> Destination Darkness
>  by Aragem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Mother, Daughter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winter Welcome was not canceled as many expected.  It was postpone to the next day, lest anymore foals went missing or any unforeseen disasters befell Ponyville.  However, it now seemed that it was safe to get the celebration underway, but there were minor problems . . .
“The street will be too cold for their little feet,”  Fluttershy lamented over the boxes of peeping chicks. 
Jelly sat on her haunches, studying the colorful horde of chicks while cradling a blue one between her hooves.  “Could they ride down the street?  On a wagon or cart?”
“All the wagons and carts are being used.  I already checked.”  Fluttershy looked sadly at the tiny balls of fluff apologetically.  “And they so wanted to be part of the parade.  I hate to disappoint them, but the cold could . . . k-k-kill them!”  Her face twisted as the thought devastated her.
The earth ponies had tried to do away with the snow, but Discord’s snow storm had done its job and had left a thin layer of snow across Ponyville.  They were able to clear the streets for the parade and for the games and food stands, but the cold had everyone wearing coats and scarves.  Jelly had to wear a scarf she borrowed from Fluttershy. 
Jelly looked down at the chick between her hooves.  The little thing looked as if it was ready to nestle down for a nap in her hooves.  And chicks didn’t seem worried about missing out on a parade, but then again, they were Fluttershy’s chicks so it was assumed she’d know them. 
“Would carrying them on our backs be alright?”  Jelly suggested.  “We could and maybe some others walk down the street with the parade and the chicks could ride on our backs.  It’d keep them off the street and they can still be part of the parade.”
“Oh, we could do that . . .but . . .I don’t think that I can  . . . not with all those ponies staring at me . . .” 
“They wouldn’t be looking at you.  They’d be looking at the chicks.”
“I-I don’t know.”  Fluttershy lowered her head to hide behind her mane.
Jelly quickly said, “I’m sure we can find enough volunteers so you won’t have to be part of it.”
“Oh, okay.”  Fluttershy looked relieved. 
Jelly put the chick back into the box and Fluttershy poured food in a small pile at the bottom which the chicks scrambled to get out.  The shy pegasus spoke softly to the tiny avian creatures telling them eat up to become strong chickens when they grow up.  She spoke as a loving mother would to her children.
Jelly never saw such genuine love for non-sapient creatures. 
Once Fluttershy was sure each chick would get their share, she closed up each box.  “Now to check on Benjamin.”
“Benjamin?” 
“He’s the raccoon that fell from a tree.  He has a broken paw and terrible gash on his leg.  It was infected by the time I found him.  He’s better, but it hurts him.” 
Fluttershy led her back inside the cottage and to a back room that she reserved for sickly animals.  Inside this room was cabinets filled with medical supplies and bags of animal food.  On the floor against the back wall, was a wicker basket with the bottom lined with layers of soft clean cloth and in the middle was a dark furred raccoon.  A low growl rolled from the basket as the ponies came in. 
“Oh, Benjamin, I know you don’t like it, but it’s time to change your bandage.”  Fluttershy’s sweet voice would have sooth any burn or heal any wound.  She was the perfect nurse; her kind demeanor didn’t change no matter how much the patient complained. 
Jelly on the other hand, kept her distance.  She wasn’t familiar with animals, but she knew enough to know that it was wise to leave a growling one alone.  She watched how painstakingly Fluttershy unwrapped the bandage from the raccoon’s hind leg. 
Just as Fluttershy exposed the weeping wound to the air, the raccoon lunged forward and sank its teeth in her leg.  Fluttershy yelped and Jelly cursed as she galloped forward.  She reared back onto hind legs to bring her forehooves onto the creature’s body.
“Jelly, no!” Fluttershy threw up hooves to stop her.  “Just let me talk to him.”
“He bit you!”
“It’s alright.  He didn’t bite me too hard.”  Blood rolled along her bitten leg.  “Just bring me some gauze from the shelf there and I’ll be alright.”
Jelly didn’t believe it was sanitary for her to grip the gauze with her mouth, but her magic couldn’t even handle carrying a light gauze roll.  And without hands, how else could she grasp it?  She tapped her hooves on the floor in a near panic while Fluttershy calmly bound her bitten leg.  The raccoon’s sides heaved as it breathed heavily, it’s gold eyes watching them.
“Fluttershy, maybe you should go to the hospital.” 
“It’s alright, it’s not deep and he didn’t rip the skin open.” 
“But he might have  . . . a disease.”
“Oh no.  He’s wounded, not sick.”  She turned her face to the raccoon and said in a soft tone with a small edge, “Benjamin, you know biting is wrong and it hurts.”
The raccoon actually looked embarrassingly away.  And there were no further problems while Fluttershy finished changing out his bandage.  Fluttershy continued to speak sweetly to the animal as if the bite had never occurred.  It was a trespass that was forgiven before it was committed.
“I don’t see how you do it.  I like animals too, but this is . . .excessive.”  Jelly looked at the rafters of the cottage which contained birdhouses in every corner and nests.  There were even holes that she had seen mice, chipmunks, and squirrels slip in and out.
“Taking care of animals is my special talent.”  Fluttershy beamed happily at the rafter homes.  “I don’t know what the animals would do I wasn’t here to take care of them.”
Fend for themselves?  Let nature take its course?  Jelly didn’t voice any of this, she instead shrugged her shoulders.  Her time with the ponies had taught her that they were in full control of their environment.  The earth ponies cared for the land and animals while pegasi managed the weather.  It was just an exceptional case for Fluttershy, a pegasus, to be attuned with animals.
“I hate to leave, but Mom and I are having lunch at the café.”  Jelly offered Fluttershy an apologetic smile.  “But I’ll find Twilight Sparkle and tell her about carrying the chicks for the parade.  I’m sure she can get some people together.”          
“It’s alright.  You don’t have to do that,” Fluttershy said, but Jelly noticed that she looked relieved for the offer.
“It’s no problem.  If you don’t want to be in the parade, then I’ll do it.  I don’t mind being looked at now.”  Jelly collected her satchel from the side hanger with her mouth and with a practiced toss of her head she was able to get it to slide down her neck. 
“Oh?  Oh!  It’s because you got your cutie mark!”  Fluttershy presented a gleeful smile as she turned her eyes to Jelly’s flank. 
At her flank was a bright red heart with white gauze wrapped around it.  A bandaged heart.
“Do you think it means that your special talent is nursing?”  Fluttershy asked hopefully.
“I don’t think so.  I can see why it would seem so.”  Jelly glanced at her newly acquired mark.  She didn’t know when it appeared.  Yesterday, while she was passing a mirror in the inn room she shared with Laotaner, she saw it for the first time. 
When she showed it to her mother, the commander unicorn looked at it and replied, “God finally stenciled a tattoo on your ass.  Whoo.” 
Despite Laotaner’s dismissal, she was still pleased with it.  She wondered what triggered it to appear.  Was it the nanonites finally catching up and granting her a cutie mark or did something happen?  Did she find her special talent?  And if she did, what was it?
“I’ll talk to you later before the parade, okay?” 
As the aqua colored unicorn treaded down the path toward the town, she reflected back on her failed meeting.  Victory never showed up at the café yesterday.  Jelly ended up sitting at the table alone eating a daisy sandwich and sipping tea.  When she returned to the inn, Victory was there reading several books she collected from the library claiming that she had forgotten their get together. 
Yes, she promised she would show tomorrow, dammit. 
And today was tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, Victory would show up this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Victory planned on showing up to lunch, but she also planned on having a stomach ache ten minutes to get out of there.  She was having too much fun studying magic.        
The fire spell she had inadvertently cast had opened her mind to many possibilities.  After she received her orders, she decided that it was advantageous to explore her magical capabilities. 
When she was supposed to be having a meal with her daughter, she had foregone the appointment to visit Twilight Sparkle.  A little purple lizard answered the door.  “Yes?”
“What are you?” 
“I’m a baby dragon.” 
Victory knew she should be surprised, but because of the last 24 hours, nothing surprised her anymore.  “Is Twilight Sparkle available?”
“She’s asleep right now.  She had a rough night.”
“I was there.”  Victory forced a smile trying to be civil as normal people would be.  “If this is a library, then I want a book on magic.”
“Could it wait?  I mean we’re not exactly open.”
Victory maintained her grin, though it tightened at the edges.  “It’s important.”
“Well, I guess we got some basic magic books lying around you could check out.”
“That will be perfect, thank you.”  Mentally, she was planning on turning him into purple shoes after she bombed this planet back to the Stone Age.
The book looked as if it had been a school text book, but it gave very basic instruction for each spell.  Levitation was the first chapter followed by horn glow and first aid magic, but then the later chapters intrigued her.  Teleportation, transformation, and even advanced levitation filled the chapters. 
By now she learned how to teleport which was simple enough.  In a flare of blue light she was able to blink herself across the room and she found that she could move objects as well.  She wondered if it was possible to teleport a live grenade inside a living body.  That would definitely be something to experiment with later.
Transformation was a bit trickier.  She was only able to turn a spoon into a spork instead of a fork.  The book offered instruction, but not the detail that she felt would help her.  Maybe discussing her skills with another unicorn would be helpful.  She wondered if Twilight could be that unicorn. 
No time to ponder about it.  She had an appointment that she had to keep or else contend with a pouting green unicorn for tonight. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey, Mom.”  Jelly offered her a smile when she arrived.  It was a hopeful smile with her large pony eyes seeking something in her that she was certain died a long time ago. 
It was annoying.
But Victory managed to give her a neutral nod as she took up a cushion across from her.  “Hello.”
“I. . . ah . . .went ahead and got us water.  You can order something else when the waiter comes back.”  Jelly actually looked nervous, as if fearful that she wouldn’t approve of the water.
“It’s fine,” she replied wondering if she could get away if she faked a cramp five minutes into the meal.
“Um, I . . . I wanted to bring something, but I didn’t think it was  . . . safe . . .to bring out here . . .”
“Then it was good that you didn’t.”  Victory glanced about feeling exposed and vulnerable suddenly. 
“Maybe it’s something I can show you later tonight?  After the dance?” 
“You’re going to that thing?”  Victory arched an eyebrow.
“I already went through the trouble of getting a dress and Rarity will have a stroke if I don’t go.  We already planned on having a spa treatment before the dance.”  Jelly sipped her water, her ears nearly laid back.
*“And what about Smokey . . . ?” *
* “He’s going to the dance with June Bug,” *  Jelly replied firmly.
Victory’s right ear twitched in surprised and she nodded, pleased.  * “Then I guess I only have to worry about Winter then.” *
*“What about Winter?” *  Jelly inclined her head curiously. 
* “He’s been hanging around with some unicorn girl.  Same shade of green as you with a white streak in her hair.” *
Was that disappointment or revulsion she saw in the unicorn’s eyes?  * “Really?” *
Noa did take some satisfaction in saying, * “I think they may have been screwing.  Fortunately, the TIGGER causes sterility so no worries about any freak babies.” *
*“W-w-what!?” *  The horror in her eyes was priceless. 
Deep down, in a very small part of her that grew smaller and smaller each day, a little voice told her that it was wrong to upset her daughter, but dammit, the larger part of her was enjoying it too much.  * “Calm down.  In women the chances of becoming sterile is decreased by 30 percent.”*
*”Oh.” *  She didn’t look too comforted.           
The waiter arrived and took their orders.  Jelly ordered a Flower Power platter while Victory requested a salad.  The waiter dutifully took their orders and with a small bow and assurance their meals will come quickly departed. 
Victory idly stirred the water with her straw with a small glow of magic.  * “Has your magic improved?” *
*”No, but I really haven’t been practicing.” *
* “Don’t bother.  Save yourself the embarrassment and work on things you know you can do.” *  She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying ‘like failing’.  What was wrong with her that she should want to hurt her daughter like this?
* “It’s . . .alright.”* Jelly blinked her eyes several times.  * “May I ask you some questions about dad?” *
* “Yeah.” *  There, that was civil.
* “How did you meet?” *  Jelly attempted to hide her nervousness by a small sip of water.
* “Really wanna know?” *  Victory leaned her face on her hooves, her eyes on Jelly.
* “Uh, y-yes.”  Jelly looked as if she regretted asking the question.
* “I was so high on painkillers that your father looked like a fine piece of ass and I took it.  Sorta forgot that my birth control implant was running low and it resulted in you.” * The stunned look she received was priceless.  Victory couldn’t contain her throaty guffaws.  She wiped a tear away with the edge of her hoof and spoke through a stretched smile, * “What?  You thought we were dating or in love?  It was just a quickie.  I didn’t see or meet him since that night.  By the time I found out I was pregnant, we were on separate ships.  In fact, he didn’t know about you until you were born.” *
* “Dad wanted to find you.  Or he was going to try to before he died.” *  Jelly swallowed as her eyes casted to the side, not meeting Victory’s inquisitive stare.  * “I know I’m not what you planned for and you might resent me for it . . . but can we  . . . try to have a relationship?” *
Before Victory could respond, a blue unicorn holding a folded paper in his mouth approached their table.  He spat the paper onto the table and asked, “Are you Victory Jam?”
They had never seen him before.  He was wearing a tweed hat with a hole for his horn and a pen and pad tied to a string around his neck.  For his cutie mark was a typewriter.  Victory inclined her head, her eyes fixing him with a firm stare.  “Depends on who’s asking.”
“I’m Printed Word from the Canterlot Daily Paper.  I was wondering if I can get an exclusive about your rescue of the Victory Trio.”
Both Victory and Jelly blinked.  “What?”
“Oh, you don’t know.  Take a look, please.”  With green magic, he unfolded the paper and on it was a snapshot of Victory outside the hospital carrying Sweet Hearts and the zebra foal on her back.  The pale unicorn’s face was staring to the side stoically.  Next to her was Jelly’s rear end, then without a cutie mark, with Ember sitting on her back. 
Thank God, I got my cutie mark or this would have advertised me as a blank flank.  Jelly scanned the article which gave a brief summary of the group of ponies led by Victory Jam who went out to rescue the foals, Ember, Sweet Hearts, and Xel from a mite infestation.  She noticed with disdain that all the ponies’ names, but hers was mentioned, she was just referred to as Victory’s daughter.        
“So how about it?  I can have your interview posted in tomorrow’s paper.”  The reporter pony had his pad up with a pen floating above it ready to take notes.    
“I’m sorry, but you came at a bad time.  My daughter and I are currently having lunch.  Maybe if you tell me how I can contact you, I’ll give you an interview later.”  Victory spoke with such politeness that Jelly barely recognized her.
“Oh, well, I’m staying at the same inn as you.  Room 303.  Anytime you’re ready come on up or leave a message at the desk and I’ll get in touch.”  He tipped his hat to them and left.
When he was out of earshot, Jelly leaned forward and hissed, * “Are you serious about the interview?” *
*”No.  I hate the fucking press.  They are always nosey and wanting to twist words to sale papers.  Especially, in the colonies that believe is ‘free speech’.  I prefer Haven or the metropolitan colonies where that nonsense is kept on a tight leash.” * 
The waiter arrived with their meals then.  After he served them and made sure that they had what they needed, he left them to continue their conversation.  Jelly dipped her head to snag a flower with her teeth and relished it. 
*”You are eating flowers.” *  Victory muttered watching her eat.  
* “They’re good,” * Jelly murmured through a mouthful of daisies and tulips. 
* “When are you going to start using magic so you don’t eat like a dog?”* Victory leaflets of lettuce toward her mouth. 
* “I’ve . . . been practicing,”* Jelly lied.  She was too embarrassed to try her magic.  It was very disconcerting to not being able to lift a feather when she had seen so many unicorns use levitation as easily as she would use her hands.
* “Liar.”*  Victory called her out on it.  * “It doesn’t matter.  Eat up so we can get back to our duties.” *
* “Winter Welcome will start in a few hours.  Are you going to attend?” *
* “No, I have reports to write.  Winter is, but he’ll be with that green unicorn.” *
* “Oh.  I have to help set up with Twilight and I might be participating in the parade.” *
Whatever Jelly had expected from Victory, her response was likely wasn’t it.  Victory sneered, * “Well, look at you, little miss socialite of ponies.  Organizing parades and shit.” *
Jelly surprised herself when she knocked her hooves on the tabletop so hard it nearly spilled their water.  * “Would it kill you to be nice?  To just say something, I don’t know like, ‘that’s nice, Jelly, I’m sure you’ll do well’”*
*”Look, you wanted to stay and help in this mission and I let you.” *  Victory’s voice was a low hiss.  * “You wanted this lunch and I came.  I didn’t promise any more than that.  If you don’t like what you see, then you better look somewhere else for a mother, because you won’t find what you’re looking for in me.” *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Sorry love, but I don’t think it’ll come back.  Not with this crowd around.”  The black pegasus stood beside her, his hooves perched on the bridge railing to look down in the water with her.
Lyra drew back from the railing in a sigh, “You’re right.  He hasn’t come back since that night.”
“Hey, don’t look like I shot your balloon.  I said that he won’t come back around with this crowd about.”  He motioned toward the busy bustle of ponies going to and fro to hastily prepare for the celebration that had been postpone for too long.  “Let’s try again tomorrow night, after Winter Welcome.  Let’s go get a cup of hot chocolate.”
As Lyra followed Winter away from the bridge, she drew close to him till her side was nearly brushing against his.  “Thank you.”
“For what?”  Winter spread a wing across her back, his ebony feathers creating dark slashes along her side.
“For not making fun of me.  A lot of ponies tend to make fun of me for my . . .quirks.  Bon Bon is nice and she’s my friend, but sometimes I think she gets exasperated with me.” 
“Lyra, Lyra, the pony who tugs my Heartstrings, make me a promise, please?”  Winter drew them off onto the street into the privacy of a small alley.
“Yeah?”  Lyra felt her cheeks flush as she felt his warm breath on her face.
“Don’t ever change.  No matter what anyone says, or had frustrated they get, don’t change.  You keep sitting however way you want.  It’s cute.”  He kissed her cheek and then nuzzled her jaw.  “And if they make fun of you, tell me, and I’ll send a lightning bolt up their ass.”               
        
