and I won't chase you." Swift tried to offer it a chance to escape so he could get to the girls and find the Elements. The changeling hovered there for a moment when a shout drew both of their attention.

"SWIFT! INCOMING!" Below them, a dozen more changelings were closing fast, with a rainbow trail following them as Dash closed the distance. Without hesitating, Swift shouldercharged the one changeling he had given a chance to escape, knocking him out of stable flight and causing him to crash into a rooftop as the second force arrive. Turning to face them, he watched as Dash slammed into one from below and held him by his back legs before swinging him around into two of his friends. The bodies fell as Dash flew beside Swift and the two forces eyed each other.

"Nice job, and thanks for the heads up." Swift said without looking to his marefriend. The enemy had nearly all his focus at the moment. Dash had the same thoughts as she didn't look to him either.

"No prob. There seems to be no end to these guys. We need a plan." Swift nodded as Dash gave voice to the state of their battle. As if an unspoken trigger had been thrown, the remaining nine changelings suddenly fell upon the two pegasi as their battle resumed.

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Twilight shot another bolt of magic at a copy of herself, pulling it from its disguise and throwing it back. Thankfully while the changelings had numbers on their side, their magic wasn't strong and they didn't seem to resilient to damage.

"We have to step this up. There are too many of them and the Princesses need our help. Something drastic needs to happ...ACK!" Twilight was cut short with her thought as she was suddenly yanked away from her spot by Pinkie Pie. At the best of times, being abducted by Pinkie was concerning to anypony, but in a fight it was the last thing Twilight would want to deal with. As she was about to speak these thoughts, she felt Pinkie grab her tail and point her horn at the horde of enemies while cackling in glee. Suddenly she started cranking Twilight's tail like a handle and, for reasons that Twilight would probably never figure out, her own magic started to respond, firing rapidly at whatever Pinkie pointed her at. The magic wasn't strong, but Twilight could tell it would do the job, and started knocking changelings out rapidly. The whole thing was so ridiculous that Twilight nearly shook her head in exasperation, but held off knowing it would corrupt Pinkie's aim.

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Swift and Dash were fighting back to back, taking down one changeling after another when the sound of battle below them changed. The changelings fighting the pegasi noticed this as well and all involved in the fight looked down to an unexpected sight. Pinkie Pie was wielding Twilight as some sort of weapon, rapid firing magic at the enemies and clearing a path to the place that the elements were stored.

The changelings with Swift and Dash decided this threat was larger than the two pegasi in the air and dived to the ground.
With a glance, Dash took off followed by Swift, slamming into the escaping changelings before they could stop Pinkie and Twilight. The rest of the group had similar ideas and closed ranks around the duo as they fought up the stairs to the main building.

"The elements are inside! Come on girls!" Twilight broke free from Pinkie and yelled to the group as she pushed the door open. Swift's indignation at being referred to as 'one of the girls' was short lived as inside the building, dozens of changelings were at rank and ready to attack, bringing the group to a stop. Without looking behind, they could hear just as many changelings land behind them, effectively boxing them in. AJ, Swift, and Dash silently looked to one another, and with the briefest nod, took off towards the group outside the building in order to allow more room to fight.

"HOLD ELEMENTS!" A loud, buzzer like voice shouted above the forces below, causing the group to pause. AJ slid to a halt a few meters from the group, while Dash and Swift both were hovering in the air, having shot in different directions. Above them, three larger changelings were hovering at least a hundred hooves off the ground.

Each of the three seemed to be holding something. AJ was the first to recognize them.

"APPLEBLOOM!" Swift and Dash immediately made out the forms of the three fillies who should have been secured when the attack started. The changelings held them dangling out before them, the threat of dropping them readily apparent.

Behind the group, a very large changeling, who was clearly in charge of this part of the invasion force by the way other changelings seemed to naturally move out of its way, stepped from the building and spoke in a loud, clear voice.

"You will all surrender, or I will order them to release the fillies." The threat was made, and made as casually as though the commander was ordering a meal. AJ turned and had an enraged look about her that none of her friends had ever seen.

"You won't drop them, because if you do, I will personally make sure..." AJ's threat faded as the commander simply nodded his head towards one of the three in the air.

Suddenly, Scootaloo felt the wind through her mane as the ground started moving towards her rapidly.

