> Crushed: The Beginnings
>  by Silent Wing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 01 Castle in the forrest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 15.02.2020, location: Ludwigsburg

It's cold when I step out of the train, walking down the stairs into the passage and out of the station. Only now I see that it's snowing a bit, which makes me pull down the hood of my jacket. Like always I cross the road and walk the 5 minutes to the MHP-Arena, barely able to keep my excitement under control.

When I reach the arena there is already a huge crowd waiting in front of the gates, even if they will still be closed for more than an hour. However, I am not surprised by this sight and curse myself for being so late and there probably goes my chance to get front row places.

Since I have nothing else to do since my friends didn't join me this evening, I walked towards one of the vendors to get something warm to drink. Maybe this will help to keep me warm enough, till the gates open or maybe I just should have grabbed the thicker jacket. Seriously, how could I think that my soft Jacket and my Hoodie will keep me warm enough in the middle of winter? The fact that it's an open area and it's extremely windy doesn't help either, nor the digital sign at the bus stop, that's constantly switching between the actual time and temperature. "- 4° Celsius (24,8°F), I don't want to imagine how cold it will be after the concert."

The line moves slowly and in the ten minutes it takes till I can finally order my Glühmost (mulled spiced cider) and a classical Dinnede with sour cream, onions, and bacon, I constantly look back to that clock.

After paying I grab my food and drink and walk to a small alleyway next to another vendor, to get out of the wind. The moment I pass the stand, I hear a hissing sound, like something is leaking. I give that no mind and just walk further, but after three more steps into the alleyway, I remember that they were selling Burgers and grilled sausages. The moment I turn around to ask the sales clerks about there gas supply, I hear a loud explosion and a wall of flames coming directly towards me. I drop my food in shock and the only thing I can do is scream in pain, when the fire consumes my body.





Date: unknown, location: unknown

Groggily I wake up by the sound of blowing wind and the all too familiar feeling that you get when you lay with your uncovered stomach on a cold surface. I don't know where I am, but the fact that I only hear the wind and not feel it tells me that I am at least in some kind of building. This is a very interesting thing to discover but it also raises a huge question, a question I am scared to get answered, and to postpone any unwelcome discovery, I decided to keep my eyes closed for now.

I sniff the air, but can't smell anything at all and the feeling I get when doing it is strange. It almost feels like my nose is in the wrong place. After a few moments I stop and try to focus more on my hearing, but except for the blowing wind I only hear the rustling of leaves. I finally accept that only by hearing and smelling alone, I won't get any more information about my current surroundings and decide that I just have to open my eyes, if I want to find out where I am.

I expected many things to see, but a stonewall like in a medieval castle, directly in front of me wasn't one of the things I expected to see. Unwilling to believe what I am seeing, I raise my hands to rub my eyes, but the level of confusion just increases dramatically, when not my hands, but a pair of hooves enter my field of vision. I just stare at them in silence for a moment, before I try to continue as planned. "I am just imagining things now," is all I can think. However, this illusion shatters the moment I try to move my hands again when those hooves (obviously my hooves) rise and start to rub my eyes. This however feels way too real to be just an imaging.

I try to pull my right hand back and the right hoof does the movement. Now there is no sense in denying the fact anymore, that those are indeed my hooves and I begin to wonder what else did change. I focus on my right hoof and turn my head around following, the now in black fur covered, arm back to the shoulder, and even further

The farther I turn my head around, the more confusing becomes the sight. If that's truly my body I see that something must have happened. Something that probably only Discord can explain.

That is at least what I think because the body I see isn't that one of a 30-year-old human male. It's from a pony. A Pony with fur almost as black as Nightmare Moons, a red tail, a red mane with black streaks, and two black feathery wings to be precise. Everything I see tells me that I am now an equestrian pegasus, just like in the "My Little Pony" show I love to watch and I begin to wonder if those "Wings'' really work.

I close my eyes and try to focus on the wings, flapping them carefully in a steady rhythm. I feel how the pressure on my stomach lessens and how I slowly separate from the ground. Two minutes after I started to flap my wings, I open my eyes again only to see that I am now around three meters (10 feet) above the ground and still rising. Only two or three wing beats later I hit something with my head and lose focus enough, so that I stop flapping them for a short moment. Before I even realize what I just did wrong, the merciless piece of shit, also known as gravity, regains control and with a loud "THUMP" I crash into the ground.

"Ouch," I whimper before I try to get up on my hooves this time. Unwilling to crash again anytime soon, I decided to lay off flying for now and focus on my hooves instead. It doesn't take me long to realize that standing on four hooves is extremely easy, but walking is way more trouble than I expected and I end up eating dirt more than once.

After a while of practice, I decided to find out more about my surroundings and walk around through numerous rooms, before I hear voices heading in my direction. Without hesitation I run back into the last room and squeeze myself into the small cupboard I spotted there earlier. I keep the door slightly ajar and wait while the voices grow louder and I begin to understand what they are talking about.

"You are sure that this magical surge came from here Twilight," a tired and really annoyed voice asks.

"Yes Spike, I am sure," Twilight says not less annoyed, before she continues. "Also, Princess Celestia was very clear in the letter. She and her sister, both felt the same and were able to track the magical signature back to the Castle of the two sisters."

"But do you think it's a good idea to search for whatever caused that magical surge without any help? What if it's something dangerous, which we could only defeat with the Elements of Harmony?"

"If that would be the case Spike, don't you think the princess would have warned us in her letter about it?" Twilight asks him with growing annoyance.

"I don't know Twilight but the words 'A magical surge of unknown purpose and origin' and 'potentially dangerous', sound at least in my ears like a warning!"

"That never was in the letter Spike and I did read it twice, just to be sure."

"Yes, but you also pulled three all-nighters in the last five days and we both know how easily you can get distracted then."

"I don't get distracted," Twilight responds upset.

"Then prove it. Count pie down to the one-hundredth number without getting distracted by anything and I believe you."

"Just to prove you wrong Spike," Twilight replies, and after a short amount of time she begins to count down as told. If I count it correct, Twilight is at the 15th number, when Spike suddenly asks. “What's that squirrel doing up there, Twilight?"

"Which squirrel, Spike?" She asks without hesitation and there is a short pause when Twilight realizes the mistake she just made, before she admits, "damn it, Spike, I hate it when you are right. Maybe we really should come back tomorrow with some help and after a few hours of sleep."

"Finally, I almost thought you go as crazy as AJ like at the last apple-bucking season."

"Spike I am not that bad."

"You sure about that? Back in Canterlot you came extremely close when you were running late with an assignment from Princess Celestia."

"Spike that was a long time ago, so don't mention it again."

When I hear the voices of those two grow silent I let out a sigh of relief and carefully step out of my hiding spot. Twilight may be a nice Pony if she is anything like in the show, but I don't have any interest in ending up as her 'research project'.

I sit down on my haunches for a bit to think about what I have just learned in Twilights and Spikes discussion and how I can use this information in the best way possible for me.

The fact that I am not on earth anymore, fills me with relief because I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a research facility. On the downside if it, that I am currently in the Castle of the two sisters also means that I am in the Everfree forest and if I want to reach Ponyville safely I should better follow those two.

With that in mind I get up again and start to walk into the direction I heard them go, quickly I come out of the castle into the cold windy night air and look around. I spot them at the other side of the rope bridge and follow them over a half-hour, always making sure that I don't get spotted. It would be easier if my bright red mane wouldn't be such a dead giveaway before I start to get tired.

I decide to rest for a moment, just closing my eyes for 5 seconds, before I follow them again, which proves to be quite fatal. When I open my eyes again, I am unable to spot any of those two, and to top it all off, I don't remember in which direction they had been going. After a moment of thinking I just pick a random direction and hope that it is the right one, towards Ponyville.

Soon, I start to get tired and I don’t have to walk for a long time, before I spot a cave large enough to squeeze myself in, but small enough that no Timberwolves or Manticores can reach me in there. I squeeze myself into it and after just around two meters, the cave expands a bit. Just large enough, that I can now stand up and walk on all four, instead of the crawling I was forced to, at the beginning of it. I follow it a bit more and after a turn it ends in a room large enough to fit a full-grown manticore. I go into the center of this room, curling myself into a ball, just moments before I fall asleep.
> 02 First steps into Ponyvile
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: arrival + 2 days, location: Everfree Forest close to Ponyville



A full day has passed since the evening I lost Twilight in this forest and the second one is also nearing its end. This means that I spent almost two days searching for a way out of it, in which I didn’t have anything to eat and only a bit of water to drink, from some small creeks. There had been a few bushes with berries, but since I have no clue which of them could be dangerous, I decided to play it safe and ignore them, at least for now. But with my empty stomach, I begin to wonder if I should just try some berries on the next bush and hope that they aren't poisonous.

I walk in silence, thinking really hard about this problem and because of that it takes me a while to realize that even with the approaching night, the forest begins to get brighter. I look up from my hooves and far ahead, I am finally able to see the end of the forest. With the end of those dark and depressing forest in sight, everything begins to feel lighter and my speed increases from a slow walk to a quick trot.

It takes me not long to reach the forest border and a long forgotten feeling of joy spreads through my body when I make my first steps on an open field, after all this time in the Everfree forest. However I can't see much since it appears that I left the forest in a small valley and have to get out of it, if I want to find out more about my location. Luckily, it's surprisingly easy and there is a small hill nearby. The moment I reach the peak of it, an amazing view reveals itself to me and I can't do anything other than stare at it for several minutes, taking in the landscape I have never seen before.

Behind me is the endless sea of trees I just left earlier. When I look to my left, I can see a wide open area and in the far distance, the beginning of another forest. Slowly, I begin to turn my gaze more to the right, but see nothing else than a wide open sea of green for a while, until I spot a small town only a few kilometers away. If my guess is correct, this town should probably be Ponyville and far behind the town, I am able to see a large mountain. With the location and the size of the mountain in mind, I just assume that this has to be the Canterhorn. But since I can't see Canterlot itself, I am uncertain about this.

The walk to Ponyville itself is uneventful and long, but it is quite enjoyable after Princess Luna finally raised the moon. I stumble more than once over my own hooves, with my eyes glued to the night sky, then where I am actually going. Even if this isn't the night sky I am used to, it is an impressive sight, something I couldn't enjoy for a long time. Now I just have to use the opportunity at hoof. I may be used to staying up almost all night and sleeping half of the day away, but I barely could motivate myself enough to actually leave my home. On the rare occasions I did this, I was either too drunk to do anything when the night came or it was so cloudy that I just couldn't see anything.

When I finally entered Ponyville, I could have meant that I just walked into a ghost town, wouldn't there be lights burning in most of the windows? I roam the streets randomly till I reach the marketplace and search for leftover food, that wasn't sold or lost by somepony, but since I am unable to find anything I begin to grow devastated for anything. I think by now I would have even tried some of those berries. "Honestly, who cares if they are poisonous when the other option is death by starvation?" With these thoughts and similar in my mind, I leave the marketplace behind me and begin to wander towards the outskirts of the town.

I don't know why, but something draws me towards a small alley and at the end of it I see a grey garbage can. Before I even realize it, I do something I never expected myself to do and quickly push the lid from it. Barely able to reach it at all I grab the top with my hooves and pull myself up, leaning slightly over the rim so that I can take a good look into it. The garbage can is almost half full and from everything inside there, I can clearly see the corner of two pizza cartons. I try to reach them with my forehooves, but when my forelegs prove to be too short, I lean even more into it, until I lose my balance. This causes me and the garbage can to topple over and buries me halfway in the trash.

Most would be upset to be covered in all the trash and dirt, but at the moment I am unable to care about this. I pull the pizza carton out of the mess and open the first one. The moment I realize that it still contains an only halfway eaten Pizza, I just can't resist screaming a loud "YES" in joy. Soon another "YES"echoes into the night air, when I realize that two of those toppings are part of my favorites. I don't care about the paprika or the corn, they aren't bad, but what really makes my heart beat faster is the garlic and the onions. "Honestly, a pizza without garlic and onions is just a terrible crime," is all I am able to think, when I grab the first slice and happily start to eat my first meal in almost three days.

I am so focused on my meal that I don't even hear the approaching hoofsteps from behind me, nor do I care at the moment so the voice that speaks to me suddenly catches me totally by surprise. "And what do you think you are doing here young miss?"

I turn around with half of a pizza slice still hanging out of my mouth and see a grayish blue pegasus mare with red eyes and a very light turquoise tail and mane, which is kept together by a pink bow, staring down at me. Her eyes go wide in shock, when she sees the pizza slice in my mouth. "Don't tell me you are actually eating that old, nasty thing."

Carefully, I lay it down back on the carton, to save it for later and answer. "Okay, I won't tell you that,"

"Ugh, that is not what I meant," she replies with an annoyed sigh in her voice, before she comes closer and pulls the pizza away. "And now you tell me why you are out alone at this time, sitting in my trash.”

"Well I was or am still starving and I was looking for something to eat. I did look into that garbage can, but unfortunately I lost my balance and fell over with my snout still deep in it."

"That explains why you are sitting in THAT, but why had you been looking in there for food in the first place," she asks with a groan, clearly disapproving of my food source.

"I didn't have anything to eat in over two days and just made it out of that dark forest a few hours ago," I reply, while pointing towards the Everfree forest with my right hoof, hoping that she doesn't ask how I ended up there. This would be something I rather not try to explain, unless it is absolutely necessary and even then, there is the possibility that she doesn't believe me.

"Do you mean that you spent the last few days in the Everfree forest," she asks really shocked about my answer, when I make it sound like it would be nothing special. I just give her a nod in reply, while still pointing towards the forest.

"Anything else you want to know or can I finally continue my meal, before I find some place to sleep?" I try to stay as calm as possible, but I fail to hide the fact that I am a bit upset about the fact that my first meal in over two days got interrupted.

She slightly relaxes, the moment she hears this and either way she doesn't realize that I am slightly upset or she simply doesn't care. "That won't be necessary," she says in a soft voice, "you will sleep with me tonight."

"Wh- what?" I mumble, unable to comprehend what she just told me and after a few moments of silence, I answer in a way she clearly didn't expect, if I read those shocked expressions correctly. "Okay, but what do you want in compensation for this?"

"Why in Tartarus would I want anything from you, you are just a filly after all."

"I don’t know, isn't that how things usually work?"

"Luna forbid, I would never take advantage of any pony in need of help." She exclaims pretty upset about the idea, that somepony actually would consider this.

"Really?" I ask her, unable to believe what she just said.

"Of course silly. Is it really so hard for you to understand, that I just want to help you, because it is the right thing to do?" She replies with a growing smile on her face, but this changes the moment my tears start to flow and I begin to cry. Now clearly shocked by this reaction, she runs the few remaining steps over to me and pulls me into a tight hug. She holds me close to her, not caring how filthy I am currently, and gently strokes my mane, to make it easier for me to calm down.

"Thank you," is all I am able to answer with a last sob, after a while. She continues to hold me for a bit longer, before she starts to pull away. Unwilling for this moment to end so soon, I hastily clinch into her fur and ask. "Can you please hold me just a bit longer?"

Without hesitation she pulls me close again and I rest my head in her fur for a bit longer, before we separate for the final time. She looks at me for a moment, before she places me on her back and marches us into her house, joking about the bath we both obviously need now.
> 03 The first night with Flitter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the house, she tells me to wait in the hallway while she starts our bath. Within a few moments she comes back and leads me into the kitchen and rewarms some leftover oatmeal, from her dinner earlier. "You know, this was meant to be my breakfast tomorrow, but I think you need that more."

"Thank you," I answer before I start with my dinner and after a few spoonfuls of it, a huge grin appears on my face. "Wow, this tastes amazing."

"Really," she asks, "I thought it was a bit dull, since I had not enough cinnamon left." She answered surprised, "but after how long you had been without food, I bet everything would taste good."

"No, really, it just tastes good," I reply with a smile.

"That's nice to hear, but would you mind telling me about earlier, what caused this reaction of yours?"

I drop the spoon into the bowl, suddenly feeling no appetite at all, before I answer. "You mean when I had to cry earlier?" The nod she gives me as a reply is nothing I like, since I try to avoid talking about my past, but I feel that at least in this case, it won't hurt to tell her the truth. "It's just, I can't even remember anymore, when somepony has been that nice to me, without wanting anything in return." As if she would know that I am fighting back my tears, she comes to me and pulls me in another gentle embrace.

We sit there for several minutes before she grabs me by my neck and walks into the bathroom, only to drop me into the already filled bathtub. Only seconds after I return to the surface, from my unwilling dive, she also steps into it and starts to scrub my back. "So, while we get you clean again, do you mind if we talk a bit?"

"As long as I don't have to answer when it becomes too painful for me, then I don't see any problem." Inwardly, I hate this idea, but I know that I just can't keep silent forever. The only thing I can hope for now, is that she won’t ask about my past, at least for today.

"Okay," she answers with a hint of disappointment, but she doesn’t press the issue any further. "Let's just start with something simple then, something that is long overdue by now."

"Oh, what would that be," I ask her without any idea of what she could mean.

"Introductions, silly. Or do you want me to continue, to just call you young miss, missy or anything similar I may come up with?"

Hearing this I can’t resist the urge to facehoof. "Okay, that should have been obvious." I reply with a smile, before we both break out into a fit of laughter.

"I am Flitter," she starts, "but what's your name missy."

"You can call me Silent Wing if you want." I responded after a moment of thinking, knowing that my real name wouldn't fit anymore and for a long time, I didn't think of it as a good fit anyway. I always preferred to be called by the names of my gaming accounts. Also I am more used to them, but none of them would be a good fit for a pony, at least here in Equestria.

"That's a nice name," she says while starting with the cleaning of my mane, "but I think I will just call you Wingy, that sounds way cuter."

"But I don't want to be cute," I exclaimed in disagreement.

"You sure about that Wingy? Because that won't change the fact that you will be the cutest filly in town, when I am done with you," a excited Flitter answers to my absolute horror.

On the other side, I am curious about what she wants to do to me and decide that I can at least see the end results, before I object anymore. "Okay, I give it a shot, but we can change it, if I don't like it?"

"If it really makes you that uncomfortable, then yes." There is a short pause for a moment before she continues, "Now can you tell me anything about how you ended up alone in the middle of the Everfree forest?" She asks before switching to my tail.

Shit, I knew a question like this would come, but at least this is one of the few I have no problem with giving an honest answer. "Sorry Flitter, I have no idea how I ended up in that place. The only thing I know for sure, is that I woke up in that old castle ruin and then got lost in it."

"That isn't much, anything else you could tell me, maybe about your family or where you are from," she asks the question I fear the most, while starting to work on my belly. I could tell her everything, but I doubt she would believe any of it. She would probably think that I am delusional or something like that and just drop me off at the next asylum. That is one of the few things I want to avoid at any cost, so maybe it's better to keep quiet about that for now. "Hey anypony home in there," she asks and only now I realize that I had been lost in thoughts for more than just a few minutes. I look at her with a pleading look, hoping that she doesn't press any further. " Maybe it's the best, if we stop at this for today, since you clearly don't want to talk about that."

"Now, since you are all clean again, do you want to relax a bit more in the warm water, while I take care of myself or shall I just tell you the way to the bedroom?"

"If it's okay for you, I would like to keep you company." Honestly, I just don't want to be alone at the moment, with all what's happening in the last time.

"Okay, but could you scoot over a bit, so that I can move more freely?"

Without hesitation I do as asked, before I pick up the conversation on my own again,with the intention to direct it into a slightly different direction. "So Flitter, do you mind telling me a bit about yourself?"

"I don't see why not, even if there isn't much to tell."

"You sure about that," I ask her, curious about what answers she will give to me.

"Well I have an older sister, even if it's only by fifteen minutes." She admits with a smile on her face.

"Is she anything like you?"

"If it wouldn't be for our different mane styles, I am sure you couldn't tell us apart."

"Sure that you don't exaggerate?"

"Totaly," she says, before stepping out of the bathtub, after finally finishing with cleaning. "But you will find out soon enough."

It catches me totally by surprise when she again grabs me by my neck and lifts me out of the bathtub only to assault me immediately with a towel. "What do you mean by that," is all I get out while she completely rubs me dry.

"She is currently in Cloudsdale, helping out in the weather factory, but she will be back on friday." There is silence between us for a moment, before she dries herself off and continues. "But I think that will be enough for today, since we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Huh, what do you mean by that," I ask very confused, since I haven't thought ahead for a while now. Normally, I don't plan ahead at all, so there was also no idea what the next day could bring.

"You will see, but for now it's bedtime, so just follow me."

Again I do as asked, when she begins to lead me up the stairs and into a room with a large bed, that could easily fit more than three ponies. I am still wondering why there is such a large bed, when she goes into it and patts her hooves on a spot directly next to her, signalyzing for me to join her in it. It doesn't take long for me to lay down next to her and move as close to her as possible, but still trying to be not too intrusive. She gently places the covers above us, before pulling me even closer with her hooves and placing a wing above me. "Good night Wingy."

"Night Flitter," I respond, before I enjoy this close embrace for a while, until I am finally able to fall asleep.





When the sun begins to rise, shining directly into my eyes, I simply turn around and try to hide my head in Flitters chest fluff. Sadly she already got up and so I have no other option then to pull the covers all above my head. It may not be as comfortable as her fluff, but it fulfills its purpose. At least until somepony pulls the covers rudely away. "Get up sleepyhead, or do you want to let the breakfast get cold?"

I wonder how breakfast can get cold, since for me it always has been a cold meal, but certainly, she has my attention now. After a quick sniff, I recognize the lovely smell of waffles and I wonder if I can have some applesauce or strawberry jam with them. Flitter has already gone back into the kitchen, but with that lovely smell in the air, it's simple for me to find the way, since my nose is leading the way.

"So you finally decided to get up? I already was thinking about coming back with a bucket of cold water."

The moment I hear this, my eyes grow as large as dinner plates, unwilling to believe what I just heard. "Would you really be that cruel," I ask in disbelief.

"If you don't want to find out, maybe you should try to get up earlier." A big grin is appearing on her face, when she gives me her scarry answer. The simple fact that she didn't deny it, but she also did not admit it, let me come to a simple conclusion. Don’t test her!

I sit down on my chair and take a look at the big stack of Waffles in the middle of the table, before I seek the table for anything I could put on them. She puts each of us one of the waffles on our plates for now and I decide to went for a simple powdered sugar* topping for now. I take a few bites of my waffle, before I ask Flitter currios. "So what did you mean yesterday, when you said that we have a busy day ahead of us?"

She takes a bite from her own waffle, before she responds in a tone that makes clear that there is no way for discussions. "A visit at the Hospital would be our first stop. I don't know how long you were on your own and I want to make sure that you didn't catch anything." I think for a moment about it before she continues, without giving me a chance to answer or complain in any way. Since I have nothing to complain with that I don’t mind it and continue to listen.

"Next would be a quick stop at Town Hall, where we have a few important things to discuss with Mayor Mare, before we give Rarity a short visit."

"What is so important that we have to go to Town Hall," I ask her curios.

"You will see, but I have a feeling that you will like it."

"Okay, I trust you with that," I answer while grabbing me a second waffle, this time putting some strawberry jam on it. "Is that all or do you have anything else planned for today?"

"Expect for a small lunch and a quick visit to miss Cheerilee, we have to make a short stop at my work, but the rest of the day is free." With that out of the way, we continue our breakfast while making a few jokes. And I caught her a few times, where she tried to find out a bit more about me, but luckily I managed to dodge those questions.

We get up and put the dishes in the sink, both of us are too lazy to clean them now, before I walk towards the door. Sadly I never reach it, since a certain somepony is holding me by my tail. "Where do you think you are going missy?" I point at the door, with the clear intention for us to start, but that isn't the case. "Follow me," she says, before she leads the way into the living room and sitting on the couch, pointing with her hoof on the spot next to her. I do as indicated without objection, before she grabs a brush and starts to take care of my mane. "Did you really think, I would let you go out of the house with this mess of hair you call a mane?"

"It isn't that bad." I object, making clear that I disagree with her on this point.

"You are right, it's worse or didn't you see that bird at the window eyeing your mane, clearly thinking if it would make a good nest?" I follow her gaze to the window and to my shock there sits indeed a bird glaring at me. I gulp in fear that this actually could have come true, before I admit that she could be right after all.

She tells me to wait on the couch for a moment and to close my eyes, while she gets something out of her room for me. It doesn't take long for her to come back and I feel her doing something to my mane, before she tells me to open my eyes again. In front of me is a large mirror and I look directly into it. It takes a moment for me to realize that this filly in the mirror is actually me and a big grin appears on my face, when I find out what she did to my mane. "You were right when you said that I would like the results." After all, I look almost like her, except for the colors and the fact that the pink bow clashes horrible with my red mane. I can only imagine how Rarity will react, but if she is anything like in the Show, she will faint the moment she sees me.

She replies with a look that says "I told you so" before she puts the mirror away and grabs her saddlebags, before we leave the house.
> 04 A whirlwind of emotions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Directly after we left the house Flitter takes off into the air and leaves me behind, but returns immediately, the moment she realizes that I am not following her. She comes closer and tries to look into my eyes, but I quickly turn my head to the side, trying to hide my sad expression. "Wingy, what’s the matter, why didn't you follow me?"

Tears start to appear in my eyes, "It's just that I actually did never fly before, except on my snout" I admit sobbing.

"Well, we can change that if you want okay?" A grinning Flitter responds and I answer with an excited nod. "Let's start with your lessons, when we are done with our tour, okay?" She offers me, while wiping away my tears with her wings. She looks closer on my wings and a bride grin appears on her face. "And I already know with what we will begin, but for now hop on my back so we can get started. Remember the sooner we are done with our chores, the sooner we can get started on your flight lessons."

"Did somepony say flight lessons?" A voice says from above us, before a cyan mare with rainbow colored mane lands directly in front of us, directly approaching Flitter. "Flitter is today take your foal to work day or why did you decide not to show up at work till now? I have been searching you for ages."

"Horse apples, I totally forgot about that," She answers in shock.

"Well, I hope you have a good explanation, why you didn't show up till now and I had to go searching for you."

"Sorry Dash, but can I have today off," Flitter asks pleadingly."It would be really important."

"It's not only because of the flight lessons I heard you talking about," a curious Rainbow Dash wants to know.

"No, they just came up, shortly before you showed up."

Rainbow thinks for a moment, before she lets us know her answer. "You are lucky that it's an easy day for us, with only a small shower at Carrot Tops farm, but you will stop by later and explain to me the reason behind this."

"Sure Rainbow, I planned to do that anyway," she admits, "The usual place?"

"Yes, stop by anytime you are comfortable with."

"Okay, see you then Rainbow," she shouts to the already flying mare, hoping that she is still able to hear this. "Now hop on Wingy, we have a lot to do."

I follow her order without hesitation and we quickly take off and I really enjoy the feeling of the wind, blowing into my face. We fly for more than ten minutes in silence, all the while gaining altitude, until Ponyville is barely recognizable at the ground. "Put your hooves around my neck and hold to it as tightly as you can." I quickly follow her instructions and not more than a moment of time passes, after she feels my hooves around her neck, before she switches to an almost vertical dive. "WUUUHUUU," I scream in excitement before I start laughing in joy, unable to stop for the rest of the flight to the Hospital.

When I hop down from her directly after the landing, I quickly step next to her before she turns her head around and asks me with a bright grin on her face, "You really liked that, didn't you?" If she ever needed an answer to this question, the wide smile that almost breaks my face in two, should be enough of an answer for her.

We walk into the Hospital and at the reception waits a white earth pony mare, with a pink mane and a white cap, bearing a red cross with hearts in every corner on her head. "That is the first time I see a filly entering the hospital with a smile on her face," she says with a surprised look, directly at me.

"Hello Nurse Redheart," Flitter greets her. "I think that's just because we shared her first flight experience together, but that's not why we are here today."

"Okay, that explains it, but why are you here today Flitter?" which is followed by a short pause, before she continues surprisingly calm. "But since you aren't carrying an injured Rainbow Dash, I assume it's nothing urgent?"

"That's correct, Wingy here needs a full checkup," she says while pointing at me with one of her hooves while I glare at her, disapproving that she used the shortened version of my name.

"Okay that's something easy, but I don't think you have been here before." I just shake my head, denying this. "Then we need to make a new Patient file, but that should take only a minute."

She grabs some formulas from under her desk and a pen before she begins with her questioning. "Okay, full name?"

"Silent Wing."

"Gender and Pony type are clear or are you trying to hide a horn in this mane of yours?" I shove my mane aside, but luckily the only thing it spots, is an empty forehead, before I let it fall back in place. "So can you please tell me your birthday and birth town?" When I again shake my head, she looks confused at Flitter, but when she doesn't react either, she looks back at me and asks, "and why is that so?"

"I just don't know, but what do you think of how old I am when you look at me?" I ask her with a cheeky grin on my face, but the moment I realize how much it annoys her, I drop it instantly.

"I would think about six or seven, but we can cover that later, with the usual tests."

She gives up after a few more questions I can't or just refuse to answer, before she leads the two of us into an examination room. The three of us wait there for a few moments before an amber Unicorn stallion with brown mane and tail in a white doctor's coat steps into the room. "Hello together, I am Doctor Horse, how can I help you today?"

Before anypony is able to, Flitter takes over the conversation, without giving Nurse Redheart any chance to object. "Wingy here needs a full check up, since she spent a long time alone in the Everfree and I want to make sure she didn't catch anything."





Three hours later we are finally able to escape this place and I can only hope that I never have to return there again. Even if the ponies there had all been nice, the examination itself was horrifying for me, with all the things they made me do, but to my great relief they didn't find anything. Without Flitter at my side, always giving me a supporting smile when I needed it or distracting me when something painful was about to happen, I doubt that I would have made it as good through it as it went. "Finally, I already thought that this would never end," I hear her say in a voice that only screams relief.

"Hey, you weren’t the one they were poking and stinging all the time," I reply a bit upset.

"Yes, but I still think that they found a way to slow down time, to torture everypony in there even more."

It begins with a small giggle, but quickly we lay on our backs, unable to control our laughter anymore. It takes a while for us to recover from this and when we are finally able to control our bodies again. "What was the next thing we wanted to do Flitter," I ask her while getting up again, but before she is able to reply, my stomach gives the answer for us with a loud rumble.

"Originally Town hall, but I think lunch sounds like a better idea for the moment."

"Obviously, so where shall we go?"

"Hayburger or Sugarcube Corner? It's your decision," she offers me, but the answer that "I have never heard of both of them before" was nothing she expected, since she stops mid step.

"WINGY," She shouts in shock, "please tell me that isn't true. How can a six year old filly never have heard of them before?"

"Should I?" I ask her, surprised that she makes such a fuss out of it.

"That's it, we are going to Hayburger right now, since that is more important." She says before she rushes me directly towards the town center and I am almost certain that I heard a loud and upset "HEYYY," coming out of one of the bushes.

After a short walk we reached the Hayburger restaurant and went inside, surprisingly there is only a small line at the counter, but it still gives me enough time to take a look at the menu. Flitter only takes a glance at the 'currently available' register, but after a frown she looks back at me. "You know what you want Wingy?"

"Yeah, I think that I will just get a simple burger, a limo, and a portion of hayfries," I reply, not really confident in my choice.

"Okay, why do you not go ahead and pick a place, I will be along with our orders shortly." She suggests, at the same time pointing with one of her wings to the seating area. I follow her gesture and walk in the direction she is pointing. Since all of these places are in direct sunlight, it takes me some time to find a satisfying one, with almost no sunlight pointing at it.

I am absolutely certain that I indeed managed to find the darkest place in this restaurant and quickly claim it as mine, before Flitter comes over with an overloaded tray between her wings. "So here is where you chose to hide," she says with fake mockery before she places the tray on the table and I can only stare at the mountain of food in front of me.

"What is all of this," I ask Flitter slightly confused by the sight of mount Hayburger in front of me.

"This is our, but mostly your lunch."

My confusion increases slightly by that answer, "all of that? I thought that I just asked for one simple burger and some fries?"

"You did, but I thought maybe you want to try something else, if you have the opportunity now. Besides, the doctor said you are a bit malnourished and that's nothing I let happen to my little filly." She says matter of factually and did I start to imagine things now or did she just really put a bit more weight on the word "my"?

"Okay, but I am not sure if we can actually eat all of that," I reply while pointing at the mountain of food between us, before I unwrap one of the burgers. Knowing that I hadn't been able to eat any hay as a human, I just imagined it to be an 'ordinary' Burger, to overcome my insecurity of my ability to eat it.

I finished half of the Burger before I realized that actually nothing bad, like vomiting or stomach cramps happened and put that mental blockade down. Now enjoying every bit of this delicious goddess, before I grab some of the fries. I have to admit that they are good as well, but nothing compares to real Belgian fries.

"Now do you mind explaining, why you took this shady place if there are a lot more others available?" Flitter asks me after a while, between two bites of her own Burger.

"Huh?" I ponder for a moment, "Why do you think they are better? I think that I picked the best of them all."

"But the light does barely reach this spot, if I wouldn't know any better, I would say you try to avoid sunlight." I flinch the moment this touches my ears, when she comes closer to the truth than I like to admit. I realize too late that this didn't go by unrecognized, when a shocked expression is creeping into her face."Wingy," she says softly while getting up and walking over to me, "why, please just tell me, why do you find it necessary to do that?"

I hesitated for a bit before I got up and let myself fall into her open held hooves and let them take me into a tight embrace, before I am able to answer. "It's ... It's just that almost everything bad that happened to me, was in bright sunlight. From the moment I realized that, I tried only to get into this cruel light, when I had no other choice."

"If sunlight makes you so uncomfortable, how do you think about the darkness, especially the night?" She whispers in my ear, barely audible before she lays her wings around my back.

"It's beautiful. I always feel most comfortable when I am standing under the night sky. The soft moonlight shining down on me, accompanied by all those wonderful stars and this peaceful silence around me," I reply dreamily. Only thinking about such beautiful things always helps to lighten my mood and this time, it isn't any different.

"The way it sounds, you really prefer the night above the day," she responds and waits for a moment, before she continues. "Wingy, it is unimportant if the sun or the moon is currently in the sky, because I will always keep you safe."

"Really????"

"Really Wingy, I would do everything to keep you safe."

"Thank you mommy," are the last words I am able to say before I fall asleep in her hooves.

.
> 05 A eventful afternoon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hold her for a little bit longer, after she fell asleep, before I release her carefully out of my grip, always making sure to not wake her, before I place her as gently as possible on my back. I get a few additional Bits out of my saddlebags and place them next to the mess we made on the table, before stepping out of the door, thinking about where I could find Rainbow now.

Officially she should be in her office right now, but everypony that knows her also knows that Rainbow likes to bend the rules in her favor. With that knowledge in mind, I soar through the skies and I sigh in annoyance, when I find her napping on a cloud. "Great now I have to wake her..." 

"Why does she always have to be asleep when I need to talk to her," I wonder out loud, when a great plan begins to form in my mind. With an evil grin on my face I push her cloud towards the park until she is only a meter above the surface from the lake. I stuff two pieces of cloud into Wingys ears, to make sure that she won't wake up from Rainbows reaction.

With that taken care of, I mentally prepare myself for the onslaught, that is sure to come, before I buck the cloud out of existence. Rainbow wakes up in the same moment as the cloud ceases to exist and gasps in shock, before gravity takes hold of her again and she lands with a loud "SPLASH" in the cold water of the lake.

Only a few seconds pass, before she breaches the surface and after a short look around she spots me and asks surprisingly calm, but still with a bit of annoyance in her tone. "Was this really necessary Flitter?" She swims to the coast and climbs out of the lake, before shaking all of the water out of her coat. "So what is so important that you thought, waking me would be a good idea?" She asks, trying really hard to keep her anger under control.

"First of, waking you is never a good idea." I admit which causes both of us to giggle. "And second, you wanted me to come over to explain some things." I look around and see some ponies already staring at us, before I add almost in a whisper, "But I would prefer, if we could talk about this at a bit more private place."

This causes her to frown, but when I point at my back she understands, before she asks me to follow her. We take off and fly slowly directly to her home. She leads me directly into her living room and offers me a seat on her couch, which I refuse kindly since Wingy is still sleeping on my back. It takes me a bit to get comfortable, but after a few moments I explain to her what happened in the last two days. She listens all the time and I almost break out into  tears, when I reach the part where she already started to call me mommy in the Hayburger restaurant. It takes me a moment, before I get my emotions back under control. In which she thinks about what I just told her.

With sad eyes and deep concern in her voice she asks me, "You really have no idea where she comes from or what happened to her?"

"No Rainbow, I found her eating Pizza out of my trash and the moment I saw this, I knew that I can’t let her go. I would never forgive myself, if I refuse to help her." Hearing this, Rainbows eyes go wide in shock, but she gestures for me to continue.

"She said something about the Castle of the two pony sisters and that she spent the last few days in the Everfree forest, but nothing from her time before this."

A concerned Rainbow Dash looks into my eyes and asks me. "Could this have anything to do with Twilight, wanting us to check the Castle for anything unusual, since the Princesses detected a large magical surge there, only a few days ago?"

Now my eyes go wide in shock about this new bit of information. "I don't know Rainbow, but that could be possible. I will ask her about this, but I also don't want to pressure her into anything." I admit, not even trying to hide how worried I am.

She comes over to me and carefully lays a wing above my back and Wingy. "I can understand that Flitter and I will help you as much as I can. Take this week off, I think it would be better for the two of you to spend some time together, then when you are with us, constantly worrying about her."

"Thank you Rainbow," I reply very grateful. "You don´t know how much this means for the two of us."

Whatever I wanted to say in addition is forgotten, the moment I feel some movement on my back and hear a cute yawn. I turn around and look a very tired filly directly into her eyes. "Finally awake sleepyhead?"

"Uhu," Wingy responds before looking around and asks confused, "this isn't the Hayburger anymore, is it?"

"That's right kido, you are at my place," Rainbow confirmed with a sly grin on her face, "do you like it?"

"Don't know, haven't seen much, so it wouldn't be fair to judge it now." Wingy admits, before hopping down from my back. "This feels so weird, what kind of floor is that?" she asks with a frown on her face.

"Cloud of course," a dumbfounded Rainbow Dash response. 

"Wow, this feels so amazing." She exclaims, her face lightening up in excitement, before she starts to dig herself into the cloud, trying to make small structures out of it. "Never thought I could stand on clouds."

I turn to a speechless Rainbow and whisper into her ear, "Do you  understand now why I am worried about her, every pegasus foal should know this, so why doesn't she?"

We both watch her excited playing with the clouds for a while, before I interrupt her. "Don't you think it's a bit rude to bring Rainbow’s floor in such a disarray?" 

She stops playing and looks down on the floor in shame. "Sorry miss Dash."

Hearing her that sad makes me almost regret what I just said, but before I am able to respond in any way possible Rainbow steps into action. With a smile on her face she walks towards Wingy and lifts her head with the tip of her feathers. "Don’t be, kid. I bet I would be that excited to, if I would set my hooves on a cloud for the first time."

Wingy blinks for a moment, unsure how to respond to this, before she asks her. "How can you not have a first experience like this, if you live literally in the Clouds?"

"Oh that's simple, I was born in Cloudsdale and didn't set a hoof on the ground until I was a bit older than you." She explains with a big grin on her face.

"Oh, so you had a similar experience, but only the other way around?"

"Yeah and it's quite the funny story, if I look back now," a grinning Rainbow Dash admits.

"That may be the case Rainbow, but Wingy and I still have a few things, which we should take care of today first." 

"Do we have to mommy?" Wingy asks with a sigh, clearly disappointed about the sudden change of the situation.

It hurts me to see her that sad, but as much as I would like to hear this story on my own, I can't change the situation. "Yes Wingy, it is really important that we at least go to town hall. There are a few things we just have to get out of the way today." 

She sighs again in defeat, head hanging low, before she hops back on my back. "Okay mommy."

"Hey Rainbow, want to come over tomorrow, maybe you could then tell Wingy your story?" I look towards Wingy and see a smile beginning to form on her face, before I again focus on Rainbow.