 
 
    
 
 
 
        
   
 
  
	
	
> Sister, Sister
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apple Bloom shrieked as she clung to the edge of the sled with both hooves as it cut through the ice.  Sweetie squealed behind her with both forelegs around her waist.  Hitched to the sled, Scootaloo wings buzzed as it propelled them over the ice as if she had an orange propeller on her back.  The sled down the hill so fast their scarves flew behind them as a trio of flags. 
Scootaloo slid to a halt with her breath going ragged.  The sled bumped into her rear pushing forward into the snow.  Her passengers giggled as they tumbled off the sled to dig their friend out of the snow drift.  “Ya okay, Scoots?”
“I’m fine . . . wanna go . . .  again?”  she asked through each gasp of air.
“I think you better rest for a while.”  Sweetie Belle secured her fancy new scarf around her neck, knowing if she lost it while playing, her sister would go crazy.  “Lets go get some hot chocolate.”
“Good idea!  Ah think Chocolate Swirl has his stand set up.”  Apple Bloom brushed the snow from her mane and shook it from her tail.
The three friends made their way back to the streets of Ponyville.  They had to leave sled behind some snow covered bushes as it was too big it encumbered them as they weaved through the crowd of ponies.  The food and drink stands were close to City Hall, but that was where most of the activity was as ponies hurried to get in lines for midday meals. 
Apple Bloom caught a glimpse of green and blue moving through the crowd ahead of them.  She darted forward so quickly her hooves nearly slipped on a patch of ice, but once she steadied herself, she saw Jelly up ahead.
The mare walked with her head down cast downward as if she carried a heavy weight on her back.  Apple Bloom trotted forward calling to her, “Jelly!  Miss Jelly Jam!”
The mare stopped and turned to the filly, “Hey, Apple Bloom, how are you?”
“Ah’m fine . . .”  Apple Bloom kicked at the street with a hoof.  “Is it . . uh . . .time for . . .?”  She put a hoof against her eye while her other eye gazed up at her hopefully.
It took a moment for Jelly to understand and then she shook her head.  “Sorry, not yet, but soon.  Please be patient.”
“Oh.”  Apple Bloom washed away her disappointment with the anticipation of hot chocolate and Winter Welcome.  “We’re gonna get some hot chocolate!  Wanna come?”
Before Jelly could answer, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo caught up with their friend and the unicorn raised a hoof toward Jelly’s flank.  “She has a cutie mark!”
Apple Bloom turned her eyes to Jelly’s backend and saw for herself a red heart wrapped in bandages.  Disappointment, excitement, and envy cascaded through her heart before she managed to offer up a gleeful smile.  “How did ya get yer cutie mark?”
“I . . .I don’t know.  It just showed up.”  A faint blush touched Jelly’s cheeks as she spoke.  She never had so much attention paid toward her rear. 
“You had to be doing your special talent!  What were you doing?”  Scootaloo insisted as she stared at their lifelong goal. 
“I don’t remember.  I’m sorry I can’t say more than that.”  Jelly offered them an apologetic smile.  She had heard how much these three fillies desired their cutie marks and how hard they have strived to earn them and it shamed her that she so easily obtained hers.
“It’s alright.  You don’t have to apologize.  You’re going to have a cute-ceanera, right?”
Yet again, Jelly made a mistake of showing her ignorance of the pony culture.  “What’s a cute-ceanera?”
All three fillies gasped with widening eyes and open mouths.        
Jelly instantly realized her mistake and flushed.  “Uh . . . I’m from the north?”  It was her only offer of an excuse.
“You don’t have cute-ceanera parties in the north?  That’s must be a horrible place to live!”  Scootaloo was astounded. 
“Scoot!  That’s mean!”  Sweetie Belle admonished her friend. 
“No, no, it’s okay.  The north is a dull place.”  Jelly wanted to move the topic off cutie marks and cute-ceaneras.  “Let’s go get hot chocolate!”
“Yay!” 
She felt as if she dodged a bullet as she followed the Cutie Mark Crusaders to City Hall.  As they drew closer, the smells of cooked food and sweets caressed their noses drawing them closer with hungry stomachs.  It was almost enough for Jelly to forget about her disastrous lunch with her mother. 
The meal ended sooner than she would have liked and she was no closer to breaching the wall that Victory carried around her heart.  From the beginning, she knew it would be difficult and hurtful, but it cut deeper than she expected.  Maybe later, when the pain lessen, she could try again and invite her mother to come with her to Winter Dance, if she would come that is.  Likely, she would just get an insult for all her trouble.
But the heartbreak lessened as she drew closer and closer to the food stands.  A blue stallion with a chocolate bar for cutie mark was mixing cocoa powder into warm milk behind a stall where a short line of ponies waited. 
Thankfully, it wasn’t a long wait.  Soon both Jelly and the fillies were sipping sweet chocolate from mugs with a large loop handle big enough for a hoof thread through.  Again, Jelly was amazed at how wonderful the food and drink this land had to offer.  If she didn’t watch herself, she would likely leave this mission having to wear a pant size larger.
“Do you think your special talent is nursing?  Or being a doctor?”  Sweetie Belle asked her while she took a swig of chocolate. 
“I don’t think so.  I haven’t been very good around injuries.  I mean, I can help out if it’s a cut fing . . . cut hoof or a bumped head, but anything more serious than that and I’m in a panic myself.” 
“Maybe it means that you help ponies.”  Scootaloo offered.  She was looking disappointed at her empty mug after she drank the last drop.
“Maybe. . .”  Jelly held out her mug to the orange pegasus.  “Here, you can have the rest.  I shouldn’t drink too much chocolate.”
As Scootaloo happily finished off Jelly’s cocoa, the green unicorn glanced up at the clock.  Two hours before the parade would start.  She had to hurry and find Twilight Sparkle.
“Girls, I have to go find Twilight Sparkle.  I’m helping her put together the parade.”  Jelly set Scootaloo’s empty mug on the counter next to the stall where a mare, likely Chocolate Swirl’s wife was washing mugs to be used again. 
“Can we go!?  Mebbe we can help!”  Apple Bloom offered as she set her mug on the counter also.  “Mebbe we can get our cutie marks for parading.”
“I don’t see why not.  I’m not too familiar around the town as I would like so some guides would be nice.”  Jelly was pleased to have them tag along with her.  They helped her forget her pain.
As Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo led the way, chattering about the decorations and the games, Apple Bloom hang back to walk with Jelly of whom she casted a sidelong glance at.  The green unicorn glanced back and asked, “Something wrong, beautiful.”
“Ya called me beautiful, ‘fore,”  Apple Bloom said quietly.
Jelly thought for a moment, “Yes, back at the boutique.”
“Naw, ya called me beautiful ‘fore that.”  Apple Bloom paused for a moment, bringing Jelly to a slow stop next to her.  “Ya don’t know what cute-ceaneras are and ya talk weird and ya don’t know that eatin’ flowers don’t hurt ya none.”
“I . . . I live in the north . . .”  It was all Jelly could offer.
“How far north?”  Apple Bloom furrowed her brows and her eyes studied Jelly’s face.
The green unicorn was silent for nearly a minute, and then she said, “Very very far north.”
“Hey, are you guys comin’ or not?’  Scootaloo called to them, breaking the intense gaze the unicorn and the filly were sharing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warm air blew on them as the door to the library opened and Spike wearing a thick purple jacket with white wool trimming opened the door, “Brrr, c’mon in, ya lettin’ the cold in.”
Jelly made certain to stomp her hooves on the welcome mat to shake off any snow, unfortunately, the fillies weren’t as considerate and to Spike’s disdain they galloped inside leaving behind trails of snow and water. 
“Sweetie Belle!”  A cultured voice called and the white unicorn filly skidded in her tracks as she recognized her sister’s voice.  Rarity stormed over and Jelly took this time to admire the fashionable snow hat she wore with a matching scarf that was elegantly wrapped about her neck.  Also her mane and tail looked whole and untouched by flame, though she was able to see that there were patches of bandages on her legs and flank where she had received burns.  “When we visit ponies’ homes, we wipe our hooves before we enter or we leave ghastly messes on the floor.  Now you and your friends made a mess and you have to clean it up.  Spike will show you were the mop and towels.”
“Aw, but Rarity . . .”  Sweetie started to protest, but Rarity raised an eyebrow which silenced her complaint.
The three fillies dejectedly followed Spike to collect the cleaning supplies.  Jelly stepped into the main round room of the library, “Is Twilight here?”
“Over here,” a voice called from behind a stack of books atop a wooden table.  Twilight’s face appeared around the edge of the stack and offered her a small grin, “Sorry, I was just doing some last minute studying.”
“And I keep telling her that she needs to put the books away.  Winter Welcome has started and we need to go out there and have fun before we have to get ready for the Winter Dance.”  Rarity gave the books a vulgar look as if they were forcing Twilight’s attention onto them.
“I understand, in light of recent events, I think we should be prepared.  We all have had weird visions and what is Discord up to?  And that red comet I saw before Apple Bloom disappeared!  It’s all connected, I know it, but I can’t figure how.”  Twilight’s magic flipped through the pages of a tome as if she could hastily find the answer there.
Rarity put a firm hoof on the pages, halting the page turning.  Twilight looked up with strained eyes at her friend and Rarity softened her gaze.  “Twilight, the Princess herself said in her letter not to worry and enjoy Winter Welcome.  If there any need for you to worry, she would have said so.  And Discord hasn’t done anything since he disappeared.  He doesn’t seem the type to hide away and watch.  And those visions we all had, they were just that visions.  Remember all the foolery he put us through last time that nearly destroyed our friendship.  He’s trying it again and letting them scare us is just giving him what he wants.  He’s gone and he’s not hurting anypony right now and if he does come back; we have the Elements of Harmony.  And a red comet is simply a comet that is red.  Would you be any more worried if it happened to be blue, green, or purple?  Come now, darling, you are usually the logical one here.”
The lavender unicorn looked as if she was going to say something, but then closed her mouth as she digested her friend’s words.  She shut the book with a hard thump and stood, “You’re right.  You are totally right.  I am letting worry and fear dictate my actions.  I am going to have a good time today because I worked hard to make this Winter Welcome happen and then tonight we’ll have a Winter Dance and then in a few days we can all go to the Winter Ball.”
Jelly was silent throughout this exchange, her thoughts frozen when Twilight mentioned seeing a red comet.  And it was before Apple Bloom went missing?  Was she talking about seeing the ship landing?  It could easily be mistaken for a red comet if viewed by someone who has never seen a ship entering the atmosphere.
“What’s wrong, Jelly?  You looked as if you’ve seen a ghost.”  Spike appeared at her side startling her.
“Oh, I’m just cold.  I just came in from the cold.” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       
“Sister, you are worried . . . as is your usual state these days.”  A dark alicorn with stars in her name hovered in the air.  “The foals have been found and returned to their parents.  They are celebrating that down below along with Winter Welcome and you should be part of that.”
Celestia, the Sun Goddess of the Ponies, stood at her bedroom balcony gazing out over the city celebration.  The midday sun glowed through the thick layer of clouds place there in preparation for First Snow.  The snow storm created by Discord didn’t reach Canterlot so it was still free of ice and cold.  The grey clouds hiding the snow matched her mood perfectly. 
The lovely alicorn turned to her dark sister and offered a small smile, “I know my companionship has been less than pleasant and I apologize.”
“You stewards are looking for you.  You left before the speeches.”  Luna landed on the balcony near her sister and folded her wings against her sides.    
“Do you sometimes wonder why our ponies put so much stock in fancy speeches and status when there is much more to life?  Why waste their short lives on useless and mundane things?”  Celestia tilted her head to look up at the sky as if the answer was there.
“I don’t know.  I’ve been away for a thousand years, remember?”  Luna offered a tiny smile at her own joke. 
“Discord left.  He fled as a rat fleeing a sinking ship.  He’s no longer on this world.”  Celestia took a shuddering breath that shook her sides. 
“And this is not a good thing?”  Luna inquired with raised brows.  “I thought for sure when we felt his release that he would cause havoc all over again.”
“But he didn’t.  He used his energy to take himself off this world.  Why?  Was there something here he was avoiding or is it part of a bigger plan?”  Celestia turned away, her hooves firmly tapping on the marble floor as she returned to her bedroom. 
Luna followed, beginning to share in her sister’s concern.  “Twilight’s vision.  The one she had when she attempted a memory spell, that is what has you worried?” 
“When Discord awakened, I had believed that he was the malevolent being in Twilight’s vision, but now I have my doubts which have been confirmed by his leaving.  Discord, as villainous as he may be, is not a being of hatred.  He could perform untold damage with his powers, but restrains himself to folly and tricks.”  Celestia paused by the tray of fruit and Petal Juice sitting cold in ivory jug.  “No, this thing is not of Equestria.”
Luna paused in mid-step as a tremor of fear touched her heart.  “You believe that the source could be something beyond this world.”
“Yes, something we cannot see and we have no power over.  Something, you and I with all our powers cannot stop.”  Celestia turned to her sister, fear reflecting in her lovely eyes.  “Sister, your power allows you to see beyond this world and in your thousand years on the moon, you must have seen many things beyond this small world.”
“I have seen many things that could easily threaten this world.”  Luna sat heavily on the floor as images of terrible things flitted through her mind.  “Most of them I can ward away, but there are other things out there that will not be so easily swayed, but I feared them not because they are so, so far away and busy about their own conflicts.”
“And if they should bring their conflict here?”  Celestia murmured.
Luna swallowed, “Then it could very well end Equestria.  For I have seen them.  I have seen them with such power that can tear apart worlds.  I have seen them destroy all life on a world just to collect the resources without hindrance.”
Celestia shuddered, looking ill at the thought of such disregard for life.  “Sister, I fear for my little ponies.  Eons of peace are wonderful, but it has ill prepared them for conflict or any war.”
“I will return to the moon.”  Luna stood, a firm set to her eyes and ears.
“What?  No!  Sister, no, no, you don’t have to go back.”  Celestia laid her ears back in shock as she shook her head making her mane waver.  “I just got you back!”
“Celest, I can see further on the moon than I can on Equestria.  If this threat is truly from beyond this world, then I have to be where I can see it coming as soon as possible.”  Luna put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder to calm her.  “And I won’t be trapped there this time.  I’ll come down to visit often and I can still raise the moon and stars from there as well.  And this is not a permanent arrangement.  This is only until the danger has past or we’ve dealt with it.”
“There is . . .another option that you haven’t considered.”  Celestia whispered.  “Mama Grey . . .”
“No!”  Luna’s voice boomed in the Royal Canterlot Voice.  Her wings unfurled as her hooves left the floor.  She hovered in the air proclaiming, “Approaching Mama Grey always hath a price!”
“Sister, sister, voice.”  Celestia raised a hoof and lowered it slowly in indication of how Luna’s volume and body should go. 
Luna coughed loudly, before dropping back onto the floor embarrassed.  She swallowed and said in a normal tone, “No, going to Mama Grey always has a price attached.  You know that.  And why would she help us anyway.  Discord is her . . .”
“I am quite aware of that, but one thing you forget about her.  Mama Grey is as much a part of Equestria as we are.  If Equestria should fall, so would she,”  Celestia said gently as she stroked Luna’s mane to calm her.  “If any being would know what has happened, is happening, and what will happen is her.  And I don’t plan on going to her now.  There is too much to do with Winter Welcome and the Winter Ball.  If the threat is real, I don’t believe it’s immediate so we have time.”
“If you go, then I’m going with you,” Luna replied firmly.  “No buts or excuses.  I won’t let you go and pay her price yourself.”
“Alright, agreed.  Let us just hope that it doesn’t come to us having to go to her,”  Celestia said so softly, it may have been a prayer.           
      
 
	