Chapter 17: A Canterlot Wedding Pt. 3

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The mane six stared in horror as the orange filly tumbled through the air after being released by the changeling soldier. The panic they felt was minor compared to the adrenaline coursing through Scootaloo when the ground started moving towards her. All the lessons she had been taught in gliding seemed forgotten as she tumbled end over end. A small part of her mind for some reason hoped no one would see the tears forming as she realized she couldn't gain control of her fall.

After what seemed like hours, but in fact was only a second, Rainbow Dash recovered from her shock and rocketed towards the filly. Worry about the changeling forces, about everything else was gone: replaced by her desire to save her number one fan. The Commander changeling seemed to grin as he watched Rainbow take off and decided to make things a bit more interesting. Quickly aiming, the Commander fired a powerful bolt of magic at Scootaloo as she fell, figuring either he hits her, and the rainbow pony realizes she was too slow to save a life, or it hits both of them, and the element will be more permanently removed from the battle. The changelings on either side of the Commander could be heard chuckling at the sight.

Swift was surprised at the speed with which everything had turned around. When Rainbow shot after Scootaloo, he turned to move in on the Commander, but was stopped when the changeling fired his magic. Turning to see where it was targeted made his heart skip a beat.

'He's after Scootaloo!' The thought just finished as Swift launched at full speed to catch up to the magic.He could see Rainbow was getting closer and could catch the filly, so he needed to stop the magic. Unfortunately he had nothing to stop it with. He had to go faster.

Rainbow sped towards the falling filly and could see the green flash of the attack as she accelerated.
'I have to go faster.' Rainbow could feel the air resisting into the all to familiar cone from before, until there was a brilliant flash of light and a rainbow shockwave flew out around her. She braced for impact as she reached out and caught the filly in her arms, ready to take the force of the spell. Then she heard the spell hit.

But felt nothing.

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Swift watched as the bolt of magic approached the two ponies he held dear. He could see Rainbow speeding up, and even tell she was close to causing a sonic rainboom, and knew he needed to go faster as well.
'Come on Swift, FASTER!' Swift shouted to himself as he pushed harder and harder, not noticing the cone forming around himself. Just as a flash of rainbow light bathed the area, a matching flash of purple light mixed with it as Swift matched speeds with his marefriend, passing between her and the lethal bolt of magic just as she caught the filly. He couldn't help but smile at the last thing he saw before the magic collided with his back with full force.

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Rainbow quickly slowed and spun around when she realized that she never felt the spell hit her, and saw what all her friends were also viewing with equal horror. Swift was falling to the ground unconscious and trailing green smoke from where the magic had impacted him. Even she knew the armor couldn't help with an attack that strong. Scootaloo started reaching out just as Swift reached the ground with an impact that echoed not just through the streets, but the minds of the nine ponies who witnessed their good friend impact the ground hard enough to leave a small crater.

Rainbow Dash was silent, even as Scootaloo was shouting for Swift to get up. No one else could move as two changeling soldiers approached the body and casually kicked it to check if he moved. The dull thud of a hoof on armor was all that was heard before the changelings grinned to each other and knocked their hooves against each others in celebration of an enemy down. Three more changelings quickly closed on Rainbow and restrained her before she regained her senses.

"...Swift..." Rainbow just mumbled the name as she was forced back to the ground and the rest of the group where corralled and forced back to the grand hall, prisoners of the changeling forces now effectively in control of Canterlot.

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Cadence was growing tired. Her body was covered in burns and bruises caused by the empowered magic of the changeling queen before her. As soon as the Elements had ran for help, Cadence had turned her attention to her part time doppleganger.

"Is that all you have, little princess? To think all these years we have worried about the might of the Equestrian Royalty, and today we expose the lie of all that power." Chrysalis paced across the stage where Shining Armor still stood with a vacant gaze. His hooves were fused to the ground with the strange green substance the changelings seemed to be able to form, and during their fight, a few changelings had managed to cocoon Celestia in a pod made of the stuff. With so much power at her disposal, Cadence wasn't sure how she was going to defeat the queen.

"Just you wait! I'm not alone. Once the Elements get back you will...." Cadence was cut off by the sound of the heavy doors slamming open. Behind them stood more changeling reinforcements, but this didn't worry Cadence as much as what they carried.

The six bearers were all being restrained by the changelings guarding them, but this wasn't the worst part of what she saw. Behind the elements, three changelings were holding fillies who appeared to be part of the wedding party, as well as two dragging the limp body of Swift in his borrowed guard armor. The lifeless way Swift lay there and the hollow look the orange filly had as well as Rainbow Dash herself told the story.