She thinks for a moment about it, before she replies with a smile on her face. "Sure Flitter, would 7:00 be okay for you?"

This catches me off guard and my Jaw almost drops to the ground. Did she really just change a simple visit into a date? Well who am I to complain? We have known each other now for a while and I must admit the idea of her as a herdmate, isn't a bad one. "Okay, I will prepare something nice."

"Cool."

We say our goodbyes and step out of the door, before we fly back into the town center, which ends again in an almost vertical dive, much to Wingys delight. We enter the building and at the reception stands a dark grey Unicorn with green eyes and a dark magenta mane, which is currently preoccupied with some documents. "Excuse me mister."

He looks up from his documents with a sigh before, he turns to us. "Sorry that I didn't notice you earlier mam, but as you can see, I was focused on something else." There is a short pause in which he places the documents neatly on the side of his desk, before he focuses fully onto us. "Good day miss, I am Written Script, how may I help you today?"

"Good day to you as well mister Script, I am Flitter and this cute filly is Silent Wing. We have some important things to discuss, but we would really appreciate it, if this would be possible in a bit more private area." 

He looks a bit surprised by my request, but recovers quickly before he replies with a smile. "Of course miss, If you would please follow me, my office is at the end of the corridor."

He leads us down the corridor and into a small windowless office with an oak table in the middle and three chairs of the same material around it. He mentions us to sit down before he smiles at us. "Now miss Flitter, how can I help the two of you."

I shift in my chair, always feeling a bit uneasy when I have to talk with officials, before I gather myself. "There are quite a few things we should do, but for the beginning you should know that my ultimate goal is to adopt Wingy." Before any of us two is able to react, a black and red filly jumps from her own seat on mine, which causes the chair to fall backwards  and I feel something holding me down. The moment I feel a pair of legs wrapping themself around my neck, I realize just what's holding me down and I return the embrace. 

I can hear Wingy sobbing and when I look her into the eyes, I am able to see some tears in them. "Thank you mommy." she says happily, and we lay there a few more seconds, before we both get back up again. I set the chair up, but when Wingy is about to go back on her own, I grab her by the neck and place her on my legs.

Written Script had observed the entire scene and looks at us with an unreadable facial expression, until a big smile begins to form in his face. "I think that covers the consensus between the Foal and the potential adoptive parent, but you know that there is no turning back, once you get started with this?"

"I am aware of this mister Script, but I promised Wingy that I will never leave her and I will do everything necessary, to make this promise come true."

"I don't doubt that, from what I have just witnessed, but I think there are a few more things we have to cover first."

"Yes, lets better get started with that." I reply, before I start to explain how I met her and what I already learned from her. I tried to explain why I think it as important that she must stay with me and everything is going well, until I had to admit that I am not registered as a Foster Parent. With a sigh and a look of concern on his face, he falls silent for a while.

"That could be a problem, miss Flitter. According to the newest laws I am forced to send her to the next Orphanage, while we search for any relatives." My eyes go wide in shock when I hear this and a quick glance at Wingy reveals that she isn’t faring any better and we both are scared about what will happen next. "That is, if I wouldn’t know a few loopholes in said law." 

He opens a drawer of his desk, before he takes a short look in a lawbook, only to grab some formulas out of another drawer. "Did you by chance ever hear of the term Temporary Guardianship?"

"I can't say that I have, mister Script."

"That would have surprised me, since the law in this case is around 500 years old and only used very seldom. It applies only in cases in which a Foal has already made a strong bond to a Pony, before Foal Protective Services could be informed. The potential parent must prove that he or she is able to take care of all needs of said Foal, like in your case and it gives the authorities time to search for any living relatives. If this search doesn't bring any results within 30 days, or ponies that are clearly unable to take care of the Foal, the Foal is automatically adopted."

I stare at him unbelievable. Did he seriously just crush our hopes, only to send us back into the clouds right after? "That would be great mister Script, what do we have to do, to get this started?" I never understood those bureaucrats.

I mentally facehoof, when he says the words all bureaucrats love and everypony on the receiving end hates. "Only a bit of paperwork." I really should have seen that one coming. He may be a nice and helpful one, but the ponies of his calling can drive every pony insane with their love for Paperwork.



It takes me almost an hour, until we are done with all of it, before we are able to leave. At the end of it, Wingy was bored out of her mind and I decide, that it would be better to reschedule the visit at Carousel Boutique for the next day. I think Wingy shouldn't be too enthusiastic, but for some unknown reason, she is certain that there isn’t anypony looking for her.

She is so convinced of that, that I fear she is hiding something from me, something important. We step out of the building and I am so relieved that this nightmare is over.I take a deep breath of the afternoon air and enjoy the soft breeze, blowing through our manes. I know that Wingy doesn’t like the sun that much, but I decided that it would be better to spend some time in the Park, instead of heading directly home, after all it isn't even close to dinnertime yet.

I looked around and started to walk towards the Park with Wingy at my side, until I notice that more and more ponies are passing us, walking straight back to the marketplace. I look back and see a large crowd gathering in front of a travelling Wagon, Wingy and I exchange a few words, before we join the other ponies there, curious about what is going on. Sadly we are only able to get a place in the back of the crowd, so Wingy climbs on me and rests her forelegs on my head, so she can  see over me.

The Wagon transforms into a stage and an azure unicorn mare with a very light grey mane and tail, covered by a purple cape and hat steps out from behind a curtain. She lets a few fireworks go off and with the help of an illusion spell, she tells everypony how she beat an Ursa Major, before she challenges the entire Crowd to a magical show off.

I spot some movement in the front row, but whatever is happening there stops, the moment I hear a very familiar voice speaking up, directly above me. "Miss Trixie, can I ask you something?"

The pony that introduced herself as the great and powerful Trixie looks at me a bit confused before I point with one of my hooves upwards to Wingy. It takes her a moment to realize that Wingy was the one who spoke, before she answers a bit upset. "Sure young Filly, what do you want to know?"

"You promised us a magic show and the only thing we saw till now were some fireworks and you telling a lame fairytale, so my question is, when does your actual show start?" There is a bit of unrest in the crowd and I can hear a few voices agreeing with Wingy, but the magician doesn't look too happy about the turn of events.

She takes a few steps back, clearly shocked by Wingys words, before she raises her voice, not even trying to hide her anger. "I let you know, young one, that I could easily do it again and beat every other creature I face."

"If that's the case, why don't you prove me wrong and challenge that Ursa that lives in the Everfree, after all his cave is only a few hours away." Wingy responds calmer as I could ever be in her situation and I wonder how she is able to know that there lives an Ursa nearby. I have to ask her that later, but I have a feeling that I won’t like the story behind this.

By now, most of the crowd's attention is focused on her and a few ponies are also staring at me, which makes me feel very uncomfortable. "However I know that you would never do this, honestly who would ever face a creature that easily towers over Townhall willingly, if it can be avoided."

Now everypony turns back to the stage, waiting for the magician's response. Her face turning more and more red with anger, before she explodes. "You insolent ragamuffin question the great and powerful Trixie, I will show you how I handle such brats like you!"

Her horn starts glowing with the intent to cast a spell, but she loses concentration the moment she is hit by a flying tomato. This is only the beginning and soon the stage is completely covered in fruits, vegetables and some other things. No trace from the magician is found, after the bombardment stops. 

A cyan pegasus flies up into the air and scans the crowd until she spotts us. I recognize her as Rainbow and she flies directly to us, a cocky grin on her face. "Hey kid that was amazing, but how do you know that there lives and Ursa this close to Ponyville?"

Wingy meanwhile had climbed down from me and stood between the two of us, clearly unhappy about the question and tries to hide under me before she admits. "I may have stumbled into it’s cave a short while ago."

Rainbow and I both gasp in shock, before I grab her. "That's it, I won't let you out of my sight, before I am sure you don't get into any more trouble like that.

"Okay." She says with a sigh, head hanging low, only to raise it a few moments later again, with a pleading look on her face. "Rainbow can we two sleep at your place today?"

"Sure kid, but why?" She asks a bit surprised and I am not any better.

"Well you saw how she reacted," Rainbow gives a short nod with her head before Wingy continues. "I have a bad feeling about her and it wouldn't surprise me, if she is up to something stupid. If that's the case, I would like to be as far away from her as possible."
> 06 Flight lesson zero or how to take proper care of your wings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the great and powerful Trixie retreated from the stage, due to a hailstorm of groceries, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Park with Rainbow and Flitter. Mostly playing hide and seek or tag, but there had been also some breaks in which we three just snuggled together. Rainbow used this opportunity to tell us, how she tried and failed to save her friend Fluttershy from the horrible ground*. 

After that we went back to Rainbows house and the two started to prepare dinner, when a horrible sound was heard. I ran to Flitter, trying to hide under her from whatever creature that was. To say that I was scared out of my mind, would be an understatement.

Rainbow left the two of us alone, to find out what was going on and if anypony needs help. She returned around one and a half hours later and I wasn't surprised when she told us that two Colts lured an Ursa Minor into town, only because they wanted to see another show from Trixie. She wasn't able to defeat it, but saved the two from getting crushed by it and held the Ursa off long enough, before Twilight was able to send it back into the forest.  That was when Rainbow left, but I am curious about what happened next, so maybe I ask some ponies in town tomorrow. 

I was wondering if those two got away unpunished, like in the show when Flitter ripped me out of my thoughts. "Hey Wingy, you remember that I promised to start with your flight lessons today?" 

My eyes lit up in joy and I crawled out under her, "Yeah, but isn't it a bit too late for that by now?" I asked her, unsure how we could start with my training, if it was already dark outside.

"Not for the one I have in mind." She looked to Rainbow which only raised an eyebrow in confusion. There was a brief  silence, before she became impatient with Rainbow. "You seriously have no Idea what I mean Rainbow?" She shook her head, unsure about where Flitter was getting with that, but waited patiently till Flitter continued. "Okay Wingy, you know that our wings are the thing that makes us Pegasi special, compared to the other Ponies?"

"Yeah, but I have no idea where you are going with this mom and I don't see how that’s related to flight lessons." I ask her as confused as Rainbow about where she is going with this. 

"That is simple. I think today it's one of the more important, if not the most important of all lessons you will ever get." 

Now I am curious where she is going with it and I switch glances between the two. Her look of confusion is now gone, and is that confidence what I am also seeing there? "You have any idea where she is going with this Rainbow?"

Rainbow turns her head to me and with a cocky grin on her face she responds. "If she is going where I think she is, then she is right. Maybe I wouldn't have picked that one as the first lesson, but she is right when she says that it’s very important."

She walks over from the Cloud Cushion she had been sitting on all the while and takes a very good look on both of my Wings. "Say Wingy, when was the last time you preened your Wings?"

Now I am speechless, I know that it’s necessary for all pegasi to preen and that at some point I must do that, but I just have no clue how. I hadn't preened at all since I arrived at the Castle and I couldn't just tell them that I only recently gained my wings, so I have no other chance then to bend the truth a bit. "I really don't know." I admit my head hangs low in shame, but not for the reason the two may think.

"That explains a lot," both of them answer in unison, before only Flitter continues. "Rainbow would you mind showing her how it's done while I explain it to her?"

"Actually Flitter, I would prefer to do it on my own," she asks and after a sign of approval from Flitter, she whispers something into her ear, but I can't figure out what she says.

She makes a gesture that clearly means 'follow me',  before she walks up a flight of stairs and leads us into a short hallway, with a door at the end and on each side. "The room up front is the bathroom, to the right you find my room and to the left is the guest bedroom." She opens the last mentioned door and she lets me enter first.

My jaw drops when I realize that almost everything in this room is made out of clouds. directly opposite to the door is a large Window and you can clearly see the moon and a good amount of the stars. To the left is a small desk and a potted plant, but the thing that clearly dominates the room is a huge bed, made out of clouds. The Pillows and the Blanket are dark blue and in the center of each is the image of a winged Lightning bolt.

I don't know how long I stare at this amazing sight, but I snap out of it, when somepony softly nuzzles my neck. "I know it is cool Wingy, but I think we should get started, before it's too late." I step out of the doorway, wondering what she meant with that, before I remember that we got her for the preening lessons. Rainbow and Flitter meanwhile walked past me and are now waiting on the bed for me. 

I climb up to them and sit next to Flitter and we both direct our eyes directly to Rainbow. She spreads her right Wing and takes a good look at it, before she almost nuzzles her Wing and begins to reposition her feathers with her tongue. "Wingy please take a good look at her wings and then at your own, before you tell me the differences."

As asked, I take my time to examine Rainbows wings and I only need to take a short glance at my own, to understand what she means. "Hers are almost smooth, while on mine, the feathers point all in different directions."

"Exactly Wingy," Flitter replies with a smile. Rainbow looks up for a moment, grinning widely, before continuing to work on her wing. While I watch Rainbow for a bit, Flitter starts to explain to me why preening is so important before Rainbow interrupts her.

"Wingy come over here for a moment, I need to show you something." Curious about what she wants, I get up and walk the few steps towards her, sitting down close to her. She spreads her Wing before she points at something with a hoof. "You see that broken feather there?" I take a quick look and see what she means, before I nod in understandment. "This sucker needs to go, so a new one can grow there, wanna give it a try?"

Unsure,I look her into the eyes and after a soft nudge towards her wing, I carefully grab the feather between my teeth, trying to pull her out. When the feather doesn't budge, I put a bit more force into my efforts and slowly the feather comes out. "Wow, I didn't expect you to master it at the first try." She says while giving me an encouraging pat on my back. "Want to try a bit more?"

"Sure Rainbow," I reply eagerly, glad to have those two amazing ponies around me.

"Well, then go on." She encourages me and carefully I try to put her other feathers back into the proper place, all the time getting pointers from her. I stop when I see something unusual, it looks like there are two feathers in a position where only one should be. I mention it to her and she takes a quick look at it. "I see what you mean, under this one, there already started to grow a new one. To give her enough space for this, the upper one has to go."

Removing this one proves to be a bit more difficult and it takes me longer, but I manage to get the old one out, without damaging the new one. It takes me a while and I become significant slower at the end, but I take care of both her Wings. "Wow Wingy, you did great for your first time. Now lean back and let me return the favor."

Too tired to think about that, I rest my head in her lap before I spread my right wing. I enjoy it as much as possible, even if it tickles a bit, but at the moment I don’t care. With the time passing I get more and more drowsy and soon after she switches to my other wing I close my eyes, quickly drifting of into Lunas realm.









Soft snoring is heard from the filly lying in Rainbows lap, when she is done with preening. "You were right earlier when you said that this will help her to calm down. She was really scared of that Ursa."

"Yeah, even when I came back and told her that everything is fine again, she didn't stop shaking." Rainbow admitted carefully removing her from her lap and placing her in the bed. She tugs her in tightly before I move next to her and give her a kiss on the forehead. "You really like that kid Flitter?"

"Yes, from the moment I saw her." I admit. "And seeing her like that really warms my heart," I continue while looking directly at her. 

"I can't deny the fact that she is growing on me to." She admits and to my surprise, gently nuzzles my cheek.

"Rainbow Dash, is that what I think it is?" I ask her, slightly blushing.

"Honestly I wanted to wait till tomorrow after dinner, but I think now is as good as ever." There is a short pause and I almost fear that she makes a hasty retreat. "Flitter, I know you now for a long time and I really love you, so I just have one Important question for you." She says before dropping on her knees. "Do you want to start a herd with me?"

I don’t know how it happens, but before I realize it, I lay in her open held hooves, my own placed around her neck and tears of joy starting to come out of my eyes, running down my cheeks. "I would love to."

After that is said we hold each other tiggly for a while, just enjoying the moment, before we retread into her room. Carefully we close the door and enjoy our first night together, before we fall exhausted into a blissful slumber.







I shot awake, totally exhausted and shaking with fear from that Nightmare. The cold sweat all over my coat is sending chills down my spine, doesn't help either to calm me down. Nor the fact that I am alone in a room, I don't remember. 

I quickly make the way out of the bed I am in and step out into the hallway, before I begin to search for mommy. I walk down the stairs, searching the entire lower floor without any trace of her, before I return to the upper floor. I decide to first check out the room at the end of the hallway without any success, till only the room opposite to the one I woke up in is left unchecked.

I open the door and sigh in relief when I see her lying in a bed with another Pegasus, I don’t recognize at the moment, directly next to her. I ponder for a moment what the meaning of this is, before I decide, that this mystery is something to get solved later.

Without a second thought, I climb into the bed and try to squeeze myself between the two, without waking them.  While  mommy continues to sleep, the other Pegasus wakes up and looks slightly confused. "Wingy what's wrong?"

I recognize that voice, but I am  still unable to remember to whom it belongs, but I know that I am as safe around her as with mommy, before I admit still slightly shivering. "I had a Nightmare."

I feel her pulling me closer to her, into a tight embrace. "Don't worry Wingy, mama D will keep you safe."

"Mama D?" I ask her confused, my tired brain unable to analyze anything at the moment.

"We will explain tomorrow okay Wingy?" I hear mommy from the other side.

"Okay." I respond, satisfied by her answer, before she scoots closer and I feel myself pressed between the two before I feel two wings playing themself over me, with the purpose to keep me warm. "Now try to sleep honey, okay?"

"Okay mommy." I close my eyes and soon fall in a deep and dreamless slumber.
> 07 Rumble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long night’s rest and a surprisingly good breakfast of this weird thick Pancakes (honestly, I prefer the thin version from my old home), all three of us sat down on the couch in Rainbows living room. They explained to me why Rainbow wants me to call her mama D now and what that would mean for the future and the three of us. Since I can't fly yet, we decided that mama D would move in with us, at least for now and hopefully without any complaints from Cloudchaser. 
 
She would occasionally fly back to make sure there were no problems with the house, since cloud homes are high maintenance buildings and to get a few things she would need.
 
Cloudchaser, that was another important point. Flitter informed Rainbow that she originally planned to start a herd with her, another mare and asked if it would be okay for her to join, if she wants to. Rainbow wasn't surprised by this and agreed without hesitation. 
 
Rainbow packed her most important stuff and left most of the rest behind. We flew back to our home where Rainbow dropped her stuff in the room in which I spend my first night with Flitter, before she headed out to work. Looks like even if she is Captain of the weather team, she just can't skip work herself, only give others some vacation time.
 
Mommy and I left shortly after her, flying towards Carousel Boutique, to see Rarity’s and get a few other Bows in different colours for me. Really, a red mane just doesn't match well with a Pink bow. We barely left home, when another Pegasus called for us. “Hey Flitter, wait please.”
 
We both turned around, seeing a dark grey, almost black Pegasus stallion with light grey mane and golden eyes heading towards us. “Hey Thunderlane, what's up.”
 
He needs a moment to catch up with us and adjust his flightpath, so that it matches ours and we fly next to each other. “Flitter can you maybe do me a small favor?" he asks, shortly before we land close to Carousel Boutique.

Flitter sighs a bit annoyed, obviously knowing what's going on. "Let me guess, I shall look after Rumble for a while?"

"Äh, yes. How did you know?" He asks surprised.

"Thunderlane, you only come to me if you want tips about courting my sister or when you need a Foalsitter for Rumble. So you shouldn't really be surprised." She scolds him and takes a moment of time before she answers his question "You are just damn lucky that I like that kid."

"Thank you Flitter, you are a lifesaver, I promise you to pick him up tomorrow shortly after lunch." He takes her into a short hug, earning a look from her that could kill somepony, before he tells us. "He is with Rarity, since miss Cheerilee is unable to teach at the moment," before he flies of again, not even saying goodbye.

"Is he always like this mom?" If yes, he just lost a lot of the respect, I always had for him.

She hesitated a moment before she answers, with a sigh. "Not if my sister is around, but otherwise? Yes. He tries to date my sister, but she lost any interest in him, when she found out how he truly acts around me."

"Sorry mom, I didn't want to upset you."

"Wingy, you did no such thing. I understand that you are curious about him, but you couldn't know that he is such a touchy subject for me."

"Okay, but if that's the case with him, why do him this favor?" I ask with a raise eyebrow, curious about her reason to do this.

"Rumble shouldn't pay for his brothers mistakes, that wouldn't be fair to him." She stops for a moment and with a smirk she continues. "Besides, I think you two would get along very well." She answers now much cheerfuller, then in the last few minutes, before we continue our flight. "It's good that he is with Rarity, I wanted to go there with you anyway."

"Oh, what for." I ask with fake curiosity, also hoping that she doesn't plan to put me in a dress just yet. I know that I can't avoid that forever now, since I am a filly, but I don't think that there is any need to hurry with that.

"You will see." Is all she is willing to say and I have no other option than to wonder what else is in store for me. Since Carousel Boutique is Rarity's place, it can only mean one thing. Honestly, I can imagine better things than to be poked from her with needles for hours. 

We arrive not even five minutes later at her place and I step in first with mom directly behind me. I have a hard time to suppress my laughter by the sight in front of me. A white Unicorn mare with Purple mane and tail stands with her back to us, facing a podest in front of her, but this isn't the funny thing. On the podest stands a very uncomfortable looking Pegasus Colt with black mane and tail and his light grey coat is almost completely covered from a light purple dress. I feel sorry for him and can only wonder how he got himself into this Situation. 

I want to take a closer look at the room when Flitter starts to laugh like a madpony behind me. My eyes and those of the Colt, which I assume is Rumble, met and after a moment to understand what just happened, his eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. A bright blush is spreading on his face and he begins to squirm, finding himself in a very uncomfortable position. This however rips Rarity out of whichever thoughts she just had and makes her turn around.  She blinks a moment in confusion at the sight of me standing there speechless, eyes still looked with him and Flitter still laughing behind me, before she turns back towards him. "I am sorry Rumble, I really thought that I locked this door."

I take a look at the still open door and switch the sign to 'Closed', before I kick the door close and turn back to them. "I am sorry mam, but the sign clearly said 'Open'."

"Please call me Rarity my dear, mam makes me always feel so old, but who are you, if I may ask." She asks while I give Flitter a soft nudge to make her stop laughing without any success. 

I decide to ignore her for now and give her time to calm down, while focusing back on Rarity and Rumble, who by now has clearly calmed down. "Well most started to call me Wingy," I admit with a slight blush, feeling not very comfortable with the fact that others than mom and mama D call me this. "But it's actually Silent Wing."

"Nice to meet you my dear, but why did you two decide to stop by in the first place?" She asks currios, while Rumble steps down from the podest and walks over to Flitter. I can only assume what he is up to, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wants Flitter to stop, since I return my full attention back to Rarity.

"There is a small problem," I admit while pointing towards my bow, "in  form of a lack from a better matching colour."  When she takes a better look at what I mean, she screams in shock before she faints. Seriously? I always thought the show was just exaggerating this part. 

She needs a few moments to return to the land of the living and immediately asks me. "My dear, what were you thinking when you choose this outrageous colour?"

"That nothing other was available. I admit, I was first against the bow, but it has been growing on me, from the moment mom put it there." I can't resist to smile, when my thoughts drift back to the moment where I got it from her and what encouragement from her it took, that I at least decided to give it a try. "But I think something in Cyan or turquoise would still look better, without clashing that extrem with my mane."

She looks thoughtful for a moment, before she admits, "That could actually work. Give me a moment please, I'll be right back." She walks of towards a flight of stairs and I have finally time to take a closer look at her Boutique.

When you enter the building you come into an small open space, flanked by multiple clothing racks to the left and the right, displaying all kinds of outfits. The left side seams to be a bit smaller and there are two dressing rooms behind the display area which are flanked with large mirrors. The larger side looks similar only that there are a few tables, displaying multiple scarfs and hats at the wall. At the end of the room you see the earlier mentioned podest with another clothing rack next to it. Behind you can see a staircase, which is flanked by a closed door to each side and another mirror.

The cloths on the rack next to the Podest all seem to be a lot smaller and by a closer inspection I realize that they are all Foalsized. There are Tuxedos, suits and a lot of different dresses. Curious, I begin to browse through them and only realize that Flitter and Rumble are back, when she asks me, "Anything you like Wingy?" standing directly next to me.

I look for anything that I could use as a good distraction and look to Rumble, who ironically is still wearing the dress from earlier. "You are Rumble right?" I ask him, but I notice the glare from Flitter, signalizing that she had clearly seen through my plan.

"Yes and you are Winngy, right?" he asks a bit unsure, occasionally looking back to Flitter, before I answer him.

"Yes, so do you mind telling me why you ended up as her living ponyquine?" I ask him curious, which cause him to blush a bit and a look to Flitter confirms, that she would be interested in this story to.

He gulps for a moment, before he answers, "Long story short, don't accept a bet you can't win, without knowing the consequences in advance."

"I will keep that in mind Rumble and don't worry we will keep quiet about this, isn't that right mom?" I ask her switching glances between the two of them. While Rumble still looks slightly uncomfortable, mom seams to enjoy this situation way too much in my eyes. "Rumble, I admit that you look cute like this, but are you sure that you don't want to get out of the dress?" 

My question cause him to  blush slightly at the beginning, but at the end his eyes go wide in shock, when he realize that he is still wearing the dress. He quickly gets out of the dress and drops it on the Podest, before Rarity comes back, carrying multiple boxes in her magic.

"I think something of this should be perfect Wingy," Rarity explains excited, before she sets the boxes down. When she spots the careless dropped dress, she frowns towards Rumble, before she decides to ignore it for now and opens the first box.   Revealing multiple cyan bands, which she quickly forms into bows, before she replace mine with the new ones holding a small hoofmirror in front of me. "Now what do you think?"

I am pleased with the results, but take a short look towards Flitter, curious what she thinks about it. She gives me an encouraging smile and we continue with this for the next fifteen minutes and at the end of it, I have at least six new different bows to choose from. 

Rumble and I both thought that we are finally done with it and could leave now, but after Flitter whispered something into Rarity's ear, she insisted to take my measurements 'for future use'. I believe it for not even a second, but decided to play along for now and after another ten minutes, we truly were done. When Flitter explained to Rarity that Rumble would go with us. She hadn't been happy, but mentioned something about Sweetie Belle and other important orders.

We walked over towards Sugar Cube Corner, when mom decided to drop another bombshell on us. "You two ready for a visit to the Spa now?"

"SPA?" We both spit out in perfect sink, shocked about the pure idea of this, before we look to her.

"Rumble if you don't want to, you can always go back to Rarity and we pick you up later." She asks him with a devious grin on her face. I am not sure if she means this for real or if she is just playing a cruel joke on us. 

"Fine," Rumble replies with a sigh. "Everything is better then to be poked with those needles for any longer." Unwilling to let him endure this alone, I fall in line and agree also to this.

"Good, but first let's get some snacks." She replies cheerful before heading off towards Sugar Cube Corner.
> 08 Mango
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It turned out that Flitter wasn't joking and actually went with us to the Spa, but it wasn't as bad as we two expected it to be. She just walked in with us to the reception, to make an appointment for next week. Rumble and I both declined eagerly, when the blue earth pony mare with a pink mane asked us, if we want to join her. 

With that out of the way we were unsure what to do next and so there was a short discussion in which Rumble suggest that we should get a book and take turns reading so everypony would have fun. Flitter was heads over hooves for the idea and I only agreed, after she bribed me with a milkshake later in Sugar Cube Corner. We got one of the Daring Doo novels from home and went to the park. The first two Chapters were good and I really enjoyed the story, but when it was my turn, I discovered something I feared the entire time. I couldn’t read a single word, since this script was totally foreign to me. I wasn't surprised by it, but when I realized that I had to learn how to read and write again, I broke down into tears. 

First they were shocked from my sudden outburst, but after I calmed down enough and started to explain, they understood and quickly promised to help me with that. First we tried it with the help of the current book, but our efforts weren't very  successful. Rumble mentioned that he has something at home that could help, since it helped him to learn how to read, so we decided to take a break. 

I watched Rumble and Flitter for a while before I laid down in the shadow of a tree, trying to catch up a bit on my sleep. I said tried, since barley after I laid down and closed my eyes, I heard hoofsteps coming to me and felt somepony nuzzling my check. I cracked my eyes open again and turned around to search for the source of disturbance, only to find myself nuzzle to nuzzle with mama D. "Mama D, shouldn’t you be at work?" I ask confused, since I expected her not that early.

"Already done for today Wingy." She responds with a cocky grin. "If you want to take a nap I know a better way than like this."

"Without leaving the shadow?" I ask, unsure how that could be possible.

"Sure Wingy, I just need a moment." She replies before taking off into the sky, returning with a large cloud only a minute later. Before I know what's happening, she grabs me at my neck and throws me onto the cloud, before settling down next to me. "So now mind telling me what's bothering you so much that you rather sleep, then have fun with those two?" She asks with a comforting smile, while pointing towards Rumble and Flitter.

I scoot closer to her, so that my head rests in her chestfluff, when I lay down, before looking up to her. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Wingy, I would never do such a thing." She promises and after a moment of hesitation, I tell her what the three of us found out earlier and how upset I am with my lack of progress. "I think I know someone that will be able to help you, what do you think should we visit her later?"

I have a feeling who she could mean and that's a encounter, I am not looking forward to, still slightly scared from what I know about that pony. I think for a moment how to avoid that encounter, at least for now, until I remember Rumbles words from earlier. "No, Rumble already promised to help me. But if that doesn't work, we can still visit your friend right?"

"Okay Wingy. You still want to take a nap?" She wants to know from me after a short break, but instead of answering her, I just close my eyes again. Falling asleep should be easy with such a nice fluffy cloud beneath me and my very comfortable pillow. "Nope Wingy, you have to earn it first."

I crack an eye open, looking at her. "What do you mean by earning it?"

"That you have to escape me first." She indicates with a devisius grin.

"Why should I do this," I ask her confused, unaware of the warning she gives me. "I am very comfortable at the moment." I reply before I close my eye again. 

At first everything seems fine to me and I think that the feathers brushing over me, are just from a wing she is carefully placing over me, but my eyes shot open in shock, when she furiously begins to tickle me. "Please, stop it." I manage to scream out between fits of laughter. 

"You know what you have to do for that Wingy." She replies in a short break, which I use to back a bit away from her.

On one side I really want to just lay around for a bit and sleep, but on the other side I am now too awake, to even think about it. This leaves me with only one option and I reply "as if you would ever be able to catch me," before jumping from the cloud and bolting away towards Rumble and mom.

It takes only a few moments before she gets down from the cloud to and starts pursuing me. I let her come closer to me and when she is close enough to me, I just sidestep, which cause her to crash into mom. "RAINBOW, what in Tartarus was that for?" She shouts towards her, while untangling from her. Rumble and I meanwhile rolling around on our backs unable to hold our laughter back.

"Sorry Flitt, but I have a filly to catch." She answers before running over to me and I realize too late, that watching this crash was a wrong decision, when she pokes me in my side. "tag."

"You playing tag without us?" Flitter wants to know from us, still a bit shaken from the crash.

I slowly walk over towards her and stop directly in front of her. "Well, if you insist mom." I answer before poking her in the side, "Your it," before running away.

This goes on till it gets dark and all four of us are totally exhausted by it. When we arrive home, we just have a simple meal of daisy sandwiches, before all four of us go to bed early.









It was in the middle of the night and I was shot awake from another nightmare. Unable to fall asleep again, I get out of my bed and walk to the window on the other side of the room. Carefully I push it open, trying not to wake Rumble, before I jump into the backyard. Luckily my room is on the ground floor and so it wasn't more than a meter to the ground (3.3 feet). I walked into the middle of the open area, were nothing would block the view on the night sky, before I set down in silence.

I enjoy the sight while thinking about all that happened to me since I woke up in the Castle and I jump in shock, when a voice from behind me asks. "Shouldn’t you be in bed kido?" I took a moment to recover from the shock, before I turned around, only to see two slited, glowing eyes staring directly at me. I try to back away in fear from this creature, but find myself all to soon with my back to the garden fence.

The closer the creature comes, the more I panic, until I am so scared that I close my eyes in fear of what could happen next. I hear the creature coming closer, stopping directly in front of me. "Sorry kid, I didn't want to startle you." 

Did that thing really just apologize to me? I wait for a few more moments, but when nothing bad happens, I slowly crack my eyes open. I spot the creature standing not even a meter in front of me and even if I can't see well in the dark, I recognize it immediately as a Bat-Pony. Hadn't I been so scared by his eyes earlier, maybe I would have seen the purple helmet and armor of Princess Lunas Night Guard. "Don't worry, I won't harm you." He says, while I get up and walk back to my spot from earlier to lay down again, so that I can take a good look at the moon.

I wait there and  enjoy the view till he finally comes over and sits down next to me. We both sit there in silence until he lays one of his wings protective over me, when he sees me shivering from the cold. "That feels weird."

"What do you mean kid?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Well your wing, it's just so different than those of a pegasus." I reply, without really thinking about it.

"That's all?" He pauses for a moment before he looks at me with a thoughtful expression. "Mind to tell me why you aren't in bed, like all the other day dwellers?"

Now it's my time to be confused by his words. "Day Dwellers, what do you mean with that?"

"That's how we Thestralls call the ponies, that are only awake when the sun is up," He explains. "But don’t let us get of topic. So once again, mind to tell me why you aren't in your bed?"

I sigh in defeat, before I admit. "I couldn't sleep and thought it would be a good idea to get some fresh air, since my mothers are probably busy again." I reply before adding, "The sight of the moon and the stars always helps me to calm down"

"And what's with your dad, truly there must be one in your herd." He asks surprised, after he realized what I meant with 'busy'.

I just hang my head low, shaking it in denial. "Sorry kid," he replies.

"You couldn't have known, they just adopted me recently." I tell him, unsure why I feel so comfortable around him. Maybe it's just because it’s night, like when I met mom for the first time, since I always felt safer in the dark. 

"That may be, but I still feel bad that I brought it up at all." He responds after a few moments of silence. "But that isn't all, am I correct?"

Again I shake my head in denial, before I admit, "I am scared."

"Scared?" he asks confused, "What is there to be scared young filly?"

I don't know why, but something inside me, wants me to just tell him everything. But the thought how he would react, scares me as much as the thought about how mommy and mama D would react. "Kid you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to." He offers me a way out when he realizes how uncomfortable I am.

"I- I am hiding something from them, something big and I am scared how they would react, if I tell them about it. They probably just throw me out again." I reply sobbing.

"I don't think so kid. Why would they have taken you in in the first place, if that's the case." He answers me after a few moments.

"I don´t know, maybe just to hurt me?" I reply, before adding. "Wouldn't be the first  time, somecreature pretended to be my friend just for his own amusement."

His ears twitch slightly at the word somecreature, but otherwise he stays as calm as he did for the entire time of our conversation. "You know, if they do that, then they don't deserve you."

"You really think so?" I ask a bit unsure, barely able to suppress a yawn.

"I know so." He answers immediately with a big grin. "But I think it would be better, if you go back to bed now and don't  come me with the entire I am not tired thing. You didn't hide that yawn as good as you thing."

"Damn." I reply before I get up again and walk back towards the window, I jumped out earlier.

"Hey, no cursing kid."

"Fine," I reply upset that I can't even here escape this, before I try to climb back in through the window. My hooves grab the windowsill, but I am unable to pull myself in. I try multiple times and almost want to give up, when I fell a soft push helping me inside. "Thank you sir."

"Pff, Sir is for the higher ups, just call me Mango kid." He replies jokingly.

"Only if you call me Wingy." I reply in the same joking way, shortly before he turns around. He is about to walk away, when I call out to him, having a last question for this night. "Mango, can we talk again, maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure Wingy, but a bit earlier than this tomorrow night okay?" He replies with a genuine smile.

"Okay Mango, just knock at the window then."

"Will do." He replies as a final answer, before he walks back into the night. My eyes follow him until I can't see him anymore, before I look to the bed I am currently sharing with Rumble. I wonder how he could sleep through all this, without waking up. I crawl back under the cover and snuggle close to him before I close my eyes this night for the final time.
> Interluder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Chapter takes part as the same time as Chapter 08 Mango

Canterlot Castle


Court is over since half an hour now and I am waiting for my sister in my private study, curious about what she wants to talk with me. She was very insistent in her letter, where she informed me, that she has to talk with me about something important. I am about to grab some of my own paperwork, to at least do something useful, while waiting for her, when the door finally opens and a midnight blue Alicorn walks into the room. "Tia, I am sorry that I am late,  but a certain Unicorn had to interrupt me."

"Hello Luna, think nothing of it, to be  honest I am glad that I had a bit of time of my own after court." I reply unwilling to hide my displeasure, about the events that transpired earlier.

"Let me guess, you also had problems with Blueblood sister?" she asks  me while walking over towards me and sitting down in the couch directly opposite of mine.

With a frown, I admit, that she is indeed correct with her guess. "He demands that I triple the budget for the Grand Galloping Gala, he is in charge to plan."

"Send him to nightcourt and I will make clear how I think about his preposterousness request." Luna offers to me with  a wicked grin, that makes clear that the disappointment that my nephew is, won't like what he will hear.

"I'll think about it Lulu." Wondering  what ideas she has this time, before I change back to more important matters. "So Luna, what was so important that you want to talk with me, this early in the evening?"

She drops her playful attitude, before she begins with a sigh. "It is about the events in the Everfree forest, from five days ago. I think I know what is going on there and I  started to take actions, to ensure the safety of our subjects."

Now curious about what she has to tell me, I take a sip of my tea before I gesture for her to continue. "After adjusting your students orders, I sent a small squad of each of our guards to Ponyville. Official their job is, to make sure that no beasts from the Everfree forest come close enough to be a danger for the town. The real reason for this is something we cover later, but I need to explain a few things first."

"Sister I admit that sending Guards to Ponyville is a good idea, but how could you ever think, that it's a good idea to for Twilight to abandon her current task. For what we know, whatever caused this magical surge could be extremely dangerous." I demand to know from her, raising my voice slightly so that she understands, that I certainly don't agree with her decision.

"Tia, I know it may look very irresponsible at first, but let me explain my reasoning behind my decision, before you do any further judgment." She begs me, before I can voice any more concerns.

"You beat me there sister, to judge something with a lack of informations has always been a bad choice." I admit my defeat, knowing that she has a good argument against me.

"Sister this may yet sound unbelievable, but I am certain that this magical surge was caused by the arrival of something from a different dimension and I believe that it has his origin nowhere in Equestria." Hearing this from my sister, does nothing to lessen my skepsis about her decisions, but nonetheless I gesture for her to continue.

"A few hours after the events in the Everfree, I found a new Portal in the dream realm. Normally I don't care about this, because newborn Foals make their first appearance there all the time, but this was very different from what I consider normal. When I was patrolling the dream realm, on the search for nightmares I was drawn to this portal and found something I never encountered before." She pause for a moment and gives me the opportunity to ask her questions about it, but when I just stay silent, she drinks some tea of her own before she continues.

"The portal I found there was unusual in many ways, the first was that it was marked with two different names. Quite unsure how this was possible, I decided to investigate further. The portal may just have been create only an hour ago, but it belonged to a pegasus filly that was six, maybe even seven years old."

"Luna, that doesn't makes any sense, we all know no Pony can live that long without sleep." I interrupt her and want to ask her more, but she doesn't give me the chance, when she just continues as if I hadn't said anything.

"I entered her Nightmare, willing to help her like all of our subjects, but some kind of barrier stopped me from doing more then just watch her dream. It began with her waking up in the middle of our old Castle, where she ran into your student and after a short conversation Twilight just knocked her out with a spell before she teleported the two into a laboratorie." Luna pause for a moment, taking in a few deep breaths before she continues.

"Believe me when I say, that the things she did to the filly in her thirst for knowledge, were equal in cruelty to the things Sombra did to his own subjects. It went on for hours and when she finally had all the informations she wanted, she just teleported her to a place I have never seen before. It was full with bipadeled creatures, that look similar to Minotaurs, but were a species I have never seen before. She approached them badly injured in the hope for help, but they just continued where your student stopped. Shortly after this her dream ended in a very nasty way."

"Luna, Twilight  would never do such things." I reply, upset about the fact that somepony could ever think about her in this way before I add. "And what are those creatures you mentioned?"