	
> Winter Welcome
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jelly told Twilight about the chicks and her suggestion for a solution. 
“That’s a good idea.  I’m sure that I can spread the word and have any volunteers meet at Fluttershy’s cottage,” Twilight said with an appreciative smile.
Before Jelly could reply, Rarity gaped at her flank, “Why you have your cutie mark!”
“Wow, I’m sorry I didn’t notice it before.”  Twilight craned her head to get a better look at Jelly’s flank. 
It seemed that her cutie mark was getting as much attention as her blank flank did.  “Uh yes, it came in yesterday.”
“A bandaged heart.”  Twilight inspected the mark thoughtfully.  “It could be assumed that it entails medical care, but there are a lot of cutie marks that are symbolic.  Like Cheerilee’s smiling flowers.”
“I’m not really sure what it means.”  Jelly shrugged.  Then she wondered what Victory’s teardrop represented?  Or Winter’s for that matter? 
“Pinkie Pie will want to throw you a cute-ceanera when she sees it,” Rarity warned her.
“What?  Oh no!  There’s no need.  It’s not really a big deal.”  Jelly blushed as she drew back, wishing that she had worn a skirt to hide her mark.
“No big deal!”  Rarity exclaimed bewildered.  “Getting a cutie mark is a very important time in a pony’s life and it’s to be celebrated.”
Twilight shot Rarity a hard look which silent the white unicorn.  She put a hoof on Jelly’s shoulder and gave her an understanding smile, “It’s alright and we understand.  You did get your cutie mark a, uh, bit late.  If you want, I’ll talk to Pinkie Pie about it.”
“No, no, I’ll deal with it.”  Jelly really wanted to hide her butt in the snow outside.  She thought it was bad enough with the attention she was getting because she had no cutie mark, but now it was worse that she received one at such an older age. 
“The floor’s clean,”  Sweetie Belle announced as she appeared beside Rarity. 
“Did you put away the cleaning supplies?”  Rarity inquired.
“Yes ma’am,” the small filly replied dutifully. 
“And apologized to Spike for making a mess?” 
“Uh. . .”
“Then you must go do that right now,” Rarity ordered in a sharp tone that would have made Laotaner proud. 
“Alright.”  Sweetie Belle laid her ears back and walked away. 
The exchange between sisters caused a flutter of homesickness to touch Jelly’s heart.  Her grandmother was just as strict about etiquette and manners and more than once the little girl who ran around the windmill farm would roll her eyes and at her grandmother’s insistence on proper mannerisms.  Grandma would definitely approve of Rarity. 
“Oh, before I forget, I need to give you your ticket to the Winter Ball.”  Twilight turned away to a desk where a wooden box with a small unlocked clasp sat.  She magically opened the box and two gold tickets with silver snowflakes printed on them were floated over to Jelly.  They hovered there while Twilight explained, “The Princess sent tickets for everypony.  She also sent one for you and your mother.”
Jelly stared at the offered ticket in disbelief.  “Why did she send us tickets?”
“Well, she did invite your mother to substitute for Cheerilee,” Twilight replied.
Oh yeah, that was the believed story.  If she refused the tickets, then it would seem suspicious.  She took them out of the air with her teeth and tucked them away in her bag, “Thanks.  I’m sure mother and I will have a good time.”
“And I’ll have to do something about your dress,” Rarity said thoughtfully as she looked at Jelly while rubbing her chin with a white hoof.
“I thought my dress was ready.” 
“Your dress is fine for a small town Winter Dance, but for a Canterlot Winter Ball, changes will have to be made to make it fashionable for the nobility and elite,” Rarity tilted her head and seemed to stare off into a dance floor only she could see.
Jelly glanced at Twilight for answers, but the lavender unicorn offered a just as confusing look and rueful smile.  To Rarity, the green unicorn nodded, “Okay, I’ll trust you with the dress.  You do what you think is best for it.”
Her words seemed to deeply please Rarity who gave her a joyous smile and strong assurance that her dress will be magnificent for the Winter Ball.  She excused herself, stating that she had to return to her boutique to make sure that the dresses were ready for tonight and she also made certain that Jelly knew what time to meet for the spa before she departed.
“Sorry about that.  Rarity is . . . well, our town’s fashionista and she takes that position very seriously.”  Twilight magically fashioned a scarf around her neck.
“I thought her tail and mane were burned,”  Jelly commented remembering the state of the unicorn’s appearance when they returned from the mite fight.
“Oh, she came by so I can cast a hair growing spell,” Twilight explained.
“Really?  You can grow hair with magic?” 
“Of course!  You can do lots of things with magic.  I have been studying magic ever since I was a young filly and I’m still learning.” 
Spike appeared by the stairs, “C’mon, Twi, stop being so modest.  Just go ahead and tell her you’re the most magical unicorn in Ponyville.”
“Spike!”  Twilight glared at him, but Jelly could see the faint blush on her cheeks. 
“It’s true!”  Spike insisted.  “Twilight here used her magic to take care of an Ursa Minor.”
“Spike, stop.”  Twilight stomped her hoof, trying to halt the discussion.
“What’s an Ursa Minor?”  Jelly was genuinely curious.  She had believed that unicorn’s ability was only levitation.
“An Ursa Minor is like a really big bear about the size of a house and Twilight vanquished it just like this!”  Spike slapped his hands together as if he was crushing a fly between his palms.
“What Spike means is that I literally took care of it,” Twilight quickly interjected.  “An Ursa Minor is really just a baby to an Ursa Major.  I only used my magic to rock it to sleep and give it a bottle of milk . . . well, a water tower of milk and put it back in its cave.” 
If it wasn’t for the way Twilight kept bashfully averting her eyes, Jelly would have assumed they were having a joke at her expense.  “Wow, that is really something.”
“It’s nothing really.  The Princess can do so much more than me.  She can raise the sun after all.”  Twilight coughed and quickly moved the subject onto other topics.  “I’ll go gather up volunteers and have them meet at Fluttershy’s.  You can go ahead and enjoy the festival.”
“Are you sure that you don’t need me to come too?  It’s really no problem.”  Jelly followed Twilight to the doorway.  She felt as if she should be involved since it was because of her idea of carrying chicks that ponies would gather around Fluttershy’s cottage.  Jelly didn’t know Fluttershy for long, but she could tell the pegasus didn’t handle large crowds very well. 
“It’s alright.  You’ve done a lot already by checking on Fluttershy and coming up with such a great idea.”  Twilight patted her on the shoulder.  “Go enjoy Winter Welcome.”
Jelly tried not to feel hurt.  She understood that Twilight wasn’t turning rejecting her or considered her a bother.  In fact she could see how grateful the unicorn was to have her help, but her heart still stung considerably and any acceptance lessen the ache. 
“C’mon, Jelly, let’s play some games!”  She felt a sharp tug on her tail that sent a sharp pang along her spine.  She turned around to see Apple Bloom gripping her blue tail between her teeth and giving her tail another sharp pull again before spatting out the air.  “Ya can come with us!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    
She will never understand how a foal could have more energy in her little body than an adult.  And three of them together were nearly impossible to keep up with.  They ran her ragged dashing from game to game, and from stall to stall.  The only rest she received were when they waited in line for an attraction or stopped to eat a snack or drink.  Just as she caught her breath, the fillies would badger her to continue and pull her tail or mane if she took too long to follow.      
It finally got to the point that she saw a patch of snow and stretched out in it, thanking god that she had four legs to run around on instead of two and that there was snow for her to roll in to cool her hot body.  She didn’t care if she looked like a fool to any pony walking bye.  Let them run with three fillies and see if they don’t take a roll in the snow.
“C’mon!”  Scootaloo tapped her hooves on the cobble street.  “You can’t take a nap here!”
“Watch me,” she replied as she nuzzled her face into the cool whiteness.
Apple Bloom hopped onto her back.  “But we’re gonna miss the start of the parade.”
Jelly opened her eyes and batted away the tiny ice crystals from her lashes.  “What?”
“The parade is gonna start soon.”  Sweetie Belle put her face against Jelly’s ribs and pushed in an attempt to get her to stand.  “We gotta find a place to sit!”
“Oh!  Oh!”  Jelly rose and nearly slipped in her haste.  Apple Bloom swayed, but managed to keep her balance on the green unicorn’s back.  “Quick, I got to go make sure they have what they need.”
She trotted along with Apple Bloom riding her back while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle scampered ahead.  At she threaded through a dense crowd, her eyes caught Smokey standing on the other side of the street.  He was with a yellow earth mare with mane and tail of two shades of orange.  On her back sat Ember peeking through her mane at the ponies around.  Jelly paused to watch them. 
Why did she suddenly feel a pang of jealousy?  No, no, it was wrong of her to feel this way.  She pushed Smokey to June Bug because she didn’t want him.  For her to feel any sense of jealousy was selfish and shallow.  She started forward, but then her eyes landed on another couple.
Winter was standing nearly pressed side to side with a green unicorn with lime color hair with a white streak.  He had a black wing drape across her back give her warmth.  He was whispering into her ear and the unicorn giggled with a faint blush on her cheeks. 
If Jelly didn’t know any better, it could be assumed that he liked her.  But the unicorn wasn’t a human in the guise of a unicorn, that mare there was an actual pony.  Not human.  Wasn’t Winter aware of that?  And if he had to flirt with anyone, why didn’t he want to flirt with her?
Her ears lowered as her demeanor wilted.  Was there something wrong with her that made it more appealing to be with a pony?
Or made her mother not want her?
“What’s wrong, Jelly?” a sweet accented voice spoke into her ear.  She craned her head to see Apple Bloom staring curiously at her.    
“I’m fine.  Just had some snow go up my nose.”  She snorted to give support to her small lie.  “Let’s go.”
The parade participates were gathered behind the City Hall building and the multitude of pastel ponies made it difficult to see Fluttershy at all.  She had to duck under swung ladder carried clumsily by a dark brown pony and weave through the ponies carrying musical instruments all the while keeping Sweet Belle and Scootaloo in eyesight. 
Finally, the soft chiming of beeps touched her ears and she turned her head toward the source.  There were nearly a dozen ponies with chicks clinging to their backs with tiny claws.  Fluttershy was carefully placing chicks onto a grey pegasus with bubbles for a cutie mark.  Jelly admired the way she moved slowly and carefully so as not to disturb each check she set atop of the pegasus.
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’ll be careful.  I won’t drop any because I am always careful around babies!” the pegasus promised all the way her fluttering wings threatened to dislodge several chicks from her back.
Jelly recognized gray pony as the one that the mites kidnapped the other night.  She discreetly shifted the chicks back into a safe position on Derpy’s with a hoof, “Do you need any more volunteers?”
“Oh, no.  After these, they all have ponies to carry them.”  Fluttershy stroked the head of a green chick with the tip of her hoof.  “And I’m going to fly ahead to where the parade ends and I’ll take them home.”
“Will you need help getting the chicks home?”  Jelly offered.  She still felt pangs of guilt at how her mother nearly drowned a batch of chicks when they first met. 
Fluttershy’s face glowed as a captivating smile bloomed across her face.  Jelly would often think that if it was possible to bottle of the warmth and cheer that came from that smile, it could cure clinical depression.  “It’s alright.  I have a wagon waiting at the end and I can fly them all back with no problem.” 
“Hi, Jelly, here to help out?”  Twilight Sparkle walked up followed by an adult zebra wearing a thick robe. 
Jelly tried not to stare, but she found the zebra fascinating.  She had the pony shape, but not the details that she had become used to seeing.  Her muzzle was squared off as a male pony, but her femininity glowed through her eyes and face.  She also wore impossibly large gold hoops in her ears with a stack of gold loops around her neck.  The zebra tilted her head fixing her a steady gaze from her exotic eyes.    
“Yes, I wanted to make sure that you had everything you needed.”  Jelly tore her eyes from the zebra.
“I think we have everything.  This is Zecora by the way.  She’s our resident zebra,” Twilight introduced the zebra.
“Hello, Zecora,” Jelly greeted suddenly feeling shy.
“Hey, Zecora, are ya cold?”  Apple Bloom hopped off Jelly’s back to stand next to Zecora.
“Oh, yes, Apple Bloom, you must know that I am not use to all this snow,” the zebra replied in an accented rhyme.  “I am wearing this thick coat to keep myself from becoming sick.”
Was she rhyming?  Jelly tilted her head curiously, hoping she would say something else.
“Zecora, are you gonna go t’ the Winter Dance?”  Apple Bloom asked.
“No, it’s been told that zebras sicken easily when the night is cold.”
There, she did it again!  Was she rhyming on purpose was this just her speech pattern? 
“Jel-Lii!”  Jelly felt a too familiar tug at her tail.  She turned her head to see Sweetie Belle giving her a scowl while Scootaloo held her tail in her mouth.  “We gotta get good places to watch the parade!”
“Ah, yes, sorry, I got to go,” Jelly apologized with a small head bob.  “It was nice meeting you, Zecora.  Fluttershy, the chicks look great.  Twilight, find me if you need any help.”
As she spoke, she was literally being towed away by the grip Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had on her tail and with Apple Bloom’s added assistance, the green unicorn was whisked away. 
“Where does your friend come from?”  Zecora asked flicking an ear making her ear hoop swing.
“Oh, she’s from north.  Her mother, Victory Jam, is the substitute teacher until Cheerilee comes back.  They are from the north, near the Crystal Mountains, I think.”
“She is . . . quite different.”  Zecora murmured thoughtfully. 
“Well, she is kinda like you.  She comes from a faraway place.”  Surely Zecora can understand what it’s like to be so far away from home.
“Twilight Sparkle, you wanted to speak with me?  Is there something I must see?”  Zecora shrugged her robe more securely on her shoulders.
“Oh, yes.  It’s private . . .”  Twilight glanced and was relieved to see that Fluttershy was out of earshot.  She drew close to the older zebra and whispered, “What do you know about visions?”
“Visions?  Dreams and Premonitions?”  Zecora’s eyes widen surprised by the inquiry. 
“Yes, I’ve had two experiences.  The first was when magic recoiled back on me and when Discord reawakened.  They are likely nothing but . . .both frightened me.”  Twilight felt her ears laid back at the memory of the first horrifying nightmare.
“But they are making you awake with a worry that you cannot shake?”  Zecora nodded understanding.
“Yes, I . . .logically, I know that there is  very little I should worry about, but I have this feeling that something terrible is going to happen.  The red comet, Apple Bloom going missing and losing her memory, and Discord . . . and the visions are all connected.  The visions are a warning, but of what, I don’t know.”  Twilight wanted . . . no, needed Zecora to take her seriously.  Not brush off her concerns as paranoia and try to placate her soothing words. 
Zecora was silent for nearly a minute.  Her large wise eyes stayed on Twilight’s face and just as the lavender unicorn feared the zebra wouldn’t believe her, Zecora said, “My tribe takes any vision very seriously.  Most are just dreams, but visions not heeded bring misery.  Forgive me, but fortunetelling is not a skill I have, but I have one trick that might fulfill.”
The zebra tucked her head into her robe and drew out a small beaded pouch with her teeth.  The beads were shades of blue and were arranged in zebratic fashion.  Zecora held out the pouch going her.  Twilight accepted the pouch, taking it with her magic and as it hovered before her, she listened to Zecora’s words.  “Take this pouch and tomorrow put an untouched egg inside with a lock of your hair.  This pouch, you must wear for one day.  Keep the charm safe, do not crack the egg nor remove the pouch.  After one day, come to my hut with the egg and we shall see if there is anything that would bring harm.”
Twilight closed her eyes and gave thanks to Celestia and Luna both for letting her have such a dear, dear, friend.  “Thank you.  Zecora.  You have no idea how grateful I am for this and I promise, I will follow your instructions.”
     
 
       
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
    
   
 
 
 
 
	