'Oh no, Swift... and the elements... what now?' Cadence could feel what remaining fight she had in her draining at the sight. Chrysalis however had the opposite feelings.

"Fantastic! Excellent work children!" Chrysalis approached the main group, reveling in her impending victory. As she approached, her forces pushed the prisoners into the corner while keeping an eye on them. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle ran for their sisters as soon as they were free while Scootaloo ran to Rainbow Dash who picked her up in a crushing hug. The changelings holding Swift's body tossed him aside as they moved to help guard the more lively prisoners. Cadence watched as Swift's body landed mere feet from her and got a good look at the damage to his armor. Along the right side the metal was destroyed with a large hole burned through it, allowing her to see his flesh which had been burned from a powerful attack. She was surprised by the lack of blood, but the wound appeared to be burned closed.

As Cadence got a closer look at the damage to Swift, Chrysalis reached her goal before the final defense of Equestria.
"Welcome back Elements. Your remaining Princess and I were just discussing what would happen when you returned. She seemed to believe you would bring help. Instead, you return captured, with children, and a dead wannabe guard," the changeling queen's voice was soaked with the arrogance of victory with the capture of the Elements. The Elements themselves, however, stopped listening to the queen as she boasted and looked to Rainbow.

Before Chrysalis could say much more, the rage that had been building up within Rainbow and mixing with her grief finally boiled over. With a shout so full of anger that her friends would likely never forget the sound, Rainbow charged at the queen, fully intending to take her to the ground. Unfortunately, she only managed to move a few feet before she slammed into a wall of green magic protecting the cackling queen.

"HAHA! You really thing we would just let you stand around?" Chrysalis stepped up to just the other side of the green wall forming around the group and looked directly into Rainbow Dash's eyes. As she did, Twilight and the others noticed that the wall had encompassed them inside of a large cage of magic.
"You are going to stay here and provide more energy for my forces. With your power, Celestia, and the love between this little princess and her Shining Armor, I will have more than enough power to take on Princess Luna when she returns." Turning to Cadence as she taunted them, she noticed the princess in question looking at the lifeless body beside her.

"Unfortunate that he had to die though. His chaos magic could have been useful to us." This comment drew surprise from everypony in the room, Twilight most of all.

"Chaos magic? What are you talking about? Swift was a pegasus, he couldn't use magic, much less chaos magic." Twilight walked to the edge of their cage, confused at what this queen was talking about. Pegasi used an innate magic for some of their cloud control, but it was all order magic and well understood at that.

"Oh how little you ponies actually know. This 'Swift' is closer to a changeling than a pegasus. Aren't you Celestia's little protege? Could you not sense his power?" Chrysalis found she enjoyed the confused look on the smug little unicorn who had so nearly cost her everything.

"That's Princess Celestia! And yes, but I haven't ever detected any magic in Swift. He is just a pegasus!" Twilight defended her friend. Rainbow Dash was still recovering from the wall she slammed into and remained silent but was more attentive now than she ever had been for anything. She had flown with Swift and knew he was a pegasus, but something was digging at her mind. Something they weren't connecting perhaps.

"Oh please. We changelings are creatures born of chaos magic. I can detect another with such magic and this...thing...was certainly one of us. I wonder how he came to be." Chrysalis approached the body, inspecting his face with Cadence nearby braced to attack if she did anything. They were outnumbered, so blindly attacking would solve nothing, but Cadence wouldn't allow her to desecrate his body.
"Discord created us, but who created you?" Chrysalis spoke aloud but was obviously talking more to herself at this point, trying to work out how Swift came to be.

Twilight overheard this and gasped. Discord created the changelings? He had found a way to create life with chaos magic at its source, something long thought impossible? But Twilight knew Swift dealt with order magic the same as any other pony. If he didn't, healing magic wouldn't work on him as it had in the past. Though if Discord is involved there is no telling how the chaos magic would react.
'Well he is able to pull the changelings from their disguises. Could that be an effect of his chaos nature?' Twilight gasped at a realization.
'Wait, he doesn't just pull them out of the disguise, he could be repelling the chaos magic. If so, then the magic that killed him...' Her eyes locked onto Swift's body as she looked for proof of her thoughts.

Rainbow noticed Twilight's change of attention and walked up beside her.
"Twi? What's going on?" Dash whispered to her friend as they watched Swift. Twilight simply leaned over slightly, never taking her eyes off Swift and responded.

"I might be wrong, but if she is right about Swift, we might be in for a surprise."