"Tia, from what you told me, I am willing to believe, that your student easily can get over excited in her research. But this doesn't change the fact that she somehow must have scared this filly and I am more concerned about her then your student." I don't like what she is implying here, but I can't deny that she is right, when she says that Twilight can get over excited easily.

"This and a few other dreams, I was able to see, are the reason that I forbade her to approach this filly in any way. Instead, I ordered her to search in our old Castle for any information about the magic, that may brought her to Equestria."

I think for a moment about her words, but I only see one problem with them. "And what is with the filly, do you think it's a good idea to let her all alone, if what you just told me is true?"

"Of course not Tia." She shouts at me, obviously upset about the mere thought. "I can assure you that she isn't as alone as you think and this," she says before she summons a stack of papers out of her room and let them fall on the coffetable between us. "Is the reason why I will make a trip to Ponyville next week."

I grab the papers up and quickly look over them, before a look of surprise is cast on my face, when I realize what she gave me to read. "Temporary Guardianship?" I ask confused and shocked at the same time, surprised that somepony still knows about this form of adoption, before something different caughts my interest. "Who is this Flitter and how do you even know about it?" I ask my sister, after reading the first two lines of the document.

"When it was clear to me, that she is close to Ponyville, I ordered the Mayor in Ponyville to report everything unusual directly to me. Flitter is a weatherpony in Ponyville and obviously Rainbow Dashs herdmate, but that shall be enough for now. I still have a moon to raise."

"Rainbow Dash is in a herd?" I ask her surprised, after I recovered from the shock of this news. "I wonder who the Stallion is."

"It is a very recent development and as far as I know, they are currently still searching a suitable one."

Maybe Cadence knows something about this,  she is after all the Princess of love." I mumble to myself, before I focus back on my sister. "Is it really already time to raise the moon sister?"

To my surprise she admits. "Actually, we are already a bit late. Let us take care of this for now, before we continue."

"Sure, I also let a maid bring us something to eat. You just can't live only from cake."

"Sister, you of all Ponies says this? Truly, I never expected to hear that from the Princess of Cake." Luna responds, barely able to suppress her laughter.



Around fifteen minutes later we sit back down on the couches again, enjoying a light meal, while picking up our conversation from earlier. "I know that you still have a few things you want to tell me Luna, but please explain to me, why do you seam it necessary to make a trip to Ponyville next week."

She gives me a look, that silently asks me, you didn't just say that, before she opens her muzzle again. "Tia you know that a temporary Guardianship is nothing other then, the beginning of an adoption process, right?"

"Of course I know that Luna, what do you think who made this law?" I reply upset.

"Well then you should also know, that like in every other adoption, a inspection by the Equestrian Foal Protective Service is mandatory, to ensure the wellbeing of the Foal." 

"And you want to do the inspection on your own, if I assume correctly?" I ask her, now understanding where she is going with this.

"Yes, even if I will go disguised sister, I hope to learn a bit more about her, then only the few things from her dreams."

"Mind if I tag along sister?"

"Not really, but I must interrupt this again." She stops again, but with what she says next, I can more then understand the reason. "It seams like this filly has another Nightmare." To my great surprise this isn't where she stops, instead she asks me something that she asked me never before. "Mind giving me a hoof sister? Maybe together we can break that mental barrier of her and I will finally be able to help her."


Three hours and a series of horrifying Nightmares later. *


"You understand now why I am so careful about her? For what I really send those guards there sister?" Luna asks me, her head hanging low, disappointed that we failed to help that filly. 

"Luna," I reply softly. "We will make sure that such things will never happen. I can understand why she is afraid, but I am sure that they would never reject her like that." I pause for a moment thinking what she said about the Guards, but I only have to think back to the dream, to realize just why she send them there. "Are you really so afraid that she will harm herself Luna, do you really think that she would go that far?"

"Yes Tia, I am. If you would have seen all the things, I saw in her dreams, you would think the same way. I really send those Guards down there, to let them watch her, to make sure no such things will ever happen." She admits and hearing her say all this scares me even more, then what I just saw.

"How much more is there Luna?" I want to know worried about that filly.

"I am not sure if I ever want to know the answer to this question Tia, but for every dream she has, there are at least three to four Nightmares."

"That's horrible Luna, I know we need to help her, but I have no idea how. Maybe after a good nights rest I may have some ideas, but for now I am to tired think about it."

"Then sleep well sister, I will instead go back to my duties. Nightcourt is about to start soon." Luna replies, before we both go our separate ways for this day/night.
> 09 I don't know how to name this...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flitter and I are slowly trotting home after another long day. Both of our backs are heavily loaded with all the stuff we bought today and I use every opportunity I get, to proudly show off my new saddlebags. With me soon going back to school, it was one of the many things that had to be bought, even if it wasn't the ones mommy would have preferred.

When I saw this dark blue saddlebags with Princes Lunas cutiemark on them, I just had to have them, even if it was no easy  task to convince mommy. She would have preferred some plain ones, to sew my own cutiemark on them, the day I earn it, but I was too stubborn with this for her.  Now my new saddlebags are pressing down on my back in an unusual way, filled to the brim with all the stuff I will need for school.

"Excited Wingy?" I get asked all of a sudden and my mind is ripped back into reality. "After all you will see your aunt for the first time today." She adds with a smile, when she mentions her sister.

"Yeah, Who wouldn't be?" I respond genuine happy and after a short pause adding, "You think she is already at home?"

"I don't know Wingy, but if she  isn't yet, I am sure she will arrive soon."

Soon after that is said, our home comes in sight, with lights already burning brightly in the windows. "Well somepony must be there, the only question is, if it's mama D or Cloudchaser." I ask her, silently hoping that it is the later one, since I am not a very patient pony.

"Hopefully Dashie, that would give us enough time to store away all this." She replies, taking a short glance at our overloaded backs.

"Yeah that would be nice. That stuff isn't exactly light." I agree with her, since I have problems to hide how tired I am from carrying all the weight. 

"Wingy, I told you that I'll gladly take a few more things, if it is too heavy for you." She reminds me at her offer, slightly worried, when she finally realize just how much I struggle.

"No, you already have so much." I reply, angry at myself, for showing her just how weak I really am. "Besides, there are only a few more steps left." She frowns, when she hears my reply, but says nothing else, before we finally reach the front door of our home.

Only a few moments later, the two of us stay in an empty hallway, looking disappointed through the livingroom door, when we realize that we are obviously alone. "You know where to store the groceries Wingy?"

"Yeah," I reply a bit surprised by this question.

"Do you mind to store them away, while I take care of all the other things?" She answers my unspoken question and I eagerly nod, before I make my way into the kitchen, only to be greeted by something unexpected. I stop midstep after I entered the kitchen, taken totally off guarded by the sight of the mare, looking through the cupboards, which is clearly unaware of my presence. 

It's neither momma D nor Flitter and I take a good look, a second one and a third one, just to be sure before I shout towards Flitter. "Mooooom, why is there a Wonderbolt in the kitchen?" The light arctic blue mare with light gray mane and tail jumps in shock at my sudden outburst and after a short moment of recovery, she turns around. Now I am able to look into her brilliant fuchsia eyes, before Flitter shouts her reply back.

"What are you talking about Wingy?"

"Just come down here, if you don't believe me," I reply, before I turn my attention towards that baffled mare in front of me. "Hi, you are Fleetfoot, right?"

"Äh yes," she replies before she has herself fully back together and asks slightly surprised. "And who are you? Cloudy never mentioned that Flitter has a daughter."

A short and  loud  "Fleetfoot," is all I am able to make out, before a certain pegasus rush past me and takles her to the ground.

I wait for a few minutes, until my ears stop ringing from this outburst, before I address the obvious elephant in the room "You two know each other?"

Even if still buried under mom, Fleetfoot is the first to responds. "You could say that, I used to foalsit this stormy little rascal here and her sister and it looks like she hasn't changed a bit."

"But she still can surprise us as nopony else is able to." A new voice from behind me continues, making it sound like there wasn't even a short pause between when they both spoke up. "So Flits, mind telling me why this filly claims you, to be her mother?"

"Because that is exactly, what she is." I manage to say, before I collapse under the weight on my back, which I totally forgot to put down, by the unexpected turn of events . I hear mommy shouting my name in shock, before she rush over to me and to my great relief, shoves all the stuff from my back, before I get picked up into a hug.

"Are you alright Wingy?" She asks worry clearly written all over her face and when I look around, I see that Fleetfoot and Cloudchaser are similar scared.

I catch my breath before I reply slightly panting, "Just tired mom, maybe I should have heard on you earlier." Which earns me a glare from her, that could have said 'I told you so', would she not be so worried about me.

"Then you better take a nap." She replies sternly, before picking me up at the scruff of my neck and carrying me directly in my room.

"But aunt Cloudc-," I try to protest, but get interrupted by her.

"Will still be here when I wake you up for dinner."

I think about it all the while and when she tucks me into my bed I can't other then cave in, when it becomes too difficult to keep my eyes open. "Okay, mommy."

"I love you my little Princess." She says, before giving me a kiss on the forehead.

"Love you too mommy." I reply just in time before I doze off.











I watch her for a while, to make sure that she really is only sleeping and nothing worse, before I feel a hoof softly tapping on my shoulder. I turn around to see my sister and Fleetfoot standing directly behind me, both with a bright smile on her face. "I think I owe you an explanation Cloudy, but maybe we shouldn't do this in here."  I reply looking back to Wingy, before we three leave the room and I lean the door slightly ajar, before we go into the living room. 

I prepare some refreshments, before we all make ourself comfortable in the living room and I began to tell them everything. How I met her for the first time, how fast she conquered my heart and how it pains me, everytime she wakes up screaming from a nightmare. About her problems with reading and how she avoids every attempt to talk about her past, before she woke up in the old Castle in the Everfree forest.

I am about to tell them that Rainbow and I started a herd and the upcoming inspection from FPS, when I hear a scream coming from her room. In an instant I get up and rush into her room, grabbing her into a tight embrace and let her cry into my coat, while I whisper calming words into her ears. "It's alright, mommy is here, mommy is here." After a few moments I feel her forlegs around my barrel, squeezing me tightly and I take that as a sign to gently run my hoof through  her mane. 

I gently wrap my wings around her and continue to whisper calming words into her ears, until she finally calms down. I wait for her to say something, but when she is still quiet after a few more minutes, I finally ask. "Want to tell me what this Nightmare was about? I am sure it will help to talk about it." I try to convince her, not really expecting her to do as ask.

"No mommy, just, please don't leave me." She pleads with such devastation, that I can only wonder what scared her so much and how she could possibly think that I would abondon her.

"Wingy, I would never leave you." I reply immediately. "How could you ever think something like that?"

"I - in th - that dream, something terrible happened and I got injured." She tells me, slightly stuttering at the beginning. "You two noticed it, but when our pursuers came closer, you two just ran away and...."

She trails of at the end, slightly trembling in fear. "Oh Wingy, I would never do something like that." I think for a moment, how I could help her, but expect staying close to her, I only have one other idea. "How would you like if I sleep tonight with you?"

"I would love that mommy." She replies now more relaxed than a few moments ago.

I give her a bit more, before I change the subject. "What do you think, shall we go back to Cloudy and Fleetfoot? I am sure they are both eager to get to know you better."

She slightly push away from me, so that I am able to look her into the eyes again, befores she asks. "You really think so?"

"Of course I do." I reply without hesitation and after a moment I add. "What do you think, shall we go back to them?"

"O - okay," she simple replies, before I let go of her and we both walk back into the living room. 

While Fleetfoot and Cloudchaser are sharing the large couch, I choose to just make myself comfortable on the carpet directly in front of it, with my back to the firecplace. "Flitter, are you sure you don't want to get a more comfortable position." 

Fleetfoot trys to object, but all the arguments she could have had, die in her throat, when Wingy lays down directly in front of me. I pull her closer to me and lay a wing over her. After a short look into eachothers eyes, we both look up to those two and reply in unison. "No, we are fine."  











"So you are feeling better now?" The arctic blue mare asks me, looking still a bit unsure, when she looks down to mommy and me.

"Yeah," I reply, before apologizing for when I collapsed under all that weight. "Sorry for earlier, I never wanted to scare you like that."

"Wingy, you didn't,"

Mommy begins before Fleetfoot interupts her. "Think nothing of it, all of us underestimated our own abilities often enough and better like this, then while trying something dangerous that could really hurt you." 

"But let's not think about this anymore, why don't you just tell me instead, what a good flyer you are?" She hastily changes the subject in a badly hidden attempt to lighten up the mod.

"There isn't much to tell." I admit while looking to the ground, remembering my only attempt to fly, back in the old castle. In response I get a very curious look from her and after a bit of encouragement from all three mares in the room, I recounter only the flying related part from my stay in the Everfree forest .

"Not bad for a first try Wingy." A voice, I haven't heard since breakfast replies and I turn my head into the direction, where it came from.

"Mama D." I shout in excitement by the sight of the cyan mare, which I hadn't seen coming into the room earlier.

"So how are my two favorite mares doing?" She wants to know from us and the two of usI inform her that we are fine, while she gives everypony a different Pizza. Before she sits down to us and the eyes of Fleetfoot and Cloudchaser go wide in shock, when she gives mommy a kiss on the muzzle.

After a short pause Fleetfoot is the first to recover and asks, "So you two are marefriends?"

"Until we find a suitable stallion for our herd, you could say that." Mommy replies with a big grin on her face, before I ask those two the same.

"And whats about you two, are you marefriends?"

Cloudchaser is the first to deny it, before Fleetfoot does the same, but I am sure, that I hear a muffeled, "but I wouldn't mind that" coming from her.

This didn't went as unnoticed as she thought and from how mommy shifts in my back, I know that at least she heard this to. "Well if you ever get too lonely, you know where to find us." She says, without looking at anypony in particular.

I barely follow the conversation then for a while, instead focusing on my almost cold pizza. When I look up again, from my now empty pizza box, I am surprised that only mommy, mamma D and Fleetfoot are left. "Where is aunt Cloudy?" 

"Oh she went to bed early, after all she had a very exhausting day and the race we had on our way, didn't help with that either." Fleetfoot replies, seaming surprisingly happy about this. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that she isn't telling the full truth.

"Okay," I reply a bit disappointed, since I had hopped to talk a bit more with my new aunt, but I guess that has to wait till tomorrow. "Maybe I should just do the same." I add and turn my head towards mommy, silently asking her if that's okay.

"Sure Wingy, lets just do that." Mommy replies and we both say our good nights, before heading back into my room. 

Directly after the door is closed behind us, my curiosity gets the better of me and I pick up a topic from earlier. "Why did aunt Cloudy really leave mommy?" I ask while climbing into my bed.

She sighs in defeat when she helps me in and lays down next to me. "Remember what I told you about Thunderlane, after you first met him?" She asks and after I confirm this she continues, sounding a bit sad about it. "Well when she heard that we are looking for a nice stallion, she tried to bring Thunderlane into the herd, but didn't like it that Dashie and I are against this."

"And what was that earlier with Fleetfoot?" I can't resist to ask.

"Well she will be your Foalsitter, should we ever need one." She informs me while pulling the blanket over both of us, before I snuggle into her chest. She gives me a kiss on my forehead, before she wishes me a good night.

I barely manage to return this, before I fell into a dreamless sleep, protected by my beloved mother.











A while after everypony went to bed, a Night Guard lands in the yard, wondering that his friend isn't waiting for him. But after a short peek through the window, he flys away with a smile on his face. "Looks like she doesn't need any help tonight."

He thinks about what he saw just a few moments ago, trying to distract himself from the mare, who was laying in the bed with the little filly. After a while he managed to focus more on the other things he saw in the room and how it has changed since his last visit.

This gives him an idea how he could help his little friend, even if it needs a few nights to prepare and he has to get permission from his CO first.
> 10 First day of school
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four days have passed since I met aunt Cloudchaser for the first time. Our first encounter wasn't the best one, but it could have been worse. From the second day on she helped me in many things, but mostly with my writing and reading. We talked a lot in this time and I can understand that she is upset with mommy. She was just too shocked about all this new revelations in such a short time and I can't blame her for that.

Nontheless we became closer and now, thanks to her help, I am standing with mommy in front of the Ponyville schoolhouse, sooner then I had hoped for. We have to wait there for several minutes until miss Cheerilee comes up the road from town, with a surprised look on her face. "Good morning miss Cheerilee," mommy greets her and we wait patiently for her.

"Good morning Flitter." She replies when she makes the last few steps to us. "And good morning to you as well." She adds with a look in my direction, that makes me uncomfortable and I scoot back a bit. 

Only to be stopped by mommys outspread wing, she turns around and after a quick nuzzle from her she tells me. "Wingy, there is no need to be scared, miss Cheerilee is one of the nicest ponies I know." Her words have a calming effect on me and I look back to the mare, that is supposed  to be my new teacher, before mommy nudges me slightly, which I take as a sign to introduce myself. "Hello miss Cheerilee, I am Silent Wing."

"Hello Silent Wing, I take it you are here to join my class?" She asks me and I give a short nod as reply, before she offers us. "Then maybe we should continue this in my office."

The sentence is barley spoken, when miss Cheerilee leads us into her office where all three of us sit down into not very comfortable chairs. After filling out some paperwork they both begin to talk about important things, like payment or the upcoming class trip to Canterlot next spring, before mommy fills her in about my problems with reading and writing. From her reaction, I can see that she doesn't like this, but she doesn't say anything about it. 

Mommy leaves shortly after that and while miss Cheerilee begins her lessons with the rest of the foals, I stay back in her office, working on a placement test which has to be done till recess. The math part is the easiest one and I finish it in no time, but when it comes to geography and history I have huge problems, since the show only coffers glimpses of this. When I see the Equish part of the test, I don't even bother to give it a try and just decide to take a nap instead.


After a while miss Cheerilee is back and gently wakes me up, before she takes a look at the test. After some time she let it fall back on her desk with a sigh and looks at me, with concern in her eyes. "Was the Equish part so boring that you fell asleep?"

"No, I just didn't make it and there was nothing else to do." I reply honest, which maybe isn't my brightest idea.

Her look of concern turns into one of disapproval, when she asks me "Why," which just confuse me even more. "Why didn't you try?" She asks me after a while, in a more clear way, thinking that I didn't got what she asked the first time.

"Why bother trying, when you know you fail anyway?" Is my short reply.

"There is nothing to fail in this test, since we still have some time left, why don't you give it another try." She says when she gives me back the Equish part. Unwilling to argue with her or get into any trouble, I just pick my pencil up, before I go to work on this part for the test for the next fifteen minutes. 

"For that you thought, that you would fail, you did surprisingly well on this." Miss Cheerilee tells me after a look on my test and then takes a quick glance on her clock. "Oh my, is it already that late?" She exclaims in mock shock, before she gets up and mentions for me to follow her. 

She leads me into the classroom and let me wait behind her desk while she goes back out, to get the other foals, which gives me the opportunity, to examine the room a bit more. To my surprise there is one major difference then to the classroom in the show.  Where in the show there had only been three rows with three desks each, here it has five rows with  four desks each and a few spare ones standing at the wall in the back. The rest is mostly the same with the colorful walls, the large windows and the large blackboard at the front.

It doesn't take long till miss Cheerilee is back with all the other foals and after they settled down, she address the class. "Like I said earlier, a new student will join us from today." After a short gesture from her I step forwards and become nervous again, feeling all the attention focused directly on me. "Would you please say a few words?"

"Hi, I am Silent Wing," is all I am able to say before I am bombarded with so many questions, that I barely can understand any. 

Miss Cheerilee is quick to put an end to this and after a short speech from her, she gives Archer, a light blue earth pony filly with dark blue mane the chance to go first. "Are you new in town?"

"Yes." I simply answer before miss Cheerilee moves on to a light green colored Pegasus filly with purple mane, called Cyan Skies.

"Where are you from?"

"I don't really know," I admit a bit unsure. "The last thing I remember is waking up in the old Castle, before I found my way to Ponyville." I look around the ponies in class and I am glad that I don't see Apple  Bloom. Like her sister, she is able to see through any lie, even if what I told is true, at least for the time after I arrived in Equestria.

"Rainy Feather you are next." Miss Cheerilee informs a yellow Pegasus filly with light cyan mane and tail in the last row.

"Can you fly already?"

"Not yet, but some awesome ponies are teaching me." I reply happy, when I remember that mama D promised me some more lessons for today.

"Okay, Princess Erroria*. This is the last question before we have to go back to our lessons." She tells the class, which is followed by multiple groans, before a pale yellow Pegasus filly with a two toned violet mane speaks up.

"What is your favorite hobby?"

"Expect learning how to fly?"I ask her and after she confirmed this with a nod, I reply in a dreamy voice. "Stargazing. There is only one thing more beautiful than Princess Lunas night sky." 

I take a short look at a certain grey Pegasus Colt in the last row, causing him to blush. before miss Cheerilee orders me to take the only free seat between him and Princess Erroria. "I know you are all eager to get to know our new student better, but this has to wait till lunch break." Which is followed by another series of growns, before we spend the next two hours learning more about the Griffon war from 32 to 35 a. D..

When the Bell finally rings, I grab my lunchbox and follow all the other Foals out to the playground. Sadly, all benches at the picnic tables are already occupied. I walk till the end of the schoolhouse, turn around it's corner and lean against a nearby tree. The sellerie and Carrotsticks in my lunchbox don't survive long and I am about close my eyes for a nap, when I hear voices coming into my direction.

"You sure she went this way?" the first one asks.

"Yes, I saw her going this way." A second answers a tad annoyed that they doubt him.

I hear some more arguing, but I stop to care and close my eyes, waiting till sleep catches me. However, fate has other plans for me and only two or three minutes later, I hear hoofsteps again before a voice speaks up directly in front of me. "Hey Wingy."

 I crack my eyes open and see a smiling Rumble standing between two pegasi, a unicorn and an earthpony colt."Hey Rumble."

I quickly take a look at them and recognize three out of four. "Wingy, those are Rainy Feather, Ruby Pinch, Button Mash and Princess Erroria." He tells me pointing at each of them with his hooves.

"Hi, I am Wingy." I reply, looking at all of them before I get a idea. "Wanna play some tag?"

This is meet with cheers and of course I end up chasing them all over the playground, till I am able to catch Dinky and bolt back into the direction I came from. It changes for six more times till I am it again and I decide to go after Rumble with something in mind, that he would consider sinister, Since I plan to do this in front of the entire school. I manage to chase him into a corner, where he is unable to escape me. He realize this to and waits till I tag him, but instead of just tagging him, I nuzzle his check.**

We both stand there for a moment, before I hear giggling coming from behind me and see all the fillies of our small group and a dumbfounded Button Mash staring at the two of us. "What, you can't deny that he is cute." I ask the fillies and at least Rainy Feather blushes visible.

I want to ask her something, but am interrupted by the bell. I race back to my spot from earlier and grab my lunchbox, before storming into the classroom. I wouldn't have rushed back into the class, had I known that I have to suffer through Equish lessons for the rest of the day.

I stuff my things back into my saddlebags and place them on my back, before slowly walking towards the exit of the  almost empty classroom. I am about to go out when Rainy Feather blocks my way, asking me. "Hey Wingy, want to have a sleepover next weekend?"

"Sure." I reply in excitement. "Did you ask anypony else?"

"Not yet, but I hope that Rori and Ruby will be able to make it." She answers with the same excitement.

"What about Button and Rumble?" I curriosly want to know from her.

"No, mommy only lets me go to sleepovers, if it's only Fillys." She replies with a frown on her face.

"That sucks." I reply not less disappointed, before we both walk out into the fresh air. "Rainy, who is that mare next to my mommy?" I ask her pointing with one wing to her, while she continues to talk with a mare that looks almost identical then Rainy Feather, would it not be for the slightly darker coat.

"Thats my mom." She answers. We both look at each other with a grin on our faces. "Cool, then we can ask them now."

"I just hope she let's me go Rainy." I reply feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"Why shouldn't she, our mothers know each other." She asks me with a smile, wiping my doubt away.

We walk over towards them and both greet them with a hug, ripping them out of there conversation. "Hey Wingy, how was your first day at school?"

I ignore her question and go directly to the part, which I consider more important. "Mommy can I go to Rainys sleepover next weekend?"

She looks surprised at me, clearly not expecting that, but instead of answering me, she just urns around and asks Rainys mother. "Raindrops would that be okay for you?"

"Sure Flitter, I promise that they will have tons of fun." 

"Now since that is fix," She says with a smile. "How was the rest of school?"

Her words had barely left her muzzle, when I reach into my saddle bags to give her the letter, I got earlier from miss Cheerilee. She unfolds the letter with her wings and starts to read it in silence. The farther her eyes wander down on the parchment, the more her expression changes from happy, to rage. "Raindrops, can you watch her for a moment, I have to clear something with Cheerilee." She asks, not even bothering to wait for an answer, before she makes her way to miss Cheerilee.

Both, Rainy and Raindrops look confused before turning their eyes to me and Raindrops is the first to ask. "What was in that letter?"

"That she wants to send me back to preschool, should my Equish not improve significant till the end of the month." I reply head hanging low, not sure if I shall be disappointed above my bad results or upset about how little time she gives me to improve. 

"But that is in three days." Raindrops replies, shock clearly written all over her face. 

"I know." I reply, slowly tears begin to run down my checks, but before it can turn into more I feel two hooves wrapped around my neck and someone pressing herself into my chest. I return the gesture out of instinct and when I look up after a few moments, a small smile begins to spread on my face, when I realize who is hugging me. "Thanks Rainy."

We hold each other till mommy returns and she assures us, that everything is fine and that she talked miss Cheerilee out of that nonsense. Since Raindrops wants to talk a bit more with Flitter, we head to the park and while the two mares talk, I spend a good part of the afternoon playing with Rainy.
> Interluder II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You still think this is a good idea sister?" The surprisingly nervous looking amber Pegasus mare with a two toned blue mane and a smiling sun for a cutiemark walking next to me asks.

"Of course it is sister." I reply, slightly annoyed by her antics. "If you don't feel comfortable you still can return home." I offer her, before I whisper in her ear. "I am sure that you still could hold court, if you really want, think of all the fun you could have with those Nobles."

Her eyes go wide in shock, when she remembers just why she decided to join me today. "No sister, I think my time here will be far better used."

"Glad to hear this sister." we walk for a few more minutes before we stop in front of a beautiful two story building. It looks surprisingly small, but like always first expressions can be deceptive. "I think this is it, shall we Sister?" 

She doesn't answer me by saying anything, instead she just knocks on the door. We wait for a few moments, before the door opens and reveals sight to a persian blue mare with rose eyes and a cerulean mane and tail with white highlights in them. "Hello miss, I am Sunny Skys and this is my partner Starry Night, we are from FPS and are searching for a mare called Flitter. Any chance that this would be you?"

"Sorry to disappoint you miss Skys, but that would be my sister." She replies a bit surprised by  Tias question, before she ads. "So you are here for Wingy?"

"That would be the case miss?"

"Oh sorry, I am Cloudchaser, miss Skys. Why don't you two come in and make yourself comfortable, while I get Wingy and my sister for you?" She offers us with so much resolve that this sounds more like an order than anything else.

"That would be nice miss Cloudchaser, it became really cold since we left Canterlot." I tell her, before she leads us through a foyer into the living room and asks us to make ourself comfortable, before she goes to get the mare and filly in question. The living room is larger than I expected for a house of this size and while two sides of the room have each a large window with a potted plant in the corner, the third wall is dominated by a large fireplace. In front of this fireplace is a carpet and coffee table, which itself is surrounded by a large couch and multiple smaller bean bags. 

Against her wish to make ourselves comfortable, I wait next to the door of the foyer. A few minutes pass in silence, until our host finally enters the room, followed by a black Pegasus filly with a red mane with darker red streaks and a similar coloured tail. While her mane is held together by a cyan bow, her tail miss such garments. Our host, a greyish blue Pegasus mare with light turquoise mane and tail and like the filly, her mane is held together by a bow, with the only difference  that hers is pink, walks directly to me and introduce herself and the filly. "Hi, I am Flitter and this  little cutie here is Silent Wing." There is silence for a few moments before the mare ads. "I am sorry that my herdmate isn't able to join us today, but something came up and she couldn't leave from work."*

"Oh that is fine." I reply wondering who this herdmate could be. "I am Starry Night and this is my partner Sunny Skys." I introduce us again, before I switch to the important part. "Would you mind to answer the questions of my partner, while I go and talk with your daughter, maybe in her room?"

"Wingy, would that be okay for you?" The mare asks the filly slightly worried, not sounding very comfortable to let her daughter alone with a stranger.

"Sure mommy." She replies, before walking of into the direction she came from. I follow her without hesitation through the foyer and a small hallway into her room. The walls of her room are painted in a plain white, but  that doesn't mean the room lacks colour, with all the Poster used for decorations. Expect one Wonderbolts Poster and one of the Night Guard, all posters are surprisingly featuring Princess Luna.

The rest of the room is no exception to this, almost everything in it is featuring my true self in one way or another. May it be the bed located under a window, which blankets and pillows are covered with my cutiemark. Or the saddlebags next to the desk in the left corner, which also bear my mark. I can't take in all of the room, before the filly jumps on the bed and gestures for me to sit next to her. "Like what you see Princess Luna?" She asks me with a smug grin on her face.

"What are you talking about, my name is Starry Night." I ask her, barely able to hide my shock and I wonder, how could she have possibly figured out so fast, who she is truly talking to?

"You aren't fooling anypony Princess Luna, so please drop the act."

"How? How did you know it's me?" I ask her confused.

"I didn't. It was just a guess until I asked you and your reaction there gave you away." She replies matter of factly with such determination in her voice, that I would never expect from a filly, but I know better then to let myself be fooled by her looks. "In fact I am surprised that you didn't show up earlier." 

This conversation quickly turns away from what I truly wanted to talk about and I get a feeling, that not everypony in this house should hear what we will be discus. It is fortunate that even disguised I can use my magic, so I cast a quick silencing spell, before I turn my attention back to her. "It wasn't necessary from what I saw in your dreams, I knew that you are no danger for our Ponies, so there was no need to rush."

"My dreams?" She asks me surprised, before her face lights up in realization of what I mean. "Oh right, Princess of the night and Guardian of dreams, even if you didn't really help me in mine." 

"I couldn't. I would love to help you, like everypony else and I try everything in my powers to help you, but nothing works. I even asked my sister for help, so devastated I am." I admit in shame, before I try to explain the reason for my failure. "Some kind of barrier is blocking me from entering your dreams. I could weaken it, but it will still take a bit more time for me to break it, so that I can enter your dreams and am not forced to watch your suffering anymore."

"Has that ever happened before?" She wants to know from me and I think, that at least she deserves to know the truth regarding this problem.

"Not as far as I can remember, but you should know Silent Wing, that I'll do everything in my Power to help you."

"Thank you Princess, but can I ask you a small favor?" 

"Go ahead." I reply, wondering what she could possibly want from me.

"Can you please call me Wingy, like everypony else? I don't know why, but it helps me feel better."

"That is all?" I ask surprised about such a small request and look at her, waiting to ask for more, only to be greeted with silence. "Of course Wingy." I reply smiling, before I go back to the topic, we were just talking about. Abandoning the plan to find out where she originally came from and trying to find out how she ended up in Equestria.  Thinking that her wellbeing is currently more Important, then the search for a way to send her back, which I don't think will ever be needed. "You know that you could stop some of this nightmares from returning on your own Wingy." 

"What do you mean Princess Luna?" She asks me, obviously not knowing or not wanting to know, what I imply with this.

"I know that this may be hard for you, but I think it would be better for you, if you just tell your mothers, who you really are." 

I see her eyes going wide in shock and I begin to think that maybe I just made the wrong move. "What? You know that I can't do this." She exclaims in shock, not really in a soft voice and I am glad that I cast  the silencing spell earlier.

"Do you really think so or is this just the fear speaking?" I ask her, shortly after my ears stopped ringing.

"I don't know, maybe both?" She responds slightly unsure.

"Wingy, your mothers are Flitter and Rainbow Dash correct?"

"Yes, but what has that to do with abything? "She now wants to know from me, not knowing where I want to get with this.

"Do you know that Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty?" The short nod I receive from her is answer enough for me and I continue without taking a break. "Then you know that she would never abandon those who are dear to her heart or that she would choose a partner that would be capable to doing exactly this. "

She sighs in defeat, knowing that I am right, but this doesn't stop her from trying to find a way to dispel my arguments. At least that is what I think she does and that is exactly why her next words catch me off guarded. "I know, but it's just that I don't want to risk to be alone again." There is a pause for a short moment before she adds, her voice so low that almost I don't hear it. "I just don't know if I could take it again."

I lay a wing around her, pulling her closer to me. "You will never be alone again Wingy." Is all I need to say to her, knowing that this is the truth. I hold her for a while, before I get up and I am about to go with her back to the others, when my glance falls on the recruiting poster for the Night Guard and I just have to ask her. "Wingy, where did you get this poster from? As far as I am aware, I ordered them to only be put on display in Hollow Shades and a few smaller Bat Pony villages."

"It was a present from a friend." She answers my question without hesitation, but I also notice that she isn't fully comfortable, with telling me this. "He said everypony needs something to aim for in life and maybe this is something I would like, I think he is right with that."

"Do you mean that a pony needs a goal in life or that your goal should be to join the Night Guard?" I want to know from her, not even speculating, what her answer could be.

"Both," is her short, but very clear reply.

 "What makes you say this?" I wonder what her motivation could be to join the Night Guard. I try to remember when the last Pony, that wasn't born as a Batpony, joined my Guard, but I just can't remember with all the time that has passed since then.

"I always wanted to help protect others and I would have joined the Guard, where I came from, was it not for those disease I  had." I hear her say and I can't think of a better reason for anypony to join the Guard, but I know that this isn't everything. 

"I think it is a good purpose you are aiming for, but I also know that this isn't the full reason, why you are so focused on my Guard, but I think that this is something we should discuss at a different time." 

"Is there anything else you want to know from me, while we are alone, before we go back to the others?"

"No, but would it be okay if I stay back and get some more rest instead?"

Knowing that conversations like this are always taxing, I have no problem in granting her this wish, but this doesn't stop me from setting one condition. "If you will tell them, what I want you to tell them, then I see no problem with this." 

"Tonight Princess, I will tell them tonight, if that is fine with you." 

I can't do anything else then smile when I hear her say this, before I get up and let her go under her covers, before I cast a spell for a dreamless sleep on her. I dispel the silencing spell and make my way back towards the living room, before I inform Flitter that her daughter fell asleep, shortly after we covered everything I needed to know. My sister looks a bit curious at me, but I signal her with a gesture, that I let her know about this later, when we are in private. We stay for a bit more talking about the annoying things like finances and everything else, which is more Tias area of expertise than mine, before we let her know that there won't be anything else FPS wants to know. Shortly after this, we take our leave and while I fly back to Canterlot, my sister can't resist the urge to give her student a surprise visit.












"How went your visit with your student sister?" I ask her, shortly after she arrived back in Canterlot, when I began with my preparations for nightcourt.

The groan coming from my sister was nothing I expected to hear. "When you ignore the panic attack she had, when she thought that she had messed up her schedules again, it went surprisingly nice." 

I look slightly surprised at her, wondering how a mare like Twilight Sparkle still can get panic attacks, only because of an unexpected visit, before I turn back to the matter at hoof. "That is nice to hear sister, but I would be more interested in what you have talked about." 

"Mostly her studies of the events in the Everfree forest." She replies with a sigh, looking slightly unhappy about what she is about to tell me. "Twilight wasn't able to detect any magical trace that could give us any idea, what exactly happened there. The more she thinks about it, the more she accepts the fact, that this is a riddle she can't solve."

"Tia, that doesn't sound like your student at all."

"I know, but she needs to learn that not everything can be explained."

"The way you say this, it sounds like there is more behind this story." I ask her surprised, hoping that she didn't agree to something questionable.

"Well she wanted to examine the filly we just visited, in the hope to get some answers from her, but my words made it very clear, that this isn't an option."

I sigh in relief when I hear Tias words, knowing that this filly is already traumatized enough, but I am curious what my sister said to her Student. "And which words did you use on her?"

"I asked her if she wants to spend the rest of her life in magical Kindergarten." She tells me, before we both collapse laughing on the ground.
> 11 Truth revieled (Obsolet)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This Chapter has been rewritten and you can skip ahead if you want. However if you want to see exactly what I have changed, you can read it, but please keep in mind that nothing that happens here has any influence on the story.

A few hours had past since Princess Luna and that Pegasus mare, which I think was non other then her sister in disguise, had left. Now I am sitting in the backyard again, watching the stars, while waiting for the two most important Ponies in my life.

I may not like it, but Princess Luna was correct, when she said that telling them the truth could help me with my Nightmare problem. I thought about this for a while longer after she left and came to the conclusion, that it is better for them to learn now about it, in a way I can control, then let them find out by accident.

No matter how hard it will be for me, they deserve to know the truth. "Wingy where are you?" I hear mommy shouting, probably trying to find out, to where I vanished.

"In the backyard." I reply with the same loudness.

There is no sound in the night, expect from a owl. I just sit there watching the stars in silence, not hearing the hoof steps of the approaching ponies, which are so dear to my heart, that I almost jump in shock, when I feel somepony nuzzeling my neck. "Coming out here often?" Mommy wants to know from me, sitting down to my left, while momma D sits on my other side.

"Everytime after I woke up from a Nightmare. Sometimes I am alone, but more often I am not." I tell her honestly, not wanting to hold anything back anymore.

"You know that you can always come to us Wingy." She reminds me, but clearly unaware of something, I have to remind her on my own.

"I am not sure, if I want to walk into your room, when you two are having sex." Both mares gasp in shock about what I just said and while I watch into the distance I hear at least one hoof hitting the face of it's owner. "Don't worry, I didn't see anything, but the noises coming through the door were quite clear."

"Oh Okay." She replies not verry comfortable about what I just told her, before she continues with a sigh. "But that isn't why you wanted to talk with us Wingy, am I right?"

"Yes, Yes you are." I confirm her suspicion and after a deep breath I begin. "It is about where I am from, from before I ended up in the Castle of the two Ponysisters. It may sound ridiculous, impossible or like out of a bad fairytale, I can asure you that everything I tell you, is nothing then a true fact."

I look at each of these awesome poines for a moment, but I don't see there any doubt. Instead I get the feeling, that they know how hard this is for me and that they try to encourage me with their smiles. After another deep breath, I decide to begin by dropping the first of many bombshells, in this young night. "I haven't always been a Pony, in fact I am not even from this world. I don't know how I ended up here, nor do I care about this, but what I can tell you is what I was before I ended up in the Castle."

Again I look at each of them and shock is clearly written all over their faces, but that is the only reaction I get from them. I thought there would be more, but to be honest, I am glad that this isn't the case. "I used to be a human, I used to be male and I used to be in my early thirties, but all of that is gone now, which includes my old name."

"I will tell you a bit from my old life now, maybe this will help you to understand, why I have all those problems, I am facing everyday. If it doesn't, that would also be okay for me, but please just listen for now, since this isn't exactly easy for me."

"Wingy, you don't have to tell us all this." I hear mommy's soft voice to my right, trying to talk me out of this, when she realizes just how uncomfortable I am right now. It feels good to know that she doesn't want to force me through this, but I have to ignore that for now, since I don't think, that I will ever again gather enough courage to tell them about my past.

"In my early years doctors found out that I had a disease, which caused me to get into uncontrollable spasmic seizures. Cause of that, my parents where always scared and I grew up sheltered, without any real friends. The only social contacts I had outside of school, was with my relatives, which wasn't always easy. Only when I turned sixteen and started my first apprenticeship, I began to see more from the world then just my home or the school and that is when it began to really turn bad for me."

"It sounded so easy, when I heared that the first year, is almost entirly spend in a school and only in the second and third year, you actually have to work in a real factory. I thought of it as something good, as an easy start, but this illuison was shattered in only a few days. When I became aware that, even in the school I was before I started this, was so shaltered that I couldn't comprehend with the situation, I sudenly found myself in and within two weaks, I was the punching ball of my class."