	
> Winter Dance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noa Laotaner could see the pastel colors passing below from the window.  The parade for the ponies ‘wonderful’ Winter Welcome has finally begun.  She stood at the window, curtains drawn, and she looked down from a small crack in the drapes.  Watching the pony crowds and trailing parade brought forward reminiscent of earlier celebrations she had witness after Havensguard had won one of its many wars. 
War.  When haven’t the planet of Haven been in war?  The wars with the Shraxi, Kovians, Javians, Slekks, Hroths, and Kreegs had been some of the wars that had occurred during Laotaner’s lifetime, but there had been countless others before she was born.  Haven was a hub of civilizations starving for resources.  Each time there was a technological advancement, the population exploded, increasing the need for resources.   Uninhabited planets or planets with low intelligent life were easy enough to claim and harvest or colonize, but if there was a civilization that had a hard problem grasping the concept ‘we have bigger and better weapons than you’, then it was war.
Sometimes, they came across races that had conquered space travel such as the Javians and those became small thorns in the Havensguard side.  They roused the other races into movement against Haven and then there were small uprisings that were quailed in less than a decade.  History was rife with conflict.  And that conflict coursed through veins of people like Laotaner.
Somewhere below, her daughter was down there going native.  And her top lieutenant was fraternizing with the enemy.  It’s better to wait until the war is over before fucking the enemy.  It made her itch to get the ball on this mission rolling before this became a Equestria Embarassment with her name on the front page of the report.  It’d be even worse if it became public that Briggs the Traitor was her daughter.
Laotaner leaned her head against the wall as her thought seeped back in the murky ick of Briggs being her daughter.  Sometimes it was tempting to go back and think about how relieving it was to just have killed Briggs and buried her with that damnable time capsule and be done with it. 
She’s your daughter.
At least, she’s useful now.  She’s in with the Bearers of Harmony and Laotaner was certain that if she pressed her, she can get information, but she’d have to be careful.  If Briggs found out what she had in store for her sweet little ponies, she’d likely do something that Laotaner would make her regret.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the parade ended, Jelly’s back was hurting her.  The foals had decided that the best place to watch the parade was from Jelly’s back.  They squeezed together and Apple Bloom had to put her hooves atop of Jelly’s head and watch from that perch.  The fillies did not stand still during the parade. 
Jelly’s spine endured stomping when the fillies were excited by a float, they even jumped up and down to catched tossed candy, and there was even a short push and shove argument between Scootaloo and Apple Bloom regarding personal space. When the parade ended, Jelly was sorely tempted to take another roll in the snow to sooth her aches.
She wondered that when she changed back to a human body, would there be small hoof shape bruises on her back?
The fillies nosed through the snow looking for any lost bits of candy while Jelly sat back on her haunches and stretched her back.  Again she was amazed at how flexible the forelegs were as she was able to press the hooves along her lower back.  Her back gave a satisfying pop and then sagged back onto her fore hooves enjoying the momentary relief. 
“What’s next?”  Sweetie Belle trampled in the snow once she was certain there was no more candy to be had there.
“Let’s go play some games.”
“I want to see if there’s any hot chocolate left.”
“Ah know, let’s go get some cider.” 
“Uh, girls, would it be alright if we stop by the inn.  I have to drop the Winter Ball tickets off with my mother.”  Why was she asking permission from three foals?  Wasn’t she the adult here?
“Okay, Ah guess we can do that,” Apple Bloom consented. 
Ten minutes later, Jelly asked the fillies to wait in the lobby, stating that her mother may be asleep.  In actuality, she was afraid that Victory might be her human self, Noa Laotaner and she didn’t want to risk the fillies seeing her as if she truly is. 
When she arrived at their room, she hesitated with her hoof above the door.  She felt as if she was a soldier who was going to dash across a field knowing that there were live mines under the soil.  Jelly braced herself mentally and emotional and then knocked the door, “It’s me.”
“Come in.”
She press down on the latch and squeezed herself through the door and shut it with a back hoof.  “Hey, I got something.”
Laotaner was sitting in a pair of bra and panties at the table with thick tome open before her.  At Jelly’s words, an eyebrow arched, “Yeah?”
So far no insults.  Jelly tentatively drew the tickets from her bag as if they were precious peace offerings.  “I got dese.”
“Bring them.”  Laotaner’s expression didn’t change.
Jelly carried them to the table and carefully set them on it.  “They are tickets to the Winter Ball.  One for me and you.  The Winter Ball is a huge celebratory dance that the nobles and elite gather at Canterlot Castle.”
“Canterlot Castle?”  This time the other eyebrow arched.
“Yes . . . there the Princesses live and um . . . well, I was thinking that . . .this would be a very good opportunity.  We can approach them as emissaries from Haven.”  Jelly fought not to shrink back, incase Laotaner wanted to give her a tongue lashing.
“Oh?”  Laotaner leaned her elbows on the table and folded her hands, perching her chin on them.  “And you are trained in areas of diplomacy or First Contact?”
“No, but . . .”  Go forward.  Don’t let her cow you or she won’t respect you.  “ . . . but, I think . . . I believe that since you are popular for saving the foals, and two of them are foals of very important parents, then you have given a great first impression of Haven.  The public will likely be more receptive to any diplomatic ties between us and them.  And we’ll have a chance to maybe speak directly to their leaders.  Twilight Sparkle, my friend, she’s the personal student of Princess Celestia so if need be, I can ask her to arrange an audience between us and the Princess.”
Jelly sat on the floor and waited.  She had given her thoughts on the topic, not she just had to wait and see how her mother would respond.  Laotaner stared at her, her eyes betraying nothing.
“Where did you get the tickets?”  Laotaner inquired after a minute of silence.
“From Twilight Sparkle.  She said that Princess sent them to her and her friends,” Jelly replied promptly. 
“Is she accustomed to getting such gifts from the Princess?” 
“I don’t believe the relationship is like that.  Twilight reveres the Princess.”  Jelly remembered the glow in Twilight’s eyes as she spoke about her teacher.  It was genuine love the lavender unicorn had her for her mentor. 
“When is the Winter Ball?” 
“In three days.”  Have they really spoken for nearly five minutes without an insult thrown her way?   
Laotaner nodded, lowering her hands onto the book.  “Three days will be enough time for preparation.  You’ve done well.”
It was as if Laotaner’s words had poured warm happiness throughout her body.  She smiled brightly, her wears pricking up as she stood with her tail swinging in delight.  “Thanks!  I knew I could contribute to this mission!”
“And you have.”  A gleam of pride passed through Laotaner’s eyes and then disappeared quickly.  “I have no further questions.  You may return to the festivities if you want.”
“Okay, um, tonight is the dance so I might not return until late.”
“Have you changed back to a human yet?”  Noa pressed her fingertips together as she studied the green unicorn.
“No . . .I haven’t . . . but I’m not going to worry.  Once we return, Trevor can help me.”  It was something she tried not to think about.
“Be careful.  Don’t let them see you change.”
“I won’t.  I gotta go.  It . . . it was great talking with you.” 
“Yes, yes.  Same to you.”  Laotaner replied offhandedly with a wave.
Jelly felt a warm tear rolled down her cheek as she shut the door behind her.  It rolled past the grin that stretched across her lips and there was pep in her step.  In fact, before she headed down the steps, her delight took over her hooves and she stomped them on the wooden boards.
In the room, Laotaner had opened her datapad and was tapping up a mission briefing.  The first time she wrote was, ‘mission commences in three days’.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“These fillies running ya tired?” 
“Hmm?”  Jelly said through a mouthful of cider. 
Applejack held a hoof for her mug.  “Refill?”
Jelly swallowed and handed it back, “Please?”
The farm mare refilled the mug from a barrel tap.  “Ah appreciate ya goin’ ‘round Winter Welcome with Apple Bloom.  It makes me feel better about her goin’ off by ‘erself after goin’ missin’ an’ all.”
“Oh, I understand.”  She accepted the filled mug back and swallowed a mouthful.  This was her third mug and she would be very lucky if she didn’t gain two dress sizes when she returned home.  The fillies were sitting around a small table discussing their next plans for the day.  Jelly was taking this time to recuperate before they took her away. 
“What time do ya have ‘fore ya gotta get ready for the dance?”  Applejack asked as she swabbed the inside of a mug with a dishrag. 
Jelly noticed that the crowd was beginning to dwindle and as she glanced at the clock on the tower, she nearly choked on her cider.  “Five minutes ago!  I have to go to the spa now!”
Jelly set the mug so quickly on the counter it nearly sloshed out.  “Tell the fillies, I’m sorry, but I have to go.  Oh . . . God. . . where’s the spa?”
“No problem.  Better hurry, Rarity might be havin’ a fit now.”  Applejack nodded as she pointed in the direction to the spa.  “Go down this street t’ the end an’ go right.  Go down that street and then left at the end.  Ya should see it as sure as ya can see as ya see yer nose.  Purple roof with gold doors.”
Jelly nearly slipped on the ice in her haste.  She heard the fillies call her as she galloped off, but there was no time.  Rarity had stressed that she show up early for the appointment and here was late and becoming more late by the second.
She ducked and weaved among the dwindling crowd, nearly colliding with a brown stallion with an hour glass cutie mark.  She threw an apology behind and kept going despite knocking him into a snow piled at the edge of the street.  As she turned the last corner, she saw the spa with the purple roof and golden doors.  Above the doors was a sign with a pony with long legs and wavy mane and tail. 
As she drew close, she could smell lavender and eucalyptus on the air and it became sweeter as she opened the door.  A small bell chimed as the door knocked it.  Sitting on a low green couch were Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy reading magazines.
“I am so sorry,” Jelly stammered embarrassed.  “I had to drop the tickets off with my mother and then foals wanted to get apple cider and . . .”
“Don’t worry about it.”  Twilight lowered her magazine.  “Rarity’s late herself.”
“Oh . . .really?”  Jelly felt herself body sag with relief.  She took a spot on the couch across from them. 
A pretty pink earth mare approached her with a clip board in her mouth for her to sign in and Jelly grimaced.  Now she had to write with her mouth again.  She really needed to practice her magic, if she had any to practice with.  Her name took up two spaces and looked as if she was writing blind with her left hand. 
When the pony took away the clipboard with her hideous signature, Jelly leaned across the small table and asked, “Fluttershy, were the chicks alright?”
“Oh, yes.  They were a little bit cold, so I placed them under a heating lamp.  When I left, they were napping.”  Fluttershy smiled with that endearing smile again as if she was a mother thinking back lovingly on her child’s darling action.
“Is it just us?”  Jelly inquired glancing about the waiting room.
“Rainbow Dash and Applejack say they are too busy, but they aren’t much for dresses.  Pinkie Pie is helping the Cakes out with catering so she is already at City Hall setting up.”  Twilight set her magazine on the table.  On the cover was a lovely unicorn wearing a high class dress posing in dynamic fashion.  “Is this your first time to a spa?”
“Uh, yes.  I’ve never had a spa treatment done before,” Jelly admitted.
“Oh, you are in for a treat.  Aloe and Lotus are the best spa ponies in Equestria.”  Twilight inclined her head as she spoke.  “If I wasn’t so busy with my friendship reports and my studies, I would come more often.”
The door opened with its pleasant chime and Rarity burst through with her chest thrusting with deep breaths.  “I am so sorry!  I had to put the finishing touches on Memory Lane’s dress and then I had to make sure my order of silks went through and  . . . oh dear, I’m babbling.  Please forgive me.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.  Remember, you schedule the appointment thirty minutes later so you’d have time to be late?”  Twilight said as she got to her hooves.  “Don’t worry about it.”
The pink pony led them into the spa where Jelly was immerse in a steam sauna, a facial, a mud bath, a lovely massage, and a hoofincure.  Never before had Jelly been pampered and treated to such beauty treatments.  They even filed her horn which was a very strange sensation as it seemed to actually tickle her mind.   
Even being massage by hooves was exquisite.  It even sooth the aches and pains from the foals earlier stomping.  Jelly uttered a low purr as Aloe administered her magical touch to her lower back.  She wondered if being massage by hands would be just as sweet.
Unfortunately, the massage ended sooner than she would have liked, and as she was led in a daze to the hair salon.  A peach colored unicorn was receiving instructions from Rarity on what style her mane should be for the dance.  The most Jelly ever had done in the salon was a basic trim, now her mane and tail was washed, straightened, and curled at the ends.  They even sprinkle glitter along the tresses to make them sparkle. 
She wasn’t one to judge pony beauty so when they held a mirror in front of her she believed them when they told her she was beautiful.  Looking at herself, she supposed she was at least cute.  Her coat was a soft shade of green and her blue hair was . . . blue with sparkles.       
And Rarity, being the ever thoughtful and well planned when it came to fashion arranged for their dresses to be held at the spa for them to dress.  Jelly had to hold still while Rarity adjusted the straps across her back and tugged and shifted the clothing to her satisfaction.  Then came the accessories. 
When she looked in the mirror again, she stared for a long time.  A tiara rested around her horn and clip on earrings hung in short starlets framing her face.  Rarity was a genius as the dress, the mane, and even the makeup and jewelry came together in mold her into lovely pony.  Like a princess.  Jelly wished she could look this good as a human.
It was almost depressing.
The dresses had same the effect on the other ponies.  Jelly admired them each deeply, especially Rarity for her security in her appearance.  The way she walked into a room and seemingly commanded all eyes her way was very queenly despite her desire to appear a princess.  Twilight appeared enchantingly in a dress of stars and blue in a simple manifestation of youth and wisdom together.  And Fluttershy, her delicate innocence was emboldened by a train of green that reminded Jelly of a draping willow tree with flowers trimming the edges. 
Looking at them, Jelly realized that if they were human, they would be very beautiful women and she envied them. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity insisted that they take a carriage to the dance.  When Jelly stated that she could walk to the dance, Rarity looked as if she said she was going to go roll in the mud.
“No!  You simply mustn’t do that!  You’ll get sweaty and wrinkle your dress and your mane . . .!”  Rarity grimaced as if imagining it was causing her pain.  “No, you will ride with us to the dance and that is final!”  She stomped her hoof in finality of the topic.
And sure enough, the four of them arrived at the dance in a rented carriage.  Music was already being played inside and several couples were entering through open glowing doors.  They carefully descended the steps onto the wooden veranda surrounding the building. 
Jelly followed the ponies inside and as each step brought her further and further inside, she felt self-conscious about herself.  What was she doing here?  She was here only because she was roped into it by Rarity and the others.  The green unicorn kept close to the other ponies feeling shyer than Fluttershy.
Worst yet, she didn’t know how to dance, much less how to dance as a pony.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour past with nothing significant happening.  Rarity went off to mingle and catch the eye of a handsome stallion she spotted across the dance floor.  Twilight was led away by the mayor to discuss the next upcoming celebration leaving Fluttershy and Jelly alone together. 
Jelly was glad that the punch cups had little straws making it easy to drink.  Fluttershy made very little small talk with the other partiers.  Mostly it was about pet care or compliments for the chicks participating in the parade.  Whenever her physical appearance was complimented, the yellow pegasus would blush and direct the compliment to Rarity’s talent.
“You’re not having a good time?”  Jelly whispered low.
“Not really.  I don’t like being in public.  I sorta got pulled into it by Rarity and I didn’t have a chance to back out of it,”  Fluttershy quietly admitted.
“Truthfully, same here,” Jelly whispered back.  “I looked forward to dressing up, but not that I am here, I really don’t know what to do.”
“I came because I enjoyed being with my friends.”  Fluttershy glanced through the crowd, “But then they left.”
“Oh.  I’m sure they’ll come back soon.”  Jelly wasn’t certain that Rarity was willing to tear herself away from the golden stallion that she was enchanting with side glances and the occasional toss of her head.
“Oh no!  I mean, you are my friend too.  I didn’t mean to say that you weren’t.”  Fluttershy turned her head away in shame at her unintentional meaning.
“I understand.”  Jelly gave her a grateful smile.  “Do you want to go ahead and duck out early?  If Rarity asks we’ll tell her that I had a headache and you took me home.  Okay?”
Fluttershy beamed as if Jelly gave her a zoo full of animals.  “Yes!  Please!”
And just at the moment, before Jelly or Fluttershy could move toward the door, a gray stallion with a blonde mane and tail approached them.  He had a rather thick muzzle and loosely wore a collar and tie around his neck.  “Are you Jelly?” 
Why did this stallion smell of jelly and preserves?  “Um, yes?”
A very strange smile spread across his face.  “I love jelly.  It tastes good on bread, muffins, toast, pancakes, oatmeal, and cake.”
“Oh . . . okay. . . “  Jelly took a step back to put space between them, feigning that she was interested in a refill.
“And your name is Jelly which I think is awesome too.”  The stallion actually licked his lips, “Hmm, I bet you taste as good as your name.”
Would it be considered inappropriate pony behavior for her to flee from the dance floor?  Was there some way she could sign to Fluttershy to fake a seizure or fainting so she can use her as an escape?
Before the stallion could ask her to dance or say anything else strange, Winter appeared beside her.  “Hey, Jelly, Mom wants ya outside.  Says it’s important.” 
“Really?  I have to go.  Fluttershy, walk with me and it was nice to meet you, uh, pony who likes Jelly, but I have to go.  Mother is calling me,” she spoke in a blur of speech as she turned away and cantered off.  She tried not to gallop to the front doors.  Fluttershy and Winter followed closely behind her.    
When she was outside, she didn’t see Victory anywhere.  Winter trotted outside with Fluttershy with a mischievous grin.  She tilted her head, “Um, Mother . . . didn’t call me, did she?”
“Nah, saw how that guy was creeping ya out and decided to help out.”  Winter flexed his wings as a breeze touched them.  He seemed as if was eager to take a quick flight, but he stayed earthbound with them. 
“We were planning on leaving early anyway.”  Jelly was greatly relieved that he provided an easy exit for them.  “Oh, this is Fluttershy by the way.”
Winter looked at Fluttershy who hid behind her mane as she uttered a very soft, nearly inaudible hello.  “Well, isn’t she just the most precious thing I ever seen.”
Then he planted a firm kiss on cheek, brushing the pink mane aside with his nose.  The shy pegagus’s face turned as pink as Pinkie’s Pie coat and Jelly feared that she was going to faint, but she managed to stay on her hooves while she swayed.
Jelly blinked her eyes several times, feeling a small sting behind them.  Why was it that Winter was willing to kiss and flirt ponies, but not with a human female such as herself? 
Now she was feeling a strange tugging at her insides.  Was she getting sick too?  No . . .wait . . . oh shit.
“Um, Winter, I have to go.”  Her eyes sought his, but he was watching Fluttershy with amusement.
“Go where?”
“Go change.”  She emphasized the word, hoping he would grasp her meaning.
“Ya know, because you mentioned it, I have to go change too.”  Winter blinked surprised.  “Goodbye, sweet Fluttershy.  I’ll kiss ya-I mean, see ya later.”
He chuckled, almost sardonically as Flutterfly nearly blanched, as they took their leave of her.  Jelly cast him a harsh glare, “You shouldn’t tease her like that.  She’s very shy and sensitive.”
“She’s so cute.  She’s like a cute adorable little kitten you just got to pick up and cuddle.  I had to steal a kiss.”  Winter trotted with her as they followed the veranda around. 
“I think you did it because you knew she was shy and you wanted to see her reaction.”  Her tone came out firmer than she would have liked.
“Oh ho ho, is that jealousy?”  Winter flexed his wings, spreading them out in a skipped a step to keep up with her.  “Are we jealous, little Jelly?”
“Stop it and help me find some place for us to hide.”  Jelly refused to look at him and her cheeks burned hotly.
“I think there is a gardening shed around the back.”  Winter winced as he noticed the fur on his forelegs drawing back into the skin.  “Hurry.”
Thankfully, the shed was unlocked.  They hurried inside, and just the door behind them.  The door swung inward, so Winter moved several barrels of sod in front of it to block it.  The shed was clean with the tools and supplies stacked nearly against the walls. 
Jelly, not Mikala Briggs underwent her change first.  She sat as a human on stacked bags of sod and removed the slippers from her hands and feet, setting them aside on the ground.  The dress still fitted her with the skirt ending just above her knees.  Seriously, with a few adjustments she could wear this to any social gathering.
And then she got an eyeful of Winter’s human naked glory.  He only wore collar and red tie.  She averted her eyes, but his sculpted flesh burned itself into her retinas and the afterimage floated in her mind’s eye as her cheeks flared red.  She shifted away when Winter took a seat on bags of fertilizer near her.
“What?”
“You’re naked,” she replied waving a hand toward his nudity.  “Don’t you have any nanonites with you?”
“Yeah, a I have an ampoule.  But I like to give my body a change to adjust.”  From the corner of her eye, she saw Winter scratching the side of his mouth as his eyes studied her. 
He was looking at her.  She swallowed as suddenly her mouth was beginning to become dry.  “Um . . . it shouldn’t take too long.”
“What about you?  Do you nanites?” 
“The ones in my body are on the fritz.  I should be changing back soon, so I’ll hang out until then.”  Her hands gripped the edge of her skirt as she noticed that they were becoming clammy. 
“You didn’t answer my question.”  Winter leaned forward and she could feel his breath on her shoulder.  “Were you jealous?”
“I don’t like seeing my friend get used like that.”  Mikala brought her knees up to curl her arms around them. 
“I wasn’t using her.  What’s wrong with a kiss on the cheek?  You make it sound like I molested her.”
“You might as well have in her eyes.”  Mikala planted her chin on her knees.  “She never had a boyfriend before.”
There was a moment of silence, “Really?  That pretty sweet thing never had a lover?”
“No, in fact, most of the ponies I know never had intimate relationships before.”
There was another pregnant silence.  “Ho-ly shit . . . I got to get back out there!  I’m in a sea of virgins!”
“Dammit, Winter!”  This time Mikala turned her head and fixed him with a full glare.  “They’re ponies!  I mean you rather fuck ponies than fuck a woman?  Like me?”
All her heated anger gave way to frosty horror at what she had said out loud to him of all people.  She whipped her head back around and hugged her knees as if they were shields against humiliation.
“Miki . . . if ya wanted me, ya just had to say something.”  She felt his hand on her shoulder.  It heat from his palm seeped into her skin and spread through her body.  Then his fingers began stroking the skin through the straps along her back. 
It was sweeter to get a massage from human hands instead of pony hooves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Lyra Heartstrings glanced across the dance floor hoping to see ebony wings or a snowy white mane.  Didn’t Winter not arrive yet? 
“Lyra, you either pay attention to the sheet music or you can take the rest of the night off and let us play the music correctly.” 
The musical unicorn blanched as she looked up Sweet Music, a yellow earth pony mare who worked as conductor for their orchestra.  For her cutie mark, she had a musical note.  The mare had the conductor baton tucked behind her ear and she was fixing Lyra with firm stare.
“Sorry.  It won’t happen again.”  Her ears lay back so sharply, it nearly offset the halo of flowers on her mane. 
“See that it doesn’t.  You’ll get your chance to dance soon enough.”
“Yes ma’am.”  Again, Lyra swept her eyes across the floor before her magic took up the lyre.  Where was he?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She licked her lips and she swore she could still taste his mouth.  She raised her head, touching a hand to her hair which had been so carefully styled and arrange was now tousled.  Mikala reached for his hand, wanting to hold it, to feel its warmth, but he wasn’t there.
He was standing up now, no longer beside her on the floor.  He had the ampoule between his fingers and was getting ready to inject his neck with it.  “Sorry, can’t stay.  I have to get back to Lyra.”
“Lyra?”
“Yeah, that’s her name.  The unicorn I’ve been hanging out with.” 
Mikala sat up, the dress falling away from her body.  Where unicorn magic was needed to put the dress on, human hands and fingers were just as adequate in removing it.  “Uh, y-you’re going back to . . . her?”
“I promised I’d meet her when she gets a break from the band.  I would have been her date tonight, but she had to play the lyre tonight.”  Winter injected the ampoule into his neck.
“But . . .uh, what about . . . I mean, you said that if I wanted you . . .”
“You could have me and you just had me.”  Winter turned to her, raising an eyebrow.  “You didn’t think that this was something more than just crew members having fun, right?”
Mikala blinked her eyes, feeling a familiar sting behind them again.  “No, no, I mean . . .I sorta like to be held a little . . . afterwards . . .”
“Sorry about that.  I usually do that, but Belgard wasn’t much into being held so I fell out of habit.”                
“Belgard?”  Now the sting was in her chest.
“Yeah, she likes a toss between the sheets to relieve stress.”  Winter’s hair turned white as ice. 
“Oh.” 
“Are you okay?”  His body was lowering onto his hooves as his wings spread from his back.  “This was just for fun, right?”
“Yeah . . .for fun.”  She felt her body shift as her change took over almost as if in response to his.  Now she was a green unicorn sitting atop of a dress wrinkling between her. 
“O-kay . . .”  He didn’t look as if he believed her, but turned away.  “See ya later.”
He left.  He left her.
As the door shut behind him, Jelly lowered her head as a single tear rolled down her face and dripped off to splash on the ground.  She had felt like a princess earlier tonight, now she felt cheap and used.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyra beamed when she saw her special somepony walk through the doors.  Her heart skipped a beat as his eyes caught hers and he gave her a wink above a perfect smile.  She was such a lucky pony to have him.  He made her feel like a princess.
 