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

"Here again?" Swift looked around at the black void he floated in
'Still, I'm alive, which is a surprise.' Swift looked down at the armor he was wearing and noticed it looked badly damaged. When he looked to his left, he grew worried. The wound he could see looked bad. So much so that he started wondering if perhaps he had actually died. As soon as these thoughts entered his head, two familiar eyes appeared.

"Welcome back Swift. We really should stop meeting like this." The voice said, the humor thick in what it spoke. Swift couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Indeed. If seeing you is what I get for nearly dying, I should stop nearly dying." Swift watched as the eyes moved around the void.

"Death? Please, that isn't what brings you here. It takes something much more powerful and chaotic than silly death for me to piggyback on and have our little chats," the voice explained, suddenly sounding very serious.
"You should feel privileged. There are very few I can communicate with like this." Swift rolled his eyes at this.

"Really? I don't even know who you are, so why should I feel privileged?" Crossing his arms, Swift stared down the entity, hoping to get more useful information.

"Few ponies get to meet God. Well, a god. Some would argue that, but for you, I am certainly a god of sorts. Eventually we will meet and you can see for yourself. Until then, you have things to do." The eyes started fading and Swift could feel his own eyelids getting heavy.
"I can't wait to see the chaos you bring." Swift tried to respond, asking what that meant, but before he could, his eyes finally closed and sleep took him again.

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

Pain. A pain he had never imagined. This was all Swift could focus on as he started to come to. His right side felt like it was on fire, and his left and back felt like he flew headfirst into the side of the library. Even when he first woke up in Ponyville hospital he hadn't felt this bad.

'Guess this is the real world then.' Swift managed to clear his head and started trying to stand when he heard a voice speak up.

"What's this? You're alive? Amazing, perhaps you will be useful indeed." That voice! He knew that voice well. The last time he heard it, it had threatened to kill Rainbow Dash before sending him into the caverns below. Opening his eyes confirmed this as the changeling queen stood over him, a manic grin on her face.

"Swift! You're alive?!" A second voice, which was joined by several others pulled his attention. Rolling off his side to his stomach so he could attempt to stand, he saw Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and the rest of the gang trapped behind a magic field in the corner. A quick glance around and he could see Celestia trapped in a cocoon and Cadence nearby where he was now.

"Yeah....I'm still...in this fight." Swift had a hard time forming the words as he managed to get on his feet. He thought his body hurt before, but the stress of simply standing was showing him what pain truly was. Nonetheless, he stretched as best he could and extended his wings, glad to find they weren't damaged in the fall.

"Don't worry about fighting for now Swift! Run and find Princess Luna!" Twilight shouted, realizing Swift had no chance against the queen. Chrysalis turned to face her as she shouted and approached the magic field, shaking her head.

"You continue to be trouble, even trapped in this cage? What should I do with you?" Chrysalis appeared to consider her options while looking at each pony trapped in the cage.

As Chrysalis threatened her prey, Cadence moved over to Swift and tried to subtly heal his side. Swift nodded a thanks as the pain receded as the spell did what it could. His wound was still massive and his joints were still in pain, but it wasn't as blinding as it was.

"Thanks, but what's the plan? We need to stop them." Swift whispered to Cadence, who shrugged.

"I don't know. She has us pinned. The elements are missing, and Celestia is trapped." Cadence explained the situation, the hopelessness in her voice growing rapidly. Swift nodded that he understood the situation and glanced around, spotting Shining Armor on the stage.

"What about Shining Armor's spell. Could it repel the changelings?" Swift wasn't sure how his spell worked, but at this point anything was better than waiting to die. Cadence perked up at this and nodded.

"It could, if we could get him free of Chrysalis. He could focus the spell to impact changelings and push them away. It's not optimal as unless we pin Chrysalis, she will likely escape or die." Cadence didn't want to kill anyone, but she didn't want to see this enemy escape either. Swift however had been hardened slightly in the fight and could feel strength at his core, as though a power was building.

"If she dies, it is her fault. But we can try to prevent that. Try to free him. I'll cause a distraction." Swift motioned Cadence towards the stage as he took his first steps towards the queen when she finally spoke again.

"I don't need your power to handle the lunar princess," Chrysalis suddenly lowered the shield around everypony and spoke to her children.
"Kill them."

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Two words. That was all Chrysalis had spoke, but they changed everything. The hive in the large room all moved at once, closing in as quickly as possible to rip the ponies to shreds.