I hear mommy gasp in shock when she hears this and I know that she wants to say something comforting to me, but since I can't have that now, I just continue as if there was no sound. "For me it was like when you would take an helpless, unsupecting kitten and throw her right into a pit with starving Timberwolves. I stoped the apprenticeship after this year. Not for the bullying that took place there, rather then for the two facts that I didn't pass first years exam and that I was unable to find a factory, that would be willing to give me a chance, for my second year."

I take another break for a few moments, before I explain how I spend the next two years at a different school to get a higher eduction and how I slowly, but constandly turned towards hatred and bigotry. I tell them how I tried my luck as a cook, but that I didn't make it, because all the stress I was under became to much for me. Shortly after this my disease came back to me and after fifteen years without any problems, I had another spasmic fit.

From then on it is no problem for me anymore and the next few years are easy to describe with all the alcohol abuse, suicides attempts, and the hatred. With the passing of time, I realized that it was stupid to blame others for the bad things that happened to me and from one day to the next, I droped my bigotry and my hatred towards others and found a new focus: Myself!

Life itself didn't become better because of this, but I stopped to showing others my true emotins and kept them hidden, only to lay almost every night in my bed, crying myself to sleep, when I knew that I am the only one left awake. I tried to continue from then on, but for every obstacle I cleared in life, I had to face five new ones. Wouldn't it be for the music, from which I took strength, I don't know if I would have lived as long as I did.

I take one last deep breath, before I begin for the final time, since I began with this brief history lesson. "I don't know what exactly happen on this last day as human, but I know that I was waiting for a concert, when something close to me exploded and my entire vision was filed with fire. The last thing I saw were flames, before I woke up in the old Castle." 

There is a long silence untill mommy asks me something I didn't expect. "Why? Why did you tell us all this Wingy?"

"Because I am scared."

"What are you scared of?" She asks me, digging deeper to the core of my Nightmares.

"I am scared how you would react, if you found out from other ponies, about what I used to be and how you would react towards this news. I am scared that you think of me as some kind of monster and just throw me away like a used napkin and I am scared that you would take more ultimate actions, to get ride of me." Tears begin to flow down out of my eyes, the more I admit what I am scared of and only when I feel a wing pulling me into a tight embrace, I realize that I am shivering in fear.

I don't know how long she holds me like this, but I know that it isn't long enough and all too soon the embrace ends and I find myself looking into the eyes of a currious mare. "What did you mean, when you said that you are afraid of us taking more ultimate actions?" She asks worried about what I could mean. I answer her question by lifting my right forehoof to my throat and make there a cuting gesture, making it clear that she understands what I mean. 

Again both mares gasp in shock, before I find myself in another tight embrace. "I don't know what gave you this idea Wingy, but you should know the following: For me it is not important what you have been before, for me only matters what you are  now."

"So you don't think of me as some kind of abnomination, that deserves to be send to Tartarus?" I ask her, slightly hopeing that I am right.

"Of course not. No matter what you have been before, you will always be my little filly." Hearing those words fills me with great relief for a moment, that is untill she ads a few more words. "But you still have some questions to answer."

"What do you want to know mommy?" I reply,  hopeing that she doesn't ask thinks, I would prefare to leave alone.

"You mentioned earlier that you had another name, who changed it and why this name?" She asks me her first question and I sigh in relife, since this is something I have no problems with to answear.

"I changed it, shortly after I woke up in the Castle, hopeing that it would signalize a new start for me." I stop there, before I remember the second part of her question. "The name I choose is a reminder from what it became more and more with the passing of time in my life. Silent. And the one think I always dreamed to have, wings. That is why I chose this name."

"As good as your reason is, I am not sure that you chose a name, that is the most fitting for you."

"After all what you just told me, there is one thing that you didn't explain to me. Why do you try to avoid sunlight so much."

I know after all what I just explained, what I tell here now will sound silly compared to this. Maybe it is silly, maybe it doesn't really make sense, but that doesn't change the fact that it is true. "I am afraid of the sun."

"Since almost every bad thing that happened to me, happened in bright sunlight, it didn't took long for me to make a conection between those two. The more I avoided the sun, the better my life became. My fear of the sun grew so strong, that I sleept the days away in the basement and was only awake and willing to leave my home, when the moon was shining brightly. My fear for the sun grew to unimagined levels, when I saw a movie* in which the sun was so close to the planet, that it killed every life only from its heat."

She pulls me closer, holding me tightly, when she says. "Wingy, Princess Celestia would never use her control over the sun, to do such horrendous things."

"I know, but this doesn't help me with my fear." I reply, trying to sound as brave as possible, but these efforts are just a waste, since I can't restrain mysel from yawning at the end of the sentence.

Without any time to react she let go of me only those me on here back, before she begins to walk back into the house. "Now what do you think about getting some sleep? It is way past your bedtime missy." I hear her scolding me, I try to protest that she obviously has more questions, then I could possibly answear. But she is quick to shut me off with the words. "We can talk about that tomorrow." She lays me down on her bed and while she leaves me alone for a short time, I crawl under the cover, waiting for my mommy to join me. 





At the next morning a confused Rainbow Dash wakes up in the middle of the backyard, wondering why she is out here and not snuggled close to her herdmate, when she remembers the events of the last evening. She realizes that she must have fallen asleep halfway through her daughters stories and isn't please with the idea to ask her herdmate, to explain what she missed. "That was more somnolent then a lecture from Twilight."
> 11.1 Truth revieled (rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours had past since Princess Luna and that Pegasusmare, which I think was none other than her sister in disguise, had left. Now I am sitting in the backyard again, watching the stars, while waiting for the two most important Ponies in my life.

I may not like it, but Princess Luna was correct, when she said that telling them the truth could help me with my Nightmare problem. I thought about this for a while longer after she left and came to the conclusion, that it is better for them to learn now about it, in a way I can control, then let them find out by accident.

No matter how hard it will be for me, they deserve to know the truth. "Wingy where are you?" I hear mommy shouting, probably wondering to where I vanished.

"In the backyard." I reply with the same loudness.

There is no sound in the night, while I sit there watching the stars in silence. I don't hear the hoof steps of the approaching ponies, which are so dear to my heart, that I almost jump in shock, when I feel somepony nuzzling my neck. "Coming out here often?" Mommy wants to know from me, sitting down to my left and mama D sits on my other side.

"Everytime after I wake up from a Nightmare. Sometimes I am alone, but more often, I am not." I tell her honestly, not wanting to hold anything back anymore.

She looks surprised, when I tell her this, but she doesn't ask who I could possible met out here. "You know Wingy, if you want, you can always sleep with us." She reminds me, but forgets the one reason, I often avoid their room.

"I am not sure, if I want to walk into your room, when you two are rutting each other senseless. Don't worry, I didn't see anything, but the voices I heard through the door were very clear." I add hastily, when both mares gasp in shock and I hear at least one hoof, hitting the face of the pony it belongs to. A look to my left confirmed this, where I see mama D rubbing her right eye. But all of this is nothing, compared to the laughter coming out of the tree, directly above us.

The voice is so familiar to me, that I don't even need to look up, to know who finally decides to visit again. It may have only been a few days without him, but for me it felt much longer, since I always enjoy his company. Recovering from a nightmare is so much easier, if you have somepony to help you with those. It may not be much he does, but a shoulder just to lean against can make a huge difference, instead of just being alone. I wonder where he has been those last few days, but for now I am just glad that he is back and I don't have to tell him separately. "Glad you are back Mango, mind coming down to us?"

"Sure kid." He replies after he finally manages to stop laughing, he glides down to us and after a sharp turn, lands directly in front of me.

I quickly get up and nuzzle his cheek, to the surprise of the two mares who are with us, before I can't resist to ask him. "Where have you been Mango? I was so worried about you."

"Sorry kid, but I can't tell you this, order from Princess Luna."  He answers me, not sounding very happy about it, but I get a feeling that this isn't the whole truth. I decide to ignore this for now and instead focus on the important task at hoof.

"Funny that you mentioned her, she was here earlier."

"Wait Wingy, when was Princess Luna here? I didn't see her." Mama D interrupts me, with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Wingy, the only ponies that visited us today, were those mares from FPS earlier and none of them looked like her. " Now mommy backs up mama Ds argument, not even giving me the chance to explain further.

I decide that my story can wait a few more minutes, which I use to answer this question, since I don't see any reason to withhold the truth from them. "Exactly, she was disguised as that Batpony and I wouldn't be surprised if that Pegasus was no one else then her sister." Mommy and mama D just sit there, dumbfounded, not expecting this answer from me while Mango looks at me with a knowing grin on his face and before any  of them can even ask how I knew this, I add. "She admitted it herself, after I asked her."

"Well that explains at least, why nopony noticed Princess Celestia arrival, shortly before she visited the library." Mama D explains to us and I only can imagine Twilights panic attack above the unannounced visit from her mentor, before she asks. "But I don't understand what Princess Luna has to do with this." Gesturing at all of us with one hoof, before she wents silent again.

"Well she asked me to tell you something and after a bit of convincing from her, I agreed to it." All three of them look confused and I doubt that any of them has an idea, what is about to come now. I sigh, knowing that if I do this now, there is no going back for me anymore. "She asked me to tell you from where I am from, you know, from before I woke up in the old Castle."

I see Mangos eyes lighten up in understanding and I am curious just about how much he already knows. "Wingy, you don't have to do this, if you don't want to." Mommy speaks up and I realize, how badly I must have hidden the fact, that this whole situation is something I am not really comfortable with.

"No, I have to, you deserve to know the truth after all you have done for me." I tell them while trying to sound brave, but everypony present knows that in truth, I am scared beyond belief. They may not know the reason for my fear, but they can tell that it is there. I think for a moment if I should just drop the act and admit how scared I truly am, but I decide against it. "I know it will sound ridiculous to you, but please believe me when I say, that everything I will tell you now, is nothing other then the honest truth."

I hesitate for a moment, unsure, if it is really the best idea to just drop the bombshell or if maybe I should choose a different approach. I choose the second option. "A few weeks ago, three days before you found me mommy, the Princesses detected a magical surge from unknown power in there old Castle. "

"Oh yeah, I remember that one, Twilight had a total freak out when she got the letter." Mama D interrupts me, earning an angry glare from me, which immediately shuts her up.

"I don't know what caused this, or what exactly happened there, but I can tell you what effects it had." There is silence for a few moments, but when no one speaks up, I continue without hesitation. "And I know this only, because I had been there."

I look around at all three ponies and while Mango still is as calm as if I hadn't said anything out of the ordinary till now, mommy and mama D look on one side very surprised, but they are also a bit shocked. I can understand that, since this old Castle isn't the safest place for a filly my age and I can only wonder how they will take the next part. "I don't know how much time really had passed since I died at the place where I am originally from, but for me it felt like the bat of an eye, before I opened my eyes as a Pony for the first time."

"Oh yeah? And how come that Twilight didn't find you, when she went into the Castle. After she teleported there, directly after she got the letter from Princess Celestia." Mamma D wants to know from me and if she wouldn't have been hold down from Mango and Flitter, she would have leaped directly into my face.

"Rainbow." Flitter shouts at her, sounding as upset as I am, that this is her biggest concern at the moment. 

I am almost willing to ignore her question, but that wouldn't achieve anything, so I just play along for now. "I don't know how much time passed till I heard somepony coming, but by then I already could walk good enough, to hide in a small cupboard." At least this is enough of an answer for her to relax, so that mommy and Mango decide to let go of her.

"Wingy." I hear mommy say in her soft voice, which always works wonders to calm me down and only now I realize how bad mama Ds reaction has shaken me up. I shiver in fear, cold sweat running down my back and I almost stop. I almost let my fear about how they will react get the better of me, when I realize just how aggressive mama D had become since I said, that I hadn't always been a Pony. I close my eyes for a moment, trying to get myself back under control and only manage to calm down, when I feel somepony pressing against my side and placing a soft feathery wing protective over me. "I don't care what you have been before Wingy, for me only counts what is right now." She stops for a moment, before she says in the same soft voice. "And right now there is a very special filly under my wWing, which I love to no ends."

"Thank you mommy." More I am not able to say, before I break out into tears, glad that Princess Luna was right and that at least all of my worries about how mommy would take it, get robbed of their foundation. I bury my face in her coat and let my tears flow freely, not giving a flying feather about what will happen next, because I know as long as I am with her, everything will turn out fine.

 A unmeasurable amount of time passes till my tears stop flowing and I feel good enough again, to explain things further and answer upcoming questions along the line. I give mommy a soft nudge with one of my hooves, asking her silently if there is anything she wants to know. " Wingy, If you ever could go back, would you still stay with us?"

"Of course I do mommy." I reply without hesitation. "I would never abandon those who I love."

"Wingy, earlier before Dashie interrupted you, what exactly did you mean when you said, that you died at the place you had been before?"

"Exactly what it means." I pause for a moment, just thinking about how much I should tell them, but come to the conclusion that this decision is nothing I want to make on my own. "How much do you want to know?"

 "Just enough, that we understand what happened." Mommy replies, before the two others can say anything. I wait for Mango and mama D to add something, but when neither of them says something, I take that as a sign, that this would be enough for all of them.

"It was the evening of a cold winterday, I and many others were standing in front of a Arena, waiting eagerly for the Gates to open. I bought something to eat and drink, before I begun searching for a place, which would protect me at least a bit from this freezing wind. Halfway to a spot that should be satisfying, I heard something that scared me and I turned around, trying to warn the others. I heard a loud explosion and then saw flames rushing towards me, consuming my body in less then a second. The next thing I remember is waking up as a Pony, in the old Castle."

"What about your family?"

"They should be fine, since I went alone to the concert. We don't really have the same taste in music." I reply, giggling at the last part.

"WHAT?" Mommy screams in my ear, to my surprise totally shocked about this revelation. "How irresponsible do you have to be, to let a six year old Foal go on a event like that on her own?" Only now I remember that I forgot to mention a little detail.

"Actually, I was in my early thirties when that happened and I used to go to concerts and festivals on a regular basis, so this was nothing new to me." I don't know what reaction I had expected, but certainly not mama D changing into a laughing mess of Pony for a few minutes. "What is so funny?" I ask her, after she finally calmed down again, not even bothering to hide how upset I am about this outburst. Otherwise, her reaction could have been way worse. If I could choose, I would always prefer to deal with her like this, then with her when she is upset.

"Really, you went from a full grown mare back to be a little filly?" Mama D asks, finding this situation very amusing, which annoys me to no end.

"Not exactly, but it could have been worse." Is all I am willing to reply, but this changes, when she asks me her next question.

"How in Tartarus could it possible turned out worse?" This earns her a angry glare from mommy, which obviously doesn't approve on her choice of words.

"I could have ended up so young, that I would be forced to wear diapers again."

 "Have there been any major changes, you haven't told us yet?"

"Except the fact that I used to be male?" I reply, before I add. "I don't think so."

"Wingy, how can you stay so calm, after all the changes you went through?" 

"I am not sure mommy, maybe it's because I see that as a second chance. I only hope that this time, life turns out to be better for me." I answer her question, now totally relaxed, since all the important stuff is out of the way and everypony took it way better than I ever could hope for.

"Okay three more questions and then it's time for you to go to bed Wingy."

"But I am not even tired yet, mommy." 

"No buts young miss, it's already way past your bedtime." 

I sigh in defeat, knowing that there is no use in arguing, when she is like that. "Yes mommy."

"Good, this may sound now not so important, but can you tell me when's your birthday?"

"Who cares? I stoped celebrayting it years ago."

"Fine, then we just use the day I took you in instead." She replies clearly not appealed with my answer. "You said that your life wasn't so good, just how bad has it been."  

"I just don't want to end up as living punching bag again." Cold shivers run down my body, when I remember thoes beatings I got, back at my late years of school.

"Don't worry Wingy, I'll make sure that this won't happen to you." Mango replies with a cocky grin on his face and I understand immediately what he means, but I highly doubt that mommy would approve of his methodes.

"Last question Wingy, if you had the chance to forget everything from before we met, would you accept it?" This is a hard one for me and I take my time to think about it. 

It sounds really tempting, being able to forget all the pain, the misery and worst of all the loneliness. But on the other side, do I really want to forget the few good things that happened to me or all the fun times I had when I was on a concert or festival. It's too much for me and a few tears come back, before I give a honest answer. "I - I don't know mommy."

"It's alright Wingy, I don't think that any of us would ever be able to answer this question on such short notice." 

"Mommy, can I sleep with you tonight?" 

"Of course Wingy, why don't you go ahead, I will be there within a minute okay?"

"Okay mommy, Bye Mango." I reply finally before I head off to bed, not waiting for an answer. Now that everything is said, my tiredness hits me like a train and I barely make it into mommys bed, before I am out like a light.
> 12 Sleepover, a nice evenning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



AN: First of all, sorry for the long wait. It wasn't easy to overcome the writers block this time.





"Mommy Can we go now?" I ask impatient, not wanting to wait any longer for her. If I would know where Rainy lives, I would already be on my way to her place. 

"Wingy, why is there such a mess in here?" She asks, when she steps into my room and sees that everything school related is laying on the floor, just where I dropped it to empty my saddlebags. I ignore her for a moment, to confirm that everything I want to take with me is in them, before I close my saddlebags and secure them on my back. "Wingy?" She reminds me on her question and instead of coming up with an answer, I shove everything under my desk, since putting everything in its proper place, would take way too much time.

"Better now?" I ask her, knowing that my solution will bite me in the back, when I come home again. At least, now it isn't as much of a mess as it had been a few moments earlier.

"You are lucky that Dashie and I have plans of our own Wingy." She replies, before controlling my saddlebags, if I really packed everything I will need. To my surprise, she drops a small satchel with a few Bits into it. "Here, I don't know if you will need them, but better have them and don't need them, then the other way around."

I check one more time that my saddlebags are secured, so that there is no risk of losing them on the way, before we both leave the house. "You know the drill Wingy?" She asks me, before she grabs me with her hooves, not waiting for my answer. She quickly begins to fly into the sky and when we are around 800 meters above the ground, like usual, she let go of me without any kind of warning.  By now I am used to surprises like this and so it takes me only around 50 meters of uncontrolled falling, before I got myself back under control. I fly a small circle, to figure out where she is and when I spot her hovering mid air, I land on a nearby cloud. "Very good Wingy, you get better every day."

"Thanks mommy." I reply smiling, before I take another good look around. I may not be a good flyer yet, but catching myself from unexpected situations into a safe glide, is something I would call a good start.

Shortly after that I am forced into a similar situation, when she bucks the cloud I am sitting on into oblivion, with the sole difference that she isn't waiting till I caught myself. Instead she begins to fly into the direction, where I suspect Rainys home should be.  This assumption proves to be correct, when she lands next to a nice two story home, at the outskirts of town.

The distance however, is much shorter than I expected it to be and so I am forced to decide, if I should fly a few more circles to lose some altitude or instead go into a dive of my own. A dive wouldn't be without risk for me, since I never did this before, but when I remember that mommy is close by, I push those concerns aside knowing that she would catch me if anything goes wrong.

To my great relief, this isn't necessary and after she scolded me for my reckless behavior, she knocks at the door of Rainys house. Not much time pass before miss Raindrops opens the door and after a warm welcome leads us into her house. "Wingy,  why don't you met up with Rainy Feather in her room, while I talk a bit with your mother?" She offers me and I accept gladly, if only to get a bit space between mommy and me, after the scolding I just received.

"Okay miss Raindrops." I am about to head off towards her room, but hesitate when I remember that I have never been here before and have no clue where I have to go.

"Stairs up, first door on the left." She answers my unspoken question and after a quick "thank you miss Raindrops", I am about to head off towards my destination, when she quickly interferes. "Wingy, how often do I have to remind you to call me just Raindrops?"

I sigh, knowing that I forget this all too often, but if she thinks that I let this invitation for a funny joke pass, she is dead wrong. "I am sorry, Just Raindrops." I reply, this time not giving her any chance for a reply, before I race the stairs up and only a few moments later I knock at the door of Rainy’s room.

The reply I get from Rainy however, isn't what I expected. "Come in mom." I ignore her wrong assumption of who is about to enter her room, when I open the door and find her sitting at a desk, with her back towards the door.

"Sorry to disappoint you Rainy, but I am not your mom." I reply directly into her ear, after I marched to her and take a good look over her shoulder. It only takes me a few seconds to realize that she is engrossed in the math homework, miss Cheerilee gave us earlier. I watch her for a while in silence and when I realize just how much she struggles with this task, I am quick to offer her my assistance. "Need help with that?"

At this, she turns her head around with a bright smile on her face. "Thanks Wingy, you know how I hate this stuff." She replies before she focus her attention back on the papers in front of her.

"No biggy Rainy. I am sure I wouldn't be able to get even a D in Equish, if I had to do that without your help." I reply, before I focus on the task at hoof and together we get most of it done, until there is another knock at the door. This time Rainy turns around before greeting the newcomers, to avoid a misunderstanding like with me earlier.

To my surprise I spot there not only Rori, but also a very cute looking Rumble*. I barely recognized him, since he has a new manestile and if I  hadn't already known that he is a Colt, I would have mistaken him for a filly.

"Rumble what are you doing here?" I ask him surprised, since I didn't really expect him to join us, after I learned about Raindrops annoying filly only rule for sleepovers.

He blush slightly, before he comes closer to me and tells us. "Somepony made Raindrops believe that I am a filly and when Flitter heard about this, she made sure that I look the part." I don't know if I should be happy that he is here or if I should be sad that Ruby and Button are unable to join us as well. I could also be mad, that no pony had this idea earlier, since Rumble looks really cute with his mane done like this. 

"You look cute Rumble." I try to cheer him up, pushing the thoughts about the others aside  and would I not already love this Colt, I would fall for him right now.

"Thanks Wingy, so what do we wanna do first?" He asks in a desperate attempt to change the topic, unaware that this is just what we are waiting for. 

"Why not start with truth or dare?" Rainy offers and everypony, expect Rumble of course, agrees to this. While he realize that he made a mistake, I think about all the fun we can have. "Okay, since Rumble is the only one against it, why don't we let him start?" 

Nopony objects against this and it doesn't take long for him, to focus his attention on me. "Wingy?"

"Truth." I reply without even thinking. Unwilling to risk, that I have to do something embarrassing, directly at the beginning of this game.

"Who is that Bat Pony, you are spending so much time with?"

"You mean Mango?" I ask in return, surprised that he even knows about him, wondering just how he found out about him. "He is one of Princess Luna's Night Guards." I tell him, but since none of the others seem satisfied with my answer, I add a bit more information. "He helps me a lot, like with my nightmares and my training." 

"Training, what kind of training?" Rumble asks me a bit surprised, but I don't plan to answer this question, at least not yet.

"Not telling." I reply grinning, before I explain my reason for this. "You have to wait for your next turn, if you want to learn more about him." I pause for a moment, unsure who I should choose and decide to return the favor. "So Rumble, what do you want?."

"Give me a dare Wingy, but don't make it too easy, okay?" He replies as fast as I did earlier, with more confidence than would be good for him. His wish for a hard one is welcome, but not really needed, since I already have a funny idea for him.

"At Nightmare Night, you have to wear the costume, I chose for you." I reply with an evil grin on my face. After all, what is a Guardspony without something to protect? 

"My turn," Rori interrupts, before anypony can protest. "Now Rainy, what do you chose?"

"Truth."

"Why did you make your mother believe that Rumble is a filly?" She wants to know, something, I think everypony is curious about as well.

"I always found mothers filly only rule stupid and I thought it would be so much more fun, if Rumble joins us." This gets some chuckles out of everypony and I sigh in relief, now knowing that there was no sinister motive behind this. With my mind now back on Rumble, I can't stop but think how Rumble would look in one of our dresses .

From there on, the game continues with a much more relaxed attitude and while I happily answer all the questions about Mango, I think Rumble regrets that he accepted Rori's dare. But I have to say that he looks really amazing in that pink dress.

This continues until a steel blue Pegasus stallion with dark blue mane and tail steps into the room and after introducing himself as Wave Chill, he asks us to come down for dinner. He leaves soon after that and we are about to follow him, when I see that Rumble is frozen in place. "Rainy do you know what's wrong with Rumble?" I want to know from her, now concerned about him, since he didn't move an inch from the moment on her dad stepped into the room. 

She stops halfway on her way to the door and after a quick look at him, she leaves me  and Rori alone with him, only to return a minute later with a full bucket of water. "This happens all the time when a pony learns, just who my dad is and this is the only way to get them out of there stupor." She explains, before dumping the water on Rumble, effectively freeing him out of his trance, if his scream is anything to go by. "Honestly Wingy, I am surprised that you didn't react the same way."

"Why should I, it's just your dad right?" I reply, wondering what could be so special about him.

"You really have no idea who my dad is Wingy?" She asks surprised, about how clueless I am and after I shock my head in denial, she questions me further. "So you don't know that he is a Wonderbolt?"

"Rainy, I just met your dad for the first time, how should I have known that he is one of them?" I ask again, surprised that such a celebrity like him lives in Ponyville. I don't know what Rainy wanted to say next, since her dad comes up again, to remind us that dinner is ready and we should hurry. 

We don't waste anymore time and immediately go down into the kitchen, where a delicious smelling vegetarian Lasagne is waiting for us. How we plan to spend the rest of the evening dominates the conversation over dinner, but when the decision is made, I am forced to explain why I know next to nothing about the Wonderbolts. 

You should think that when you live under the same roof as Rainbow Dash, you would be a expert about the Wonderbolts in no time, but that couldn't be farther away from the truth. Since the Wonderbolts is almost everything she is talking about, it didn't take long until I started to ignore every Wonderbolt related conversation. 

With this finally out of my hoof and desert in front of me, Wave Chill wasted no time to inform us, that we have to go to bed very early. "Girls I know this sucks, but the earlier we fly to Cloudsdale, the easier the flight is and the more time we can spend there and have fun."

"Isn't there this large show tomorrow?" I ask after a while, partly remembering what mamma D was going on about, the entire last two weeks.

"It sure is kid." Wave Chill replies, happy that I am not totally clueless and just from looking at him, I know that there is more about it. He doesn't explain to us what it is, so I guess he wants to surprise us with something and since I don't want to ruin this for him, I keep my muzzle shut. It wouldn't surprise me at all, if we end up watching this show tomorrow. 

The next two hours are spent playing Ponoply and at first I think of it as something boring, but that changes when I find out, that the event cards have been messed with. True there are the usual ones in it, but also some custom made ones, which give you some surprising tasks. For example, thanks to my third card, I have to kiss the pony to my left, which is no other then Rainys mom. But when Rumble ends up preening Roris wings, it isn't easy for me to hide just how jealous I am at her.

In the end we don't really care who wins, instead we focus more on the funny cards. I think Rainy had the worst luck with the cards, since she was forced to drink the juice of a whole lemon more than once. 

After the game comes to an end, we make our way back  upstairs. Raindrops informs us that expect from Rainys bed, there is only one other bed we can use. I take a questioning look at Rumble and when he answers me with a nod, I tell the others that Rumble and I will spend the night together. We say our good nights to Rainy and Rori, before Raindrops leads us into the guestroom. We wait for her to leave, before we snuggle up together, like all the times when Rumble spends the night with me.
> 13 Sleepover, a trip to remember
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia's sun was already high in the sky, when we arrived in Cloudsdale. The long flight had taken its toll on us and all of us were panting after this long flight. It takes a while for me to recover from it, since I have never flown anywhere as long as now. “Come on girls, let’s get some breakfast.” Raindrops says, pointing to a nearby cafe, before she leads our small group over to it.
 
While the others talk about what we should do first, I have trouble to keep my eyes open. Having trouble sleeping is something I am used to, but normally it isn’t that much of a problem, when I have somepony to snuggle with. Sadly, it didn’t help this night and when I finally fell asleep, it was already past midnight. That Rainys dad woke us very early, didn’t help either and so I have trouble staying awake, not even mentioning flying. 
 
How I made it this far is still a mystery to me and I am about to doze off again, when somepony starts talking to me. “Wingy, you there?” Raindrops basically shouts into my ear, catching my attention.
 
“Hm, did I miss anything?” I ask tired, wondering if I missed anything important.
 
“We just wanted to know, what you would like for breakfast.” Raindrops explains, politely gesturing to the waitress. 
 
“Oh, some apple pie and a hot Chocolate would be nice, if that’s okay.” I reply, after I took a quick look at the menu. 
 
“It sure is.” The waitress replies cheerful, before she walks back into the kitchen, returning immediately with our drinks and assuring us, that our food will be along shortly.
 
“So is anypony for the first time in Cloudsdale?” Wave Chill asks and I hesitantly raise my hoof, not feeling very well, since it looks like I am the only Pony. The others look slightly shocked at me, not really expecting this, but this doesn’t hold long, when they start to teach me about all the amazing thinks you could do up here. From then on, it only gets better and I even managed to overcome my sleepiness, curtsy to the hot Chocolate.
 
We really enjoy breakfast, before we leave the coffee, making our way to the weather factory. While till now Wave Chill was in charge of the group, this changes as soon as we reach the factory, since this is where Raindrops often works and so it comes to noponies surprise, when she insists to shows us everything, there is to know.
 
We get our safety gear and Raindrops leads us into the first room, where snowflakes for the winter are created. She explains to us how they are made and why it is important to make them only this way, before we follow her to an empty workbench. “Does anypony want to try and make her own snowflakes?”
 
Excited screams come from all of us, before we focus the next half hour on the task at hoof. Raindrops occasionally checking on everypony, giving tips whenever they are needed. We enjoy this as long as we can, before we get interrupted by the head of the department, who is surprised that somepony decided to visit the factory today. She talks a bit with Raindrops and before she has to leave us again, she takes a good look at our work. “Sorry girls, but even if they are good for your first time, they aren't good enough to be used in the next winter.”
 
She asks one of the other workers to get something and we wait for a moment until what she wanted is delivered. “These Cases are specially enchanted, so whatever is in them, stays like it is for the next twenty years." She explains to use, showing us four small glass boxes. “So why don’t you choose the snowflake you think of as the best and take it with home.”
 
We do as asked and carefully put them into the boxes, before we have to say goodbye to the nice mare and Raindrops leads us to the next two departments. 
 
In the first one we aren’t allowed to stay long, since Lightning production is really dangerous and so we march straight through it, entering the next room. “WOOOOW.” Is all I am able to say, by the amazing sight in front of me. Large ponds of Rainbow are on the lower floor, while one floor up I see some Pegasi mixing in stuff in really large pots.
 
“I don’t think that I have to explain what is made in here.” Raindrops says and we all nod in agreement.
 
A nearby mare with a light turquoise coat and amber mane notice that I suppress yet another yawn, which I could hide from the others till now, before she comes over to us. “You look a bit tired. I have something that could help you with this, if you are interested.” She addresses me and without even thinking, I accept the small flask she is offering me, drinking all of its content in one go.
 
It doesn’t take long for me to regret my actions, when a warm feeling begins to spread through me, focusing mostly in my mouth. At first, I don’t think anything of it, but the intensity of this feeling begins to increase with a freighting speed. Soon it feels like my entire muzzle is on fire and I just realize that it must be some kind of hot sauce she offered to me.
 
I look from the unlabelled flask back to the mare, only now spotting that vicious grin on her face, before the heat becomes to much for me. I don’t really know what’s happening, but I feel something cold on my coat, before I lose my consciousness.
 
 






 
I awake some time later, laying on something soft, by the feeling of another Pony nuzzling my check. For a moment I am unsure, if I really should open my eyes, but since I want to find out why my mouth and throat feels like I swallowed a Vulcan, it would be better to find somepony able to answer this question. 
 
I open my eyes, groaning in discomfort as I get blinded by a bright light, which force me to close them again immediately. “Hey, I think she is waking up.” I hear an excited voice coming from above me, followed by more voices talking nearby. I try once more to open my eyes, only with the difference that I do it slowly this time, so that my eyes can get used to the bright light.
 
I look around, finding myself in a room that looks oddly similar to a break room, from one of the companies I worked for years ago. Expect I see three familiar Ponies sitting on some chairs close to me, before a certain grey snout enters my field of view again, obviously to nuzzle me again. “Hey Rumble.” I great him the moment his snout touches my check again, sounding a bit tired and hoarse.
 
Everypony turns their head in my direction, the moment I speak up, before I see two yellow blurs rushing to me, before I get the feeling that all of my bones get crushed, so forceful is the group hug, I find myself in. “Girls, calm down. Don’t you see that Wingy is turning blue already?” The Pony I instantly recognize as Wave Chill speaks up, clearly worried about the fact that I have trouble breathing. “Sorry Wingy.” Rori and Rainy apologize after letting go of me.
 
I take a few deep breaths, before I focus my attention on them. “It’s okay girls. I doubt that I would have acted differently, would I have been in your horseshoes.” I take a short break, before I ask the question that’s plaguing my mind since I woke up. “So, can anypony please tell me what happened?”
 
“You don’t know?” Wave Chill asks shocked and I can only reply by shaking my head in denial, since for some unknown reason, I have trouble to speak without feeling pain. “Okay then, what is the last thing you remember Wingy?”
 
I think for a moment about it, before I give my answer. “I know for sure that we were making snowflakes, before the doors to the next room opened, but after that…..”  I trail off at the end, a bit scared about what I forgot and suddenly I am not so sure if I really want to know what happened.
 
“That’s good, I feared you lost much more of your memories, but it looks like you only miss a few minutes.”  Wave Chill replies with a sigh, sounding kind of reliefed. I for my part not and I am unsure if it’s really good, after all these are my memories he is speaking of. What if this is only the beginning and I start to lose more of my memories. I think a bit about more about this possibility and the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion, that losing the memories of my previous life wouldn’t be so bad.
 
“Wingy you there?” Rumble asks me, giving me once again a soft nuzzle and rips me out of my thoughts.
 
“Sorry, I kind of zoned out, when you mentioned my memories.” I reply in earnest, which earns me more then one confused look. “So, what exactly happened?” I ask again, trying to distract them, so they don’t think too much about what I just said.
 
“A Pony tricked you into drinking liquid Rainbow and you passed out only a few moments later.” He tells me as this would explain everything, but I don’t get what Rainbows could possibly have to do with me passing out. A few moments pass until he realizes that I don’t know, where he is going with that before he starts explaining it to me.
 
“Liquid Rainbow is what we use to paint the Rainbows in the sky or we use them as decorations. But if you want you can also drink it, but you have to keep in mind that it is extremely hot and so most ponies only use it to give there drink a special touch.” 
 
“So, you are telling me, that this mare made me drink hot sauce?” I want to know from him, not really appealed by this kind of news.
 
“Basically yes, only that liquid Rainbow is much stronger than any known hot sauce.”
 
“At least that explains, why I feel as if Princess Celestia tried to shove her bucking sun down my throat.” 
 
Silence. I expected many reactions about my outburst but not that everypony falls dead silent. Shocked gasps, scolding for my bad choice of words, outrageous cries of shock. These are all things I expected and I could live with, but not this dreading silence. A while passes before the first pony recovers and I hear Rumbles voice asking me, “Wingy, I know you prefer Princess Luna, but don’t you think that this is a bit much?”
 
I think for a moment about Rumbles words, who for a Pony that prefers Princess Celestia is very understanding, before I admit that he could be right. “Maybe, but I really don’t know how to say it better.”
 
“Then at least no cursing, okay?”
 
I sigh in defeat, knowing that he is right and since he doesn’t ask for too much, I agree to it without second thoughts. “Okay Rumble.” 
 
We all wait for a moment till everypony has recovered from my outburst, before Rumble asks. “Now with Wingy back in the land of the living, what are we going to do now?” This is a question I would like to have the answer to.
 
“How about some ice cream?” Wave Chill offers, bringing everyponies smile back, before we leave the weather factory behind us. We don’t walk far, since Raindrops still isn’t back, but that changes right after we made ourselves comfortable, only a few meters away from an ice cream shop.
 
She lands right next to us, looks around and focus her gaze on her husband. “Wave, where in Tartarus is my ice cream?” He hoofs her his own ice, before going back to the shop to get himself a new one. 
 
“How did it go?” He asks Raindrops, directly after he is back. Curious about what he is talking, I also focus on them.
 
“At first, he wanted to fire her, but I could convince him otherwise, instead he just demoted and reassigned her.” She waits a moment for our reaction and an evil grin begins to form on her face, before she tells us just what this mare has to do from now. “From monday on, this mare will be a simple Ponyville weather pony.” 
 
Everypony, expect Wave Chill breaks out in laughter and I almost feel pity for that mare, wouldn’t it be for the cruel joke she pulled on me. “Would anypony mind to explain, what is so funny about this? I think she got off way too easy.”
 
“I only can imagine what mama D will do to her, once I tell her about this.” I think out loud, ignoring his question, which makes everypony break out into uncontrolled laughter once more. It takes us several minutes to calm down from our laughing fit again and when I feel Wave Chills confused look on me, I explain to him, why we take it so good. “Well mama D is the Captain of the weather team and she can be very protective.”
 
“Oh, that’s mean.” He tells us his own opinion. We enjoy the rest of our ice cream, while all the time discussing what Rainbow Dash will do to her, before Wave Chill gets up. He reminds us that we have more planned for today and that we should go to our next destination soon, if we want to make  it on time.
 
After a short argument, if we couldn’t have more ice cream, we get up and follow him. Instead of walking, like we did earlier, we fly this time. Even if we fly to the other side of the city, it isn’t a very long flight and after only a few minutes the shape of the Cloudsdale Colosseum is clearly visible. “Dad aren’t we a bit early, it still is a while before the show starts.” Rainy asks, after she realizes just what our destination is.
 
“Who said that we are only here for the show?” He replies smiling, before he lands at a side entrance. he leads us through several small corridors, before we find ourselves in the locker room, where already a few of the Wonderbolts are preparing for their show. “Hey guys.”
 
When hearing Wave Chills greetings, everypony turns their head around and I immediately spot a very familiar Pony, which I haven’t seen in a while now. Our eyes meet and it only takes a moment for her to recognize me from our last meeting at home. She wants to say something, but is interrupted by the arrival of Captain Spitfire, who takes a short look at us. “Wave Chill, are these all your daughters? I thought you only have two.” She asks as surprised as I, since the news that Rainy has a sister is something I didn’t knew yet.
 
“Yeah turns out that you miss quite a few things, when you spend three weeks at the academy. Like for example your daughter having a sleepover, the weekend you planned for her to meet your teammates.” He actual informs Captain Spitfire and I get the feeling, as if she would be responsible for his long absence from home. 
 
“So instead of just taking her with you, you decided to bring all of them?” She replies annoyed, sounding very unhappy about the fact to be in the company of more foals than expected.
 
“What else should I have done Captain?” He asks her for other options, not getting any reply from the brilliant golden mare. 
 
The silence holds for a few moments before the mare sighs in defeat, admitting that there wasn’t any good option available. “Urgh, fine, change of plan. Soarin, Fleetfoot, Misty Fly, I need your help with this.”
 
“Sure Cap, what can we do?” Misty Fly is the first to ask and I think they are as curios about what Captain Spitfire has in mind, as we are.
 
“Each of you trains with one of those three.” She informs them, while pointing at Rori, Rumble and me. “And in two hours, we meet up here again.”
 
“And what about Rainy?” I want to know from her, curios why Spitfire didn’t say anything about her.
 
“You mean my personal student?” She explains with a smirk on her face, causing Rainy to gasps in shock, not having expected this answer. We quickly split up and while Rumble ends up with Misty Fly, Soarin teams up with Rori, leaving me with Fleetfoot.
 
She waits for the others to leave, till we two are alone in the locker room, before she comes over and gives me a quick nuzzle. “Hey Wingy, how are Flitter and Cloudchaser doing?”
 
“Oh, mommy is fine, but aunt Cloudy still tries to go on a date with Thunderlane.” I answer her question, not very happy about this before I change the topic. “You come to the Party next week?”
 
“Of course, I'll come.” She exclaims shocked, that I thought she would possibility skip out of that. “I never would miss the birthday of my favourite twins.” Hearing this makes me happy and now, for the first time in over ten years, I actually begin looking forward to a Party.
 