 
      
             
   
 
	
	
> Willful Prey
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight rose early the morning after Winter Welcome and per Zecora’s instruction she slipped an untouched egg into the pouch with a clipped lock of her pain.  With her magic, she slipped the pouch over her head and it rested against her chest.  She glanced at it in the mirror sincerely hoped that Rarity didn’t see her today.  Likely, the fashionista would find the beaded pouch unfashionable.  She hoped the egg would work and Zecora could use it to enlighten her on what was happening around her.
“What’s with the ugly pouch?”  Spike asked as he brought a tray into the main room from the kitchen. 
“It’s . . . it’s a gift from Zecora.”  Twilight decided that it would be better that the true purpose of the egg be left unknown by others.  “I decided that I would wear it today.”
“Just don’t let Rarity see it.”  Spike set the tray on the small beside her writing desk.  On it was three muffins with a small bit of button with spreading knife and a mug of warm tea.  The small dragon took a quill and a scroll from his person and held them up in a writing pose.  “So what’s the plan for today?”
Twilight listed a number of errands to be run today.  They had to check on Winter Welcome clean up, go by Rarity and get Spike fitted for a coat and scarf for Winter, also to see what modification Rarity had in mind for Twilight’s dress to the Winter Ball, and then they would have lunch with their friends at Sugarcube corner.
Before she could continue further, the door swung open and Victory walked inside, “I need some books.”
“Oh, Mrs. Jam!  I’m sorry; usually nopony comes in this early.  I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
“Don’t worry about it.  My visit will be short.  I’ve come to return this and I want books on advance magic.”  Victory walked inside, her magic drawing the basic magic book from the bag and placing it on the book return counter. 
“Um Spike, go to the kitchen and see if we need to do some grocery shopping while I help Mrs. Jam.”
“Sure thing, Twilight.”  Spike waddled off after putting the scroll away.
“Are you studying magic too?”  Twilight’s ears perked as she nearly trotted to the pale unicorn.  “I have so many recommendations!  There is Mystic Heart’s tome on Illusionary spells and then there is the Dictionary of Magical Runes and Glyphs!”
“Just magic I can perform myself.  I’m not very familiar with runes or glyphs.”  Victory replied watching with bemusement as Twilight bounded about the shelves.
“We have Serene Hearts guide on Spiritual and Healing magic.”  Twilight hefted the tome off the shelf with a violet glow.  “It’s pretty advance, even I have a hard time grasping the basics of using magic to heal.”
“I’ll take that, but I was hoping for something a bit more . . . aggressive.”  Victory cast a studious eye at the lavender unicorn to what sort of reaction she would get.
“Aggressive?  You mean magic you can use against monsters?”  Twilight laid the book of healing on the checkout counter.
“Yes.  Against monsters.”  Victory cast her eyes aside, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“There is a Monster Encyclopedia written by Hoofin Snoot.  I can see if we have that.”  Twilight’s eyes rove the alignment of titles as she came across one, “Or do you mean dueling magic?”
“Dueling magic?”  Victory’s eyes widened intrigued.
“It’s magic that unicorns used thousands of years ago before the Princesses ruled.  Back then unicorns pretty much ruled because they were in charge of raising the sun and moon and lots of times unicorns had to sort out their differences with magical duels.”
“That’s very interesting,” Victory replied, a hoof touching her chin in thought.
“Now, I should warn you, some of the spells are pretty nasty.”  Twilight collected several books and levitated them from their shelves. 
“And what do you mean by nasty?”  Victory genuinely looked intrigued.
“Well, some of this magic was invented with the intention of . . .killing.”  Twilight whispered the last word as if it was a curse.  “Like casting lightning, plague spells, and there is even a spell for causing the target great pain.”
Her back was turned so she didn’t see the gleeful smile glow on Victory’s face.  She looked as happy as a child who has found a bag of unclaimed candy and no one is watching.   When Twilight turned back, Victory’s face lowered into a thoughtful gaze, “I didn’t know that such things existed.”
“Oh yes.  Thankfully nopony would use such magic today.  It’s a reminder back to the dark days before the Royal Princesses made everything better.”  Twilight proceeded to stamp the slips from the inside of the books.
“Of course.  No pony would.”  Victory smiled appreciatively.  “I also need some research material for the Elements of Harmony.”
“I have lots of material on that subject.  I mean, I should since I’m the Bearer of the Element of Magic after all.”  Twilight cast her gaze away, a dull purple blush on her cheeks. 
“And how is that working out for you?”  Victory placed her hooves on the counter surface. 
“Well, my life has gotten a lot more interesting especially when I met my friends.”  Twilight smiled as she pushed the books into a paper bag.  “My life wasn’t bad before I moved to Ponyville, but it became a lot better afterwards.  My friends really bring magic into my life.”
“I see.”  Victory tapped the edge of her hoof on the counter, as her eyes nearly rolled.  “But what about being the Bearer of Magic.”
“You don’t understand.  That is what being the Bearer of Magic is.  It is the sixth element that friendship creates.”  The lavender unicorn looked almost serene as she spoke.  “Laughter, honesty, loyalty, generosity, and kindness come together to create magic.”
“Friendship is magic,” Victory murmured, but her eyes weren’t on Twilight.  They were empty as if they were seeing something beyond library. 
“Exactly!”  Twilight beamed, happy that Victory understood her lecture.
“And each of your friends, Flutter-something, Applejack, and the others, they each represent an element?”  Her hoof lightly tapped the counter again, but this time in deep thought.
“Oh yes.  I didn’t know you had such an interest . . .I mean, I know we talked about it earlier when you first arrived, but I didn’t know you were studying it.” 
“I have taken an interested in quite a few things since my arrival,”  Victory confessed with a light smile.  “I would be interested in discussing it further over breakfast.” 
“I had plans, but I never turn up a chance to talk magic with another unicorn!  Spike!  I’m going out for breakfast, keep an eye on the library and meet me at Rarity’s 10:00 sharp.”
“What?  After I went to all the trouble of making those muffins?”  Spike appeared at the kitchen doorway a frustration in his green eyes.
“Either save them or eat them yourself,” Twilight replied as she gave the books to Victory.
“Bleh, muffins,” Spike muttered as he turned back inside.
Just as Twilight left the library, she magically grabbed a scarf and wrapped it around her neck making certain that the egg pouch was hidden again beneath its folds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn’t an easy morning to rise up to.  Jelly many times curled in the sheets and tried to go back to sleep.  What if she saw Winter?  Or Lyra, the green unicorn he adores?  If he adored her so much, then why have sex with her?
Oh god, don’t think about the sex.  It had been good, exactly as she imagined having sex with Winter would be like.  And that made it all the worse.  She was an idiot.  She should have known what he was like when he flippantly kissed Fluttershy and the way he flirted with anything that had a vagina.
Thankfully, when she returned to the inn last night, Laotaner had already retired to bed and she was able to put away the dress and go to bed without having to talk with her abrasive mother.  And when she woke up, her mother was gone and she took this time to just stay in bed and feel sorry for herself.
She wished she was a lazier person, who could stay in bed all day, but life with her grandparents made her a morning person and she ended up forcing herself up to take a shower and brush her teeth.  It was no small feat to wash her mane and tail, maneuver a toothbrush and hair brush without hands or fingers.  She stood before a mirror and deemed herself as a cute looking pony.  Cute as in she was something that little girls may want for their stuff toy collection.
She couldn’t look pretty or seductive in this shape.  Not with a girlish flat chest, cylinder legs that end in round hooves, such a round face with a muzzle.  However, Smokey and that jelly obsessed freak thought she was attractive so maybe there was something to her pony shape, but she was a duck attracting ducks when what she wanted was a swan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      
The day was clear and cheerful.  First Snow, or Second Snow in this case had already left a fine layer of white on the streets and paths.  Earth ponies were sweep and shoveling the snow off the streets and sprinkling salt and grit to protect against slips.  A lot of the ponies were wearing scarfs and coats and more than a few were wearing galoshes and boots on their hooves.  Maybe she should look into getting a pair for herself.
She should at least feed herself.  Jelly trotted to her favorite café with the intention of getting the Flower Power Platter if they served that for breakfast.  After turning a corner and seeing the café, her eyes searched for any available tables and she saw her mother and Twilight Sparkle sitting together. 
Jelly halted so quickly she skidded several inches on the ice.  Twilight was speaking animatedly while Victory sipped from a coffee mug and nodded thoughtfully.  She was actually listening to what Twilight was saying, not passing off feign attention while waiting for her to shut up; she was actually absorbing what the lavender unicorn was saying. 
Jelly blinked and her vision blurred.  She wiped her eyes on the back of a hoof and closed her eyes pushing back the overwhelming emotion that rose as an ocean tide in her chest.  She would have turned away and returned to the inn to return to bed, but Twilight saw her and waved at her.  Victory followed the line of her gaze and saw her too.
She approached hoping that her eyes weren’t red or glossy.  “Good morning.”
“Hey, your mother and I were discussing magic and how it has changed history.”  Twilight smiled appreciatively at Victory.  “I had no idea she was so interested on the subject.”
“I didn’t either,” Jelly said dryly as she cast her eyes at Victory who gave her an arched eyebrow.
Twilight didn’t noticed, so content was she in her discussion.  “Very few unicorns are so interested in magic nowadays.  Most of them just want to know simple spells that’ll make their lives convenient.”
“Well, convenience is the disease of self-worth and independence.”  Victory replied eyeing her empty coffee mug.  “Hmm, where is that waiter?”
Just like that, the waiter appeared with a pot of coffee and refilled her mug.  He looked at Jelly, “Is there anything I can bring for you, madame?”
“Um, no, I’m not hungry.”  She had lost her appetite.
“I’m sure you must be hungry for flowers.”  Victory muttered as nursed from her mug. 
“I’m not hungry,” Jelly repeated.
“Well, I can’t stay much longer anyway.  I have to meet Spike at Rarity’s in twenty minutes.”  Twilight rose from her cushion seat. 
And that reminded Jelly that she had to take her dress to Rarity for touch ups for the Winter Ball.  The memory made her feel sick to her stomach as the dress was too much of a reminder of what had happen between her and Winter.  Her heart ached causing another tide of emotion that she barely stifled with a quick breath.
“I . . .I have to take my dress to Rarity’s also.” Jelly murmured.
“We can go together.”  Twilight offered.  “The inn is on the way from here to the Carousel Boutique.”
“Okay.”  Jelly didn’t see any reason not to accept Twilight’s offer.  The purple unicorn didn’t do anything wrong.  
“Goodbye, Mrs. Jam.  We really should do this again.”  Twilight was beaming happily.
“Of course, Miss Sparkle.”  Victory smiled and Jelly could see the genuine warmth in her eyes.  “We certainly will do this again.  After all, we’re going to the Winter Ball together.”
“You’ll have to get a dress.”  Jelly’s eyes widen at the prospect of seeing Victory in a dress.
“I’m having one made up north.  Winter will fly up and get it for me before the big day.”  Victory finished off her mug and rose.  “I have some reading to catch up.  I called classes off for today to give the foals a chance to recover from the celebration yesterday.”
“You might as well let them have the rest of the week off as well,” Twilight said, “A lot of the parents are concerned about Discord and most of them are planning of keeping their foals home for a while.”
“You know, that is a wonderful idea.”  Victory grinned and it wasn’t a fake or sneer.  It was an actual grin much to Jelly’s shock.  “That will give me time to read and research.  Perhaps some practice.”
“Oh!  Oh!  You have got to come over and practice with me!  I can teach you a few spells!”  Twilight looked so excited that she did a little happy tap on her hooves.
I don’t know any spells.  Jelly saw the charmed nod the violet unicorn received from Victory and her spirit wilted. 
They departed from the café.  Twilight strode with an almost skip in her step while Jelly nearly drifted behind.  Jelly tried to give herself an emotional boot lest Twilight sense something was wrong, but then it was too late as the unicorn faltered in her step giving her a sidelong look, “Are you alright, Jelly?”
“It’s okay.”  Jelly forced herself to smile.  “I’m just tired from last night.”
“You left early with Fluttershy.”  Twilight pointed out.  “Did you guys hang out last night?”
Jelly wanted to lie and say yes, but then what if Twilight said something to Fluttershy and the yellow pegasus didn’t collaborate on the story?  “I went back to the inn and read for a bit.”  She couldn’t bear to recount her disastrous affair with Winter who was supposedly her brother in this community.
Her tone must have been edged because Twilight drew back and said, “Oh, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t pry.”
Great, now she offended her.  Was the rest of the day going to be like this?  If so, then she might as well go to her room and stay there for the rest of the day.  They arrived at the inn in silence and it took only minutes for Jelly to slip upstairs and grab the dress which was carefully folded up in a plastic cover bag along with the accessories.  When she returned, Twilight was waiting patiently, but she had an apologetic look on her face, “Hey, I’m sorry for prying.  What you do last night is your business and nopony elses.”
“Thanks, and I’m sorry if I am not better company,” Jelly apologized.  It really wasn’t Twilight’s fault that her mother was more interested in her than her own daughter.  “If you want to go alone, you can.”
“No, no, it’s alright.  I want to walk with you.  I mean, we are friends.”  Twilight gave her a small smile, eager to patch any rift between them. 
“Yes, we are friends and I should not have been snippy.”  Jelly relieved that she wasn’t going to burst into tears, though she felt the weight of it laying on her as a heavy pail of water.  She can’t make it a habit of ponies finding her devastated.
Thankfully, Twilight didn’t say anything more on the subject.  They continued onward toward the boutique.  Jelly wanted to travel in silence, but Twilight continued to speak.
“Your mother is incredible.  She is so talented when it comes to magic and she has so many ideas about it.  Did she train in Canterlot?” 
“No.”  Jelly kept her eyes forward, hoping to see the decorative building soon.
“Really?  Then she must be very gifted.  I wonder if magic is her special talent.” 
Victory has a teardrop for a cutie mark.  “I think her special talent is to cause misery.”
Twilight nearly slipped on the ice in her surprised.  “What?  Why do you say that?”
Jelly shook her head, “No, just forget I said that.  I shouldn’t have said that at all.”
“Jelly, I’m not close with my mother either,” Twilight said.  “After I became Princess Celestia’s private student, I moved away with them to live at the School for Gifted Unicorns and I got so caught up in my studies that I didn’t have much contact with my parents very much.  In fact, the last time I saw them was at my brother’s wedding a few months ago.”
“Twilight, it’s different for me.  Please, please, just drop it.  I really don’t want to talk about my mother right now.”  Jelly swished her tail and then hoped that swishing of the tail wasn’t a rude or hostile sign during a heated moment.
“But you have a problem and I want to help.” 
“I understand, but you can’t help with this.  This is something personal between my mother and me and we have to be the ones to work it out.  You can’t fix everyone’s problems for them, how else do they figure things out for themselves.”
Jelly dashed off, her hooves skipping on the cobbled street lest Twilight say more.  The lavender unicorn watched her bewildered and enlightened.  She wished Spike was close by so she can write a letter to the Princess right now, but she contented with catching up with Jelly and walking the rest of the way in silence to the boutique.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Laotaner pore over the books, devouring each sentence with a hunger she had never experienced before.  Her horn was actually tingling to practice, but she felt the inn keeper would throw a fit if she summoned a plague of lotus or jagged line of lightning to crash through the roof.  And what her most excited of all was that she felt she could tweak these spells into something . . . more brutal. 
How about summoning lotus from inside the target?  Or instead of heating water, why not boil blood? 
Dear sweet Twilight is such a helpful pony.  So bright, eager, and charming.  Victory wasn’t one to look at another female sexually, but it made her wonder if Twilight would be as bright, eager, and charming in bed?  That is if she was a human woman. 
Victory shook her head as she banished the thoughts from her head.  She had been switching back and forth between pony and human too much.  And she needed more coffee.
She hadn’t slept much since the night of the Mite Fight due to dreams about the alley and the trashcan.  It was a memory that started her on this road and kept her straight and true to herself. 
It brought the hatred to her heart and helped her to embrace it. 
It made things easy when she had to do what people would find unconsciousable.  And it was a bitch to remember.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Twi-light!”  Rarity sang as they unicorns entered the boutique. 
Standing on the dais wearing what looked to be an old English gentlemen outfit was Spike.  Around his neck he wore a ridiculous bowtie that was wider than the width of a pony’s shoulders.  Whereas Jelly expected the little dragon to be embarrassed and figiting, he stood still and almost prideful as the white unicorn dressed him up.
“Hello, Rarity.”  Twilight’s voice was light, showing no weight from her exchange with Jelly.  “Wow, is that Spike’s outfit for the Winter Ball.”
“Why yes.”  Rarity magically tugged the bowtie.  “We can’t have Spikey-Wikey not looking his best for the Ball.”
“We brought our dresses.”  Twilight opened her satchel and drew out her dressed wrapped in plastic.  Jelly couldn’t help, but feel sullen that she did all of this expertly with magic while she had to reach into her bag with magic and pull it out with her mouth.
“Oh, put them over there and I’ll work on them tonight.”  Rarity motioned to a table nearby where a sewing machine sat.  “And I heard some of the juiciest gossip!”
“What did you hear?”  Twilight inquired as she levitated her bag onto the table.
“Well. . .”  Rarity cast a sly glance at them and then said to Spike, “Spikey-Wikey, would you be a darling and go to the bag and fetch some  . . . oh. . . .pearls for me?”
“But I want to hear the gossip too!”  Spike protested crossing arms over his chest, then raising an eye ridge.  “You just don’t want me to hear.”
“Oh no, I just really need those pearls,” Rarity sang in a low tone as she brushed the curve of her hoof along his chin which sent a spasm through his body.  “Please, be a dear and get them for me?”
“Y-y-yes Rarity.  Right away.”  Spike nearly floated off the dais and left on tip toes through the back curtain.
“So what happened?”  Twilight smiled, it never fails to be amusing to see Spike so taken with his crush on the seamstress.
Jelly glanced confused at the curtain.  She was surprised that there was interspecies attraction between such different species.  She was placing her dress on the table when Rarity broke her news.
“Hamstring, the gardening pony who manages the garden around town square, he thinks there was some . . . foolery  in the garden shed during Winter Dance.”
Jelly dropped her dress.  It landed in a heap on the floor before her hooves.  “What?”
“Oh yes.”  Rarity’s eyes were glowing as she relished in their shocked looks.  “Hamstring said that he could smell sweat in the air and some supply bags were definitely out of sort.  And he found glitter on the ground.  We just have to think who was wearing mane glitter last night.”
If God was a merciful god, Jelly figure, that he would strike her down right then and there.  So far, she didn’t smell the ozone of lightning; thus far he must want to punish her.
“Well, there was Marzipan and Leaf Twirl,” Twilight said thoughtfully.
Don’t think about me.  Don’t think about me.  Jelly wandered if it would be too strange if she leapt through a pane glass window and ran away?
“Those two prudes.  Never!”  Rarity tossed her head as if the thought of those two being with a stallion was too vulgar.  “I would say Jinx or Sapphire Glow, but neither of them wore any glitter.  Jelly, what do you . . . oh . . . oh my . . . .”  Rarity’s eyes widen as she recalled Jelly’s mane style.  “You left the dance early . . .”
Twilight’s jaw dropped as she stared at Jelly who was glancing between as perspiration made itself known by rolling down her cheek. 
The curtain drawn back and Spike walked in with a boxful of pearls.  “Here are the pearls you wanted . . .”
“Go get diamonds!”  Rarity ordered, never taking her eyes off Jelly.  “The blue ones!”
“Blue diamonds!  I thought you ran out of those.”
“I think there is some in the back.  In the back closet, on the bottom behind all the boxes.”  Rarity waved a hoof at him in a shooing motion.
“Oh, alright.”  Spike grumbled as he took the box of pearls with him, leaving Jelly alone with the inquisitive mares.
“Spill!”  Rarity pointed a hoof at Jelly. 
“Nothing happened.  I’m the wrong woman.”  Jelly couldn’t back up anymore, her rear was pressed against the table.  “I wasn’t feeling well, so I left early with Fluttershy.”
“So you went straight to the inn?”  Twilight asked.
“Yes.”
“Will Fluttershy match your story?”  Rarity eyed her suspiciously.
Oh shit.  Jelly’s ears lay back as she reflexively sat on her haunches as if she was a kicked dog.  “Y-y-yes.”
“You stuttered.  You’re fibbing.”  Rarity spoke in chastising tone.  “We’re your friends.  You can tell us.”
“It’s private.” 
“HEEEEEEYYYYY!!!!!!!!”  A pink face appeared from behind Rarity startling the white unicorn who shrieked in very unladylike fashion.  Pinkie bounced gleefully about the room looking this way and that for the source of the unease that was filling the boutique.
“Whatcha talking about?”  As Pinkie bounded near Jelly, she screeched to a halt with a deep gasp.  “You got your cutie mark!  Your cutie mark!  When is your cute-ceanera?”
“I . . . wasn’t planning on having one,”  Jelly felt the tension melt from the room.
“Not have a cute-caenera!”  Pinkie was horrified, her jaw dropped impossibly low.  “No, nope, na-uh, nada, no way Jose, nilch, zip, zero.  You are going to have a cute-caenera.  Yes, yep, bingo, yes way, righty-ho!”
“Oh, okay.”  Jelly didn’t want a party, but she was willing to accept any way out of this situation she was stuck in.  “Let’s go and discuss what I want for my party?”
“Sure!”
“Rarity, Twilight, you two are invited.”  Jelly offered them each an apologetic smile.  “Rarity, if you see Sweetie Belle, go ahead and tell her, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom, that they are invited as well, though they may be the only fillies there.  I don’t want a big party.”
“Aww, but big parties are fun,” Pinkie said as Jelly led her outside.  “But okay, it’s your party.”
“Horseapples.”  Rarity muttered, and then blanched at her language. 
“Well, she got out of that one.”  Twilight rubbed the back of her mane.  “She’s a very interesting pony.”
“I should say, having three, no four special someponies.  She’s certainly popular with the stallions that’s for certain.”  There was a crash in the back and Rarity gasped, “Spike!  I hope those boxes haven’t crushed him to death.”
She galloped into the back, leaving Twilight with her thoughts.
The lavender unicorn watched Jelly walk away with Pinkie.  Jelly was a very curious pony indeed.  She looked at everything with the delight of a foal, but yet seemed worldly and mature.  It must be hard to have a mother so gifted in magic while she is unable to lift a quill to write her name.
Then it hit Twilight why Jelly was so upset earlier.  She was seeing her mother having lunch with another mare who was better at magic than she was.  And Twilight had made it worse by praising her mother’s magical gift.  Was that the rift between Jelly and her mother?  Jelly’s lack of talent? 
Then Twilight beamed as it dawned on her.  She knew how she could help Jelly after all!        
 