Twilight and the gang braced for round two from outside and prepared to defend themselves. Their attention was focusing in every direction around the room as the hive raced in, though none of them had focused on the queen herself. Unfortunately this left them confused by what happened next.

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

"Kill them."

The casual method with which she spoke, the same as she had before sending him to the caverns, ignited the same ball of rage from before within Swift. This time, she wasn't just threatening Rainbow Dash, but all of his friends. Nonetheless, it was Rainbow his eyes sought in the crowd when the words were spoken. Moments later, the sound of the hive moving grew as the queen turned from her prisoners, a small little grin on her face.

A grin Swift felt needed to be wiped as it pushed his anger over the edge. Using the rest of his strength and adrenaline, Swift shot off from his spot on the floor at full speed, hoof extending to connect with the queens grin.

It was the second time Swift would be able to say he matched Rainbow Dash for speed.

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Twilight readied a spell to clear a path in the oncoming changelings when a loud bang interrupted her. Before she could glance around for the cause, a body crossed her path and slammed into the wall nearby.

Every changeling in the room froze as their queen slowly proceeded to get up from where she had impacted. Cracks in the wall stood as a testament to the force she had impacted, as well as the green blood dripping from her mouth. From the look on her face, she was as confused as everyone else.

"Swift?" Twilight heard Rainbow mutter their friends name in confusion and turned her gaze to where he had been standing. When she noticed he wasn't there, she looked further around to where the queen had been and gasped at the sight.

There stood Swift, but the armor he wore looked different. The chest guard no longer sported the solar crest, but instead had a single round gem. The surface was smooth, but what stood out was the inside, which appeared to constantly change, yet stand still. As Twilight stared at it, she felt confusion grow. One moment it appeared to be a spiral slowly rotating, but as she thought that, it seemed to be a pulsing circle. When the change happened she couldn't recall, and as she thought about that, it seemed to simply ripple as though it had been all along. The rest of the armor was gold just as the normal armor, but the shoulder covers and wing covers seemed perfectly polished as though they had never seen battle.

Swift himself appeared to be fine as he lowered his hoof and hovered in place, flapping his wings looking ready to attack the queen yet again. The emotion in his eyes caused Twilight to wonder for a moment why he was holding back and not moving again, but was interrupted before she could think on it further.

"You vile mutant! How dare you lay a hoof on me! Who do you think you are?! CHILDREN! DESTRO....uff!" Chrysalis was cut off as Swift shot in and again punched her, this time knocking her to the ground.

"You talk too much. Surrender now and you won't be attacked again." Swift's voice sounded no different, but the authority he seemed to project was almost tangible. The queen however didn't seem as moved.

"So you imagine because you have a fancy new set of armor that you are a match for a changeling queen? I have feasted on the love of a Princess of Canterlot. I have captured the Elements of Harmony. I am the most powerful being in Equestria, and you would dare threaten me?" Chrysalis stood and puffed her chest out as she spoke, appearing to have shaken off the damage of Swift's attacks. Twilight knew she should help somehow, but found herself frozen at the standoff between the two. The changeling force thankfully seemed to have the same issue, not wanting to disrupt the encounter. Something managed to catch Twilight's attention though, and it worried her.

Blood.

Whatever had changed Swift's armor didn't seem to have done anything to his injury and his rapid movement wasn't helping. If the fight kept going, she wasn't sure he would survive.

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Swift grinned as Chrysalis spouted about how powerful she was, but it was to mask his pain. As cocky as he was trying to appear, he knew he only had a couple of really good swings left before it became too much.

"You brag of power, but you have been throwing it around for a while now without a refill. And if the power of your soldiers is any reflection, you changelings are pretty weak without a constant charge. No one has providing love to you since this little coup began so you gotta be running low on power." Swift taunted as he circled around the queen slightly, placing the wall along their side instead of the queen between him and it. Hopefully his backup wouldn't be much longer. Otherwise this might hurt...

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

Chrysalis seethed as this peasant spoke to her with such disrespect and a distinct lack of fear. She also seethed from his rather astute statement. Since the fight started, she hadn't had a chance to recharge and the attack on Celestia had taken a huge part of her reserves.
'I can wipe that grin off his face though, and my army will handle the rest. Victory is still mine!' Her thoughts calmed her as she started summoning more and more of her power.
"Well, little Swift. If you really thing I'm out of power, then this shouldn't hurt you. If if you are wrong, do you have any last words?" The power building around her horn glowed a bright green, pulsing and begging to be released. Swift seemed to glance around the room before smiling.
'Why is he smiling?' Worry found its way into her thoughts briefly before he spoke.