I wait for a few moments, before I focus back on what was said earlier. “What is it that Spitfire wants us to train for?”

“I have a good guess, but for this to work, we should join the others now.”  She answers my question, without telling me, what I really want to know from her. Slightly upset about this, I follow her out into the Arena, where everypony is practicing multiple different stunts for the time, till we met up in the locker room again.
 
A white Pegasus mare with a yellow mane and tail is already waiting there for us, with four small packages waiting on her back. “You got everything Surprise?” Spitfire asks the mare in question, which after a short nod, gives each of us one of the boxes.
 
I open it and to my surprise in it is a pair of flight goggles and a Wonderbolt flight suit. “They won’t fit perfectly, since I had to guess your sizes, but they should do for now.” 
 
“Now you better put them on, since we still have to train.” She orders us, before she explains to us for what we are actually training. I may not be a huge fan of the Wonderbolts, but I am amazed by her idea and wonder if we really can pull this off. 
 






PoV Flitter, Several hours later:
 
“I know you are eager to see this show Dashie, but there is no reason to hurry like this.” I scold my marefriend, who is close to lose her patients, since waiting has never been one of her strengths.
 
“Flits, if this line doesn’t move any faster, we will miss the show.” She replies upset about how slow the line is moving. Sadly, I have to agree with her on this.
 
“Luckily you don’t have to wait here anymore.” I hear a familiar voice speaking to us and when I look into the direction where it came from, I am surprised by the sight of the mare that just spoke to us.
 
“Raindrops, shouldn’t you be with the girls?” I ask her, concerned about the wellbeing of my daughter.
 
“Nah, they are with Rainys dad, so they should be fine.” She shrugs it off, but I don't like the sound of it. The words ‘should be’ are raising many concern in me. “Follow me, your tickets got an upgrade.”
 
“How do you know about this Dropsi, after all, this are our Tickets you are talking about?” Rainbow asks her surprised, but when she doesn’t get an answer from Raindrops, she falls in line behind the two of us.
 
“Aren’t these seats reserved for family members of the Wonderbolts only?” I ask her, when we arrive at our destination after a short flight.
 
“Not exactly.” One of the stallions guarding the entrance explains. “Family members of Wonderbolts are always allowed to bring some friends.” I nod in understanding, while Dashie just blinks confused, since she doesn’t know about Raindrops husband.
 
Raindrops leads us to some free seats and we have a pleasant conversation with each other, while waiting for the show to begin. Shortly after Princess Luna raised the moon, a single Pegasus flies into the stadium, before she begins to hover in it’s centre. The Pegasus looks around the entire stadium, before raising a microphone to her muzzle. “HELLO CLOUDSDALE.” 
 
She makes her presence known and those that didn’t notice her till now, focus their attention solemnly on her. “I know all of you are eager for the show, but first I have to inform you about some small changes in the program.” 
 
This earns a mixed reaction out of the publicum. A part of the audience is upset about the longer wait for the main show, but the bigger part of it is curious about what this mare with a fiery mane has planned for them. “Now, since I know they are eager to start this, just like I at my first show, let’s welcome THE WONDERBOLT JUNIOR DIVISION.” 
 
Captain Spitfire explains, shouting the last four words into her microphone, pointing into the direction form where 4 small ponies are flying in. “That can’t be.” I hear Rainbow shouting in shock, when the four ponies are coming closer, I begin to make out details and have an idea about what could have shocked her like this.
 
“Let me introduce you to Rainy Feather, Princess Erroria, Rumble, and Silent Wing.” She confirms what I assumed, before flying out of the stadium and the four foals begin their own show.
 
Even if it is not a very difficult performance, I know that at least Wingy must have problems, since she isn’t an experienced flyer yet. They are showing off tricks, I had never seen them practicing before and I have to admit, whoever trained them on such short notice must have done an amazing job. 
 
The main show pass for me in a blur and when Raindrops offers us, to met all of the Bolts, I agree even faster than Rainbow to this. She leads us through a few Corridors and within a matter of minutes we find ourselves in the middle of a locker room, where an artic blue mare has trouble to get out of her flight suit, without disturbing the passenger on her back. “Is this the reason, why you did get replaced with Blaze after a while?” 
 
The mare in question turns her head into my direction and begins to smile, when our eyes meet. “No, I got wingcramps after half of the show and it became too dangerous for me to continue. From then on I decided to keep the only filly still awake company.”
 
“And why did you get wingcramps?” I continue to question her, having a good guess, why Wingy decided to take a nap on her back.
 
“You know what, let’s go home first.” She offers us, not really comfortable to talk about it just yet.
 
“I won’t fly all the way to Ponyville now.” I reply tired, since this day took out more of me then I anticipated
 
“I had my place in mind for this.” She deflects my argument and I agree to it a bit hesitant, knowing that this would be much closer.
 
We both say our goodbyes to the others and are about to leave when I realize, that Dashie hasn’t moved an inch since we entered the room and is muttering something under her breath. I step closer, trying to find out what she is saying all the while and fall down laughing on the floor, when I understand what she is repeating the entire time.
 
“My daughter is a Wonderbolt, my daughter is a Wonderbolt, my daughter is a Wonderbolt….”
> 14 Partys you can't avoid
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carefully, I make my way towards my aunt's’ bedroom, slowly opening the door and I almost drop the cargo from my back. Damn I never expected it to be so difficult, when other ponies carry something on their back. It always looks so easy.
 
I lay the tray down next to her, before I carefully try to wake her up, hoping, that she won’t be mad at me for this. Her eyes slowly crack open and for a short moment she looks confused at me. ”You know that it is rude to wake the birthday mare, Wingy?”
 
My head drops in shame and I blush with embarrassment about the truth behind her words before I look up again. “Sorry auntie, but I didn’t want to let your breakfast get cold.” I apologize for my behaviour, looking on what I brought with me.
 
She follows my gaze and begins to smile when she sees the steaming mug of coffee and the plate of Pancakes on which I wrote “Happy birthday aunt Cloudy,” with syrup. 
 
“Thank you Wingy.” She replies, before she starts to eat her meal. I watch her in silence, just enjoying one of these rare moments with my aunt. “Don’t you want to bring Flits her own breakfast?” She asks me after a while, when I still don’t move from my spot.
 
“Nah, she will probably sleep some more, since she sort of ‘celebrated in’ with mamma D yesterday.” I reply slightly annoyed, that they prevented me from cuddlin up with them again. Luckily, Mango came by later and he was able to distract me from my usual dreams.
 
“You know that you can always come to me, if they are busy with ‘that’.”  She offers me, like a few times before and I feel tempted to accept her offer, but even if I enjoy cuddling with her, it would never be the same then to snuggle with mommy. 
 
Fearing that it would hurt her, if I rejected her outright, I try to approach this matter a bit more diplomatic. “I keep it in mind, okay?”
 
“Sure, but there is still something I want to know from you.” She waits a moment, giving me time to answer and with a gesture of my wings, I signal her to continue. “Who helped you with those?” She asks me, pointing at the pancakes and I realize, that I should have seen that one coming.
 
“Mango did.” I answer truthfully, thinking back at the fun we had earlier, while preparing breakfast.
 
“You know, I really would like to meet him.”
 
“Really?” I ask her, after I recovered from this surprising news and it makes me hope, that she is finally moving on from Thunderlane.
 
“Yes, he sounds like a nice stallion.” 
 
“Well you could join all of us on nightmare night, if you want.” I offer her, thinking about how much more fun it would be, if everypony would be there.
 
“Sorry Wingy, but I go with Thunderlane on that party, Pinkie Pie is throwing.” She declines to my disappointment, not only because I think that it really would have been fun, if she had also joined us. After this we continue to chat a bit more, before I have to go back into the kitchen, finishing the preparations for mommys breakfast.
 
We spend most of the day having fun together by playing board games and a visit to the park, before we make our way over to Sugar Cube Corner. Where the part of the day shall take place, I feared the most of it. I prepare myself mentally for the horrors awaiting us in there, when we stepped into the dark eatery, before we get assaulted by a blinding light and a horrifying noise makes my ears ring in pain. I fail to hide my discomfort about this, but luckily everypony thinks that this is because of the blinding light.
 
“Were you surprised? Were you? Were you?” Something Pink in front of us asks us rapidly, which after I recover from now another shock, I recognize as an over energetic pony.
 
“Yes Pinkie, we were surprised.” Mommy reassures her, even if anypony knows this not to be the truth. Honestly who would ever get the idea that somepony could be surprised of something, that has been known for weeks now, when she accidently told everypony.
 
“Then let’s get this Party started.“ She shouts again so loud, that my ears begin to ring in pain once more and I have to think about something that confuses me for a while now. I had been able to sleep in front of music boxes, which had been so loud that they made the ground vibrate and now I can’t stand the yelling of a single Pony anymore. Just how is such an extreme change possible?
 
They talk for  quite a while, before aunt Cloudy gets approached by Raindrops and they two immediately start talking. Mommy looks around the room and her eyes lit up with joy, when she must have recognized a pony, I have never seen before. At least this is what I assume happened, when she rushes to a Royal Guard and throws herself on him.
 
At first, I think her to be crazy, since she just assaulted one of Princess Celestia's Guards, but to my great surprised, that Guard throws his forelegs around her neck and returns the show of affection. I watch them for a few moments in total confusion, before I walk over to them in order to find out, what in Tartarus just happened.
 
Since they still don’t realize that I want something from them, even when I stand directly next to them, I choose a funny way to make my presence known. “Mommy is this your coltfriend?”
 
I almost fall back laughing, when the eyes of the Royal Guard turn to the size of dinner plates. Sadly, I am unable to see mommys face when I ask this question, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar expression on her face. “That’s something I would like to know as well Flits.” I hear a well-known voice behind me and when I turn around, I see an equally confused Rainbow Dash standing behind me.
 
Mommy takes a few moments to gather her breath, before she drops her left wing on the Guards back, pulling him close to her. I can see that mama D isn’t happy about this, but she relaxes visibly, when she hears her next words. “Wingy, Dashie, let me introduce you to my brother Flash Sentry.”
 
“Wuhu, I have an uncle.” I shout out while jumping in joy, before I jump on him and throw my forelegs around his neck.
 
The Guard however needs a few seconds to understand what just happened, before I feel one of his legs holding me tight. “Mommy? Uncle?” He stumbles out in confusion, before he drops down on his haunches, partly from all the shocks he received in the last two minutes and partly because of me clinging to his neck sat him completely of balance. “Would you mind explaining this to me sis?”
 
“Flash, let me introduce you to my herdmate Rainbow Dash and even more important, my daughter Silent Wing.” She introduces us proudly to him, but I can see on mama Ds face, that she doesn’t likes the ‘more important’ part of this.
 
“Let’s talk about this later okay? For now, let’s just enjoy the Party.” She replies with a smile, which leads to a hesitant nod from uncle Flash. “Okay, let’s go and play pin the tail on the Pony.”
 
Not really interested in this kind of game, I let go of uncle Flash and try to sneak away. I make it only a few steps, before I hear a certain pony voicing her disagreement. “Oh no, you don’t.”  And I yelp in pain, when I got pulled back by my tail.

When I turn around, I look directly into mommy's eyes. “I let you skip so many parties, but this ends today, now all of us will enjoy every single bit of it, okay Wingy?” 
 
“Yes mommy.” I reply in defeat, knowing that there won’t be any chance for me to escape todays party, without hurting her feelings. I follow her to where the game is set up, but on the way over there I spot something interesting. Maybe later, I could have a chance to make this party a bit more bearable. 
 
To my surprise, I actually start enjoying this and several other games and I have to admit that this party isn’t too bad. But after everypony had some cake and Pinkie starts to play some music, I decide that I can’t prolong my plan from earlier anymore. I sneak away and have to wonder how any sane pony is able to call this music, while I start to make my way to my destination.
 
Within a few moments I reach the unguarded table, where a great amount of different drinks is displayed, before I fill one of the mugs with hard cider. I empty it in one go, before I refill it and start to make my way back to my family, hoping that they didn’t grew suspicious above my sudden disappearance. 
 
To my surprise I don’t even make it halfway to them, since I got stopped by an outstretched artic blue wing, in which I ran straight in. I need a short moment of time to recover, before I am face to face with a very unhappy Wonderbolt. “Hi Fleetfoot, nice to see you.” I greet her with a smile, hoping that she didn’t see what I just did.
 
“Hey Wingy, nice to see you to.” See replies and for a short moment there is a smile on her face to, before it turns dark again. “Mind explaining to me, why you think that drinking hard cider is a good idea for a filly your age?”
 
My eyes go wide in shock, but not from realizing my slip up, like she (hopefully) thinks, but from shock that she knows what I just did. “Hard Cider? That explains why this apple juice tasted so weird.”
 
“If that is true, then you don’t mind, that we inform your mother about your slip up?” She asks with a bit of sarcasm, which signalize me, that she doesn’t believe my story. I am about to voice my opinion on this matter, but decide against it. Instead I hoof over the still full refilled mug, which I did hold with a wing for all the time and to my surprise, I didn’t spill a single drop as I ran into her wing.
 
Accompanied by Fleetfoot, I walk the remaining short distance to the group, mommy is chatting with. To me it looks like she is having fun and I feel bad that we have to interrupt them. “Mom, can we talk?”
 
“Give me a minute Wingy, okay.” I reply with a nod, understanding that she has to wrap up the conversation for now, before she focuses her attention on me. “So Wingy, where did you just go and what is it you want to talk about?”
 
I look pleadingly to Fleetfoot, silently asking her to tell mom what I did, but she doesn’t have any intentions to do so. Within a moment’s notice, I know that I have to find my own way out of this mess. “Now, what is it Wingy?” She asks impatient.
 
The lack of patients is something I didn’t saw coming and so I do the stupidest thing possible. I just blurt it out. “I drank hard Cider.”
 
“You caught her?” Mommy wants to know from Fleetfoot and when she confirms her assumption, I know that I am in deep trouble. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention Fleetfoot.”
 
“No need to thank me Flits, I know you would have done the same in my position.” She replies before we separate and mommy leads me into a secluded area, so that no pony will be able to eavesdrop on us.
 
“Now Wingy, just how much did you drink?” This question takes me unprepared, since I expected her to be mad at me and start yelling and scolding me, as soon as we got some space between us and the other guests. However, she don’t gives me the chance to answer this question just yet, since she seems it necessary to add something to it.  "And why did you think, that it would be a good idea in the first place?”
 
“One mug, like the one Fleetfoot was holding.” I reply immediately to buy me some time, since many things are going through my mind. All of the things going through my mind are connected with one little detail, leading to one fateful conclusion. “I am scared of meeting new ponies mommy and drinking always helped me with my courage.” I admit, more to myself then to her.
 
“To believe, that drinking can help you with anything is nonsense Wingy and you should know this.” A very disappointed Flitter reminds me at something I already knew, but ignored almost whenever possible. “This better be the only time you get caught drinking, understood?”
 
“Yes mommy.” I reply in shame, taken totally off guarded by how harsh she sounds.
 
Now, with a much softer voice she asks me, “Is this the only thing, that made you drink?” 
 
“No, I also did it to survive this awful music.” The mere thought of having to hear this so-called music for the rest of the evening, makes me almost run away. 
 
“I don’t know what kind of music you did enjoy before we met, but there can’t be that much of a difference.”
 
“Really? That is like saying that there is no difference between a Gourmet Restaurant and a Hayburger.” I reply with a smile on my face.
 
“Don’t you think that this is a bit too much of a difference, to be used as comparison?” She asks with a lot of doubt in her voice. 
 
“No. I just wish that I could show you the difference, between those two kinds of music.” I reply disappointed that I have no chance to show her some samples, like I always did with the few friends I had. “Can we go back and join the others?” I ask to my own surprise, already starting to miss the company of the others.
 
“Not yet, we still have to discuss your punishment first.” 
 
“Punishment?” My eyes grow to the size of dinner plates, when I hear her say this shocking word. Dreading what she could possibly have in mind.
 
“Yes, did you really expect, that there wouldn’t be any consequences?” I can only shake my head in denial, knowing that I would make the situation only worse, should I open my muzzle. “Then you aren’t allowed to see your friend Mango till Nightmare Night.”
 
“What??? But that would mean I won’t be able to see him for three weeks.” I reply shocked about this turn of events.
 
Mommy however ignores my outburst and continues, as if I hadn’t said a single word. “And we will have a more detailed discussion about what you did in the morning, understood?” 
 
“Yes mommy.” I reply in defeat, knowing that I would make my situation only worse, if I should object to this once more.
 
“Good, then let us go back to the others.” She replies when her smile is slowly coming back. 
 
I for my part am unsure if I should be glad to have avoided an even bigger disaster today or if I should be afraid of the discussion, we will have tomorrow. But I push these thoughts aside and instead follow her back to the others, while I struggle to walk in a straight line. 
 







 
A few nights later, Cloudchaser PoV:
 
The door to my room is slowly being pushed open with a creak, which is normally only audible for trained pony ears. Except for ponies that have too much on there mind to sleep peacefully, even if their room is totally silent. 
 
Now mild hoofsteps make their way over to my bed. I already know who this pony is, since there is usually only one pony in this house that has trouble sleeping and leaves her own room more often than she should. I keep my eyes closed for now, waiting for her to make her presence known on her own accord.
 
“Can I come in auntie?” A very tired sounding filly asks me. I crack my eyes open and like expected, at the edge of my bed stands my niece. I lift the covers of my bed a bit, signalling her to crawl under them, which doesn’t takes her long. 
 
As soon as she is under them, I drop the covers carefully on her, before I pull her closer. I struggle a bit to move my wing under the blankets, without bringing them into too much disarray, but after a few minutes I am able to cover her with one of my wings. “Better now?”
 
“Much.” She replies, before she rests her muzzle on one of my outstretched forelegs. 
 
“Want to talk about it?” I ask her, worried if she is alright. Patiently I wait for an answer, but when I begin to hear soft snoring, I have to accept that I won’t get any answers from her. At least for tonight. 
 
I think about how she is able to have that many nightmares and wonder if Princess Luna is helping her at all and I am only able to fall asleep, after I decide to write a letter to Princess Luna in the morning, informing her about my concerns and demanding some answers from her.
> 15 Nightmare Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: By now everypony should know, that I like to screw with the timeline. So, don’t be surprised by some of the events in this Chapter, since Luna Eclipsed never happenes.
 
 
 
 “I still can’t believe, that you make me do this mommy.” I say to the pony standing behind me, while staring at my reflection in the mirror, not all too happy with it. The pony that is looking back at me, is not even close to what I had in mind for today. No, it is the totally opposite of that.  
 
Instead of a cool and fearsome Nightguard looking back at me, I see something that I can only describe as the ponification of cuteness. I don’t know if I should be horrified by it or if I should just accept my fate and even if I could convince her, by now it is too late to get a different costume. “Now Wingy, I know you and Rumble had that agreement from when you had that sleepover, but do you really think he would have liked the costume you choose for him?”
 
Her reply catches me of guard and I begin to think about what she just said. He didn’t really agree to that, nor did he look very happy when I chose that dare, but he didn’t protest also. So, I guess that he trusted me enough, to choose something he would like and not something that would make him feel uncomfortable, which I am sure that my first choice would have had exact this effect on him. Even if it is a bit reluctantly, I have to admit  that mommy is right. But that doesn’t mean that I give up that easily. “Couldn’t we at least have asked him, as what he wanted to go?” 
 
“I don’t think that this would have been a good idea.” She replies after a brief moment of silence and from how she sounds, I can tell that she isn’t sure of her answer. “What do you think would have happened, if you had told him the options, mentioning what you would prefer?” Once again, I have to think carefully about the answer to this question, which isn’t really that hard. 
 
I know that this colt likes me, maybe even as much as I like him and that is exactly why it hurts so much to admit the truth. I can’t resist to be disgusted by myself, for almost hurting my best friend, without even realizing it. “He would have gone with my choice for him, even if it makes him uncomfortable, just to make me happy.” I reply in a low voice, ashamed that I haven’t thought about this any sooner.
 
When mommy doesn’t says anything in reply, I take another long look into the mirror. I try to imagine, how Rumble would have reacted, if that would be his reflection and not mine and the results to this aren’t anything I like. If even I have trouble to live with my choice, just how bad would it be for a colt? It would be horrible for him! “Thank you, mommy.” I tell her, now really happy that she stopped me from making such a big mistake, before I turn around and throw myself at her in a hug.
 
“What for Wingy?” She asks surprised about my sudden change in attitude, before I fell one of her wings on my back, returning the embrace.
 
“For preventing me from hurting my best friend.” I reply with a smile, which she is unable to see, since my face is currently buried in her Chest fluff.
 
“I am just glad that you realized this on your own Wingy.”
 
“I am not Wingy.” I replied in mock shock, now fully embracing the role, I will play for the rest of the day.
 
“Oh! And who are you then, if I may ask.” 
 
“I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the princess of love, but you can call me Cadence, if you want.” I announce proudly.
 
“Well then Princess, let me take care of your mane, before we head out. After all, A Princess always has to look her best.” She replies serious, before it becomes too much for both of us and we both start to giggle. Slowly we separate again and I turn my attention back to the mirror, enjoying the feeling of getting my now three coloured mane brushed. 
 
We continue to talk like this for a bit more, while she finishes stilling my mane, before I am finally able to put on my “Royal Ragila”. Even if I am now eager to leave and want to find out, what Mango did to Rumble, I can’t resist to take a last look into the mirror. Looking back at me, is a smiling alicorn filly, with the pinkest coat I have ever seen.
 
“Now, shall we meet the others Princess?” Mommy asks, shortly after I was able to turn away from my reflection. 
 
I don’t bother to give her a reply, instead I just walk into the living room, where almost everypony is already waiting for us, ready to head out. I let my eyes wander above the assembled ponies, only to realize that two ponies still haven’t showed up till now. “Hi guys, where are Ruby and mama D?” 
 
“I don’t know about Rainbow, but Ruby choose to go with Dinky and Archer.” A smiling and as Daring Doo dressed up Rori tells us and there is something I just have to know, before we go trick or treating. “Does she still have that crush on him?”  
 
Almost everypony replies with a nod, which cause my smile to grow even wider and with my curiosity now satisfied and my worries about mama D forgotten, I take a look at the costumes of the assembled ponies.  
 
It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, that I spot next to our Daring Doo an as Wonderbolt dressed Rainy Feather and I have to admit, that those two are really cool costumes. I am sure that we already would have made an amazing looking group, had Button not decided to dress up as a character from one of his silly video games.
 
Wait, did I just thing that video games are silly? What the buck is happening to me? I used to be obsessed with Video Games less than half a year ago! This thought however is quickly pushed back into the deepest part of my mind, when the final two members of our group come down from the second floor, now fully glad in their Night Guard Armor. To say that Rumble looks amazing like this, would be the understatement of the century. “Now, is everypony ready to collect as much Candy as we are able to carry?”
 
To my surprise, it is Mango who asks us this, but this doesn’t change the result. I manage to fold my ears, just in time to protect them from the loud cheering. Damn sensitive pony ears. I am sure that, if there is any drawback to being a pony, it would be those extreme sensitive ears.
 
Quickly, we leave the house and start our tour through the town, with the important quest to gather as much candy as possible. It isn’t an easy task, but I am sure that it’s a manageable one and that we will have tons of fun. 
 
That’s true for almost our entire evening till we turn around a corner and find ourselves face to face with two very familiar, but greatly disliked ponies. “Look Silver, it’s the other loser club.” 
 
“Yes, as if a run in with the cutie markless crusaders wasn’t enough, now we have to put up with another bunch of worthless blank flanks.” The earlier mentioned grey earthpony filly replies.
 
“What do you want Tiara?” I ask her annoyed about our misfortune to run into the worst ponies, I ever had to meet in Equestria. Seriously, even Lightning Dust isn’t as bad as those two and she pulled that nasty pranked at the weather factory on me. 
 
We both stare into each other’s eyes for the time she needs to come up with an answer. To my surprise it only takes two seconds for her to come up with something and it isn’t even close to what I expected. 
 
“OUUWH!” She screams in a mix of shock and pain, which is directly followed by a similar scream from her companion. Confused by their actions and curious about what would make those two act like that, I remove my gaze from them and look up. Hovering above them is a black storm cloud, which just happens to get bucked by a certain rainbow maned pegasus and the resulting lightning bolt hits the annoying pink filly right in her flank.
 
When I realize what is happening, I don’t even try to hold my laughter back, fully enjoying the sight in front of us. Soon the others join in and it goes on for a while, till finally Tiara and Silver drop the bags with the collected candy, before they run into the opposite direction. Even after they bolted away, I continue to laugh for a bit more, before I am finally able to calm down. “Great show mama D.” I tell the grinning mare, which is now sitting on her storm cloud. 
 
Her smile doesn’t hold for long and when I look back to the others, I am able to spot a very disapproving glare on mommy's face. Within a moments notice, I know that mama D is in trouble. “Flits, I had to do this, otherwise that filly would probably have ended up with a broken muzzle again.” 
 
“Hey, we agreed that you don’t tell mommy about this.” I shout upset at her, that she broke our agreement, only to realize too late what I just did. My eyes go wide in shock and I know that I am bucked, the moment I feel her eyes on me.
 
“Explain.” Is all she has to say, to make me shiver in fear and I turn my attention now to her, after giving mama D a last disapproving glare. I think for a moment if I should tell mommy about what mamma D is hiding from her, but abandon this train of thought, knowing that she wouldn’t believe that at the moment.
 
“A few weeks ago, we two got into an argument at lunch and both of us said some really nasty things. Maybe, just maybe, I went a bit too far and she charged at me in full gallop.” I pause for a moment, before I end this short story. “Without any other option left, I sidestepped and she crashed right into a tree.”
 
“And you expect me to believe this?” A now slightly calmed down Flitter asks me. Still, I can easily read in her face that she isn’t very happy about this.
 
“No.” I reply bluntly, knowing that even in my ear that sounds a bit far-fetched, wouldn’t it be for one important fact. “But you can ask miss Cheerilee, if you want. She saw everything.”
 
“I will do that, Wingy.” She tells me with a stern glance, before she turns her attention back to mamma D. “And you should have told me earlier about this, Dashie.” 

“I am sleeping on the couch again, aren’t I?” Mama D asks the mare in question and the disapproving glare she receives from her, tells us everything we need to know. 
 
After this, there is a long silence, before mommy takes a deep breath and turns her attention to the only grown up pony, that has been silent for almost the entire evening. “Mango, can we talk by a few drinks about something?”
 
“Sure. When and where do you want to meet?”
 
“How about we go to Pinkie Pie's Party, while Dashie makes sure that Wingy doesn’t cause any more trouble.” Is her response, causing mamma D and me to gulp in sync, not really happy with her reply. I also fear about any possible punishment, that could be waiting for me, after tonight.**
 
Instead a verbal answer, Mango takes a short look at our assembled group, before he takes off into the direction from Pinkies Party, immediately follow by mommy. “Wingy, would you really have hurt Diamond Tiara, if she wouldn’t have stopped?” To my great surprise, a shy and unsure sounding voice from behind me asks.
 
I turn around in shock, looking the filly in question directly into the eyes. “Of course not Rori, you guys all know, that those two aren’t worth the trouble.” I reassure her that I would only use violence, if there really is no other option. “And even if a certain mare gave us a nice show, it’s because of her inability to keep her muzzle shut, that we now missed Princess Luna's tale about Nightmare Moon.” I add, giving the mare in question a glare, that would bring doom above her, if looks could kill.
 
“Hey guys, how about we just go to the costume contest instead? I am sure the Princesses will be there to.” Rumble offers as an alternative for us, which all of us agree to. “But how about we punisher her for this first.” He offers to us with a wicked grin on his face.
 





 
Around thirty minutes later our whole group gathered at the town square, where the competition is held, waiting for the judges to inspect the costumes of everypony. To my surprise there participate only around twenty ponies in it.

I think that the others are just here, because they want to learn about the results or what is also possible, to get a good look at princess Luna in a more relaxed manner. This is a very rare treat, considering that she is less outgoing then her sister and barley leaves the palace, if not absolutely necessary.
 
After another ten minutes of waiting patiently, the participants of the costume contest are finally asked to step forth, so that everypony can get a good look at the costumes. My eyes grow wide in shock, when I don’t see one, but all three princesses leaving town hall and taking a good look at every participant. Only now I am able to understand what Rumble meant, when he said that we will meet the Princesses. Never in my life had I expected to see all three at once.
 
“If I wouldn’t know it any better, I would say somepony did cast a youth spell on you Cadence.” The sun princess tells to the smiling alicorn of love as she has a first look above the crowd, pointing directly at me.

By now I begin to feel very uncomfortable, since I only wanted to have fun, not being started at by all three princesses. I just hope Princess Cadence doesn’t take it in a bad way, when they come to me.
 
Slowly they walk along the line, taking a good look at every costume, before all too soon I find myself muzzle to muzzle with a smiling Princess Celestia. “If I wouldn’t know it any better, I would say that Cadence just used a rejuvenating spell on herself.” She repeats her statement from earlier, with a look at the pony in question.
 
“Yes, auntie. She almost looks exactly from when I was her age.” Cadance responds after a quick look at me, looking extremely happy and I am almost certain that she didn’t expect something like this. “I think we already found the winner of this competition.”
 
“Yes, it is this handsome Night Guard over here.” A very excited Princess Luna announces proudly, much to the surprise and disagreement of the two other Alicorn Princesses.
 
“Luna, you can’t do that just yet!” Princess Celestia answers clearly upset. “We only have taken a look at half of those ponies costumes yet.”
 
Princess Luna lets out a sigh in defeat, before she moves on, but not without another harsh reply. “You are right sister, but my point stands. This young Guard is my favorite.”
 
With that said, all three Princesses continue with their inspection, before they withdraw to decide upon the winner. In regards of what Princess Luna said earlier, their discussion takes surprisingly long, which proves to us that the decision isn’t as easy as we thought.
 
Fifteen minutes pass till finally Princess Luna steps back in front of the Crowd to announced the winner and the price the pony in question will receive. “This year’s price for the best Nightmare Night costume goes to a young unicorn filly, that choose to dress up as Sapphire Shores. Congratulations Ruby Pinch.”*







The next morning Twilight Sparkle and Spike slowly approach the Nightmare Moon statue, intending to collect and count all the donated candy, to share them equally between the local Orphanage and the Ponyville Hospital. 
 
At first everything looks normal to them, but her eyes grow wide in shock, when she walks around the statue and spots something unexpected. There in front of her, lies a young mare with her legs glued together and her wings bound to her body. Her mouth is also glued shut, after somepony put the handle of a basket into it. Of course, said basket is filled with all kind of sweets. “Rainbow Dash, what in Tartarus happened to you?” 
 
Unable to answer this question, she just glares at the librarian, waiting for her to remove her restrains. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” She responds as soon as she is able to speak again. “But seriously, how can anypony give out duct tape, only because they have nothing else left?”
 
Since she is a very intelligent mare, Twilight chose to not press the issue any further and instead just removes the remaining restrains from the pegasus, before she begins to focus on her task at hoof.***
> Interluder III
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A while after Mango and Flitter left Rainbow Dash with the Foals behind, both arrive at Sugar Cube Corner. The Party there is already in full swing and probably will last till late in the night. It takes a few moments for them to reach the bar, where they order some Ciders.

Now equipped with something to drink they search for a secluded spot, so that they can talk without too much interruptions. The surprisingly loud music benefits them now, since it helps to keep their conversation private, even in a crowded spot like this.

“Now Flitter, what is it you wanted to talk about?” The Batpony in question asks, clearly curious why she dragged him away, from the young pony he has to keep an eye on.

The Pegasusmare takes a large sip of her Cider, before she is willing to respond to this. “There are multiple things we should talk about, but all are connected together by my daughter. For example, why and what do you teach her, whenever you two meet in our backyard.”

The Stallion in questions takes a deep breath, thinking for a moment about how to reply, before he gives the mare in question the answer she deserves. “Actually, I don’t teach her very much. We focus more on strength and endurance training, then on actual combat training.”

A reliefed sigh is to heard from Flitter, before she gives her responds. “That is good to hear, I really feared that you already teach her, how to hurt others.”

“What? No!” The Batpony exclaims in shock, before continuing with a much calmer voice. “Flitter, the job of the Night Guard is to protect others and not to terrorise them. Yes, I train her in combat, but only how to avoid to get hit, not how to hurt others.”

“Then how do you explain, Rainbows reaction from earlier?”

“I think your marefriend interpreted the situation wrong and exaggerated the possible outcome, for a simple reason.”

“Please let me explain why I think so.” He stops for a moment and when she doesn’t object against it, he tells her about a conversation the two had after the incident at the school, which resulted in a mentioned bloody muzzle for Diamond Tiara.

Not only did they talk about what exactly had happened there, but also how she could have handled the situation better. “At the end Wingy stood right in front of the crying filly and she had every opportunity to hurt her, but she didn’t, do you want to know why?” He asks the greyish persian blue mare at the end of the story, curious about how she would react. Flitter confirms to him, that she indeed wants to know about this, before he quotes Wingys exact words. ”She isn’t worth the trouble.”

“It isn’t exactly what I hoped to hear, but it is good enough for me, to think that you are correct Mango.” There is another brief pause between the two of them, before she reminds him about the other part of her question. “But you still haven’t told me, why you are training with her and that is something I really would like to know.”

“I could tell you, that I just want to help her to fall asleep easier, by exhausting her, but that wouldn’t be the full truth. When she told me that she wants to join the Night Guard, I saw such a determination in her eyes and I just knew, that I have to help her to achieve her dream.” He explains with such a passion in his voice, that she is almost scared by it.

“Aren’t Batponies the only tribe serving in the Night Guard. And if that’s the case, how will she ever be able to join then?” A now very worried and very confused Flitter wants to know in return.

“It may be true that only Batponies serve in the Night Guard, but that doesn’t mean that the other tribes are unable to join.” He explains, but instead of clarifying anything, he just managed to confuse her even more. He realizes this after a short moment, before he adds, "If a non Batpony truly wants to join the Night Guard, they get the chance to prove their willingness to join in a simple test, before they become Batponies themself.” Mango explains calmly, now almost whispering, so that no pony is able to eavesdrop. 

“How?”*

“That is something, I would like to explain in a more private matter if possible.” He rejects the curious mare, before he asks her to switch to her next question, unknowing just what is about to come.

“From what you told me so far, I get the impression that you care very much about her.” Flitter tells him more matter of factly and almost fails to hide, just how nervous she is at the moment.

“Of course I do, she is like a daughter to me.” He exclaims, shocked that there was any doubt about this, not realizing how happy he just made her.

“That is great to hear and makes this so much easier.” Flitter says now, with a big smile on her face, before she decides that it’s finally time to drop the big bomb. “Do you want to join Rainbow and me in a herd?”

“I would love to.” He replies before he jumps at the mare, tackling her in a tight hug.
> 16 Hearts Warming Eve
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Purple Unicorn is running restless through the backstage area, having the worst panic attacks since she was waiting for the beginning of her entrance exam to Princess Celestias school for gifted Unicorns. “Please Twilight calm down, I am sure she will be here shortly.” The other unicorn nearby pleads to her, hoping that she will relax a bit. Sadly, her words fall on death ears.

“CALM DOWN? CALM DOWN? HOW CAN I CALM DOWN, IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS?” The purple unicorn screams at the top of her lungs, scarring everypony close to her, before she continues in a much calmer voice. “I never expected her to let us down like this.”

“Rainbow didn’t let you down miss Sparkle. I know for a fact that she told you weeks ahead, that she will spend the entire holidays with her family.” A slowly approaching light turquoise Pegasus with a brilliant amber mane replies, with an attitude full of confidence that is very similar to a certain Pegasus.

Upon hearing this, Twilight Sparkle comes to a halt midrun, which almost result with a crash in the nearest wall, but It only takes a second for the unicorn in question to recover from the shock. She turns around to take a look at the Pony in question which just spoke up, only to get another shock, when she recognizes the Pegasus mare in question. “YOU!” The unicorn shouts again, when the memories of a very embarrassing prank, which had been pulled on her weeks earlier, came back to life.

“Yes, yes. I know you are still upset at me, for when I helped to pull that prank on you miss Sparkle, even if I still don’t know what it exactly was. But I don’t think that this is the right time to talk about it, because if I am correct, there are only ten minutes left until the play is supposed to start.”

“AHHHH, you are right and we are still missing a Pegasus.”  The Unicorn, exclaims in shock, getting into another panic attack. Mumbling something unaudible, expect for the clearly out sticking words “Princess Celestia” and “magic kindergarten”.

“Sugarcube ah don’t think that we have a problem here, isn’t that right miss?” One of the two earthponies of the group asks.

“Lightning Dust.” She finally introduces herself and after a short pause she answers the other part of Applejacks question. “I don’t think so, Rainbow asked me to take her place here, but she didn’t know which role she has to play. But since there are only two possible, I played it safe and learned both, Privat Pansys and Commander Hurricanes text.”

A short argument and a small reminder from the pony who owns the theatre, that there are only two more minutes left, Twilight finally gives up and let Lightning Dust play the part of Private Pansy, while Fluttershy has to act as Commander Hurricane.



 

“Wow, that went better than I expected.” A relived Twilight Sparkle says to nopony in particular, since she is happy for two reasons. The first one would be that the play is finally over and everypony can relax again. While the other, at least for her more important one, was when she caught a proud smile from her mentor. 

“Indeed Twilight, it was a great show.” An all well know voice replies, causing all ponies in the room to turn towards the door, where the sun princess is slowly stepping into the room. Her eyes are wandering over all of the assembled ponies, before her look focus at Lightning Dust. “Even if there had been an unexpected actor.” 

Still looking at the Pegasus in question, she walks past the assembled ponies, ignoring Twilights attempt to explain the absence of Rainbow Dash, before she sweeps the Pegasus up in a hug. “You made mama very proud today my little feather duster.” 

All of the assembled Elements gasp in shock, upon hearing this, including the one of them that has problems to accept the truth. She wants to ask princes Celestia if that really is true, but she is silenced before she is able to open her muzzle, by the answer Lightning Dust gives her mother. “I missed you mom, I missed you so much.”

“Does that mean that you are finally coming home?” The Alicorn in question asks hopefully, while gripping her “little filly” in an even tighter embrace. 