    
 
 
	
	
> Calm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Lookit that shit.”  A datapad landed on the table amidst stacks of round poker chips, scattering them. 
“Fuck, Belgard, ya bitch,” A thirty year old man with a cigar tucked between his teeth snarled as he piled the chips back into the center. 
“Look at the datapad, Jones.”  Belgard threw herself into a chair, nearly toppling it taking her with it.  “They’re replacing us.”
The grizzled man snorted through a wide nose as he regarded the holo-screen for a brief moment, “Replacing you, maybe.”
“Is it those Hybrids they keep going on about?”  Crenshaw asked.  He was kneeling at a duct repairing a dent that someone made when they lost a small fortune at an earlier game.  He had a tool that he drew over the dented bars that softened the metal enough for him to take another tool and straighten them. 
“Yes.  Part cyborg and part organic soldiers they can mass produce to fight Haven’s wars.”  Belgard rocked back in her chair as her face twisted in disgust.  “Ain’t that a kick in the nuts.”
“I dunno.  Doesn’t sound too bad to me.”  Crenshaw carefully examined his work, making sure the vent looked as it did before the enraged kick.  “No more kids waiting for their mums and pops to come back from the wars.”
“But what about people like me?  I enlisted to get out of foster care.  Enlistin’ is the only escape kids like I was have.”  Her pierced lips pulled back in a grimace.
“Stop bitchin’.  It ain’t gonna happen for a few decades yet.  You’ll be long retired by the time they come out with the first wave.”  Jones took a long drag on his cigar, the end smoldered brightly.  He released a long cloud of smoke, “You gonna bet or fold.”
“Fold and I’m out.  This shit pissed me off too much to play more.”  The bald woman shoved her cards away from her distastefully.  “If anyone needs me, I’m blowing off steam in the gym.”
“Too bad Winter ain’t here.  He’s always one for sparring or  . . . other activities.”  Jones leered at her while she stood haughtily. 
“Hey, I don’t need Winter for a good time.  I have a vibrator.”  With that said, Belgard left the engineering level followed by the guffaws of Jones and Crenshaw.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jelly made certain that Pinkie Pie understood what she wanted for her party.  It would take place after the Winter Ball and she wanted the party attendance small so Pinkie was free to invite her friends such as Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.  She also wanted Apple Bloom and her friends to come so there was a need for some of the games to be foal friendly.  Also, there may be a few extra members that she may or may not invite.  The food would consist of flowery treats and apple treats from the Apple Family and a cake provided by the Sugarcube Corner.  Where the party would be held . . . she decided to let Pinkie decide that. 
When she left, she felt better than she did earlier.  Maybe it was something that she took control over or that she dodged a huge a humiliating bullet from Rarity thought she may not have heard the last of it.  Right now, she needed to head it off and that required a visit from Fluttershy.  Perhaps she could convince the yellow pegasus to lie on her behalf.  Or at least not tell anyone that she left with Winter.        
She trotted along the snowy path to Fluttershy’s cottage.  When it first snowed, she enjoyed it finding it beautiful, but now she understood the problems it could cause for travel as she struggled to wade through half a foot of snow.  What should have been a quick trip to the cottage ended up being a difficult journey.
When she arrived, she noticed that all the animals wore small knitted scarfs and she swore she glimpsed a mouse wearing ear muffs from the corner of her eye.  She knocked on the door nearly raining ice and snow from the roof above.
The door opened a crack and Fluttershy peeked at her.  “Hello, Jelly.”
“Hey, I wanted to visit.”  Jelly offered her a smile with teeth chattering from the cold. 
“Oh, come in, come in.”  Fluttershy opened the door and allowed herself, “I’ll make tea.”
The cottage was warm with a small fire at the chimney place.  Jelly brushed the snow from her mane and flicked her tail to shake off any clinging ice.  She drew the scarf from her neck and slung it along a hat post near the door.  “I hope I’m not barging in on anything.”
“Oh no.  I was just making hot soup.”  She motioned to a large pot bubbling on the stove.  “Have a seat.  I can get you a bowl.” 
Jelly wanted to refuse, but her growling stomach halted her refusal.  She didn’t get the chance to eat her Flower Power Platter as she wanted to before.  “Sure, I’ll take a bowl.”
Before too long, they were seated at a low table inside Fluttershy’s stove.  She noticed that the bowls had handles on both sides, big enough for hooves to easily grasp.  The food smelled delicious and she was hard pressed not to start gulping the soup, but it still steamed promising a scalded mouth if she did so. 
“Fluttershy, I . . . um . . .came over to talk to you about last night.”
“I’m sorry if I left without you.  Winter . . .he made me so flustered . . .that I left before you got back.”  Fluttershy looked away demurely. 
Jelly almost moved around the table to kiss her cheek and hug her tight.  “No, no, I . . .I just want to ask you not to tell anyone who I left with last night.”
“You mean when you left with Winter?”  Fluttershy curiously tilted her head, her long pink mane tumbling along her shoulder.
Now Jelly understood why Winter had to steal a kiss from her.  The yellow pegasus was lovely and sweet.  “Yes, could you please tell everyone that we walked home together?  You see, there’s a rumor going around that I . . . I um . . . played around with someone in the gardening shed . . .”
“Played around?”  Fluttershy inquired with the slow rise of her eyebrows.
“You know . . .”  Maybe a pony like Fluttershy didn’t know anything about sex deeming from her reaction when Jelly asked her friends if they had boyfriends.  “  . . .how a girl pony likes a boy pony . . .”
“Oh, you mean sex.”  Fluttershy took a dainty sip of her soup while Jelly looked at her incredulously.  “I know what sex is, Jelly.  I’ve been around animals for a long time.”
“I’m sorry.  I . . .I didn’t mean that you . . .” 
“It’s alright.”  Fluttershy waved away her apology.  “I understand what you mean.  A lot of ponies think that because I’m really shy that I’m naïve . . . I mean, I am . . . but not about that.”
“I’m sorry.  Again, I didn’t mean to imply that.”  Jelly couldn’t believe that she had unwittingly insulted a pony she had hoped to request a favor from.  Today was not her day.
“If you don’t want me to talk about Winter, I won’t.”  Flutter gave her one of her endearing smiles again that reassured Jelly completely. 
“Thank you.  You have no idea how better that makes me feel.” 
Thankfully, the soup was cooled enough for Jelly’s mouth and tongue.  She tried to eat with etiquette as Fluttershy, but she found herself taking long draughts into her mouth and swallowing.  When she finished, she couldn’t refuse a second bowl, but in attention to her waist line, she denied a third bowl.
To carry a conversation, she asked, “Are you excited about the Winter Ball?”
“Oh, I’m not going.”  Fluttershy dropped her eyes and a dull blush touched her cheeks.  “The last time I went to a ball in Canterlot, I didn’t do too well.”
“What happened?”  Jelly inclined her head concerned.
“It’s embarrassing . . .”  Fluttershy seemed to wilt on her side of the table.
“Did someone try to . . . take advantage?”  Jelly asked gingerly.
“Oh no!”  Fluttershy shook her head, her eyes wide as if the thought of anyone attempting to exploit her was unthinkable.  “I got angry because the animals in the Canterlot Gardens didn’t want to be my friends so I chased them into the ballroom and made a mess.”
Jelly tried to stifle the giggle that was creeping into her throat.  Her shoulders shook and her lips trembled, but then she uttered a tight squeak before she broke into a rough tenor of a laugh.  Images of the sweet pegasus chasing bunnies and squirrels through a fairy tale ball room where high society ponies were diving for cover rolled through her head.  All the smile, Fluttershy was blushing with an uneasy smile.  “I was a little silly.”
Jelly choked back a laugh, forcing herself to speak calmly.  “We’ve all been silly sometimes.  One time, when I was a little girl, I was baking a cake and I didn’t really understand the difference between self-rising flour and all-purpose flour.  So I ended up using corn meal instead and made chocolate cornbread.”
“That sounds delicious,”  Fluttershy said enthused.    
Jelly laughed so hard, tears came to her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    
Twilight sent Spike to leave a message at the inn for Jelly to meet her at the library.  She considered going to visit Victory and continue their discussion on magic, but she decided that it would be better if she met with Jelly first. 
The egg pouch hung heavy against her chest and it had been no easy ordeal when Rarity saw it.
“Darling, what is that thing around your neck?”  Rarity stared at the pouch as if it was a coiled snake.
“It’s a gift from Zecora.  She gave it to me during Winter Welcome.”  Twilight hoped to move the topic along to something else, “Are those the new Winter lineup?”
“Twilight, I have better pendants if you were looking for jewelry.”  Rarity was determined to get that dreadful thing off her friend.
“Oh no.  It’s fine.  I sorta like it.”  Twilight had to admit that the pouch wasn’t that appealing to look at, but she didn’t want Rarity to know the true purpose behind her wearing it. 
“Well, if you ever change your mind.”  Rarity’s voice lilted as if she felt that Twilight ought to change her mind. 
“Thanks for the offer.  So do you know if any of the others are coming to the ball?”  She hoped mentioning the ball would move the subject away from the pouch.
“I’m certainly going and so is Rainbow Dash, anything to be close to her Wonderbolts.”  Rarity magically placed Twilight’s dress on a pony mannequin.   “Applejack said that she isn’t willing, and these are her words, ‘stick her hoof back into that fire’.  I believe Fluttershy will be too embarrassed about what happened at the Galla.  Pinkie Pie is on the fence, but I’m certain that she can be convinced to go.”
“If she doesn’t want to go, don’t force her.  I’m surprised that any of us are going after what happened last time.”  Twilight internally grimaced at the memories.  “But I’m still glad that I won’t be alone.  I think that Jelly and her mother are going.”
“Ah, the mysterious Jelly.  She’s hiding something.  I know it was her in that shed with our mystery stallion.”  Rarity tapped her chin with a hoof in thought.  “It couldn’t have been Smokey because I saw him with June Bug all night and Jelly shut the door on that the night we dealt with those awful mites.”
“Maybe you should leave it alone.  Jelly hasn’t been doing too well lately and I wouldn’t want to make it worse,” Twilight said.
“Oh?”  Rarity paused in inspecting Twilight’s dress for any tears or loose seams.  “She strikes me as a resilient mare.  She did well against the mites and Discord.”
“You’re right about that, but I think Jelly is more sensitive than she lets on.  Especially when it comes to her mother.” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laotaner had a plan.  It would work.  Her plans never fail, not when she was involved.  Winter knew his role well, because she had drilled it into his head repeatedly and also because he was well experienced.  He had a list of what they would need from the ship.  It’ll be risky since they don’t have the layout of the castle, but Winter knew how to be resourceful and careful.  And she would be there to make sure it all went well.
She had a theory she developed in her conversation with Twilight.  It was more of an instinct or a gut feeling.  Regardless, whether it was proven false or not, it would not hinder the overall success of the mission.  She would see to that personally.
She raised a hand and watched the fire flow over it.  It was a self-warming spell that a unicorn living in the icy north had created to keep himself warm during his studies.  Laotaner had mastered it and put her own little spin on it creating fire that would burn along her skin without causing damage or pain, but if she touched wood or cloth it would burn.  She lightly rubbed her hands, dismissing the spell.  The warmth stayed with her long after the flames died.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Jelly got the message from the inn keeper when she returned home.  She considered ignoring the message, but then did she really want to go upstairs and have nothing to say to Victory?  Thus she made her way to Twilight Sparkle’s library anxious of what the unicorn wanted her for. 
It was late afternoon by the time she had arrived at the tree library.  She had spent much of the noon visiting Fluttershy.  She found herself growing closer to the sweet pegasus.  Being around her was cooling balm on her fractured nerves and prickly anxiety.  She really wished that she was going to the ball too.
Before she raised a hoof to knock, the door swung open and Spike greeted her, “Hey, Twilight was waitin’ for ya.”
“I got her message.  Is something wrong?”
“Nah, c’mon in.”  Spike opened the door for her and she drew inside. 
Twilight was already inside for the first time Jelly noticed that she was wearing a small beaded pouch on a thong around her neck.  “Hello, Jelly, I’m glad you came.  I just wanted to talk about earlier.”
Oh no.  Not this again.  “Twilight, I really don’t . . .”
“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I think there is something I can do to help.”  Twilight held up a hoof before Jelly could speak.  “Hear me out.  If you don’t like what I have to say, then you may leave and I promise I’ll never bring it up again.  Ever.”
“Okay.”  Jelly dropped her rear onto the floor, certain that she wasn’t going to like what Twilight had to say.
“Jelly, this might be sensitive for you but I really want to help you develop your magic,” the lavender unicorn told her.
The green unicorn sat stunned for several moments before she replied, “I . . .I don’t know.”
“This will strictly be between you and me,” Twilight said quickly.  “Spike won’t tell anyone and neither will I.  And we’ll practice only in the library downstairs where no one will see.”
Jelly looked down at her hooves, averting her eyes from Twilight’s eager face.  “It’s too embarrassing.”
“We won’t know until we try.  We’ll do the lessons as long as you want and we’ll stop when you want.”  Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder.  “Jelly, don’t be embarrassed.  All unicorns started out not able to use magic at all.  It took me years to get where I am now.”
“You . . .won’t tell anyone.  Not even my mother?”  Jelly murmured. 
“Not even your mother.  I won’t even talk about you with her,”  Twilight swore.   
“Okay, we can try, I guess.” 
“Excellent.  Let’s get started!  I know some simple exercises that will help out.”
The simple exercises were lifting small feathers that she likely drew from a pillow.  Jelly struggled to get the bit of fluff to move across the table, but then again, it may have been her breath that did that.  Twilight was a patient teacher, very much unlike Victory, but even she had a hard time figuring out why Jelly was having so many problems. 
“I think you are trying too hard.  It’s like walking.  You don’t think too much when it comes to moving one hoof in front of the other,” Twilight advised as the green unicorn looked dejectedly at the feather.  “Just take a breath and calm yourself and just push with your magic.”
Jelly drew a breath, holding it for a moment, and then let it out slowly, but away from the feather lest she blew it off the table.  Then she concentrated with magic.  The fuzz on the feather steam ruffled slightly and Jelly hung her head in defeat.  “I want to stop now, please?”
“Are you sure?  We haven’t been practicing that long.”  Twilight glanced at the clock.  It was still late afternoon, but it was on the cusp of evening.  It would be dinner soon.  “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
“No, I’m okay.  I have to go home anyway.”  Jelly stood, but then paused.  “Twilight, thanks.  I really appreciate you being a friend to me even though I’ve been difficult this morning.”
“It’s no problem, Jelly.  I don’t want you to be discouraged.  This is just day one.  Tomorrow, you will do better.”
“I don’t know.”  Jelly was already feeling pretty discouraged, but she wanted to make Twilight happy.  “I’ll come back tomorrow.  Morning?”
“Um, not tomorrow morning.  I have to see visit a friend, but how about before lunch?  Ten o’clock?” 
“That sounds good.”
“Great.  Also, I don’t know if this will help, but it helped me when I was a foal starting out.”  Twilight motioned to an opened book on her desk.  “Whenever I read a book, I made it a point to turn the pages with magic that way I was motivated to improve my magic so I can read uninterrupted.”
“Good idea, I’ll try that.”  It should be easier to tape the edge of a datapad to change text than it is to turn a page in a book.      
 