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

The power radiated from the queen, and Swift thought he might have underestimated how much power she had left. Nonetheless he had committed to this path, so he had to stay the course. Thankfully the queen couldn't go without gloating one more time.
'Is she ready yet?' Swift glanced over to the raised dais and saw exactly what he had hoped. Grinning, he turned back to the queen and spoke.
"I get final words? Well then, I better make it a good one. How about....FIRE!" Swift shouted as he glanced over to where Shining Armor and Cadence stood, his magic appearing to be charged as well, ready to go. Everyone followed his eyes and saw Shining just as he released his shielding spell, slamming rapidly into every changeling in the room, flinging them full force away from the source.

Chrysalis had no time to react as the spell slammed into her, forcing her to blast her magic at the wall, blowing a hole in it. This is the sole thing preventing the magic from crushing her against the wall and knocking her out or possibly killing her. As the magic expanded, the army in the city was thrown full force away from the castle and into the distance. Most would be separated from the pack, some would be knocked unconscious, and others worse. The magic used to build the cocoons holding ponies such as Celestia prisoner was also destroyed, freeing the captive citizens of Canterlot.

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

The entire attack took just a few seconds, but seemed to take forever as the ponies remaining in the hall looked around in relief. The enemy was routed. For now at least. Silence sat for a minute in the room before a moaning pulled attention to where the princess lay on the ground.

"Celestia!" Twilight ran to her mentor to check on her as the rest of the group followed. Celestia was slowly opening her eyes and smiled as she saw the group standing over her with worry.

"Twilight...Cadence....all of you. Well...done." Celestia praised the group as best as she could, given the energy drain she had undergone. The group was about to start asking how she was when a group of soldiers burst into the room, finally free from the attack, and moved to check on the royalty in the room.

"Princesses! Apologies for being so late! The enemy was holding us off. Is everyone well?" The guard lieutenant asked the group, his main focus on Celestia herself.

"I am fine, lieutenant. Cadence, how about you?" Celestia asked, looking to the bride.

"I'm ok, just a bit sore and tired. I think we are all ok." Cadence looked at the group of mares around Celestia and not noting any major problems. She quickly realized however that someone was missing.
"Swift?"

Attention turned to the stallion in armor over by the wall that had been damaged. Once everyone glanced over, Rainbow realized he was leaning against the wall and wasn't looking well. Without waiting for anyone else, she flew over as quickly as possible to Swift to check on him.

"Swift, what's wrong? I thought you were better." Dash glanced around at his pristine armor and noticed what Twilight had seen earlier. Blood was slowly pooling below him as he leaned against the wall. Nonetheless, he managed a grin to his marefriend.

"Not quite. Just got some new armor somehow. I'll be fine though...I just need...to sit down..." Swift's voice grew faint as his eyes closed and he slid down the wall, drawing a cry from Dash. The guards quickly ran over and began looking him over and prepping him for a move to an infirmary.

Twilight watched as they readied to move him and was torn between following him and staying with her mentor. Celestia seemed to notice as she finally sat up and spoke to her student.

"Twilight, go and check on Swift. Make sure he is taken care of. I'm sure Rainbow will as well, but someone with a bit more of a level head will help." Celestia said with a smile. Twilight started to speak, but in the end simply nodded and stood to follow.
"All of you should go. I'll be fine, as will Cadence. Make sure Swift is ok." Celestia motioned for everyone to follow, and was met with little resistance. Soon, the entire group was heading out to make sure Swift was ok.

Of Loyalty and Chaos

by PxDnNinja

Prologue

Chapter 1: A new pony in town.

Chapter 2: The Awakened

Chapter 3: Introductions Pt.1 CMC

Chapter 4: Introductions Pt.2 The Gang

Chapter 5: Flight

Chapter 6: Friendships

Chapter 7: Chaos Magic and Weather Ponies

Chapter 8: Cutie Mark Fliers and Discord's Magic

Chapter 9: The Nexus

Chapter 10: Celestia the Matchmaker

Chapter 11: Swift Advance

Chapter 12: A Night on the Town

Chapter 13: The Following Day

Chapter 14: Reports

Chapter 15: A Canterlot Wedding Pt. 1

Chapter 16: A Canterlot Wedding Pt. 2

Chapter 17: A Canterlot Wedding Pt. 3