“Yes, yes it does mom.” She replies to her mother’s relief, with tears in her eyes, making both of them very happy. And upon seeing just how Princess Celestia reacts to these words, even Twilight is unable to deny the truth.*



 


~~~Meanwhile in Cloudsdale~~~



“How did you like the play Wingy?” Grandpa Hothoof asks me, while we lazily glide home, for some hot chocolate and a late-night snack, before it’s already off to bed for me.

I really don’t like this early bedtime my grandparents set for me, but the only one to blame for this is myself. After all, I was the one that stepped in, when mamma D tried to argue about this with her parents, telling them, that I don’t have a fix bedtime at all. 

Saying that Grandpa Hothoof and Grandma Whistle were shocked by this, would be the understatement of the century and they were claiming that my parents would take their responsibility for me not serious enough. 

After some more arguing between those two I had enough and told them to drop the subject. I said it would be okay for the time we spent with mama D's parents and that we can talk about that more when we are back home. When they wanted to know why I interrupted their argument, I just told them the truth. “I don’t want my family to fight about something stupid like that at Hearts Warming Eve.”

“Hey Wingy, you there?” Grandpa Hothoof asks, ripping me out of my thoughts. I turn my head around to look at him curios about what he wanted from me. “I asked you if you enjoyed the play.”

“Sorry, I zoned out there for a moment.”

I take a moment of time, trying to remember all aspects of the play, so that I can tell them my opinion. “It was great, but how in Tartarus did those Earthponies and Unicorns managed to get up here and why the buck weren’t they falling through the Clouds?”

“Watch your language young miss, or would you prefer to have a bar of soap later, instead of those hazelnut cookies?” I hear somepony reply from behind me and I turn my head around, trying to find out who promises me something horrible like that, only to find myself almost muzzle to muzzle with mommy. I quickly apologize for my slip of tongue, before she answers my question with another question. “Did you notice anything about them?”

Slightly annoyed that she tries to make me think about it, I point something out, that indeed caught my eye earlier. “You mean those necklaces they wore?”

“Yes. Those are enchanted with a cloud walking spell and for how they came up here. They took a Zeppelin from Canterlot.” Mommy points out the oblivious to me and I feel slightly ashamed, that I didn’t came up with this on my own.

“Okay, that makes sense.” I reply shortly before we land in front of my grandparents home. We quickly make ourselves comfortable in the living room, except for grandma Whistle, who is making the promised hot chocolate for everypony. While we wait for her, I take one more look around the room with my eyes resting on the large hearts warming tree. 

“Can I at least open one of them before I have to go to bed?” I ask hopefully, starring onto the presents under the tree, which hadn’t been there when we left the house earlier.

“Really Wingy, that impatient?” mommy asks me.

“Let her Flitter.” Grandma Whistle replies, after she came back from the kitchen and starts hoofing out hot chocolate to everypony. She takes a short glance at me before she turns her attention to a certain Cyan Pegasus. “Our little Dashie was even worse, when she was young. Honestly, she always got so excited that she snuck out of bed in the middle of the night.” Telling us this earns some laughs from all, except mama D who is turning deep red and something tells me that she wanted this to remain secret.

“Under one condition Wingy.” I hear mommys stern voice, which certainly is still a bit upset with me for earlier. I turn my attention to her waiting for her to finally tell me, what she wants from me. It feels like hours, but in reality, only a few seconds pass before I hear her say, “You have to help me with dinner tomorrow.”

“Deal.” I reply instantly, not really upset with it, since it could have been much worse. “At least it’s only cooking and not cleaning the house.” Is running through my head, before I banish such thoughts to the end of my mind, so that I can focus on all of the presents.

I know they aren’t all for me, but it’s just such a beautiful sight. I inspect all of them carefully before I pick up a large dark blue box with white stars on it and a small card, that shows Princess Luna's cutie mark, attached to it.

I take it into my forehooves and have a short look on the card, but when I spot no text on both sides of it, I lay it aside and start to carefully remove the wrapping. It may be longer this way, but this is how I always did it. There are just a few things you never stop doing and this is one of the things I can’t stop.

By now the anticipation is killing me and I can’t stop wondering, what it could possibly be. The time slows down for me, so much, that it almost sems like the time is frozen, but I know that this isn’t true. 

When the wrapping is finally removed, I see a large wooden box in front of me. I open it and have trouble to believe my eyes. There, right in front of me is a set of wingblades with a small latter attached to it. I don’t have to think twice, to grab the letter and start reading it.

“To the youngest member of my Guard,
 
I am sure you are surprised by this, but since your resolve to join my Guard is so strong, I decided that this shouldn’t wait any longer. I expect your father to train you well and the next time you are in Canterlot, stop by and show me how much your training has progressed.
 
Those Wingblades are enchanted to always fit you for the next ten years, so don’t worry about growing out of them anytime soon.
 
Luna”
 
I reread the letter twice, before I call out for dad to come over and after he sat down next to me I let him have a look at Princess Lunas present and her letter. He carefully takes them out of the box, teaching me how to put them on correctly. Showing me some basic moves, before I have to go to bed way to early.
> 17 hearts and hooves day gone wrong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are you sure that I can’t do anything to help, mama D?” I asked again for what felt like the thousands time, trying to convince her that I could really help with Winter Wrap Up, but I had no luck until now. 

“Sorry Wingy, but the only thing that you could help with would be to cut the ice on the lakes, if you are sure that you want to help the weather team.” She finally caves in, knowing that I could keep that up all day long, if I had to, but luckily this proves to be unnecessary.

It’s with a big grin on my face, that I walk over to townhall, where they distribute all the necessary equipment for the different jobs. Major Mare is surprised about my request, but she doesn’t question it any further, instead she just searched for a fitting pair of ice-skates. It takes her a few minutes and I was willing to accept that there are no in my size, when she finally finds a fitting set. 

After hoofing them over to me, she took one of the maps lying around and marked a few spots on it, before she also gives that to me. It took me only a moment to understand that this map was from the area around Ponyvile and that the marked spots, are the lakes I have to take care off.

I thanked her for her help and promised her to be very carefully, before I make my way over to the first lake.  I understand that she is concerned, but it’s just a bit of ice-skating, what could there possibly go wrong?

When I arrived at the first lake, I was a bit disappointed, that it was only a small pond, but maybe this isn’t so bad for my first-time ice-skating. My first fifteen or so minutes on the ice, I spent more time, trying to get up more than anything else, but I started to smile when I finally get the hang out of it.

Since I never went ice-skating before, I don’t know what to expect, so it's a big surprised to me, just how much fun it is. Now I regret deeply, that I didn’t try it earlier and I have to wait almost a full year until I can try it again. 

The first “lake” doesn’t take me much time, but it is good to get used to those skates and so takes me only a half hour, I walked over to the next marked spot on the map. This lake is much larger than the first one and I am sure that it won’t be as fast as the first one. 

Carelessly I skate across the ice and I come to an immediate halt, when I her a soft crack. I wait for a few minutes, but when I don’t hear anything else, I just continue like normal. I probably imagined this, but when I move a few more meters I hear another crack, only this time much louder.

It is clear to me, that I am now in a very dangerous situation and get from the ice as fast as possible. But thanks to my bad luck, I am almost in the middle of the lake. I take a look around, trying to figure out which coast is the nearest one, before I begin to skate towards it. To my horror, the sound of cracking only gets louder. 

There are only five more meters left, when I scream in shock as the ice is unable to hold my weight any longer and collapses under me. Immediately, I am surrounded by bucking cold water swallowing some of it, as I continue to scream in panic, while I try to get back to the surface. 

With a few strokes of my hooves, I manage to lay one of my forehooves on the ice and pull my head long enough out of the water to scream for help. “Help, somepony help.” I scream at the top of my lungs, before I lose my grip again and sink down into the cold water. 

I try and try again, but it doesn’t take long for me to get tierd. Every attempt to get out of this freezing water cost more and more of my strength. I scream for one last time, trying to take in as much air as possible, before I sink down into the cold water again. Without any strength left, I slowly sink deeper and deeper and I am sure if my descent continues with that speed, I will touch the ground of the lake very soon.

I open my mouth, unable to hold my breath any longer swallowing lots of water before I am able to close my mouth again. I grew more and more tired and are almost willing to accept my fate, when I feel something soft touching my hoof, before I black out.





I shock awake screaming, pressing Lilu* tightly against my chest for several seconds, before I am violently stopped. I get painfully reminded at the reason why I am in bed in the middle of the day, when my cold says hello again, with a very painful coughing fit.

It takes nearly two minutes for me to get my breathing back under control, before I could focus on anything else. The coughing may be painful, but at least it distracted me from my Nightmare, which memories are now coming back with full force. I shiver in fear, when I remember on just how close I came to dying that day and only survived thanks to the purple terror.

I am glad that I survived that day, but why had it to be her of all ponies to save me? Everypony would have been better than her, even the scary pink one and now I can’t feel anything else then guilt for what I did to her.

When I think back to it, I realize that maybe, just maybe, I went a bit too far when I asked Dusty to write that letter to Princess Celestia for me and sign it with “Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle”. Screw the maybe, I defiantly went too far when I wrote Princess Celestia about her “fantasies”, but that didn’t stop me. Also, I have to admit, it was fun to watch her get scolded by the Princess herself, from my hiding spot.

I banish these thoughts, knowing that there are more important things to take care of right now. Right now, I need to go to the bathroom and when I have to get up anyway, I can also find out why it feels so damp around my crotch. 

With a heavy sigh I push the blankets from my tired body and climb out of my bed, only to almost collapse, when I put my full weight on my weak hooves. With horror in my eyes, I discover the reason why my crotch feels so bad, when I want to give Lilu a quick hug, before I make my way to the bathroom. There in the middle of my bedsheets is a large yellow stain. “Just great, not only do I have the feather flu on hearts and hooves day and a simple nightmare, but now I also wet my bed.” I scream out loud, terrified by this unfortunate turn of events, wondering if my day can get any worse.

For a short moment I thing about just climbing back into my bed and wait it out before I get back to sleep. Since those sheets are already dirty, it wouldn’t matter anymore if I just do again what I obviously did in my sleep, but I decide against it. That would be too disgusting, even for my taste.

It takes a lot of effort out of me, to make it to the bathroom so that I can take care of my business, Including trying to clean my private parts. After ten minutes of scrubbing them with a washcloth, I accept that I will only fully get rid of it with a bath or a hot shower, but for both I am way too tired.

Halfway back to my room I recognize something odd. The house, that had been silent earlier, was now filled with the sound of crying, coming from aunt Cloudchasers room. I hesitate for a moment, before I change my way and enter her room without knocking.

There she is lying in her bed, face buried in her pillow. “Aunt Cloudy,” I call out for her, but when she doesn’t react, I make my way  over to her and climb into her bed. I give her a soft nudge with one of my hooves, finally getting her attention.

“Wingy, what are you doing here? You should be in your bed.” She exclaims in shock with a disapproving look on her face.

I flinch for a moment when she reminds me on that, before I lay down next to her. “I heard you crying.”

“It’s nothing Wingy, really.” She tries to reassure me, forgetting that there are some things, that make it hard to hide, when you have been crying recently. The most obvious of all those, would be the tear streaked fur directly under the eyes.

“Aunt Cloudy, we both know that’s bullshit.” I reply, not giving her the chance to say anything else. I try to snuggle closer to her, to give her as much comfort as possible, but she tries to keep some distance. At first, I wonder why, but it only takes a second for me to understand the reason behind this. After all I am sick and the possibility that I am still contagious is high.

“Really Wingy, I am fine.” She repeats, trying to convince me that she is meaning it, but she isn’t very convincing.

“Yeah, right, and the Wonderbolts are the worst fliers in all of Equestria.”

“You should be glad that Rainbow isn’t here. She would have skinned you alive, if she heard you saying that.” We both look at each other for a moment, before we break out into uncontrolled laughter. I ignore the pain from my throat for the moment, glad that she is still able to enjoy a good laugh. Aunt Cloudy looks at me for a moment, before she offers me a deal. “Okay, I tell you what happened, but only if you go to bed without any argument, directly after that.”

I agree with her on that one and wait for her to start, giving her all the time she needs for her to get ready. I know that this can’t be easy for her, but from my own experience I know that it always helps to talk about the things that trouble you, unimportant what it is that troubles you. 

At first, she is a bit unsure, but the more she explains what happened to me, the more relaxed she gets. If what she tells me really happened liked that, I begin to wonder if somepony exchanged his brain with hay. How else could anypony be this stupid? 

Cloudchaser caught him in the middle of a rough session with a mare named Skyra. He tried to reassure Cloudchaser that this wasn’t what it looked like and he only loved her, which made Skyra blow up on him, since he told her the exact same thing only a few minutes ago. Now both of them were upset and demanded answers from him and it took only a bit of convincing to get them.

Obviously, Thunderlane had been switching between Cloudchaser and Skyra for around a year now, only because he got bored from having sex with the same pony for a longer time. They left soon after this, but not before Skyra made him scream like a filly, from bucking him into the body part which he was thinking with.

“So how will you get back on him?” I want to know from her, after she finished her explanation. I have an idea for that, but this would only work if she and Skyra work together. After all, he betrayed both of them.

“I don’t think he is worth the trouble.” She replies instantly, only to reconsider after a few moments of silence. “Why, don’t tell me you have an idea Wingy.” I just grin at that, waiting for her to say something, but after a few minutes of silence, I just can’t hold it back anymore.

“Why not make him believe that you and Skyra formed your own herd after a while, to show him what he is missing out. Surely, she wants to get back at him to.” 

She thinks about it for a while, with a smile soon forming on her muzzle. “If she is up for it, that could work out very well. But now it’s back to bed for you.” 

I hesitate for a moment, remembering what I discovered earlier, before I ask her something that is extremely embarrassing for me. ”Can you maybe change the sheets first, they are kind of messy.” At the end of this sentence, my face is so red, that a tomato looks pale in comparison.

She looks a bit surprised, when I tell her this, but it only takes her a moment to continue and now it’s her turn to find out what happened. “What happened?” She asks a bit worried, but it wouldn’t surprise me, if she already knows what I am implying. Like her, I hesitate for a bit, before I gather the courage to tell her everything. Starting with my nightmare from winter wrap up to what I discovered when I get up so that I can go to the bathroom, even including the part about what I thought for a moment, before I actually went to the bathroom.

“Wingy, you should never consider something like that.” She replies, more worried about what I thought, than about my little accident. I look down in shame, knowing that she is right. And again, I can’t help it but feel disgusted, that I even considered it. 

The silence after this lasts for a few minutes before she finally breaks it, asking something I didn’t expect. At least not after what I just herd. “Do you want to sleep with me tonight.” Since in my eyes it is always better to have company, than to be alone when something troubles you, it isn’t a surprise that I just nod. Even after she says that there is something I had to agree to, I just nod again, not really caring what she meant with that. As long as I don’t have to be alone tonight, I would do almost everything. 

“How is it even possible that you have some of those in my size?” I ask surprised a few minutes later, after she finished putting a diaper on me. 

“Don’t tell Rumble that you know this, but they are leftovers from when he had the same problem as you.” She replies in a whisper, before she lays down next to me.

“I won’t.” is all I say, understanding how bad he must feel about this, should I ever bring that up in a conversation.

Satisfied with my answer she pulls me closer to her, allowing me to bury my face in her fur, before she places one of her wings over me.
> 18 Consequenses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So how do you think about it?” I ask the mint green mare, which reminds me just so much of Lyra, but she doesn’t respond immediately. Instead she gives the idea some thought, which I understand completely, since this isn’t a easy decision to make. It wasn’t for me either, after Wingy suggested it two weeks ago and still I am not sure if Wingy meant it just as joke to cheer me up or if she seriously thought it to be a good idea. At least all three of us agree, that he deserves to get some payback.

“You know what, why not? But how would we go about it?”

I am not surprised at her question, since I asked myself this earlier to  and have actually come up with something that could work. “I think we should start small, maybe some complements here, a nuzzle there to begin with. Than later share some kisses directly in front of him and eventually go on a date, about which he knows.”

“That actually sounds pretty good, but how do you want to make sure that he knows about all of this, without it looking suspicious?”

However I wanted to respond to this, gets unimportant the moment Rainbow shows up and harshly reminds us that we actually have work to do. “Hey would you mind to give us a hoof here? We have a sky to clear after all."

“Dinner at my place tomorrow, at seven?” I asked Skyra, the moment I spot the target of our anger passing nearby.

“Sure, I will be there.” She replies instantly, not at all being surprise by the sudden question.







The moment I hear somepony knocking on the frontdoor, I gladly get up from my homework, taking up the opportunity for a short break to let our guest in. “Hi, you must be Skyra.” I greet the to me unfamiliar pony, after taking a short look at her.

“Yes and who are you?”  She asks me, surprise written all over her face. If it is for the fact that I already know her name or the fact that she didn’t expect anypony other than aunt Cloudy to be home, is something I can’t tell.

“Aunt Cloudy, your marefriend is here.” I shout into the direction of the kitchen, totally ignoring her question and after a shouted reply from Cloudchaser, leading her into the kitchen.

“You know that we aren’t actually that kind of friends, right?” Skyra asks me in return, after she overcame the shock of my proclamation.

“I am sure that she knows this, but Wingy loves to tease others.” Aunt Cloudy replies, when she meets us halfway to the kitchen.

“Can I go back to my homework now?” I try in attempt to change the topic, which backfires horrible.

“Is Rumble coming over and you want to be done by time he arrives, so you can spend more time with your coltfriend or what is the matter? Normally you try to postpone your homework as much as possible, especially equish.”

I want to deny at least the first part, but the fact that I can’t withhold a blush when she mentions this cute colt, makes it futil. “You are worse than mom, you know this?” Is all I am able to come up with, when I accept the fact, that I have lost this round.

“Privilege of the older sibling.” I don’t even bother with a reply to this, instead I just walk back into my room, planning to get at least one more of the three subjects done before Rumble shows up. 

For a short moment I want to pick up my equsih textbook, just to prove her wrong, but instead I choose something different. I could have chosen math, since it’s the simplest of all and would probably be done the fastest, but that’s also why I decided against it, since it is kind of boring!

History on the other hoof is way more fun, since we currently go over the Lunar Rebellion, which started shortly after Princess Celestia banished her sister and almost caused her downfall, shortly after her single reign of Equestria begun.

I am so engrossed in it, that I didn’t realize just how fast the time passes and so it takes me by complete surprise, when all of a sudden, somepony begins to nuzzle my neck. I enjoy the motion for a moment, before I turn around and find myself staring into the purple eyes of my coltfriend. “Hi Rumble.”

“Hey Wingy, I knew that this would bring a reaction out of you.” He replies smiling, now that he finally got my attention and I feel bad, for not noticing him earlier. “Don’t worry, I haven’t been waiting that long.” He adds, when he notices this. “Besides, you have the whole weekend to make up for it.”

“The whole weekend?” I ask him, surprise written all over my face and I can only wonder, what caused the increased stay of him.

“Yeah, Lane went to Cloudsdale for the weekend and left me behind. Didn’t even bother to tell me and just left a note on the fridge.”

“Well then, how about we start with some video games?” I try to change the topic, when I noticed just how downcast he looks. At first I think it works, but something seems off to me and when I beat him in three races in a row I just have to ask him. “Okay Rumble, what’s wrong with you.”

“What do you mean Wingy?”

“Expect for the fact I win every race, when you normally beat me miles ahead? You look horrible and something is definitely keeping you down.”

“You think Thunderlane hates me?”

“Why should he?” I ask once more surprised by another revelation this evening, wondering what could have caused this, since those two brothers have always been really close.

“Well, it’s basically my fault that he is now alone again. If I hadn’t let Cloudchaser in or wouldn’t have let her go upstairs unannounced, maybe they could still be together.”

“Did you know that Skyra was with him or that there was more between them, than just being coworkers?” I want to know from him and when he shakes his head in denial to both questions, I continue right on this path. “Than you did nothing wrong. In fact, if anypony is to blame for what happened, it’s him.”

“You know she is right Rumble.” Mommy replies as she is entering the room, sounding as calm as ever, when she has to approach a very sensitive topic. 

“But how can it be wrong, I have seen Stallions having two or more marefriends at the same time a lot of times.” He replies upset, not understanding the difference between those and what Thunderlane did.

“Yes, but there is a very important difference. In a herd like you just described it, they know about everpony and love each other equally. Thunderlane on the other hoof went behind everyponies back and by doing that he betrayed the trust of both. If he would have instead just talked with them, he could be in a herd of his own by now.”

“Oh, okay.” He replies after a few moments, finally understanding how much Thunderlane messed up. “How about a rematch, Wingy?”

“Not now you two, the five of us have a reservation at that new restaurant, near the marketplace.”  She interrupts us, before we are able to pick the controllers up again. 

“Five?” Rumble and I ask in unison, wondering who else is going to come.

“Dashie, Mango, and us three of course.” She replies, before ushering us out of my room and leading us straight to said restaurant, where I spot them already waiting in front of the restaurant. 

I rush over to them, happy to see that mama D is fine. I was so worried, when she started to throw up around a week ago and only today went to the hospital, to figure out what’s wrong with her. Obviously it can’t be that bad, since otherwise the doctors wouldn’t have allowed her to leave.

After a  heartly welcome and a bit of small talk, we enter the restaurant and when I finally have a good look at what it looks like from the inside, I find myself unable to move. A flood of memories, which I buried a long time ago and thought forgotten by now, comes back with all it’s might. 

I try to keep my tears in check, but I don't manage it completely and I am unable to hold more than a few back. Nopony recognize this at first and when a waiter comes to lead us to our table, I step forward and ask with a  slightly trembling voice. “Can- can we maybe have a place near the tiled stove?”

(Since I suck at describing places, I decided to add some images in the AN, so you get an idea about what I had in mind for this place. You could also search on google images for Bauernstube. don’t make the mistake to translate this into english, since this would give you completely different results. Believe me, I tried.)

At first the waiter looks a bit confused at me, but after a look at my parents and no protest from them, he leads us to such a place. We sit down and after he takes our orders and leaves, mommy is the first one to speak up. “Wingy, are you alright?”

I think about it for a moment and with a heavy sigh, I tell them what troubles me at the moment. “It-it’s just this place reminds me so much at home.” 

This earns mixed reactions from my parents. While dad is calm and waiting for an explanation, my mothers gasp in shock. “We can leave if you want.” They offer me, but I can only shake my head to this.

“No, this few are good memories.” I admit wholeheartedly and even if they are good memories, it doesn’t make there return any easier. So I lean slightly in the side of my mother for comfort, taking full advantage of the fact, that we both choose to sit on the corner bench, next to each other.

It takes only a few moments for her to understand what I want or to be more precise what I need now and she gently places a wing over me. Till dinner is served, I spent most of the time just listening to their talk, only opening my muzzle to talk, when a question is undoubtedly meant for me. Only when our meal arrives, I leave her embrace. 

Dinner is a very quite affair and after the waiter picked up the dishes, a new conversation starts, which is now focused on mama D. “So Dashie, how went your check up at the hospital.”

“I think it went well, even if it comes with a few side effects.”

“What side effects?” 

“Since I can’t do any stunt flying for a long time, Flitter will take my place at the best young flyers competition.”

Everypony at the table stops what they are currently doing, since they are to shocked from what mama D just announce. I just don’t get it, why did she smile, when she told us that she won't participate at BYFC? And even if there are still two months left, she already trained like a madpony for it. I don’t want to imagine how much more intense her training was planned to become.

“Why?” Is the only word, mommy is able to say in response, after she recovered from the shock.

To my great surprise, mama D doesn’t focus on me and not on Flitter, like I expected from her. The words that leave her muzzle next, are something I expected even less. “Wingy, how would you like to be a big sister?”

I don’t know what exactly happens next, only that a few moments later, I find myself clinging to her neck while she lays on her back, with the biggest smile I have ever seen on anypony. “Does this answer your question mama D?” I reply, with tears of joy in my eyes.

I hold here for a long time, before the others are able to convince me, to let go of her and I sit down next to mommy again.

The rest of the evening can only be described as a big party, where we share a lot of  drinks (non-alcoholic) with the other patrons of the restaurant and I swear that I saw Pinkie's head popping out of the corner for a short moment, before it vanished again.
> Interluder IV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Tia, where are you?” I ask slightly concerned, aimlessly wandering through the Castle, since I haven’t seen her the entire day. Which is very unusual for her, even when she decides to take an afternoon off from work.

When I see a maid pushing a trolly, loaded with an entire cake, in my direction, I just know who I have to ask. “She is in the garden.” The maid tells me, without that I even have to ask. I give the maid a quick thank you, before I teleport myself to my sisters favorite spot, in the Royal Garden.

“I was wondering, when you would finally decide to show up sister.” I hear Tia reply in a slightly mocking tone. “A few minutes later and I would have send a search party after you.”

“What has you in such a good mood sister. This is clearly unexpected after the debacle with Blueblood in the morning.” I ask in wonder, shortly before I find myself in the shadow of a cloud, which promptly starts to unload all the water she is holding in onto me. 

I endure the rain for a few seconds, before I teleport myself behind the cloud. With perfect timing, I buck the cloud out of existence, shortly before the jumping pony would have landed on it again.

The pony in question just crash into the ground and I wait for her to turn around, so that her belly is up, before I advance and pin her to the ground. “Good morning dear niece, I hope you had your fun?” I ask her, troubling not to laugh, by the thought of the plan, that is currently forming in my mind.

 “Hi auntie Luna, I hope you did enjoy your shower as much as I did.” She asks me grinning from ear to ear, barely able to withhold her laughter. My sister on the other hoof shows no restraint.

I wait for her to calm down, before I focus on her for the moment. “I am sure your mother had a helping hoof into this, isn’t it right sister?”

“Luna, I would never commit such a crime.” My sister exclaims in mock shock, giving enough information for now. 

“Tell that Starswirl the bearded. He had to shave his beard off, after you “accidently” turned it pink. Or what was that with Clover the Clevers enchanted Quills or ambassador Iron Talons...” I begin to count of all the pranks she pulled over the centuries, but sadly get interrupted by her, before I come even close to the really good ones.

“Okay Luna, I admit it. I have pulled more than just one or two pranks over time.” 

“Good.” I reply before I turn my attention back to the squirming pony, that is still pinned to the ground by my magic. “Now back to that misbehaving foal.”

“What, I am not a foal.” The light turquoise mare replies upset. 

“Not for normal ponies no, but for us alicorns it’s different, especially if you compare yourself to Tia and myself.” I explain in earnest. “And you know what happens to misbehaving foals, don’t you?”

“They get cake?” She asks hopefully and after a short look at my sister, I know that this is exactly what will happen later.

“Try again, maybe I will show mercy, if you give the correct answer.” 

“They get punished.” She replies now correctly, her look makes clear that she is more than terrified from me, at least for the moment.

“You know what's the good thing about Alicorns dear nice?” I ask the to the ground pinned princess, which looks pleadingly to her mother for help, who just watches in amusement. “They come with there own torture devices.”

Her gaze turns back to me, eyes immediately going wide in shock, when I pluck three feathers out of her wings, holding them threateningly above her head. “You wouldn’t be so cruel aunty Luna, right?” She asks me, directly before I begin with her so called punishment.

At first she tries to play it though, while I begin slowly, which turns into a full blown assault, when I continuously add more and more of my own feathers. I only stop when the mare under me can only be described as a giggling mess. I wait for her to calm down, before I ask her a very important question. “Now, what did you learn today, Dusty?”

“Only use pranks on you, that can be traced back to mom.” She replies with a big grin on her face and while Tia's face lights up in horror, I can’t resist the urge to smile.

“Very good Dusty, I knew that there is a reason why you are my favorite niece.” I reply with a smug grin, before I help her up and we both turn our attention back to Tia. “So what is it, you wanted to talked about sister.”

“I was planning who I will invite to this years Gala, when Dusty ask me about a ticket for one of her friends. Now Luna, is there anypony you want to invite?”

“There is indeed a pony I plan to invite, along with his family.” I reply after I gave that idea some thought. “You remember Lieutenant Mango?”

“Isn’t this the Thestral you put in charge of our guards in Ponyville?” She wants to know from me, still upset about the fact, that I haven’t asked for her opinion in this matter.

“You mean Wingy's dad?” Lightning Dust interrupts me to my great surprise, before I even get the chance to answer. 

“Indeed, how do you know her.” I ask my nice surprised, that she even knows about her.

“We met each other in Cloudsdale, shortly before I was transferred to Ponyville.” 

“Let me guess. You got transferred to Ponyville because you pranked her, where you met again, made up and started to prank the whole town?”

“Pinkie Pie also joined in after some time.” She admits with a blush and I have to grin, at the thought of all the mischief those three created.

“As much as I would like to hear more about the fun you had in Ponyville, Dusty, can we now go back to the matter at hoof, namely the invitations for the Gala?” Tia asks upset that we let us get distracted so easily.

“Dusty, how many tickets did you sent to Wingy?” I want to know from her, just to make sure that they get enough.

“Please, trust me auntie. I invited Wingy and her whole family.” 

I look at her for a moment, but decide to go with the risk. “I do, but for now I have to leave you two alone. I need to catch some sleep, than unless a certain Princess I haven’t cancelled my court for the night.”

I depart from them, but not without whispering a warning into the ear of my niece. “Stay away from the blue flowers.” 

I am halfway on my way back into the castle, when the maid from earlier pushes her trolly with the cake past me, inclusive the new decorations I suggested. As soon as I am out of sight , I teleport immediately back into my room, applying every protective spell I know to it.

I am finished just in time, only moments before I hear a certain Princess scream my name in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “LUNA!!!"
> 19 Ticket Trouble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Starts before Interluder IV and ends after it.



I was sitting at my desk rereading the letter I got from Dustys earlier this day for the third time, before I put it aside. I know what it says, but it is still hard to believe and even harder to understand. Just why the buck is she inviting me to the Grand Galloping Gala?

When I look at the pack of tickets, I can only wonder why there are so many of them. Four I could understand, but why the buck are there seven, that just doesn't makes any sense. I quickly write a short letter to her and burn it over the candle she gave me before she returned home.

I try to focus back on my homework, but the moment I picked up my pencil, is surprisingly the same moment as her answer arrives. I ponder a few moments if I should read it now or do my homework first, before I pick up the letter.

Hey Wingy,

four of them are for you and your parents, one is for that colt you spend so much time with (don’t deny it, I know you like Rumble as more than just a friend) and one is for your aunt Cloudchaser. The seventh ticket is just in case, should your parents add another mare or stallion to your herd.

Hope to see you soon again

Dusty

P.S. It would be nice if you could come a day earlier or two, it’s just to long since we pulled our last prank together and I have some great ideas for my mom and my cousin. 

Pranking Princess Celestia? That could be fun, but how can I convince mom to go earlier to Canterlot without letting it slip? Well that is a problem for later, for now I have to tell some ponies the good news, but with who shall I start? Certainly not dad, since waking him up after a long shift is never a good idea. Mommy and aunt Cloudy are helping out in the weather factory, since many pegasi there got the feather flu and they are understaffed at the moment. Rumble is out of town, doing something with his brother, so that only leaves mama D. Luckily, I know exactly where she should be at this time.

I get up and abandon my homework, checking if dad is still asleep, before I leave the house and fly to Sweet Apple Acres. What would have been a 20 minute trot, I manage in a quarter of the time and to my great surprise I don’t spot mama D in her favorite napping tree, instead she is arguing with Applejack and Twilight about something. 

I fly over to where they are and make sure that I hover exactly above the spot in the middle of them, before I tuck my wings in and drop the last few feet to the ground, creating a dust cloud in the proces. “Hello everypony.” I ignore everyponies protests about my rude arrival, wondering how the buck they didn’t notice me earlier while I ask them about what they had been arguing about. “Why don't you give Spike the extra ticket, he is your LBBFF, if I remember correctly and family should always come first.”

All three ponies look surprised at me and Twilight is about to open her muzzle, when somepony else answers my question. “Hey, leave me out of your stupid girly stuff.”

“Okay, that answers it.” I think to myself, wondering why I hadn't thought of this earlier or how I could overlook him so easily, when he is sitting on Twilight's back, directly in front of me. I take a closer look at the two ponies in front me, before I come up with a great idea. “So AJ will be your date for the Gala then. Okay, that’s unexpected but I am sure that you two will make a nice couple.”

Both of their eyes go wide as dinner plates, when there focus switch between me and each other. I watch that for a few moments, happy that I have achieved what I wanted before I turn around, only to find myself eye to eye with mama D. “As much fun as this is Wingy, why didn’t you help me to get the extra ticket?”

“Why should I, we already got tickets.” I reply immediately, which softens her glare greatly and we two make our way into town. While we walk there, I tell her everything about the letter I got from Dusty. I can’t convince her to come with me, but she says that I can get everything I want for the Gala, just before we split up.

While she goes to Sugar Cube Corner, I make my way towards Carousel Boutique. In the hope of getting Rarity's help. I hear the familiar tingling of the bell when I step into her home, which is followed by her usual greeting, when she looks up from her current work. “Oh, hello Silent Wing, what brings you here at this fine day?” 

I wince when I hear her saying my full name. It took me a while to get used to it, but by now I am far more comfortable when others call me just Wingy, to be honest I actually prefer it. “Hello miss Rarity, I actually need your help with something.”

“Please, just Rarity is fine.” I think for a moment if I should start the usual games, but decide against it, instead I decide that a simple nod is the best reply, in this situation. “So what is it I can help you with, a scarf? A new set of bows? Or do you finally allow me to make you a nice dress?”

“Nothing of those, but can you make me a saddle for the Gala? Maybe in the same red as my mane colour if possible?” Her lack of response surprises me, since I expected her to complain that this wouldn’t be appropriated or something similar and only now, I realize that she is actually frozen in shock. “Rarity, you fine there?” I ask her slightly annoyed by her reaction. I expected some drama, but not that extreme. On the other hoof, she didn’t faint so it can’t be too worse.

“Darling, this simply won’t do. You can’t just go to an event like the Great Galloping Gala with nothing as simple as a saddle. Please allow me to make you something nicer.”

“Look Rarity, if it would be up to me I would just wear my Night Guard Armor or nothing at all, but even I know that this wouldn’t be appropriate. So what do you say. Can you make me a saddle that would look absolutely fabulous or are you not up to that challenge?”

She sighs in defeat and gestures to me, that I shall get up on the pedestal, so that she can begin her work. “You play dirty, Wingy. Using my own words against me and question my ability? That’s something I didn’t expect from you.”

“I am full of surprises.” I reply grinning, hoping that I didn’t go to far, with what I said earlier. “Look Rarity, if it really matters so much to you, you can make me a dress and I decide at the day of the Gala, what I will be wearing, okay?” I offer her in exchange, hoping that this will help her to calm down a bit.

Whatever she wanted to say next is lost to both of us, when a purple blur rushes into the Boutique and slams the door shut behind it, gaining both of our attention. From all three of us, Rarity is the first one to recover and focus on the most important part. (At least in her opinion) “Twilight dear, you look horrible, what happened to your mane?”

She immediately begins to “fix” this so called mess, not giving her a chance to explain anything. “Hey Spike, what the buck  happened to you two after mama D and I left?” I ask the young drake, which also looks slightly shaken, but not nearly as bad as Twilight.

“You mean after Twilight explained to AJ, that it isn’t as you said and she doesn’t think of her that way?” He replies annoyed, not in the slightest bit happy with that joke from me and I have to admit that it was one of my worst. 

“When we came back from Applejack, we ran into Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie who somehow already knew about the extra ticket. This isn’t your doing, right?” He asks me with a glare, that could melt all snow at winter wrap up within seconds and for the first time, I am actually scared of that little dragon.

“No, I didn’t tell anypony about it Spike, why do you ask?”

“Because the whole town is now chasing us, only because they want that stupid ticket.”

A shudder runs down my spine and one thought runs through my mind. “I can only hope that nopony finds out, that I have a spare ticket to.” I already had Spikes attention, but now Twilight and Raritys heads also turn into my direction, which makes me fear only one thing. “I said that out loud didn't I?”

The question is answered sooner than I would have liked, when Rarity asks me if that is true and if she could have it. When I want to know from her, why exactly she should get the ticket she tells me something about a Prince Blueblood and how she could impress him and that is where I decide to put a stop to it. “So let me get this straight, you want to go there so that you can impress a pony you know nothing about, expect the fact that he is a prince, so that you can marry him and become a princess of your own?”

“I wouldn’t put it like that.” She replies within a moments notice, not even trying to deny it and it is this exact moment, in which I know that she won’t get anything from me. I remove everything, that she had already arranged on me, before I step down from the pedestal and make my way towards the door. “Wingy, where are you going, we hadn’t been done yet?”

“Home of course, I still have something to finish, before dad wakes up.” 

“But what about your order? We had barely started yet.” She replies upset, only now realizing that focusing all her attention on Twilight, the moment she arrived wasn’t the best of her ideas.

“Consider it cancelled. I get that from a pony that doesn’t abandon the customer she is currently working with in favor of a friend.” I answer her question, not caring in the slightest, how she will take this news.

“You know Rarity, that was kind of rude from you.” Twilight surprisingly adds her own view of the situation, as I walk the few remaining steps to the door. 

“Hey Twilight. Regardless what happened earlier, I hope you find a solution to your problem and some pony that is actually worth your extra ticket.” I tell her, before closing the door to Carousell Boutique behind me and make my way home.





The next evening at a not so random encounter:

I observe the way from the marketplace back to the Golden Oaks Library, waiting for my target. If my information is correct the mare in question should pass by here very soon and I can finally finish my self given duty. “Hey Twilight, I heard you are looking for somepony to go with you to the Gala, is that correct?” I ask her the moment I spot her, while catching up to her and make sure that my step match hers.

“Oh, hello Mango.” Twilight replies in surprise, which is followed by a few moments of silence, before she decides to answer my question. “Yes, I am already going with all of my friends, but I still have one extra ticket.”

“And you don’t know who to give it to, since everypony only cares about the Gala, but you want to get something more out of it?” When I hear her sigh and she admits that this is indeed, what is troubling her, I decided to help her in the only way possible. “I can't help you with the ticket, but I can introduce you to some of the guards, when we go to Berry Punchs bar on saturday.”

“All of them are Night Guards?”

This question takes me a bit by surprise and I can only wonder, why this should be from importance. “Yes. I hope that isn’t a problem for you.”

“No, not at all.” She replies to my relief and I am glad that she isn’t one of those tribalists, that has a problem with us Thestrals. But from the way she said this, I know that there is more to this, than just the difference in tribe. Unwilling to pressure her, I wait patiently for her to tell me the story behind this question.

Almost a minute passes in silence, before she explains the reason for her question and to be honest, it isn’t something I could have guessed. “You should know that my brother can be a bit overprotective when it comes to me and the problem is that he has a position in the Royal Guard, that allows him to turn his threats into reality.”

“And since the Royal Guard has no say about us, we are safe from everything he would like to do to us?” I finish for her, which earns me a nod of approval, but this still lefts one question unanswered. “Just what did he promise those Guards?”

“Let me quote something, I overheard him saying to a fresh bunch of recruits on their first day. "If any of you takes more than one look at my sister, I make sure you are permanently assigned to the frozen north".”

We both walk in silence, somehow, none of us is interested in conversation for now and soon we reach her home. “I'll pick you up on saturday around eight, if that is alright with you.”

“Sure, I can’t wait for it.” She answers me, before we say our goodbyes and while she (probably) goes to bed, I head towards the barracks, so that I can prepare for another long night.
> 20 The Cake incident
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The great Galloping Gala is in full swing and I spent most of my time together with Rumble, hoping for anything interesting to happen. Seriously why had we been so eager to get here? If there ever was a event so boring that you could get bored to death, it is this Gala.

A look around just confirmes what I am thinking. Twilight is standing next to Princess Celestia, watching her greet every new arrival and only the presence of her mentor is keeping her awake. Countless ponies arguing about taxes and how the nobility "suffers" from another increase, and of course, the paparazzi is harassing the Wonderbolts. Seriously, can't these guys at least stop for one day and try to enjoy what is supposed to be the biggest party in Equestria?

I try to ignore all these morons around me and focus on the ponies most important to me, my family! I would love to spend the whole evening with them, but even that is easier said than done. Dad has been called away earlier away from some guards, mama D went to talk with the Wonderbolts, aunt Cloudy and Skyra vanished earlier into the gardens. If the stallion that was accompanying them is any indication, I suppose that at least those two are enjoying the Gala. And mommy, why the buck has she been talking with Captain Nightshade for the whole evening?

“Want to get a piece of this enormous Cake Rumble?” I ask the only pony that is paying me any attention at the moment.

He follows my gaze to the biggest treat in the room and I am sure it looks as tasty to him as it does to me. Sadly, there is one little problem with this and he just has to voice it. "But that is Princess Celestia's and she doesn't allow anypony to take a slice before she does."

I consider his words for a moment, before taking a quick look at where she is still occupied and decide that I don’t care. “I don’t think that she mind one or two missing pieces.”