 
   
            
	
	
> Broken Egg
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her head was swimming with agony.  Her vision blurred in and out as she tried to focus.  Even though the pain and nausea was on the border of unbearable, it at least kept her from having  . . .thoughts.
The door opened and slammed shut.  The sound sent a stab of pain through her temples.  She drew a shuddering breath as feet slapped the wood floor and a small blue backpack landed on the table near her elbow.
Mommy!  Mommy!  The teacher brought a bunny to class today!
She closed her eyes, her lashes trembled as a wave of fear and angry crawled through her.  Tonight was going to be bad. 
It was white and had long long ears!  His name is Floppy!
Shut up.  Just shut up.  The voice was grating on her nerves, ruining her concentration.  The voice was high, annoying, and pulled at her as a pup would yank a bitch’s sore teat.
I got to hold him and the teacher took a picture!  Wanna see?
Her fists clenched in her hair and pulled hard.  The pain along her scalped helped, but not much. 
Mommy, you’re not looking!
There was a tug at her sleeve.  Her hand swung.  Smack.
She hit her daughter so hard the child fell backward onto the floor.  What hurt wasn’t seeing the reddening mark on the child’s face or the tearing eyes that looked at her with confusion and pain.  What hurt was the worm of satisfaction she felt seeing them. 
Go to your room.
She ignored the wails that rose and fell in crescendos as she desperately called her life line.
Mother Rose, I need you.  I hit her.
A voice, though feminine, was the voice of God for her.  What happened?  Is she alright?  Did you take your medication?
Her voice cracked.  Good.  At least she can feel some shame.  I did, but it didn’t help.  Can you come over?        
She already knew the answer before the question was asked.  Yes, I will be there right away.  Noa, pray, please?
On the floor, near her feet was a holo of a little girl holding an oversize rabbit.  Joy and happiness with the innocent delight of another living thing did little to curtail the hatred festering in her heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A hand touched her shoulder.  Laotaner raised her head from the book she had been poring over and saw her daughter’s face above hers.
“I thought I told you to go to your room.”  Her hand swung and caught Mikala Briggs fully across the face.
The slap stung her palm and no doubt it caused Briggs pain from the way she gasped her face.  The younger woman cursed and then looked at her as if she had committed a great betrayal.  “What the hell was that for?”
Laotaner blinked several times as her eyes refocused.  Briggs wasn’t a little girl bragging about a damn rabbit.  She was an annoying little bitch that hoped to have a close mother-daughter relationship with her.  “Don’t startle me.”
“I was waking you up to get you to go to bed.  You fell asleep at the table.”  Briggs had a loosely wrapped sheet around her body.  She had likely changed back to a human in her sleep due to her misfiring nanonites. 
“Then let me sleep where I lay.  Damn.”  Laotaner hand raked her hair from her face. 
“What did you say?”  Briggs asked still rubbing her offended cheek.
“What?”
“What did you just say earlier?  Someone about my room?”
“I don’t know, I say whatever when I get pissed.”  Laotaner snapped the book shut with a hard thump.  “You going to keep me up with babble or do I have to chop you in the throat to get you to shut up.” 
“Fine, I’ll just go back to bed and leave you to your plotting and scheming.”
It took Laotaner nearly a minute for her to realize that Jelly was joking.  “Yeah, yeah, goodnight and sweet dreams and all that bullshit.”
Laotaner now realized what it was about Briggs that she didn’t like.  She looked too much like the first one she had.  Too bad she didn’t die like the first one did. 
The nauseating guilt flooded over her in a tide of pus and filth and she fled to the bathroom to vomit. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight rose early that morning, much as she did the day before.  But this time, anxiety was eating away at her stomach.  She let Spike continue his rest, not seeing the need in bringing her assistant into this now.  She felt that she had to go alone to Zecora. 
Her hooves left a trail of disturbed wet grass behind her as she trotted to the cottage.  She would usually take the path to Fluttershy’s cottage, but that would take too long.  The sooner they completed this egg ritual the better.  The forest held the echo of morning with the distant cry of animals wakening or going to sleep as the warmth of day treaded in dappling light through the canopy. 
She was relieved to see light flickering inside the hut.  Zecora was waiting for her and had no forgotten or dismissed Twilight’s concerns.  Could it be that the zebra herself sense impending harm as well?
She knocked on the door and it was promptly opened.  “Ah, Twilight Sparkle, it is good that you have come and I must say that you look glum.”
“Sorry, I’m just nervous about this egg ritual.  Will it tell me of what’s going to happen?”  Twilight came inside the hut and the welcoming smell of baked bread and spice greeted her nose.
Zecora shut the door.  “Yes and no.  The ritual cannot say what will be, but what is.”
“I don’t understand.”  Twilight tilted her head curiously.
“The pouch itself is a talisman with beads carved from special spiritual stones.  It draws in good and bad energies from around you and the egg absorbs them as marrow in bones.”  Zecora explained as she led Twilight to a wooden table where a carved bowl sat in the middle. 
“And the hair?”
“Allow me to show you.”  Zecora lifted a small wooden figurine in the shape of a pony.  “Give me the pouch and I’ll give you a clue.”
Twilight magically drew the pouch over her head and levitated it to Zecora.  The zebra shaman carefully drew opened the pouch and slipped the lock of hair out.  With amazing dexterity despite not having a horn or magic, Zecora tied the lock around the figure and set it in the middle of the bowl.  “The figure represents you and the egg yolk is happening all around.  Now come close and let’s see what the egg has found.”
Zecora tapped the egg three times on the edge of the bowl while Twilight held her breath.  Instead of yellow yolk with clear egg white, what spew from the egg was red.  Twilight sucked air through her nose in silent shock as the red settled around the figure.  The zebra looked intently at the substance and murmured, “The danger is all around you.”
“I can see that,” Twilight’s voice sounded weak even to her.
The red pus, it can only be described as such to their eyes, almost covered the bottom of the bowl.  It was thick as curdled milk, but the figurine remained standing in the center despite the heavy flow. 
“Ah, but you have your friends,”  Zecora murmured as her wise eyes saw what Twilight’s could not at first.
It took a moment and Twilight had to move her head to see at a different angle.  Gleaming around the figure was a rainbow hue with shades of pink, yellow, and blues mingled. 
“And it appears that you have an ally of which it all may depend.”  Zecora waved a hoof along a clear fluid that streaked long the edge of the rainbow colors.   
“An ally?  Is it someone I know?”  Twilight looked closely at the steak as it would give her answers.
“It is someone you met and soon you will see if they will be a boon.”  Zecora touched a hoof to her chin in contemplation.  “Twilight Sparkle, the danger around you is great.  Your meeting with the Princess must not wait.”
“I will be seeing her tomorrow night at the Winter Ball.  I could send her a letter, but she may not respond since she’ll be so busy.”  Twilight felt numb, a protective defense against the fear that would later grip her heart.
“Twilight, the danger is here.  It has not struck yet, but it is very near.  And there is very much to fear.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Apple Bloom had been allowed to sleep in due to the tummy ache she earned from her frivolous eating yesterday.  Thanks to Granny Smith’s home remedy (three eggs whites boiled and salted with cinnamon), her stomach had settled to a dull slightly uncomfortable ache, but she still milked it to keep from having to work.
Not that she was lazy, she was always eager to help out on the farm.  It’s just that last night the dreams came back.  Long halls of grey metal, creatures that standing on two legs, and a face that was not a pony face, but it was full of kindness.
She had the pictures she had drawn while missing spread on her bed.  She had her blankets pushed to the end where she could easily pull them back to cover up the pictures should she hear any hooves clops in the hallway.  She had just patched things up with her sister and she didn’t want to threaten the mended rift between them with her suspicions concerning Jelly. 
Her eyes concentrated on the drawing that she had been staring at for the last half hour.  It was of her standing in the apple orchard with Applejack, but bipedal creature wearing blue with a red slash along the breast.  The creature’s head she had drawn with a brown mane and the skin had been colored with a peach color.  The smile was left in broad white.
That smile.
Apple Bloom’s eyes shifted to the talented drawing of her asleep in a white dress.  The dress was too long for her, as if it was meant for an adult pony. 
Her eyes switched the smiling figure.
Back to the dress.
Her mind hurt as a memory spread open as a flower blooming.  The pain was intense making her eyes water, but the memory came regardless.
She had gone through a closet out of curiosity.  Her caretaker was at a desk working and Apple Bloom had become bored.  She tossed aside weird clothing: white turbans with big holes for large ears and a belt with soft felt cups.  Then she found the dress and had to try it on. 
It was long and she had to tread carefully to keep from tripping.  It would have to be hemmed up, but it would certainly be prettier than any dress Diamond Tiara’s daddy could buy her. 
Her caretaker wasn’t paying attention.  She was too busy working.  She had a brown mane and looked worried a lot, but she smiled too sometimes.
She trotted to the creature, wanting to show her the dress.  She brushed a hoof along her leg.  The creature lowered a hand giving her a rub on the head between her ears and murmured something to her.  She didn’t understand what she was saying, but she recognized the tone.  It was the same tone her sister used when Apple Bloom was getting in the way of important work.
Apple Bloom turned away in a pout.  She didn’t even look at her.   
Apple Bloom grasped her head with both hooves.  The pain was slowly ebbing away now since the memory was over, but something new was happening.  It didn’t cause her pain, but it was slowly working it around in her brain. 
The creature’s mumblings was forming, changing, molding into a language she could understood. 
No, no, not now.  I have work to do.
Now that she could understand the words, the voice carried recognition for her.  It was a voice that she had heard many times during Winter Welcome.
What should we do next, girls?
Here, you finish this for me.  I can’t eat too much of this or I won’t fit in my dress tonight. 
Scootaloo, Apple Bloom knock it off.  It’s my back you’re standing on, not a trampoline.
The smile was the same as the voice.
Jelly was the caregiver and the caregiver was Jelly.
Apple Bloom sat in stunned silence as the revelation rocked her mind.  She didn’t hear the hoof clops in the hall and the knock at the door made her gasp.  “Apple Bloom, ya feelin’ put together?”
“Yes, Granny Smith!”  Apple Bloom hastily collected the sheets and shoved them under her pillow. 
“Then c’mon down and he’p clean the house,” the elder pony said through the door.
“Uh, muh head’s hurtin’!  Ah . . .uh . . . Ah need t’ take a walk t’ clear muh head.”  She had to find Jelly and talk to her.
“If’n that’s the case, lemme fix ya my mother’s ole remedy of turnip peel stir fried with milk!  That’ll clear ya head up as clear as a bell.”
“Ugh.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Laotaner stared at herself in the mirror and wondered what the hell was wrong with her.  Her nose was straight with just the slightest crook where the skills of a surgeon straightened it after a bad break.  Her lips were thin always clenched in a straight line while her eyes harsh, but empty reflecting the emptiness she always felt.  Save for the rage and hatred that was as common to her as the freckles on her body.
Memories cropped up now.  In the past she had been able to banish them as quickly as a snap of a whip, but now they stayed and stayed.  Her time at the missionary where she tried.  She tried to be good, tried to be normal, tried to be what a normal woman should be.  Normal women didn’t have dark thoughts such as hers. 
God, she tried for that little girl.  She tried so hard.  Would she have made it in the end?  Would she have finally become normal?
She would never know.  She was here now and she had a duty to uphold.  A job to complete and finished.  She could concentrate on that when the darkness in her brain became too much.
“Mother, I . . . could we talk?”  Ugh, the hateful voice from behind her, soft and kind, trying to draw her in.
“What?”
“I mean, we haven’t really had a chance to really talk.  The last time, it didn’t end so well, and I want to make up for it.”
Laotaner turned on the water tap and let the cold fluid fill a cupped hand.  “Go ahead and talk.”
“I know about dad’s side of the family.  What about your side?  Do I have any aunts or uncles from your side?”  The voice was hopeful, even expectant.
“No.”  She rubbed the water on her face, letting the cold droplets roll along her cheeks.
“What about grandparents?”
“No.”  She blotted her face with a towel.
“Any brothers or sisters?”
A long moment of silence that carried thickly on the air as a foul odor and Laotaner looked at herself in the mirror and saw the face behind her that carried another’s nose and lips.  She touched the reflection of Mikala Briggs and whispered.  “One.  A little girl.  She’s dead.”
She watched the reflection’s face extend in shock.  Mouth opened and eyes wide.  “What happened?”
“A vehicle hit her.  She died.” 
“How old was she?” 
“Six years old.”
“What was her name?”
“What does it matter?”  Laotaner dropped the towel on the floor.  It was wrinkle where she had twisted it between her hands.  “She’s gone and any impact would have on our lives is miniscule.”
“We could go and maybe put flowers on her grave together.  She was . . .wow, I had a sister . . . please, I want to know her name.”
“Her name was Sera.  She liked rabbits.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     
Mikala didn’t like what she was seeing in the mirror.  Her mother was staring into the glass, but not at anything that she could see.  What was wrong?  Something was wrong.  This wasn’t the Laotaner she had come to know.
And she had a sister?  She had wondered if there had been other children before her and now that she was presented the news from the woman herself was just shocking.  “I’d like to know more than that.  I mean . . .I wish I could have met her or talked with her.  It’s . . . amazing, if she had lived I would have an older sister.”
“Enough.  I don’t want to talk about her.”  Laotaner turned away from the mirror, her eyes glossy with the pupils small.  “I have work to do.”
“Please, don’t go.  If you don’t want to talk about Sera anymore, then I want to show you something.  Something I wanted to bring to the Café, but I kept it here.  Please, it’ll only take a minute.”  Mikala was grabbing her bag shoving a hand inside. 
“I don’t care.”  Laotaner took a case from the corner of the sink and flipped it opened.  Inside were syringes with nanonites. 
“It’s the last phone call dad made to my grandfather.  After he died, my grandparents asked the military to give them a recording of that last call.  I listen to it sometimes.”  Mikala drew her datapad from the bag.  “Please, it’s a short call.”
Laotaner said nothing.  She injected herself and collected her back of books draping it over her neck.  “No time.”
Mikala wanted to insist, but a mental instinct told her to let it go.  “Alright.”
“How long ago did you change?”
“It happened in my sleep.  I’ve been like this for the last three hours.” 
“Then stay here for today.  I’ll update you with plans for tomorrow night.”
“I need to change back.  I have to go Rarity’s for a fitting.”
“If you don’t change back, I’ll tell them you’re sick.”  Laotaner’s bodty shifted and formed till Victory Jam was standing in the human woman’s place. 
“Sure.”  Mikala sat in the chair propping her cheek on a hand balanced on her elbow.  “I’ll stay here.”
“I know you will because that’s what I told you to do.”  The usual heat was back in her tone and that was sadly comforting.  She trotted to the door way.
“Wait.  One more question,” Mikala called.
“What is it?”
“Is it because of her death that you are . . .like you are.”  The question came out tedious as one would move across thin ice.
“Like what?”
“If I have to describe you, we’d be here all day.”
Victory stood by the door and looked back at her human shaped daughter, “No.  I was like this before I gave birth to her.  I tried to be a nicer human being, but I was still a shit mother.  She got hit by a car after all.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mikala stayed in the room long after Victory had left.  She tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t.  She took a shower, brushed her teeth, toweled and brushed her hair till it was dry.  She attempted to read, but her mind wouldn’t concentrate on the story.  Even playing a game had no appeal.
She lay in bed in loose shorts and t-shirt Winter had brought back from the ship so she wasn’t lounging about naked.  She stared at the ceiling with her hands locked behind her head.  For the first time in days, she had nothing to do.  When she was a unicorn, there was so much to do, helping Victory with teaching, getting ready for Winter Welcome and Winter Dance, and visiting her new friends.
She never thought she could call another species her friends before.  It was rare to see aliens on her colony world, they usually kept to their own worlds and when they came to Havensguard planets, they were kept in restricted areas away from human populated areas.  It had to be since the treat of terrorist activities was a present threat. 
The ponies were aliens too, but she didn’t feel that alien strangeness when she was around them.  They felt right and natural.  In fact, she wished she was able to visit them now either trying on the dress changes for Rarity, visiting Fluttershy, or even practicing magic with Twilight.  She’d even settle for being strung about by the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Um, Jelly . . . ya in there?”  There was a soft thump at the door. 
Her body snapped up, nearly making her dizzy in her haste.  “Apple Bloom?  Why are you here?”
“Ah come t’ see ya.  Ah remembered.” 
She couldn’t be more shocked if ice water splashed on her.  She tried to speak several times, her lips moved, but no words came.  When she swallowed, she was able to speak, “Remember what?”
“What ya really look like.”  Apple Bloom’s voice carried heavily on the air.
Mikala stared down at her bare feet listening herself breath and her heart pounding.  The world felt surreal around her and there was a buzzing noise in her ears.  “What do I look like?”
“Tall with two legs an’ a brown mane.  C’mon, Ah remember now and Ah jest got done gargling turnip peels in milk!  It was gross!” 
“Apple Bloom, I’m sick and I’m sure you’re just confused.”  She stood up and moved to the door.
“Then how come Ah don’t hear yer hooves on the floor an’ yer voice is getting’ closer.”  There was a thud as a small hoof stomped to send her point home. 
Mikala paused in mid-step, toes curling on the foot she had raised to take another step.  She placed her hands on the doorframe as she swallowed, “Apple Bloom, are you alone?”
“Yeah.”
“You haven’t told anyone.”
“Ah haven’t told anypony.”
“And if I let you inside, do you swear not to tell anyone at all?”
There was a pause from the other side of the door.
“I mean it, Apple Bloom.  I have to hear you swear to me that you’ll tell no one about this.  Not your sister, not your friends, not anyone.  Okay?”
The silence followed for a moment longer than Apple Bloom gave her answer, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
That was good enough.  She opened the door. 
Apple Bloom looked so much smaller while looking at her from her normal height.  And she was certain that she looked so much bigger from Apple Bloom’s perspective.  For a moment, she feared that the wide eyed foal would dash off in fright, but the recognition and affection flowed from her large eyes.
For the first time in nearly a week, Mikala was able to scoop her pony up into her arms and hug her tightly.                        
              
	
	
> Gratification
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What are ya?”  Apple Bloom asked as she pawed at Mikala’s knee.
“I’m a human woman.”  Mikala was sitting cross legged on the bed with Apple Bloom sitting across from her.
“An’ what are ya’ll doin’ out there in the Everfree forest?”  Apple Bloom stared at Mikala’s toes.
“We were exploring.  We thought that this world would have been no people living on it so we would claim it as ours.  Imagine our surprise when we found you ponies on it.”  Mikala glanced at the door where she locked and even placed a chair in front of it.  It would be the end of Victory came back and saw her chatting with Apple Bloom in her human self.  The end.
“Where did ya come from?”  Apple Bloom twitched an ear curiously.  “Ya c’n’t have come from up north.”
“In a way, we did, but not the northern hemisphere of this planet.  I mean literally up.”  Mikala pointed a finger at the ceiling.  “Way way up.”
Apple Bloom glanced upward, her eyes becoming wider at the thought.  “Why ya come here then?  Ain’t ya got a home of yer own.”
“We do, we have lots of worlds but the problem is that there are more of us than there are worlds.  So we have to spread out and claim uninhabited planets so there would be plenty of room, food, and resources.”  Mikala stretched forward, leaning her head on the heel of her hand. 
“So ya come t’ take ours?”  Apple Bloom pricked her ears worried.
“No!  No, no, no, of course not!  We want to set up diplomatic ties so we can open trade.”  Mikala dearly didn’t want Apple Bloom to fear her.  “This planet can join the Havensguard Republic and a lot of good things will happen, I promise.”
“So why are ya sneakin’ ‘round pretendin’ t’ be ponies when ya ain’t?”  Apple Bloom tilted her head curiously, her bow flopping against her ear.  “Why duncha jest come on out an’ say howdy?”
“It’s very hard to explain, but trust me.  This wasn’t my idea.” 
“Who’s was it?”
“Ah, honey, you ask so many questions.”  Mikala scratched her between the ears. 
Apple Bloom flicked her ears, remembering how often she received this treatment from the humans.  “Can ya blame me?  I mean ya c’n shape change into a pony.  Is Jelly really your name?”
“No, my name is Mikala Briggs.” 
“Mik-ah-la Briggs?”  Apple Bloom rolled the name along her tongue.  “That’s a funny name.”
“Whoa, little miss, it’s no funnier than Twilight Sparkle, Fancy Pants, or Cinnamon Sugar.  If it’s too hard to say, you can call me Miki.”  Mikala smiled brightly, “That’s what they called me when I was a little girl.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Winter sat at the most private table inside the café.  Instead of sitting outside, he went in and found the most isolated booth and waited patiently for his pony to arrive.  His hooves tapped the top of the table and he ocassionally nursed from a glass of punch set before him.  Damn, he wished the ponies had booze and that Laotaner hadn’t drank up the whole bottle he brought.
His mind went over is orders and it set his teeth on edge.  He wasn’t worried about the mission itself or his new role in it, but he had something to worry about all the same and it was finally walking through the door looking excited and nearly galloped to his table.
“Winter!  Guess what!”  Lyra was nearly prancing at his table in her excitement.
“Calm down, Lyra, what’s wrong?” 
“Nothing!  It’s what’s right!  Another one was spotted in the hospital a few days before Winter Welcome!”  Lyra was bouncing on her hooves.  “Bon Bon has a cousin whose colt had an allergic reaction to a bee sting so he spent the night at the hospital.  The colt has been claiming that he saw a tall two legged monster in the hospital hall.  It’s the same night as when I saw the creature at the hospital!”
Winter blinked.  “Are you sure he saw anything?  Kids tend to have dreams.”
“He drew pictures of it!  It’s almost exactly as the one I saw but it was wearing a hospital gown and had a brown mane!  C’mon, we have to go to the bridge and see . . .”
“Lyra, he won’t be there,” Winter said firmly.  “Trust me, he won’t be there and you won’t see him there again.”
“What?  You said . . . “  Lyra halted in her jubilation and stared at him.
“I know what I said, but what I said wasn’t true.”  Winter glanced about, hoping that Lyra’s excitement hadn’t drawn any attention.  Fortunately, the café was experience slow hours and their part of the restaurant was empty. 
“Then  . . .you don’t believe me?  You don’t believe me like all the others?”  Her ears laid back as she almost physically began to wilt. 
The hurt in her tone ensnared his attention and he shook his head so hard his hair swung against his ears and brow.  “No, no!  I do believe you, I really do!  What I am saying is that your creature will not return to the bridge.  I can’t explain right now, but trust me on that.”
Lyra tilted her head, her eyes focused on his face as they slowly narrowed, “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Lyra, the one who tugs my heartstring like no other, I need you to listen to me and trust me.”  Winter held out his hooves for hers.  “Please.”
There must have been something in his eyes or she heard the plea in his tongue, but she sat on her haunches and placed her hooves on his.  “I’m listening.”
“I know that you have are to perform at the Winter Ball.  I want you to get out of it.  Tell them whatever you need to get out of it and I want you to go with Bon Bon to Appleloosa to visit her parents.”
It was Lyra’s turn to blink.  “What?”
“Yes, you heard me.”  If he had his hands, he would have squeezed her hooves.  “You need to not be in Ponyville or Canterlot for the next several days, or better yet, just stay in Appleloosa until I send for you.”
“Winter, you’re scaring me.”  Lyra drew her hooves back, but he held on.
“I know and I’m sorry.  I can’t tell you anything right now, except, that I don’t you to get hurt.  So in order for me to do what I have to do, I need to know that you’ll be somewhere safe.” 
She blinked her large eyes and he saw the tears forming in them.  “Winter, tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t, my Lyra.  I wish I could, but I can’t.  I promise that I will tell you everything once it’s over.  No more secrets about me, I swear it.” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What’s a wind farm?” 
Mikala had the datapad open and it projected an image of her family windmill farm.  She was stretched out on her stomach with Apple Bloom laying sprawled on her back with her chin on her shoulder as she stared at the datapad images.  The foal had been amazed by the device that was commonplace in Mikala’s society. 
“See the windmills.”  She pointed at the white towers with turbines.  “The wind spins the turbines and that produces electricity that is sent out to the entire colony . . . or town I live near.  My grandfather’s job was to maintain them and repair them when they broke.  We didn’t grow crops or raise animals, but it was still hard work and a big responsibility.”
“Pinkie Pie said that she lived onna rock farm when she was a foal,”  Apple Bloom said. 
“A rock farm?  What is that like?”
“Nuthin’ like apple farmin’.”  Apple Bloom tumbled off Mikala’s back to lang on her back on the bed spread.  “When c’n Ah tell muh sis about ya?”
“Don’t tell her anything until I say it’s okay.  I’ll tell her myself when the time comes.”  She saw Apple Bloom start to sadden and then she said, “It’ll likely be after the Winter Ball tomorrow.  I believe that’s when we are going to approach the Princesses about an alliance.”
“Really?”  Apple Bloom beamed.
“Really.”  Mikala drew her pony in for a tight hug.  “You better go.  If Winter or Victory come back . . .”
“So they are human too?”  Apple mumbled her question against Mikala’s shoulder. 
“Yes, but you can’t talk about them either.  Not even with them, okay?  In fact, just stay away from them if you can.”  Mikala lowered Apple Bloom onto the floor.  “And when you see me out there, it’s Jelly, okay?”
“A’right, a’right.”  Apple Bloom screwed her face in a pout.  “Yer worse ‘n muh sister.”
“Sorry, but I’m serious.  I cannot stress to you enough how important is it for you to keep mum on this.” 
“Ah c’n keep a secret.”  Apple Bloom stood by the door. 
“I know you can.”  Mikala put a hand on the door.  “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“A’right.”  Apple Bloom scooted through the door as Mikala opened it.  The human kept herself behind the door for fear of a pony walking the hall may spot her.  “Goodbye, Mi-Jelly!”
“Goodbye, beautiful.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nearly noon by the time she changed back into a pony.  It felt strange to go back to walking on round hooves when she had spent half a way as a human.  She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, turning this way and that to study her pony body.  It was the same as any pony on the street.  Her coat was a light shade of green with deep blue mane and tail that hung straight toward the floor.  It deeply contrasted with her brown hair and plain human features.
She might as well go down and try on her dress again at Rarity’s.  Tomorrow would be the big day after all.  Hopefully, Fluttershy has kept her word and not mentioned anything about her leaving with Winter the night of the dance. 
Thinking about Winter brought a stab of pain.  But since time had passed and she had time to examine it, it was something she should have expected.  What had attracted her to Winter was that he was such a free spirit, always smiling and having a good time and he was so handsome it hurt to look at him.  A man like him wouldn’t be satisfied being tied down to one woman and he never gave any indication that he saw her as anything more than a crew member.  She shouldn’t be too upset; it wasn’t like she was a virgin when they did it.
She pondered this as she made her way to the boutique, nearly taking a wrong turn which would have taken her to her favorite café.  She righted herself and continued at a brisk pace making a point of paying attention of where she was going. 
When she arrived, Rarity was in her usual flair.  Cloth, ribbons, buttons, lace, and thread flow about in the air as fish in the sea.  Rarity had her red eyeglasses perched on her nose as she concentrated on stitching a line of lace along the skirt of a ball gown.  Mikala, now Jelly, stood by silent, not wanting to break her concentration.  When Rarity was finished, which was several minutes later, did Jelly call her.
Rarity jumped, the floating utensils bobbed in midair before she caught them with her magic, “Darling, you mustn’t sneak up on a pony like that.  You nearly cause my heart to stop.”
“Sorry, I came in a few minutes ago, but you were busy.”  Jelly bowed her in a small apology. 
“Say no more, let’s get started.  Stand there and I’ll get your dress.”  She pointed at the dais.  As she went into the backroom, she lowered all her tools of fashion in their respected compartments.    
Jelly was quick to oblige in further apology for startling the seamstress.  Rarity returned shortly with the dress levitating above her head.  “Now hold still, dear.”
As Rarity fitted the dress around her, Jelly noticed that it felt . . .tight.  “Oh dear.”
“Uh, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.  I just have to . . .take out the waist a  . . . uh touch . . .no, just a itsy bitsy eenie wheenie bit.”
“Take out the waist?  Wait, it’s tight, isn’t it?  It feels tight.”  The dress hasn’t gotten bigger . . . she has!
Ice water flooded her veins.  Was she pregnant!?  Oh holy mother of god no!  Several moments of panic made her face blanch into a cadaverous green shade.
“Darling, it’s alright.  You are still a tiny little thing, no worries, nopony will notice.”  Rarity’s voice may have been speaking to her from a deep cave.
Wait, wait, wait, think think think.  She had sex with Winter the night before.  There is no way the gestation was quick enough for her to start showing.  It was possible that ponies have a quicker gestation period, but she doubted it was that quick.  And she had taken treatment that would stall her fertility during her service time, it lasted six months and she had the treatment three months ago and doubtless Winter had the same treatment as well.  Lastly, the nanonites and the changes would make it impossible for her body to maintain a child with the shifting and changing organs during each change.  If by some minute change she was pregnant, then the change would abort the pregnancy. 
Then that means. .  .she was fat.  All those Flower Power Platters, the cider, the hot cocoa, the candy apples, cupcakes, cakes, and sugary drinks had finally claimed her waist as she had feared.  No wonder Winter didn’t want her.  She was a blimp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I want to talk about mental manipulation,” Victory said to Twilight Sparkle inside the tree library.
They were sitting at the small table while Spike served tea and sandwiches.  Twilight sparkle furrowed her brow, “I’m afraid I don’t have much information on that.  I haven’t had much success with that lately.”
“Ah, so you have experience with it?”  Victory leaned forward, her food and tea untouched.  “Do tell.”
Twilight stirred sugar into her tea with a magical twirl of the spoon.  “Mind Magic is pretty tricky.  Manipulating someone against their nature is very difficult, actually impossible unless you have great power.  I told you about when we dealt with Discord of how he used his powers to turn them against their true nature.  Fortunately, a simple memory spell restored them.”
Victory’s brow twitched.  “Memory spell?” 
“Yes, a memory spell is pretty simple, but you still have to be careful when casting it.  I’ve had it rebound on it me when I was helping Apple Bloom remember what happened to her when she went missing.”  Twilight took a sip of her tea.  That was what prevented her from seeing the narrow cold stare emanating from Victory’s eyes.
When she set the teacup down, Victory’s eyes returned to curiosity mingle with concern.  “What happened?  Did she remember?”
“A little, but it mostly memories from the day she disappeared.  Anything following that was blocked.  The spell recoiled and I . . .it wasn’t  very pleasant.”  Twilight didn’t want to remember the vision.
“Could you go into detail?  I never heard of a spell recoiling.”  Victory was genuinely curious.
“Really?  I guess ponies in the north must have a real talent for magic if you never had to deal with magic recoils, but then again, it doesn’t happen very often.”  Twilight shifted to get in a more comfortable position on the cushion.  “Magic recoil can happen during different circumstances, but mostly when magic is performed on something difficult or impossible for magic to be performed upon.  It’s easier to imagine throwing a rubber ball at a wall.  It bounces right off.”
“And this happened in the filly’s head?”  Victory leaned her chin on her fetlocks in contemplation. 
“Yes, but then again, it can happen when complex magic is performed by an inexperienced unicorn which is why advance magical books are placed in restricted section of libraries in magical schools.  Most of the time the magic harmlessly falls apart, but in the rare cases of a magical recoil, it could cause a lot of trouble.” 
“So there was something inside Apple Bloom’s head that caused this recoil?”  Victory twitched her right ear; it may have been from an itch or from impatience.
“I’m not really sure.  It was likely because I was so stressed out from Winter Welcome preparations.  Or maybe the trauma Apple Bloom has that blocked her memory was too strong for me to overcome.  It’s likely something the filly will have to overcome herself or someone more powerful like the Princess could attempt it.”  Twilight finished her tea and poured herself another cup.
“I want to speak in hypotheticals, if you don’t mind.”  Victory offered a small smile.
“Oh?  Okay.”  Twilight found herself genuinely loving having these discussion with Victory.  She was an amazing pony with such talent and has the most outstanding ideas.
“Equestria is a country on a planet.”  Victory leaned forward, her eyes on Twilight’s face.  “It has magical rules of which you know and studied.  Now, let’s say you’re placed on a different  . . . planet for example.  Like, let’s say I take you and put you on a different planet.  It’s a livable planet with air, water, and its own inhabitants.  Would your magic work there?”
“Yes, I mean, why wouldn’t it?”  Twilight leaned back as she considered this.  “I should be able to lift a rock with my magic just as well as I could here.”
“True, but setting that aside, what if the planet had its own magic or rules.  You’d have to master those rules in order to perform higher magical spells.”  Victory watched Twilight’s face as the younger unicorn absorbed this forward thinking.  “I don’t think that a pegasus would be able to move clouds about at will or an earth pony able to grow food there.  The planet’s eco-system would have its own caretakers or have its own system of survival.  The Princesses wouldn’t be able to raise the sun or moon there either because the celestial beings there would have its own orbit or cycle.”
Victory was pleased to see the visible shudder crawl along the pony’s shoulders as her pupils shrunk as the thought clearly disturbed her.  Twilight put a hoof to her mouth as her ears slanted, “Wow, that’s just . . .wow, I have never thought about it like that before.  It would be the Everfree forest all over the planet.”
Victory smugly took a sip of tea.  “Don’t let it bother you, dear.  We’re speaking hypothesis.”
“But your hypothesis makes so much sense.  A pony could prove if it was possible to get to another planet or just build a telescope powerful enough to see life on one.”  Twilight looked as excited as Pinkie Pie would if she saw the world’s largest cake. 
“Also, the reverse could be said about anything visiting Equestria.  It would likely find it difficult to work magic, but what if instead it worked science.” 
“Hmmm.”  Twilight rubbed her chin.  “That is where it gets tricky.  There’s a fine line between magic and science and a lot of theologians don’t believe the two should ever mix.”
“Why not?”  Victory inclined her head, “Why not have science fill in the holes for magic or have magic fill in the holes for science?  A lot of needs will be supplemented if both areas embraced.”
“But it opens the door for abuse.  In the Dark History of Equestria, magic and science were used to do a lot of bad things.  Forbidden Magics were created like bringing back the dead, summoning dark entities, and the science was used to create weapons.  The Goddesses themselves banned them.  It was their first act as rulers, before Discord came along.”  Twilight looked down into her teacup which she felt between both hooves.  “I understand what you mean if how much it can help ponies and that makes it a worthwhile endeavor, but a lot of care would have to be taken to make sure that ponies don’t return to the Dark History times.”
I could make her squeal between the sheets.  Despite herself, Victory found that she was tracing the slope of Twilight’s shoulder with her eyes.  The unicorn mare had darling eyes, just as most of the pony female population did, but her eyes were always bright with curiosity and a hunger for knowledge.  Not to mention that Twilight was a pretty little thing albeit that was a fact the mare herself didn’t know. 
Again, Victory wasn’t one to be attracted to other women, but then again, Twilight wasn’t a human woman.  There was a physical appeal, but that wasn’t it in total.  Victory found herself enjoying the intelligent discussions with the mare, especially the way the mare was so open to any new ideas proposed to her.  She wasn’t the liberals at home that were as close minded as religious prudes.  And she took to it with such eagerness that it was simply endearing and cute.
From the corner of her eye, she could see the edge of Twilight’s bed on the second level and her consideration turned into temptation.  It could happen.  Maybe with a few comments and some persistence, she could talk the mare to go upstairs  . . .
“Hey, Twilight, sorry, we’re out of tea, so that’s the last pot unless ya want me to run to the store?”  Spike appeared at the kitchen door way and Victory dropped her eyes, drowning her temptation in a flood of disappointment and anger.
“I think we’ll be okay.” Twilight replied glancing at the teapot.  “Mrs. Victory is there anything that Spike could get for you from the store?”
Victory was quiet for several moments before she murmured, “No, I’m fine.  I have to go anyway.  Winter should be back soon with my dress and I have to try it on.”
“Oh, okay.”  Was that disappointment she heard in Twilight’s voice?  Was she notice Victory staring at her and was disappointed that she didn’t make a move or that there’s conversation was over? 
Don’t fret, little Twilight, when the shit happens, I’ll take you as a war prize and we’ll have all the conversations and sex that you would ever want. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     
When she returned to the inn, her passion had melted away and Winter was there with her ‘dress’ laying across the bed.  The dress was for a pony of her size, but it made special by the various pockets and hidden devices sewn into it.
She was satisfied that they were able to include a gun and several knives and when she put on the dress, it was not apparent that she was wearing any weapons at all.  Not even when Winter frisked her could he determine where the weapons were hidden.
*“Tomorrow night is the night, Winter.”*  She stared at herself wearing the dress in the mirror.  It was a wine red color with black lacing it.  It was of a military style that flowed behind her in a short train. 
*“Yeah,”*  Winter agreed.  He stood near her with his wings folded.  *“Tomorrow night we throw diplomacy out the window.”*
*“Do I hear regret in your voice?”*
*“No, just anxious.”*
*“It’s just like any mission except, I do have something to lose.”*  Winter looked away.
*“You always have something to lose in any mission.  Like life and limbs.”*  Victory turned to watch the dress swish across the floor.  *“Just remember, we have everything to gain with the success of this mission.”*
*“True,”* Winter conceded.  *“What about Briggs?  She has no clue about this.”*
*“I’ll deal with her if she becomes a problem.  If she wants to be buried with the ponies, she can be.”*  Victory began to take off the dress.  *”Did the fleet receive my orders?”*
*”Yes, they will be entering the system within the next 48 hours.”*
*”Good”*