After a moment of silence he starts walking towards it and like the starving filly I am, I follow him without a second thought. Gathering a knife and two plates from one of the nearby tables is easy and not much time passes, until we both retreated to a quieter place, so that we can enjoy our meal in peace. 

“Wow, this is great.”

“Yeah, I thought Pinkie and the Cakes are good bakers, but they don’t come even close to this.” I reply in bliss over this sweet delicious goddess with only one thought in mind. I need more!

After I finished this small piece, I look up from my plate, planning to ask Rumble if we shall get more, but to my great surprise he isn’t there anymore. Only his empty plate is there and I have a good guess where he went. 

Instantly I get up from my haunches and run back to from where we came from. There are only a few more feet left to pass when I finally catch up with him. I look at him and the grin he gives me in return, says everything I need to know. 

I jump on  the table, our price directly in front of us, before I bury my muzzle into it. My goal for this evening is clear now, with this irresistible cake being the only good thing at the gala, I just have to get as much into me as I can. 

I enjoy my meal for quite some time, until I feel something tugging at my tail. I ignore this, and only manage to get one more bite out of the cake, before being lifted high into the air by my tail.

Only now I realize that everything is quiet, much to quiet for my taste since even the music isn't playing anymore. A quick look around confirms that Rumble is in exactly the same position and everypony is staring at us in shock, but this isn’t even the worst. No, that would be those two magenta orbs staring at us like we just murdered a dozen puppies. 

“You two don’t happen to know where that cake went?” The owner of those two orbs asks us in her kind voice while pointing towards the almost empty plate.

I know we are busted, I know we probably get banished to the sun for this and I know that I should say anything in our defense, but the only thing that escapes my muzzle is a very loud “BUUUURP.”

“I thought so.” She replies in her kind voice, before marching out of the ballroom, still using her magic to hold us by our tail.





I may not know where she is taking us, but wherever she is carrying us, it can’t be anything good. So it doesn’t come as a surprise when the number of guards lining the walls increase with every step.

After some time Princess Celestia comes to a stop and I hear a large pair of double doors opening, through which she marchs quickly and only when I see the doors closing, I get a good idea where she brought us. With a soft thump both of us are dropped on a very soft bed, but instead of vanishing immediately, the golden aura around her horn increase for a short moment.

She then walks over to a small desk and writes something on a parchment, before she makes it vanish into thin air. As soon as she is done with this, she walks back to us and lays down. Once more I find myself being lifted by her magic, but this time much more gentle, and placed directly in front of her. 

Still in fear of the punishment she is to be bringing down upon us, I try to back away but one of her large wings is stopping me from retreeting more than a few hoofsteps. “There is no need to be afraid little one. Even if you two practically inhaled my cake, you aren’t in any real trouble.”

I can only look at her in bewilderment, having trouble processing this information. How could we not be in trouble after we just ruined the Gala? “So you won’t banish us to the sun?” 

“No, but I have to talk with your parents about this.”

Princess Celestia doesn’t even have to finish her sentence before I feel something twitch directly beside me, accompanied by a barely audible whimper. Knowing what caused this, I immediately turn my attention to Rumble, forgetting everything that happened in the last half hour, as I pull the colt that matters so much to me in a tight embrace, trying to comfort him as best as I can.

Shortly after I wrapped my forehoves around him, I fell his head resting on my shoulders and tears leaking out of his eyes. I try what I can to help him calm down but nothing helps, only when two large white wings are wraped around us, he noticeable begins to calm down.

The three of us are locked in this tight embrace for a while until Rumble is able to talk again. He says that he feels better now and that everything is fine, but all three of us know that the last part is far away from the truth. 

Princess Celestia let go of us now but he still clings to me like his live would depend upon it. “I am sorry little one, I didn’t know.” Princess Celestia says with an apologetic smile on her face. 

“It’s okay Princess, you couldn’t have known.” Rumble replies with one last sob. “They are gone for so long now, but it still hurts so much every time somepony brings them up, even if it’s just something small like this.”

“Don’t say this. Losing one's family is nothing small.” She replies immediately and again I feel how he flinches slightly, but at the moment there isn't anything I can do, expect holding him closer. “Isn't there anypony you can turn to for comfort?”

“My brother, but since almost two years ago he barely has time for me.” He replies sadly and everypony present knows that there is more behind this, but it’s obvious to us that he isn’t comfortable talking about it right now. I think about it for a moment before I come up with a solution to this problem. I am sure mommy would answer Princess Celestia's question, if she gets asked about it. 

With her knowing how uncomfortable Rumble is right now, it doesn't come as a surprise when Princess Celestia changes the topic. "Now about your punishment."

“You two will spend the next week with me and I’ll teach you about table manners. ” I can’t believe my luck when I hear her distributing our punishment, that we get off almost scot free. What’s even better is the fact that she basically freed us from school. “Or you could always spend the same time in magic kindergarten if you want.” She adds to my great horror when I fail to hide a smile at the prospect of a school free week.

I am still dumbstruck when Rumble begins to laugh and neither me nor Princess Celestia understand what could be so funny, so we are forced to wait until he calms down enough again to explain it. “Good one Princess, we are pegasi not unicorns so no chance for that.”

I agree with him on that one, but for some reason, I have a bad feeling about this, such as disaster would strike soon. That Princess Celestia is now grinning, doesn’t really help to calm me down, so what in Tartarus is she planning?

“So does this mean you would do this if you were unicorns?” 

Wait, What? Unicorns, as in more than one? She wouldn't do that to us right? "Maybe?" I hear Rumble's reply and am more than glad that he didn't agree blindly to this since I have a distinct feeling that his answer wouldn't only affect him.

“How?” I ask her to my own surprise, but when she doesn’t answer immediately I clarify my question. “You can’t just turn us into unicorns or could you?” 

“Actually, I could do this and I would turn you back when the week is over.” 

"But how about we get cleaned up and head back to the Gala for now, you can tell me your answer later." She offers in that soft voice of hers and I am almost tempted to accept if not for the fact that I wouldn't be able to fly for a whole week.

Neither Rumble nor I give her a direct answer, but unimportant what we choose, one thing is for sure. We will spend an entire week here in Canterlot.





Hours had passed since I saw those two little ponies, who are now sleeping in my bed, make the Gala more interesting than in over two hundred years. It may not have been what I arranged for Twilight's friends, but it was fun nonetheless. Just to see how the nobles reacted when those two little ones devoured the cake in less than five minutes, was worth more money than Equestria makes due taxes in ten years.

I used this interruption as an excuse for a short break, in which I planned to lecture them about their lack of manners, but all this changed when I learned about Rumble's family situation. To say that I am shocked would be an understatement and I can only hope, that it isn't as bad as I fear.

“You are still awake sister?” I hear Luna asking and for a short moment I am surprised that I haven’t heard her entering my room.

“Yes, Luna.” I reply and a sigh escapes me when I get up from the comfortable position on my bed and walk over to her. After a quick hug the two of us sit down on the couch next to the fireplace. “How did it go?”

“Not as good as I hoped Tia, but still good enough.” She pause for a short moment before she starts her report. “Wingy’s family was easy to find and they have no problem with her staying here for a week.”

“And what about Rumble?”

“That’s where the trouble starts. I ordered lieutenant Mango to inform this Thunderlane about Rumbles stay here, but neither he nor his family think that this is possible for them.”

“After a few questions from me, they told me that Thunderlane quit his job two weeks ago and left Ponyville. Since then, he hasn’t been seen in town, except for when he told Flitter that she will be foalsiting Rumble for a while.” 

As Luna continues and tells me even more that she learned about this Thunderlane, the more I begin to wonder how this stallion got custody about his little brother in the first place. It just shouldn’t be possible for a twelve year old pony to adopt a two year old colt. No, something is definitely wrong here and I intend to let my Guard have a close look into it!

When the important part is taken care of, I talk a bit more with Luna before bidding her a good night. With the last bit of strength I lay back down next to Rumble and Wingy and soon drift off to sleep, wondering what these two will choose tomorrow.
> 21 A day in magic school
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two very interesting days have passed since the Grand Galloping Gala and now Rumble and I are waiting right in front of a building, I never expected to see from the inside. What makes it even more scary isn’t the fact that it will be like the first day of school again, no it’s the pony standing next to us, who decided to accompany us on our first day of magic kindergarten. At least it draws all the attention away from us while everypony is still trying to figure out just what Princess Celestia is doing here. 

I am nervously looking around, watching all the other foals arrive, hoping that today doesn’t end in a disaster. Not like yesterday when I lost control of my magic while visiting the barracks of the Royal Guard and turned the armor of every single pony present into a bright pink.

The worst part is that they are unsure if they can reverse this at all and Princess Celestia is adamant about not commissioning new armour for them, only cause something little like a colour change. 

After a long time that feels like an eternity, but in reality was close to only ten minutes a pale yellow unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail steps out of the building and ushers everypony inside. Rumble and I went inside with most of the foals, but I see the teacher hesitating when Princess Celestia approaches her.

We quickly find our seats in the back of the class, but we have to wait once more for a few minutes until the mare comes in, directly followed by the Princess herself. “Good morning everypony.” She greets everypony which are quickly followed by a chorus of greetings in return, through which we learn that our teacher is named Banana Fluff.

“Now, I am sure that everypony has already noticed that we have two new students in class, which will be here for the rest of the week.” She waits for a moment to let the news sink in, before she orders Rumble and me up front, so that we can introduce ourself to the rest of the class.

Rumble is quick about it and manages to dodge any question by passing the torch along to me. “Hi, I am Bright Spark.” I introduce myself to the class since Princess Celestia wants to keep the whole punishment thing a secret and a name like my real one would raise far too many questions.

“Now, do you have any questions for our new students?” She asks only for the entire class to raise their hooves. “How about you start Red June.” She says while pointing to a Red colt with a light green mane.

“Why are you only here for a week?”

“Our parents didn’t want us to stay alone at home, when they aren’t so they asked some pony to look after us.” I tell everypony, bending the truth as much as possible without outright lying. 

“Are you not from Canterlot?” A filly called Pink Diamond asks next, which I answer truthfully that both of us are from Ponyville. The final one is another colt that to noponies surprises asks if we are staying with Princess Celestia and if that is why she is here.

Unsure how to answer this I look to Princess Celestia for support, who gladly answers this question. “Rumble and Bright Spark are indeed staying at the castle and since I have nothing better to do today, I thought it would be an interesting change from my routine to see how a day in classes goes here.”

Miss Banana Fluff takes a look at the class and even if there are still many hooves raised, she doesn’t call out another pony, instead she finally saves me. “I know you all have still many questions and that Rumble and Bright Spark are eager to answer them, but we really should start with our lessons.”

The disappointed groans from the class don’t come as a surprise when we make our way back to the desks at which we sat earlier, but I already have a feeling what we will do most time of recess. At least this isn’t a problem for now and instead I try to focus at the lesson.

Most of the other foals aren’t happy when the teacher decides to go over the basics of magic control and focus again, but all the complaints are silenced when she explains that we hadn’t been able to go to magic kindergarten before and we really need that knowledge. 

Princess Celestia had tried to teach us in the last two days and Rumble easily picked up on her lessons, but for some reason it doesn’t work for me. I know she is a good teacher as her progress with Rumble shows, but whatever we tried, I made no progress and am still unable to make my horn glow. the best result I was able to produce had only been a few sparks from my horn, which is how we came up with that name.

The time till recess pass incredibly fast and when the break begins, I am still unable to do anything, while Rumble is already levitating stuff around. It almost seems like magic comes second nature to him, while my body resists it entirely. I almost get the feeling that my body tries to rid himself of this kind of magic.

Recess turns out to be as expected with us being crowded by everypony and bombarded with questions and the break is almost over when the storm of questions finally ends and we are able to convince the others for a short match of tag.

“Can I instead practice my magic a bit more?” I ask the surprised teacher, after she announced that the next lesson would be math. She gives me permission to do so, but only after asking me a few easy questions, which I all answer correctly without any problems.

“Why is it okay for her to skip math, when all of us have to do it. Why can’t we just do something fun like her?” A Colt with the name Annuity asks upset.

“Annuity, we all have to do the things we don’t like or aren’t good at to get better. Don’t you think it fair for her to give her the chance to get better at something she struggles with, so we can all do the more fun stuff faster as a group, than holding her back by forcing her to do something she is already very good at?”

“No, that she is too dumb to do magic isn’t an excuse for her to skip math. If she is too stupid for that, maybe she should practice more at home.”

“Isn’t than the same true for you. Maybe you should spend more time practicing your math at home, instead of layzying around all day.” Another filly replies before the teacher is able to say anything to defuse the situation. 

His argument that I am bad at magic may be true, but this doesn’t give him the right to be so mean about it. Now upset about his behaviour and with a strong urge to prove him wrong, I focus stronger on my horn and my magic then ever before, in an attempt to bring my horn to glow. 

“”Very good Bright Spark.” I hear miss Banana Fluff say after some time over the sound of an argument that started, when I manage to light my horn for the first time. I look around, searching for her and the smile she gives me would be all I care about at the moment, if not for Annuity making one more stupid comment.

“I bet that stupid filly just pretended to be unable to use magic, so she can skip out on math.” With me being distracted by him and me  slowing getting tired from this exercise, it doesn’t come as a surprise that I lose control over my magic. What comes as surprise however is that not like expected the glow around my horn just stop and instead I have another magical surge. I hear an panicked scream, which is quickly followed by the entire class breaking out into uncontrolled laughter, before I lose concussion.









“Miss Citrus Blush, would you please come inside for a moment.” I ask the mother of one of the foals which has been involved in today's incident during the math lessons, trying to figure out how to explain what has happened today. 

With a worried look on her face, the mare follows me inside, where the other affected ponies and their respective guardians are already waiting. As soon as she spots the special guest of the day she falls into a quick bow.

“Rise my little pony, there is no need for this today.” The white alicorn replise in her gentle voice, causing her to relax slightly before she raises again. I give her a few seconds to calm down from that unexpected surprise before the three of us take a seat.

Both ponies listen closely as I recount today’s events and I managed to recount everything what happened without any interruptions. “So, where are the two fillies and what is going to happen now?” 

“They are currently in the castles infirmary. While it looks like Annuity is fine, I took the liberty to let doctor Horsenpfeffer give her a check up, just to be sure. Bright Spark is currently unconscious and it will probably take some time for her to wake up.” 

“While Rumble will still be coming to your classes, I think it’s for the best that I train Bright Spark myself. Annuity will also be my guest until we found a way to turn him back into a colt.”

“You don’t need to hurry with that Princess.” Annuity’s mother replies to not only my surprise, but also to Princess Celestia’s. “If I understood you correctly miss Banana Fluff, it was basically Annuity’s action that cause Bright Spark to surge by making so much fun of fillies. I think it would do her some good to spend a while as a filly so she learns that only because they are fillies, that is no excuse to make fun of them.” 

“I can understand your reasoning miss Citrus Blush, but please keep in mind that the longer we wait, the harder it becomes to reverse the transformation.” 

“I will Princess, but would it be okay if I can go to see my daughter now?”

“Miss Banana Fluff is there anything else to discus?”

“No Princess, you two can take your leave now.” I reply after a moment of thought, we say our goodbyes before the two mares do exactly this. I stay back for a few more minutes and drink some of the calmatives, which are hidden in my desk, before I close the school for the day and start my way home, silently praying that tomorrow will be a better day.







After a short walk back to the castle and some very interesting questions I had to ask, we arrive at the castles infirmary. A quick search later, we find doctor Horsenpfeffer in his office, where he is currently talking to one of the nurses. patiently, we wait for him to wrap up his conversation, before we announce our presence. “Ah Princess, I was wondering when you would show up.” He greets me immediately before turning his attention to the mare accompanying me. “And you must be the mother of the second foal miss?”

“Banana Fluff and yes I am Annuity’s mother. Would it be possible for me to see her now?” The mare in question asks slightly worried, before he leads us to the foal in question. 

The four of us have a short conversation in which doctor Horsenpfeffer tells us that Annuity is fine so far, if you ignore the obvious. As he learns about the plans Banana Fluff has for her daughter, he reminds her why this isn’t a good idea and warns that the transformation could become irreversible, should they wait to long.

“Do you also have a feeling that we won’t see them again?” Doctor Horsenpfeffer asks me, shortly after the two ponies left.

“You could be right about that. The foal doesn’t seem very upset about her sexchange anymore. And she seemed happy, as her mother informed her about her punishment.” I inform him about what I think, slightly unsure if I can agree with that kind of punishment. Maybe I should just visit them in two or three weeks, to make sure that everything is fine.

“How bad is it?” I want to know from doctor Horsenpfeffer when we arrive at Bright Spark’s  bed, worried if it is worse than I think. True, at first it look just like a case of magical exhaustion, but you can never be too careful when it is about a ponies health.

“A medium case of m.e.. Two days of bedrest and she should be fine again.” He replies much to my relief, proving my worries to be unnecessary.
> 22 A day full of surprises Part one
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is still an hour left till sunrise, much to my disappointment, I am unable to sleep anymore. Annoyed by this I get up and come to the decision that I can use this time better, than just laying around.

I get up and decide to check on my guests first, finding them sound asleep, so it is an easy thing to sneak out of my room. Why they never wanted their own room is a mystery to me, but I am not one to complain, since I really enjoyed the company.

To be honest I took quite a liking to them, especially the young colt.

He is the reason why I am having trouble sleeping and that I am such a nervous wreck. With a last look at him, I sneak out of my room, just to make sure everything is ready for later.

I may be unable to tell if he will like the surprise I have for him, but I can at least make sure that everything is ready. With that in mind I make my way over to the rooms next to my private chambers, which will serve a new purpose now and have been changed so much in the last two days.

All those old scrolls  and reports are gone, as are all those shelves and the old writing desk. The same happened to the old paintings, which are replaced by something that should be much more to his liking. 

Satisfied that everything is ready, I leave the room I had just been inspecting, making my way to my sister’s room. As expected I find her hard at work, doing the one thing every sane creature hates. Paperwork!

“Nervous Tia?” Luna asks to my surprise, since I hadn’t expected her to notice me that easily, as I tried to sneak into her room. 

“Yes.” I admit flatly, not even bothering to put on the mask I wear every time when something is troubling me, since Luna is the one pony that can look past it with frightening easy. Besides, I never did this when I am in private before, so why should I start now?

“Tia, I know this situation is difficult for you, but as you told me countless times before, there is nothing to worry about.” Luna tries to calm me down. Reassuring me that everything will turn out all right, but it does nothing to help me.

“How about we start with breakfast instead. I know that this will take your mind off it and maybe you will finally manage to teach me, how to make these delicious pancakes?”

I think for a moment about it and agree with her, once I see the wisdom behind her words. “That does indeed sound nice.”







It has been hours since we got up and had breakfast with everypony. Not only had there been Princess Luna and Princess Cadence, but also her fiance and Prince Blueblood. As I asked them how Twilight took this news that her brother is dating a Princess, everypony, except Rumble and me started laughing. We then learned that they have been dating for years now, directly under her nose and she is still clueless about it. How she managed to achieve this, is one of the mysteries I will never try to figure out.

But this isn’t even the biggest news of the day. That had been when Princess Celestia announced a big dinner for today and that all our attendance is mandatory. At this moment, we are in a badly damaged part of the castle’s garden, where we had been practicing our magic for the entire week. 

At least Rumble has. I stopped with it a few days ago when I realized that unicorn magic and I are a dangerous combination. I am also quite certain that one of the ugly statues screamed in fear when I had my last magic surge, only missing it by a few inches. But everypony reassured me that this wasn't the case and that I had been the one screaming. However, this doesn’t explain why Princess Celestia looked so concerned, as I told her about it.

I take a last look at all the damage we caused (but mostly I) before I turn my gaze at the white alicorn. “Can you please turn me back now?” I ask pleadingly, fully knowing that the time isn’t exactly up yet, but I don't think that she has a problem to cut it a few hours short.

“No.” Is her unexpected reply, before she teleports the three of us back into the castle. “I have a surprise I want to show Rumble first, before I turn both of you back.”

After I made a sacrifice to a nearby flower pot, I take a look around and recognize immediately that we are close to Princess Celestia's private chambers. In fact, we are standing in front of a door, which I always assumed would be a broom closet, but obviously, I am wrong.

She opens the door and waits for Rumble to enter first, with us a few feet behind. “What is this place?” He asks her after taking a good look around, sounding as clueless as I am. 

“This is your room.” She says like that would explain everything, before levitating an envelope over to him. “Maybe this will explain things a bit more.”

He takes it and carefully opens it, pulling out a set of documents, which appear to be more than just a letter. Time passes in silence, as his eyes wander over the first page, before his eyes go wide.

At first it isn’t clear to me what could have caused this reaction, but his next actions make it clear to me what is going on. He turns around, looking at Princess Celestia with hope in his eyes as he asks her, “Is this for real?”

Princess Celestia walks the few steps separating them over to him and bends down on her knees, so that they are on eye-level. “Yes Rumble, this is very real.” 

As he hears this, he falls back on his haunches and sits there for a moment, obviously having trouble to comprehend this new information, before he leaps at Celestia. He buries his face in her coat, crying tears of joy, and I clearly heard him say “thank you mom”, before I decide to leave them alone.

As I back out of the room I suddenly bump into something that hadn’t been there earlier and look around to find out what I just stumble into. At first, I only see four dark blue legs,  but as my gaze turns upwards, I spot the smiling face of Princess Luna. “Let’s give those two some privacy.”







After I talked for a while with her, I managed to convince Princess Luna to finally turn me back to normal, so that we can have some fun at the training grounds of the Royal Guards. 

“Princess Luna, I didn’t expect you to visit us today. Shall I assemble my ponies for an inspection.” The highest officer present asks, after a quick salute and recovering from the shock, the unexpected encounter gave him. 

“That won’t be necessary sergeant, I and my friend here are only here to do some training of our own.” She replies immediately while pointing with one of her hooves at me.

He looks a bit surprised as he takes a look at me, before agreeing to this. “Of course Princess, do whatever you want, but I am curious, why do you want to train with a filly. Wouldn’t one of the other Guards be a better training partner for you?” He asks in bewilderment as he leads us to a open place on the training field.

“You misunderstood my intentions lieutenant. I am not here to train with her, I am here to train her!” She replies slightly annoyed by his behavior.

“With all due respect Princess, there is no need for you to waste your time like that. I am sure one of us would be more than enough to teach that shrimp.” 

Princess Luna ignores his comment for now, continuing onward to our destination and after she made me do some stretches as a warm up, addresses the obstreperous pony. “Since you claim that everypony here is capable of teaching her, do you want to prove this statement?”

I can’t hide a grin as the boisterous sergeant agrees to this without a second thought. But as Princess Luna informs him that to do so, he has to defeat me in a sparring match, he proclaims that she can’t be serious with it. Proclaiming that I wouldn’t be a challenge for him.

“If you are that confident in yourself sergeant then this shouldn’t be a problem, right?” 

“No Princess.” He replies arrogantly, obviously not taking the situation seriously.

While he is discussing with Princess Luna, searching for a way out of the fight, I realize that he could really be as good as he thinks. I have to come up with a plan to make him upset, and I have to do it fast if I want to win this fight. Luckily I already have a good idea. 

“100 Bits.” I proclaim and as neither Princess Luna nor he seems to understand what I mean, I am quick to clarify it. “I bet 100 Bits on my victory.” 

Everypony including the training recruits nearby fall silent at this and as he doesn’t respond to this, I increase the bet by another 50 Bits, making it more tempting for him. “No, there is no way that you have that much money.” He replies, clearly surprised by the amount of money I am betting. 

“True, I don’t have the Bits here, but I would only need a day to get the money from home.” I tell him honestly before I lay out another bait, to make him lose his composure. “I understand that you are scared and can’t afford to lose that much money, so I won’t blame you for backing out.”

“Did you just call me a coward?” He replies slightly upset and I realize that the first step is done, now I just have to inflame his anger.

“Yep.” I reply with a smug grin on my face. Happy that my plan to make him lose his cool is working. “Why don’t you prove to me that you are more than a scared little colt?”

By now a large crowd started to form around us, most of them openly laughing at the enraged stallion in front of me and even Princess Luna is smirking.

“Fine brat, if you want to lose your Bits so badly, why not make it a bit more interesting and we double the price?” He replies angrily, so it seems that the last comment must have worked better than I thought.

I make it look like I would really have to think about it, but since this never was an option, I reply chipper. “If that is an attempt to make me back out of the fight, then let me tell you, it isn’t a good one.”

“Any rules?” I ask with my gaze turned to Princess Luna, while the crowd is clearing an area for the fight, which looks to be a big circle of around 25 feet in diameter. 

“Since this is a fight between ponies of two different tribes the maximum height you are allowed to fly will be eight feet and the maximum air time fifteen seconds.” I nod to this in understanding, waiting for her to set more conditions. “To win, you either have to make your opponent blackout or land ten hits.”

The assembled crowd gasps in shock, as they hear the unusual terms since it isn’t normal to knock your opponent out in a match like this.

When Princess Luna wants me to choose our weapons, I decide on a “Short sword, horseshoes, and no armor” for both of us. Thinking that there wouldn’t be any fitting armor for me around, I decide to remove the additional protection from him as well, to make him a bit more vulnerable.

However, I get proven wrong as they easily find a full set of armor in my size, but since it isn’t my personal set, I decline the offer to use it. When I ask why they even have an armor that would fit me, I learn that there is a junior division of the Royal Guard in Canterlot and every other major city. Still, I only take the horseshoes and ignore the rest.

I grab one of the offered swords with my mouth, before I make my way into the cleared area and signaling that I am ready. He needs a bit longer to get ready, but not by much.

Patiently, I wait at a distance of around 16 feet for him to make the first move. Twenty seconds pass until his horns light up and a trio of magical bolts is sent in my direction.

One of those beams is headed directly at me, while the two others would pass to my left and right. With no possibility to evade the center bolt, I jump up high, and with a few flaps of my wings, the beam passes only a few inches under me. 

I barely landed back on the ground as he unleashes two more sets of magic bolts. This time I can’t evade and get hit once. He doesn’t give me much time to recover, unleashing another series of magic bolts. To me, that means that he wants to keep me at a distance, but I won’t allow that.

Immediately after the last bolt left his horn, I run towards him and take to the air halfway to him. With my sword held in my muzzle, I aim for his eyes and once he recognizes this, he makes a hasty step to the side.

Quickly, I change my sword from muzzle to my right forehoof, before I pull up and slightly turn into the direction he stepped, chipping of the tip of his horn. His scream of pain and the shocked gasps of the crowd is music to my ears.

I quickly land behind him and switch my sword back into my muzzle, before I close the distance between us once more rapidly. Without giving him any chance to recover, I buck him in the side, but not causing any real damage.

I quickly get some distance between the two of us, when I realize that he is recovering much faster from my attack than expected. I really had hoped to land a few more hits, but at least I am now two hits ahead and he is unable to use his magic. 

“You, you will pay for this bitch.” He says through gritted teeth, before rushing blindly in my direction. I sidestep easily and use the opportunity to hit both of his left legs with my sword. The few moments he needs  to come to a stop, I use to bring once more some distance between us.

As he turns around he grimaces in pain. I don’t care if it comes from the damaged horn or the slightly bleeding cuts on his legs. Instead, I am quite satisfied, that I made him so upset and he lets his emotions get the better off him as he charges once more.

This time however I don’t avoid a collision, instead I wait patiently till he is almost directly in front of me, before I make myself as small as possible. He runs harmlessly over me and as it’s almost too late for me, I put all my strength in one mighty buck.

The high pitched scream coming from behind me tells me, that my aim was true and I hit the target perfectly. I turn around and looking at the helpless pony behind me before I walk over and make four small cuts on his back, finally finishing the match.

I watch for a moment longer at the beaten pony before I turn my gaze from him and search in the crowd for Princess Luna. Much to my surprise, there aren’t only the recruits from earlier standing around, but quite a few Bat Ponies have joined them and lieutenant Shining Armor is standing next to a very happy looking Princess Luna.

Lieutenant Armor on the other hoof doesn’t look very happy, but I am sure the small bag of Bits he is hoofing over to the Princess isn’t the only reason for this.

Satisfied and quite a bit tired, I walk over towards them and giving a quick salute, before asking the lieutenant. “How long have you been watching sir?”

“Long enough to know that it was a huge failure to bet on this fool.” He shakes his head as he says this, like he would have trouble to believe that I actually won. “Letting his emotions get the better of himself is a mistake I have only seen by rookies, at least till now.” He adds disappointed.

“It really is a shame that we lost you to the Night Guard.” Are his last words before he walks off towards the beaten stallion, to ensure he is cared for properly.

As I am about to walk back to the castle, one of the unicorns, which had been watching the entire time aproachs us. “Princess Luna, can I ask you something?”

“Did I hear the lieutenant correctly, as he said that this young filly is part of the Night Guard?” He asks her, after receiving permission to speak freely.

“Indeed recruit, why do you ask?” She asks a bit surprised, clearly not expecting this question.

“How? I always thought only Thestrals are allowed to join?”

“No, but if you are interested in a transfer to the Night Guard, the three of us need to talk.” She replies in earnest, gesturing for the two of us to follow her.
> 23 A day full of Surprises part two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A series of firm, but still polite knocks on the door to my office is what draws my attention from the last security reports. Annoyed about the unexpected interruption, I allow the waiting Pony in. “Aren't you and Pikewound supposed to oversee the training of the new recruits, lieutenant?” I ask surprised about the sight in front of me. 

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then what are you doing in my office?” I ask slightly confused, since I hadn't been expecting to see anypony for the next hour. 

As he tells me that there had been an incident at the training field a short while ago, I realize that I won’t get my work done anytime soon. With that in mind, I put everything away before I ask him to tell me what happened.

“I hope you didn’t run off to your marefriend. You know that is something I don’t tolerate.” I remind him at the last time he did this and how it delayed the promotion to his current rank, as he starts with an excuse why he wasn't able to fully witness, how it came to the situation.

“No Captain, I simply had some really urgent business to attend.” Silence dominates the room for a short moment after this, before he asks me something odd.

“With your permission I would like to use a spell my sister taught me, to show you my memories of the situation, since I doubt you would believe me otherwise.”

Immediately after I gave him permission to do as requested, he projects his memories on an empty space of the wall. I watch attentively for the next twenty or so minutes and I have to agree with him. Never would I have believed his words on this and even now I am troubling to accept what I just saw.

I think for a while about it, unsure what course of action I shall take, so that this never happens again, before going with the most obvious. “How is Corporal Pikewound doing, lieutenant?”

“He can count himself lucky, Sir. If recruit Wing had put just slightly more strength into her buck, she would have sterilized him. Otherwise, he will be fine. His horn should regrow without any problems and in around three weeks, he will be able to take up his duties again.” Lieutenant Armor informs me about his injuries and I flinch slightly. His injuries aren’t too bad, but there is one small fact that confuses me slightly.

“Did you just tell me that this filly is a recruit in the Royal Guard, lieutenant?” I ask surprised, unsure if I heard him correctly.

“No, Sir.” He replies immediately, before he adds something that surprises me even more. “But she is a member of the Night Guard and obviously Princess Luna’s protege.”

It takes me a moment to comprehend everything I learned in the last half hour and as I recount every detail of the fight in my mind, I come to one conclusion. “What a shame, she would have been a large enrichment for us.”

With that said I dismiss lieutenant Armor, before I leave the office myself and begin my search for Princess Celestia. Hopefully, I can convince her this time to dishonorably discharge that idiot Pikewound, but with him being a Noble, it isn’t as easy as I would like.

“Two more months, only two more months and nothing of this will be any of my concern anymore.” I remind myself that my retirement isn’t too far away anymore and can only wonder who Princess Celestia will chose as my successor. True, lieutenant Shining Armor has the best chances with his connections to the Royal family, but there are other, more deserving candidates as well.







Luna, Silver Sword and I had been talking now for a while. Well mostly Luna had been talking, while the two of us were listening, since we left the other Guards behind earlier. Even if I already knew a good part, of what Luna told us, there had still been the occasional new bit of information.

However, most interesting had been Silver Sword’s reactions, as he learned about the consequences, should he indeed decided to join the Night Guard. I expected him to be shocked at the prospect to lose his magic, but to my surprise, he didn’t even flinch and they continued as if nothing happened at all.

When I ask him if it doesn’t bother him to give up his magic, he just replies smiling. “Why should it? I may lose my magic, but I gain the ability to fly and to serve in Princess Luna’s Guard. Which is a fair trade if you ask me.”

In return he wants to know from me, why I am already a member of the Night Guard, but haven’t been turned into a Thestral yet, but it is Princess Luna that answers for me. “That would be too dangerous at the moment, but in a few years she will be old enough for it.”

He nods in understanding as we get up from our currently occupied seats and Princess Luna leads us through a door into a room directly connected to this. At first the room itself looks to be nothing out of the ordinary. Only a large open space with a bed and another door at the opposite side. This is until I take a better look at the ground, which is dominated by a set of in a circle arranged magic runes. 

“Silver Sword, if your decision to join the Night Guard didn’t change, after everything you learned, than step into the middle of the circle and let us begin.” Princess Luna orders the pony in question, who does as requested without a moment of hesitation.

He stands there silently as Princess Luna’s horn begins to glow. His old pink armour disappear, before the glow on her horn intensifies. Time passes incredibly slow, before the first rune begins to glow, which is soon followed by another.

Slowly the other runes begin to light as well until every single rune in the room is glowing and his horn begins to shrink slowly. It doesn't take long until there isn’t anything remaining of his horn. If I didn’t know that he used to be a unicorn a short while ago, I would never had guessed.

I watch with fascination as the glow of the runes intensifies even more and slowly the other changes beging to become visible. The first thing to change are his ears, quickly followed by his eyes, before he screams loudly in pain, as his wings begin to grow.

I am shocked that they don't form outside of his body. No, to me it looks more like they were just pushing outward, through two bloody slits, already fully formed. This takes a while and either he fell unconscious from the pain, or he is just unable to scream anymore, as he falls silent soon again.

From then on the changes happen much faster and once everything is complete, Princess Luna lifts him up in her magic, carrying him to the bed and tucks him in lovingly. “Rest now, my brave child.”

With that taken care of, she turns her attention back to me and blinks, just like she had to make sure that what she sees is indeed correct. “It looks like you have been affected by some stray magic as well.”

“What do you mean by that Princess Luna?” I ask confused, not understanding what she is trying to say.

“Maybe it would be best, if you see for yourself.” She replies in earnest, before conjuring a small hoof mirror and holding it directly in front of me. At first, everything seems normal to me, but when I take a closer look I spot two tiny fangs, and I can only wonder how my family will react to this. 







“And what about school?” I ask my new mom after she showed me some special things in my new room, including the hidden passage directly to her bedroom.

“I hoped you would be willing to transfer to my school for gifted ponies, but if you prefer to continue your schooling in Ponyville, that would be fine to.” She offers me and I happily choose the second option. I am sure that her school would be nice, but if with me continuing my schooling in Ponyville, I am still able to see my friends everyday.

She walks over to an unremarkable door and opens it. To my great surprise the door doesn’t hide the entrance of another walk in closet, but some kind of smooth surface. “This portal here leads to a small house in Ponyville, but only you, me, Luna, Dusty, Wingy and her parents are able to cross it.”

I need a moment to completely understand what she just explained, but as understanding hits me, my smile just grows even bigger, if that is still possible. “Does that mean I can visit her whenever I want?”

“Just make sure to let me know Rumble, okay?” She replies with that serene smile of hers, before drastically changing the topic. “Now, how about we finally change you back and then do something fun, like a short flight for example?”

That, she didn’t have to ask me twice. Being a unicorn may be great and can be lots fun, but I really miss having wings and being able to fly whenever I want. True mom took the two of us flying a few times this week, but it just isn’t the same as when you fly under your own power.

I take a few steps away from her, waiting patiently till her horn begins to glow and I slowly grow back into my own size. To my surprise I still feel the horn on my forehead as her own stops to glow, and I am wondering if something went wrong with the spell, until her horn starts to glow anew.

But this time it’s different from when she changed me into a unicorn. I don’t feel the slow change of my apandageses, but something different. As a bright flash appears, I know immediately that she botched the spell this time, when I find myself suddenly in a different place.

I am in a large hallway with moving pictures at the walls. But those pictures aren’t from any famous pony or from any events in history. No they all show different parts of my life. Confused, I stand there silently watching them until another pony enters whatever this place is.

“Follow me Rumble.” Cadence says and silently leads me down this hallway, occasionally taking a look at the moving pictures. At the end of the hallway is a set of two almost identical looking doors. But while on one door is the image of a filly, on the other is that of a colt.

I don’t know why these doors are marked like that, but I have the distinct feeling that both of them are leading back to mom. “You know that this is the only time you can choose?” Cadence asks me much to my annoyance as I am already walking towards one of the doors but I decide to ignore her and just continue, stepping through the colt door without a second thought.

After a moment of confusion I realize that I am just where I was a few minutes earlier and am looking now directly into mom's eyes. It doesn’t take long for her eyes to grow to the size of dinner plates and I can only wonder how bad she botched the spell. “You really botched that spell didn’t you?”

I ask concerned, ripping her out of her thoughts. I wait for her reply, apologizing how sorry she is for it, but that doesn’t happen. Instead she just levitates a mirror in front of me and I can only gasp in shock at what is starring back. “Even if the results aren't what we both wanted, I wouldn’t say that I botched the spell.”

I don’t know what I expected to see. Maybe me still being a unicorn or now an earth pony, even some kind of horrible abomination, but  never did I expect an alicorn to look back at me. “Does this change anything?” I ask worried by this unexpected development.

“We have to keep up your magic lessons, but I think that should be all.” She replies calmly, before she picks me up in a hug, which I happily return.
> 24 Of sticky Clouds and other Problems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bell of the schoolhouse rings finally after two hours. I had to suffer through another equish lesson, finally setting us free. That freedom may be short, but twenty minutes of freedom are better than being cooped up in the classroom all day.

Quickly I take off towards one of the nearby clouds, laying down for a short nap. Miss Cheerilee may not be okay with this, but by now she learned that stopping me from napping at recess is a futile endeavor.

Surprisingly sleep doesn’t come at all and I am forced to think about the bad feeling I am having, since I stepped out of my bed. For some unknown reason, I feel that something terrible is about to happen, but I just can’t figure out what.

“Silent Wing, come down here this instant!” I hear miss Cheerilee shout in the direction of my cloud and I realize that this can only mean two things. One, she is trying again to make me stay in the playground or, what is much more likely, recess is already at its end.

Annoyed that my time is already up, I try to get moving, but for some reason my back is glued to the cloud. I struggle to get free but realize soon that I won’t get out of it on my own power. A bit embarrassed I tell her that I am stuck and ask her if she can send one or two pegasi out, to help me get free of this sticky mess.

A few moments later two pegasi and one alicorn in disguise are carefully pushing the cloud to the ground after their attempts to free me were futile as well. I don’t know who it is, but one of the other foals realize that the cloud is made of Cotton Candy. 

As this discovery makes it to the others already in the classroom. It only takes mere moments for everypony to get out and not long after that, I am freed from my sticky prison.

Worriedly I look up into the sky only to discover that this isn’t a single occurrence, but that every single cloud is affected by this. Some are even leaking a strange brown liquid. “Just how drunk are those pegasi in Cloudsdale?”

Miss Cheerilee gasps in shock at my reply but doesn’t say anything else, instead, it’s Rumble who speaks up. “I don’t think that they are responsible for this. Just how in Tartarus would they pull off something like that?”

“Yeah, and I remember that cloud being white when I laid down for my nap.” I reply concerned, having a really bad feeling about this. 

I am barely able to hide my panic, as I spot something that is even more insane. The abnormal large pets I may have been able to accept, but not the ballet dancing bears or upside-down flying houses. “We need to tell your mom” I say to Rumble.

With that, the two of us quickly gallop in the direction of his home, ignoring miss Cheerilee’s protest that we just can’t skip classes like that. 

Within five minutes we reach his home and step through the portal, immediately starting our search for Princess Celestia. Surprisingly we don’t find her in the throne room, but in the gallery, looking worriedly at the stained glass image of a snake-like creature.

While Rumble tries to get her attention, I notice just how similar this thing looks, if you compare it with the statue in the garden. “What are you two doing here?” A shocked looking Princess Celestia asks once she notices us, not sounding very happy that we are here.

She listens attentively to Rumble telling her why we are here and what is happening right now in Ponyville.  She explains to us in quick words why all of this is happening and what we shall do next while writing a letter to Twilight. “Listen, you two. You have to go hide somewhere. This is something only the elements of harmony can deal with and I don’t want Discord finding out about you.” 

“But where shall we go?” Rumble asks concerned, knowing as well as I that if Discord is really that powerful, he could find us everywhere.

“Aren’t there some caves beneath Canterlot?” I ask much to my own surprise, wondering where that bit of knowledge came from, but still knowing that it was true.

“You mean the old crystal mines?” Celestia replies surprised and after a short time of considering this option, she tells us how to find the hidden entrance. She embraces the two of us in a brief hug and after wishing us good luck, sends us on our way.

We gallop as fast as we can down the corridors and use the stairs turned slide to get to the dungeons. As we arrive there we see that almost every cell has turned into bouncy castles. The only one unaffected is the one at the end.

Quickly we head inside and use a trapdoor under the bed to pass the first obstacle, only to find ourselves in total darkness. I think of a way to get some light down here, but this is proven to be unnecessary when Rumble’s horn lights up.

If the spell hiding it stopped working or if the light of his horn is visible through the illusion, is something I can only wonder about.

Carefully, as not to disturb anything that could be hiding in these dark tunnels, we make our way deeper into the mine. I am about to move around a corner when I spot something green at the end of the next tunnel. I immediately stop and pull Rumble back before we get spotted.

I take one more careful look around the corner, only to confirm what I thought. Only a few meters away stands a green, four-legged, and non-equine creature I had never seen before. I tell Rumble to wait and approach it carefully, as soon as the hissing starts I run back. I round the corner just in time to be safe from an explosion.

“WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT?” Rumble screams at the top of his lungs shortly after the dust clears.

“Rumble, please keep it down.” I reply in a whisper, hoping that it was a lonely one and no other monsters are nearby. “We don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention.” I add still whispering but in a surprisingly firm tone.

“That was a creeper. One of many monsters from a video game.” I explain further as he doesn’t stop looking questioningly at me.  

“How, how can you be so calm about this?” He asks worried, while pointing at the hole from the creepers explosion. 

“I can’t, I am scared as shit, but I don’t let it control my actions.  Now let’s continue, maybe we are lucky and find a chest with useful stuff or a safe cave.” I reply, before taking the lead.

We take multiple turns on our search for a relatively safe hiding spot, avoiding every monster we are able to hear in time. Nonetheless, we still encounter a few skeletons. 

Rumble is quick to take them out, by dropping them into a lava lake, but one of the skeletons still manages to shoot a fire arrow towards me. I jumped to the side and really thought that it missed me, but the pain coming from my backside begged to differ.

The worst part is that the pain doesn’t go away after a few moments, no it intensifies instead and when I look back, I see that my tail is on fire. “Put it out, put it out, put it out!” I scream in pain as I run around like a headless chicken on my search for a water source to extinguish the flames.

To my great luck, there is an underground lake only two corridors away. Without a second thought, I jump into it and enjoy the cold of the water for some time, before climbing out of it again.

“You okay Wingy?” Rumble asks me concerned, as soon as he could catch up to me. 

I look back at the sorry excuse of what used to be my tail, giving a depressed sigh, before I turn my attention back to him. “Yeah, let’s move on.” I reply with a lack of enthusiasm in my voice and I can only hope that we don’t have to hide down here much longer.

None of us dares to speak a word as Rumble leads us deeper into the mine, hoping that this was our only encounter of that kind. Our hopes are quickly shattered when we enter a large cave, only this time it’s much worse than any monster we could have possibly encountered.

There, standing in front of something that looks suspiciously similar to a nether portal is the draconequus we have been trying to hide from the entire time. “Maybe he won’t notice us if we leave quickly.” Rumble says barely audible to me.

We both turn around and gallop as fast as we can in the direction we came from, but we don’t make it very far as strange vines grow out of the ground, blocking our only exit. “Now, now, why the rush all of a sudden. You didn’t even give me the chance to introduce myself.” He says with his back to us, still focused on the Portal in front of him.

We stand there silently, worried about what he plans to do to us, now that we find ourselves in the situation we tried to avoid by coming down here. I look around the cave, desperate for another way out, but the only possible option would be the Portal. Yes, we could go through it, but since Discord could have tampered with it, I honestly don’t want to find out what’s on its other side.

He turns around after a while, taking a good look at us and with a snap of his claw, I find myself bound to an examination table. “Now let's have a good look at you.” He continues, now wearing a lab coat and holding something that looks like a very pointy spyglass in his right claw.

It pinches slightly as he rams the tip of it into my head. “My, my, that’s certainly interesting. I wonder why Luna locked away all those memories.” He wonders out loud while conjuring a rubber hammer out of nowhere and I scream in pain, as he uses the hammer to drive this thing even deeper into my head. 

“Hm, so that is why. Let me give them back to you.” Are the last words I hear from him before I find myself back in the corridor of my old school. I begin to wander down the corridor in a search of an exit, only to stumble directly into Derek and his friends as I turn a corner. 

“Oh, sorry Derek. I didn’t see you there.” I apologize immediately, in the hope that he won’t do anything painful. “Don’t, please don’t hurt me.” I plead in vain once I recognize the grin on his face, shortly before his fist hits me.







When Discord lets everything he arranged near Wingy disappear, he just drops her on the floor, before turning his attention to me. I demand to know what he did to her, but he refuses to give any kind of answer. Staring down at me, obviously thinking about how he can torture me.

I try to get up and gallop over to Wingy to make sure she is alright, but the vines holding me down to the ground won’t budge. He looks amused by this and suddenly a lightbulb appears above his head.

With another snap of his claw, he turns the cave into a movie theater and somehow connects the projector to her head. Soon, images begin to play on the screen and sound comes out of hidden speakers.

He explains to me what I am seeing, but I don’t believe him. There is no way that Wingy used to be one of these weird-looking creatures. He however ignores me and ínstead chooses a different memory. I watch as one of them dies only to wake up in the Everfree, looking exactly like her.

At this moment I can’t deny it anymore, but I don’t care. Whatever she was before doesn't matter to me. I wonder why she never told me about this when I suddenly hear an alarm go off and watch as Discord conjures a clock.

“I would love to spend more time with the two of you, but the gates of Tartarus don’t unlock themselves.” The draconequus says happily after a glance at his watch, before he disappears with one more snap of his claw. The two of us are left behind, trapped in this place and unable to do anything about our predicament.

The time in which I have to watch her get tortured by her classmates passes fast and I am quite shocked at how many memories are there. The more memories are shown, the harder I try to get free of my bonds. I just want to go over there and comfort her the best I can.

Sadly, I can’t keep up the fight forever and the moment I let my body go slack, the vines use that opportunity to tighten their grip around me. 

From then on it still feels like hours pass in which she has to relive much worse memories, until suddenly everything just disappears. I immediately get up, rushing over to her and taking her in a tight hug. She buries her face in my coat the moment she realizes that I am there for her and starts to cry openly. Not even stopping as a team of Royal Guards finds us and takes us back to the Castle.

When I ask them to take us to my room, they comply without hesitation and retreat after they laid us down on my bed. Only a few moments of time pass before mom comes into the room and lays down next to us, placing one of her wings protectively above us.

She then bends her head down and whispers something into Wingy’s ear, causing her to relax visibly.

No word is spoken until her parents arrive and we quickly switch positions, before mom and I leave the room silently. Once the doors are closed behind us, I inform her about what Discord told us, before I tell her everything else that happened down there.
> Interluder V
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So how bad is it?” The pink alicorn worriedly asks the small council. It is a council which consists of three more alicorns, the Captain’s of each Guard, the pony I put in charge of the search, and a Griffon. Why a Griffon was invited to this meeting by me, no pony dares to ask. Knowing that I would never do something like that without a good reason.

“Fourteen of the sixteen prisoners have already been captured and were returned to their cells.” The Captain of the Night Guard explains. “But we are unable to find any trace of the remaining two.”

“Who are we talking about Captain?” I ask the pony in question, already having a good guess who it could be. Hopefully, I am wrong.

“The centaur Tirek and the former griffon emperor Bloody Talon.” The Thestral replies, confirming my worst fears. 

“The stories about Bloody Talon are real?” Lieutenant Grimfeather replies shocked as this particular piece of information is revealed. ”I always thought he was just a tale you tell to frighten little chicks.”

“I am afraid so, my friend. But he isn’t the reason you are here.” I reply as calmly as possible, making his look of shock turn into one of confusion. “You are here because I want you and your Steelwings to take care of Tirek, permanently!”

The last word of this sentence makes all warmth disappear out of this room. Some of the ponies even gasp in shock, never have they heard me talking like this before. Which is quite understandable, since I believe that every creature deserves a second chance. But not Tirek, he is just far too dangerous.

“With all due respect Princess, but why send a group of mercenaries against one creature and not your own Guard?” Captain Shimmer Shield of the Royal Guard asks surprised.

“Because Tirek would just absorb your magic and then you would be as helpless against him as a young foal against a pack of timberwolves.” Luna replies in my stead, and thanks to how blunt she is about it, there aren’t any further questions asked.

“In that case, I need all the information about him you have, Princess.” Lieutenant Grimfeather requests immediately and after a moment of thought, he adds. “Also a few unicorns for quick communication between the individual units would be greatly appreciated.”

“Of course, we provide everything you need for your hunt.” I reply with a smile before I send him and the Guards ponies off, so they can prepare everything necessary. After they left and only us alicorns are left, I turn my attention towards the youngest pony present. “How are you holding up? Court doesn’t give you too much trouble?”

“Shouldn’t we talk more about the other escaped prisoner, than about something trivial, like this?” Cadence asks instead. It’s understandable that she is worried about him, but sadly there isn’t much we could do right now.

“I am afraid that there is nothing we can do about him. As long as he doesn’t want to be found, we won’t find him.” I answer truthfully.

Whatever Cadence wants to say in return is lost to us when a Guard interrupts us, telling us that Rumble and Wingy accidentally activated the magic rune in the throne room and are nowhere to be found.

Cadence thanks him and before any of us can say anything, she leads us to where they disappeared from. She tells us that she knows exactly where they are and that we also have to use the rune if we want to go and get them.

Luna and Dusty are the first to use it before I step onto the rune myself and activate it with a small charge from my magic reserves. The result is immediate and I find myself in the air before gravity takes hold of me and I fall into something soft and mushy.

“Where the buck are we?” I scream while watching Cadence appear in mid air, seconds before falling to the ground. The horrible smell of this place finally hits me and I only now realize that I am covered in garbage.

“Canterlot waste dump. The filthiest place in all of Equestria.” She replies surprisingly chipper, but not any less covered in filth.

“Mind explaining to me why you installed a rune-like this in the throne room?” I ask annoyed. The longer we talk the smell worsens until it becomes unbearable and I quickly use my magic to cover my nostrils.

“A noble is like a pet. With the right training, they can learn very fast.” Cadence replies with a wicked grin on her face. I want to remind her that this is no way to treat your subjects, as annoying as some of them can be, but I can’t. 

Everything in me screams that this is just wrong, but I only have to think how some of the nobles will react, should they ever end up here, to stop myself from doing so. I swear to myself that I will never use this rune*, before I turn my attention to something more important. “Okay, how about we find the two missing foals and then go all to the Spa?” Needless to say that everypony agrees to this.



*She stayed true to that promise until a noble requested permission to tear down an orphanage, so he could build a “humble” home in the center of Canterlot, which was barley sixteen hours later!
> 25 An unexpected celebration
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Do you have any idea why they want us to go there?” I ask confused, wondering why almost everypony, except Rumble, had been avoiding me for the entire day while making our way to Sweet Apple Acres. When I think about it, it almost feels like they wanted me to stay away for some reason.

“No, they didn’t tell me anything.” Rumble replies and from the sounds of it, he is really as clueless as I. “Any idea what they are up to?”

I take some time to ponder about all the things they could have done while the two of us had been away, but none of my ideas makes any sense. “Not in the slightest.” I reply clueless while thinking back on our day.

True, we don’t spend much time with the crusaders, but almost every time has been fun so far. Who could ever have thought that trying for our librarian cutie mark could end in such a disaster. I am almost certain that Twilight will ban all of us from the library for some time after we finished “organizing” her books.

But that wasn’t too bad. The real disaster happened when we visited Pinkie Pie and asked her if we could try for our baker cutie mark. Let’s just say, cake shouldn’t be able to do that!

“So, want to spend more time with those three?” He asks me, totally breaking my train of thoughts and pulling me back to reality.

“As long as we save the cooking, baking, and everything else that involves food for when Sweetie Belle isn’t around, then yes.” I reply, unable to hide a smile at the prospect of some more adventures with them.

When we reach the top of the hill and the farm comes in sight, I spot something unusual. At first it isn’t clear for me to make out, but this changes as the distance lowers. To me it almost looks like somepony set things up for a large celebration. 

I also notice a very weird lack of ponies. We walk down to all the neatly set up tables and once we reach them I just can’t hold in my curiosity. “Any idea what all of this means Rumble?”

“SURPRISE.” Hundreds of ponies appear out of nowhere and scream directly at me.

“GAAAAAAH!” I scream in shock, clinging tightly to my cloud. After a moment’s thought I change my mind and bury myself deep into the cloud. Whatever monster that was, it can’t get what it can’t see. 

Everything is silent for quite some time before I begin to hear the first pony voices, coming from the ground.  “What just happened?” one pony asks, which is quickly followed by another asking “Where did she go?” and many other voices asking similar questions. But one pony sticks out from the mass of voices since she doesn’t sound confused like all of them. No, she sounds clearly upset. “I told you this was a horrible idea!”

“I can see her tail.” One pony suddenly says and I quickly pull it in, mad at myself for not thinking about that earlier. “Just how did she get up there so fast?” The same voice asks, making everypony fall silent, probably wondering the same. 

“I'll talk with her.” one of the ponies says and it doesn’t take long until I hear the sound of wingbeats, warning me that the pony in question is already close.

Curious who is approaching me, I lift my head and take a look into the direction the flying pony is coming from. I sigh in relief when I spot the greyish blue pegasus mare I care so much about. I would probably have tried to run, if it had been anypony else, instead I choose to wait and at least hear her out.

“I am sorry Wingy, we never wanted to scare you.” She apologizes as soon as she sees more from me, then just my tail. I stay quiet and just wait until she lands on the cloud in front of me before I rush the few hoofsteps over to her and bury my face in her chest fluff.

It doesn’t take long until I feel her wings around me, sharing the comfort I need so much right now. I begin to cry openly, letting out all the suppressed fear, sorrow, and pain, I had been holding back for so long.

Ever since Discord came back and was petrified again, I was scared beyond belief that he would break free once more. I feared and still do what he could do to me, should he ever break free again. 

I used to be a master in hiding my emotions from others, but I don’t think that I am as good as I used to be and that mommy saw through my mask. Maybe dad and mama D too.

It is that moment something becomes clear to me. Why the buck do I still keep that up? It never did much to help me and in the end, it only made things worse. So why? Here is no one I have to look stronger than I actually am out of fear to get beaten up or maybe worse.

When I begin to calm down and only the occasional sniff is heard from me, I decide that it’s time to stop with that crap. “Better now?” Mommy asks me soon and I can only nod. “That  wasn’t only about the surprise, right?”

“No mommy,” I reply after a moment of hesitation before I tell her how I truly felt in the past few weeks. She listens attentively, never interrupting me once.

“You know that you can always come to Dashie, Mango, or me if something is bothering you? No matter what we are doing, we always have time for you.” She says, reminding me of something, I should already know.

We sit there in silence for a while and when she wipes a lonely tear from my face, she faces and asks me. “Now shall we head down to the party? Everypony is waiting for you.”

“Party, what Party?” I ask confused before the really weird part of her last question sinks in, only to confuse me even more. “And why are they waiting for me?”

“Well, how should they celebrate a birthday without the pony whose birthday is celebrated?”

“B - bu - but we don’t know my birthday.” I stumble out in shock, never having expected this answer.

“No, we do.” She replies much to my confusion, only to clear it up moments later. “Remember when you told us about your past?”

I shake my head, having no idea where she is going with that. “I said we just use the day we adopted you. You didn’t say anything back then, so I thought it is okay for you.”

“Yeah, it is,” I reply after some thought. Considering this the best of all the possible options. “But why are there so many ponies?” I wonder out loud, after remembering just how many ponies I saw earlier before I somehow ended up on this cloud. 

“Pinky got a bit carried away, when I asked her, to help me with the preparations. That mare just doesn’t know what a “Small celebration” is.” 

“Now, how about we go down there and get the party started?”

I look up to her with pleading eyes, unsure if this is such a good idea, but there is one thing that would make it easier for me. “Only if you stay close mommy.”

When she let’s go of the embrace and pulls her wings back, I step to the edge of the cloud and look down, wondering how the buck I managed to get up here on such short notice. Suddenly an idea pops into my head and I quickly tell her to “follow me in 10 seconds”. 

“No, we are not doing that now, Wingy.” She replies immediately, but it’s already too late. I jumped over the edge of the cloud and into an almost vertical dive to the ground. One wing pulled in to send me into a spirale and making it look like I lost control over my flight.

My gaze is fixed onto the ground, patiently waiting for the right distance. When I am only 100 meters away from the ground, I stretch out both of my wings to stabilize my flight, before I pull up and let the momentum of the dive carry me straight up again.

Just as expected, mommy is heading to me on a collision course. Time slows down to a crawl for me as both of us adjust our flight and pass each other only centimeters apart.

I do a loop and a few barrel rolls, before landing directly next to mommy, looking at the mostly stunned ponies in front of me. Only one pony is rushing towards me and scooping me up in a hug. “That was amazing Wingy, but was it really necessary to scare all of us like that?”

“Hey, if they scare me half to death, it’s only fair if I return the favor.” I reply with an evil grin on my face, 100% aware that not every pony will agree with that sentiment, but honestly, that’s something I don’t care about. “Now, what was that about a party I heard about?” I add hastily, hoping that this would somehow turn everyponies attention from me and to more pleasant things.

However, this doesn’t work out as I expected when I am suddenly swarmed by ponies, who all want to congratulate me, instead of enjoying all the food, drink and games, prepared by Pinkie Pie. Surprisingly, quite a few of the ponies have presents for me, sadly I don't even know half of them.

The even bigger surprise comes when suddenly a pony, I never imagined to being here, steps in front of me. “Princess Celestia, what are you doing here?”

“I thought it would be a good idea to stop by after I received a panicked letter from Twilight about a rampaging cake at Sugar Cube Corner.” She replies calmly like this would be something she has to deal with on a daily basis. “You don’t happen to know anything about that?”

I tell her exactly what happened and when she asks at the end, if I had learned anything from it, only one thing that comes to mind. “Yes. Cake made with liquid rainbow may taste awesome, but can be really cranky.”

“Is there a slice or two left for me to try?” She barely finishes her sentence when Pinkie Pie shows up and pulls a small cage out of her mane, with a piece of cake in it. Surprisingly the cake is still growling slightly, but I am sure he won’t do it for long. “So that is what you meant by cranky.”

I wait a few moments for her to open the cage and just as expected, the piece of cake jumps right at princes Celestia’s muzzle to bite her. “That’s what I mean with cranky.”

“I see why ponies would panic at this.” She replies calmly after she grabbed the cake with her magic. Her smile brightens, once she takes the first bite out of it. “I definitely need the recipe for this one.”

As if she had already known this, Pinkie Pie just hoofs a piece of parchment to the sun princess, who happily begins to read it. Pinkie Pie on the other hoof turns her attention to me, pulling a large stack of gift-wrapped boxes out of her mane.

I stare in confusion at the stack of boxes she is holding which results in me asking her, “Pinkie, what is all this?” 

“Your presents, silly.” She blurts out the obvious, not really answering my question.

“Yeah, I get that, but why are there so many?”

“One for this birthday and the six others are for those I missed.” She clarifies and after a look at the presents, I see that each of them has a number between one and seven on them, probably standing for the age the present was meant to be given.

I open them one after another and it turns out to be just as I thought, every present matches the age it was meant to be given. I already know that the pacifier, which was the first, will come to good use in a few months. Two to four are similar things, while five and six contain dolls, a small brush, and dresses for said dolls.

They are all nice, but once I open number seven, I know that none of the others can compare to this one. I look in disbelief at what I am holding, carefully placing it on a nearby table, before I tackle her in a hug. “Thank you Pinkie. You have no idea how much those mean to me.”

I don’t even try to understand how she got her hooves on those vinyl records and just focus on what even Twilight had to learn: It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it. “Record player is over there.” She says after a moment, pointing with a hoof towards the food table.

I look at mommy and she picks up everything and we both walk over to where the record player is. I look through all of them and three of those records stick out. Two of them because they are live recordings and the third because it’s a collection of top metal songs.

I turn it around and have a look at the track-list only to squeal in joy, at the first song, since it’s one of my absolute favorites. Soon the voices of Joacim and Noora are heard all over Sweet Apple Acres.

From there on the party begins in full swing, with everypony enjoying this unknown music. A few may have gasped in shock at the sound of “Army of the Night” and I decided to avoid Powerwolf in public for the foreseeable future, but it seems like quite a few ponies took a liking to this kind of music







Much later that same night:

“You two know that her birthday is actually almost two weeks away?” I ask those two lovely mares with which I am currently sharing a bed. Curious why they decided to have the celebration earlier and on such short notice.

“You know how tense and jumpy she’s been in the past few weeks?” Flitter replies almost immediately, painfully reminding me of something everypony noticed and that is constantly worrying us.

“Yes, she just hasn’t been the same since her encounter with Discord” I reply already having a good guess for the motive behind this early celebration, only to have it proved a few moments later.

“So we thought a small celebration would be a good opportunity to distract her from her worries and maybe help her to relax a bit.”

Hearing her words, a meeting with the Princesses and high ranking members of the Guards comes to mind and a glorious plan begins to form. “Girls, how do you think about a vacation?” 

Silence dominates the room for quite some time, both mares thinking carefully about it and much to my surprise, Dashie is the first to answer. “I would need some time to clear that with the weather management in Cloudsdale and to decide on a good replacement for my time away. Shouldn’t take longer than a week.”

“I am sure my boss won’t mind if I take off for a while.”

“Oh, I am not sure about that Flitter, why don’t you try to make sure your boss agrees to this?” The cyan mare in question answers with a seductive grin. The look she receives in return is enough for me to know that none of us will get any sleep tonight.
> 26 The journey begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“May we assist you with your luggage?” A pair of Royal Guards asks as soon as we step out of the train that brought us from Ponyville to Canterlot. All three of us agree, with everypony keeping their own saddlebags.

The offer to ride a carriage to the Castle is declined by us, since we agreed earlier to stop in town for some ice cream before we have to meet up with Princess Celestia. Honestly, I thought we were about to start a vacation, so why do we have to meet up with her?

Surprisingly we don’t go towards the castle. No, it honestly looks more like we go further away from the castle. Still, I follow my mom’s without question, hoping all the way that they know what they are doing. 

However, all my questions are getting answered once we get closer to the docks. I hop on mommy’s back to get a better look at what’s in front of me and am awestruck by the sight of all the different kinds of airships ahead of us..

There are small ones, touring between the valley below Canterlot and the docks, bigger ones for cargo transport and some even taking ponies to places no train can reach. Like Cloudsdale for example. 

All this however doesn’t compare to the sight of the few military vessels at the far end of the docks. Even though there are only a few, they are the most impressive ones of all. “Why are we here mommy?” I ask confused, while I continue to stare at the airships. “You never said that we would take a tour of the harbor, before we go to the Castle.”

“Why should we go to the castle?” She asks me in return, sounding a bit surprised.

“Well, you said Princess Celestia wants to see us before we start our vacation.”

“Ah, now I understand. You thought we would meet her at the castle.” She responds with a chuckle, like I just said something funny, when I tell her that this is exactly what I thought.

“That’s because we are meeting with her over there.” She replies while pointing with a wing towards one of the bigger vessels and I can only look in awe at it. Wondering why that is the case.

I just observe everything in silence until we reach the boarding ramp. There are already a few ponies standing and from the look of it, they are almost ready to leave. I jump down from mommy’s back and rush over to Rumble happy to see my friend again. 

“It looks like somepony is very excited.” His mom replies after a moment, once I reached him holding him in a tight embrace. Not being able to see my friend for almost a week was very hard for me.

“You bet.” I reply after a moment, letting go of him, before I address Princess Celestia. “But I still don’t know where we are going.”

“Nopony told you?” She asks a bit surprised and I can only shake my head in denial, disappointed by the fact, but maybe I will finally be able to get some answers. “We are traveling to Griffinstone, where we will stay for two weeks, mostly enjoying our time.”

“Mostly?” Rumble and I ask in sync, wondering what she could mean by that. 

“There is a large banquet on the day of our arrival and I have to attend a few meetings with the king, but this shouldn’t take longer than two, maybe three days.” She explains to us and is about to tell us more, but something else catches her attention.

However it doesn’t seem to be that important, since her gaze turns back to us after only a few moments. She then leads us aboard the airship and after a quick tour, leads us to a large community room that almost looks like a library. We enter and the three of us make ourself comfortable on some neatly arranged cushions. 

We talk a bit about boring stuff like how interesting life in Ponyville had been since she was there for the last time, or how the royal baker tried to copy the cranky cake until my parents and surprisingly Princess Cadence show up.

The next three hours are spent by Princess Celestia teaching us all about important Griffon customs, that we should always keep in mind once we reach our destination. She asks us a few questions at the end, to check if everypony paid close attention.

“Lieutenant Mango, you are the commanding officer of the Ponyvile Guard post if I am not mistaken, correct?” She asks to my surprise once she is done with her lesson. While I have no clue why she is asking this, dad just nods his head, waiting for her to  continue. “Then can you please tell me why there was the armor of a Night Guard stored in Twilight's library the last time I visited her?”

“That was probably Eve’s armor.” He replies after a moment of hesitation. “I mean corporal Evening Star, Princess.” He adds only moments later, once he notices the questioning look both Princess are giving him. "He and miss Sparkle became very close, since they met that first time.”

“Are you implying that my student is in a romantic relationship with one of my sister’s Guards?” The solar princess asks. And while she looks somehow shocked by this, the look on Cadence face is more one of curiosity. 

“I don’t know if I would call their relationship a romantic one, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns into one.” Dad replies carefully, and I think he does good by this, since I know first hoof how protective Princess Celestia can be about those she cares a lot.

“Are you by any chance able to tell us more about those two?” She wants to know, which honestly surprises me a bit, since I more expected Cadence to be the one to ask something along this line.

“Of course princess, but maybe at a different time,” dad replies with a short glance at Rumble and me. Even if it was only for a short moment, Princess Celestia caught his look and nods in understanding, knowing that not everything should be heard by Rumble and me, since he considers us too young.

Shortly after this, we have a delicious salad for an early dinner, before we separate for the day. While I don’t know what the three alicorns are up for, dad, mama D, mommy, and I go back to our own room and we end up playing a few rounds of UNO, before we go to bed.







I woke up early the next day when it was still dark outside and as comfortable as it was to be squeezed so tightly between such amazing ponies, it made getting up without disturbing the others extremely difficult, especially when you are in a rush.

Somehow, I managed to reach the place I was getting to in such a rush, I didn’t feel like going back to bed after I took care of my business. Since it was still dark outside, I went to the door out of the room and made my way to the top deck, wanting nothing more than to take a look at the night sky, before the stars disappeared for the morning.

I knew there wasn’t much of the night left so I rushed over towards the railing and pulled myself up. Even at a full stretch, I was barely able to see over the top. I stood there, the tips of my hindhooves touching the ground, while my head rested between my forelegs on the railing.

I enjoyed it for quite some time, before the stars started to vanish and the moon sunk behind the horizon. The sun began to rise shortly after this, bathing the sea in a beautiful mix of red, orange, and yellow. On the other hoof, the wild clouds* out here, made it look like the sky was on fire and I was unable to hold back a loud “WOW”, when I realized that this sunrise rivaled the most beautiful sunsets I ever saw.

“That is one way to put it.” I hear a voice to my right side saying, and I flinch in shock at it, since I haven’t heard anypony approaching me. A bit shocked by this unexpected encounter, I let go of the railing and drop to the ground of the deck, so I can find out which pony sneaked up on me.

Seeing the large form of princess Celestia isn’t as much of a surprise to me as it would be  for most ponies, but I still don’t like what she just did. “Was this really necessary?”

“I am sorry Wingy, I never wanted to scare you.” She replies in her soft voice and just from the way she sounds, I know that she really means it. I try to reassure her that I am fine but I know that she doesn’t believe me. “Why don’t we go back in and  you can tell me over some hot chocolate what is really bothering you.”

The prospect of a hot drink is enough to convince me to head back in, since it’s really cold out here. How I didn’t notice this earlier is a mystery to me. Princess Celestia goes in front and leads me to the same room we met yesterday. 

I look around and spot a stack of blankets that hadn't been there earlier and am quick to snatch one of them before I sit down on one of the bean bags and wrap myself tightly into the soft and fuzzy goddess. 

Shortly after that, a maid brings us the promised beverage and I take a long sip of it, before I turn my focus back to the solar diarch. “It’s him,” I say after a moment of hesitation. “Can’t we just turn his statue into a fine gravel to make sure he doesn’t break free again?”

Silence dominates the room for quite some time, in which princess Celestia thinks about my request, probably taking things into account I could never think of. “As much as I would love to be rid of one more danger to the wellbeing of my little ponies, I don’t believe that to be a good idea.”

“Why do you think that princess? Wouldn’t the elements of harmony be able to turn him back to stone, should it only set him free.”

“I am unsure if they would work on him, if we destroy his prison like that. And if that’s the case, there is no way to defeat him.” She replies with a heavy sigh. I understand her reasoning, I really do, but I still don’t like it. I drink the last of the hot chocolate and am about to get up and leave, when she asks me something, I should have seen coming. “Why do you want to do this?”

I carefully place the empty mug on the floor and pull the blanket even tighter around me, before I look once around the room, to make sure nopony is overhearing what I am about to say. My search however comes up empty and I turn my focus on the sole pony in front of me.

“On that day, he didn’t just make me see and hear all those things, no he also made me feel everything. Every hit, every strike, every punch, every thrust. Really everything and I just don’t want to have to go through that again.” I explain to her with a trembling voice, telling her something I haven't told anypony, before breaking out into tears when flashes of memories come back to the surface.

It only takes a few moments before I feel myself being moved and a set of hooves pressing me tightly to a ponies chest. “Mommy is here my little angel, mommy is here.” I hear the comforting voice I love so much whispering in my ear. How she made it here so fast is a mystery to me, a riddle I don’t plan to solve, since I am happy that she is here when I need her the most.






A few moments earlier:

I was shocked beyond belief, when I stepped into the library and saw my little filly starting to cry, right in front of Princess Celestia. Trully, that isn’t how I expected my search for her to end after I realized that she had gone missing.

I quickly rush over to her and pick her up in my hooves, trying my best to help her calm down. Now fifteen minutes later and with her asleep in my hooves again, there is only one thing for me to do. “What did you do?” I demanded to know from the alicorn in front of me, slightly surprised to see her flinch under my gaze for a brief moment.

Princess Celestia however recovers quickly from the shock and tells me everything that happened from when she saw her watching the sunrise until Wingy broke out in tears. What I learn in these few minutes is shocking to me, and it brings something back to my mind, that I asked Wingy already once. “Princess, do you think it would be a good idea to erase these horrible memories from her? At least those from her encounter with Discord.”

It doesn’t take long for her to reply, and since I expected her to dismiss this idea directly, her answer takes me by surprise. “Do you know the risks of mind magic on such a high scale?”

“I do.” I reply honestly, thinking back on all the time I spent researching about it with the help of Twilight Sparkle, from when I had this idea for the first time.

“Then I will talk with my sister about it, she is the expert on mind magic after all, and you will do the same with your herd.” She declares in a tone that makes absolutely clear that this isn’t a request, but also that this topic won't come up today again.

Once I made clear to her that I understand her point, Princess Celestia is quick to leave, leave me and Wingy alone. I think for a moment if I should carry her back to bed, since it is still very early, but decide against it and instead join her right here in Luna’s realm for one or two more hours.
> 27 A not so boring dinner
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are slowly approaching the impressive mountain fortress of Griffonston and I gaze in awe at the approaching city for some time until I hear the sound of aproaching hooves. “You know, if you want to hide from the mares, this isn’t the best place for that Wingy.” Dad says only a few moments later.

“Why do you think I have to hide from them?” I ask in reply, turning my attention to the pony now standing directly at my side. “I haven’t pranked any of them within the last two weeks.”

“So it wasn’t you who put itching powder on Princess Celestia’s throne last Friday, only moments before she arrived for day-court?” Dad asks me with a raised eyebrow, not believing me for a second.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I reply instantly, only half-heartedly trying to deny my involvement in this particular prank. True, I may not have done what he said, but distracting everypony so that nopony notices Dusty was still a vital part of the plan.

“Good, I would have been very disappointed otherwise.” He responds mockingly upset, before he leads me to the room Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and Rumble share. Once there he knocks at their door and after a short wait the door swings open.

Not even a second has passed since the door opened when a cyan blur races past us. 

“She knows that this is futile, right Flitter?” I look after the fleeing form of mama D, not expecting her to be scared of a piece of fabric. Dad asks, his gaze directed to where the usually very brave pegasus ran off

“Yes, but has that ever stopped her?” mommy asks in return before giving chase and I can only agree. It’s unimportant if it’s Rarity, Princess Cadence, Princess Celestia, or somepony else, she always bolts when somepony wants her to wear something that she thinks is too girly. Like for example that pink dress Princess Cadence is holding in her magic.

“Dad said that you wanted to see me?” I ask the two Princess currently occupying the room, getting their full attention.

“Yes, you know that we will be arriving in Griffinstone soon?” Princess Cadence reminds me of the obvious.

“Let me guess, you want to make sure that I look good so I don’t accidentally  offend our hosts?” I ask the pink alicorn who nods in return, proving my theory about what is about to happen now. “So, what do you have in mind?”

Cadence just motions for me to follow her, leading me through a door and on to a pillow before she begins to work on my hooves. “What color do you want them to be?”

“As long as it isn’t pink, I don’t care.” As soon as the last word left my muzzle, I know that I just made a grave mistake.

“So pink it is.” she replies with a grin on her face before she begins to apply hoof polish in exactly that color. I really should have seen this coming.

“So, what else have you planned for me?” I want to know so that I am not too shocked later, should there be anything I don’t like.

“Only to put you into a really cute dress and maybe adding matching bows to your mane on and tail.” 

“Don’t you think I am already cute enough?” I reply annoyed, not liking the idea of a tail-bow at all.

“Wingy, a filly can never be too cute.”  Cadence replies shocked about what I just asked and I can only hope that I didn’t give her any ideas. “And if you think that you are already cute enough, I WILL prove you wrong as soon as we are back in Canterlot.”

I scream inwardly, “that I just should have kept my muzzle shut,” dreading what she could be up to. From now on, I let her do what she wants in silence, unwilling to make any more failures like this. “So ready to see your new dress?” She asks me excitedly and I can only hope that it isn’t as bad as I fear.

“Yes,” I reply unsure what to expect but my fear of a frilly pink monstrosity is killed the moment she levitates a simple light green dress in front of me. “Wow, where did you get this?” I ask stunned by the sight in front of me not expecting anything I would actually like.

“I think Coco Pommel made it, but to be sure you should ask your mother.” She replies while helping me into the dress. That doesn't take long, soon after that, I feel her doing something with my mane before levitating a mirror and allowing me to take a look at myself.

To say that I liked what I saw would be an understatement, although I am not too happy about the fact that she changed my favorite bow to the same color as the dress, but it is fine for the moment







After we arrived in Griffinstone, all of us had been introduced to King Gustav and Queen Gertrude and their son Georg, who were quite surprised by the number of visiting ponies. We were led into a large dining hall with a few Griffons already present.

To my surprise, mama D gasped in shock when she recognized one of them and directly turned her gaze away. I however made sure to remember the Griffon so I can talk to her later, curious why she had reacted like that.

Only around ten minutes passed when Queen Gertrude told us that dinner will be served shortly and that everyone should take a seat. When I realized that there was no pre-arranged seating order, I made sure to sit directly next to the Griffon mama D reacted so badly to. 

While she was sitting to my right, I was surprised when Prince George sat down directly to my left. I took a look around and what I saw surprised me once more. Where I expected to see two separate sides, one for ponies and one for Griffons, they were completely mixed. At least the next pony, Princess Cadence, is only a few seats away.

Soon after the last guest sat down, servants came out of hidden entrances to make sure that everyone has something to drink, before the entry is served. Even if it was tempting, I declined the offered beer and instead ordered some grape juice.

“Hi, who are you,” Prince Georg asks me when I am thinking about how I should approach the obviously sensitive topic with the griffon seated on my other side.

“Oh, hello Prince Georg.” I replied surprised that he addressed me at all, since I am probably the least important pony of all the ones present. “Silent Wing, youngest recruit of Princess Luna’s Night Guard.” I said not without a bit of pride in my voice.

“Well, recruit Wing, I am curious about your earring. It isn’t every day that you see a pony wearing something like this so openly.” I really should have expected a question like that, when I put this particular earring on after Cadence left me once I was "properly" dressed. At least it isn't her complaining about her ruined work, like Rarity would have done.

“Oh, this one? It's just a piece of unicorn horn that I cut off of a royal guard during a match." I reply honestly and immediately feel more than one pair of eyes turning in my direction.

"So you defeated a simple recruit and take pride in it, that is something any griffin could do." He replies mockingly, not taking anything of what I just said seriously.

"It was actually a sergeant, a former lieutenant, if lieutenant Shining Armor told me the truth. Should you not believe me, you can ask Princess Celestia herself, after all, she used it as an excuse to dishonorably discharge him."

He is about to reply, probably planning to call me a liar but gets interrupted as the first dish is served. It is clearly a soup of some kind and I can only wonder what it could be. However, my question gets answered as soon as I move the first spoonful of it to my muzzle. The small pieces of meat are easily visible, making it quite obvious that it’s Gulasch.  

Princess Celestia warned us that we would be served meat at some point, and that it’s expected from us to eat at least a part of it, otherwise the Griffons could see it as an insult. Still, after I found out just what kind of soup this is, I ate as much as possible before I stopped under the excuse to save some space for the remaining courses.

None of the surrounding Griffons seemed to mind and ask me to continue where I left earlier. I tell them about the fight in as much detail I remember before Prince Georg makes himself known again. “Do you really expect us to believe all this?”

“No,” I reply honestly and wait a few moments before I say something that murders the grin on his face. “But Princess Celestia sits just over there, so you can ask her.”

He is about to wander off into the direction of Princess Celestia, just as the second dish, a tasty looking arugula salad with tomatoes, fried turkey breast filets and, a balsamic vinaigrette, is served.

While the first course was eaten in mostly silence at the table, this time it’s different. Encouraged by all the conversations around me, I try to turn my attention towards the Griffon mama D seems to dislike for some reason, only to be interrupted once more by Prince Georg. “So, how did  a very young recruit like you end up accompanying the Princesses and their son on a trip to Griffinonstone? Was there much bribing involved.”

“Because she invited me of course.” I tell him in a deadpan voice. By now I am really beginning to dislike him and what he just implied is something I can’t let stand. “And unlike you, you greedy fool, she cares about more than the size of her bit bag.

And before you ask why she would do something like that, you should know that Prince Rumble is actually my Coltfriend.” I add hastily, not allowing him to reply in any way. I think this would shut the arrogant prick up, but sadly, this isn’t the case and things only get worse.

“Now you are pulling my back you son of a worthless whore.” He spits right in my face. Immediately I drop my silverware and smash my right hoof into his face, which results in him falling off the bench and landing on his back. 

I however don’t give him any chance to recover and am on him only moments after he landed on his back, pressing the hoof that struck him on his throat. “You better apologize now, before…” I let my sentence unfinished, so that I have multiple options available. 

Half a minute passes in silence when I grow impatient and slightly increase the pressure on his throat, as to make my point clear. “What is going on here?” King Gustav demands from us, not pleased in the slightest with the happenstance.

“Your son making a fool out of himself again, sir.” The Griffon that sat on my right replies, with a stoic look on her face. 

“What exactly happened Sergeant Grimfeather?” The king asks in return, not even bothering to check on his son, that I am still pinning to the ground. By now the other ponies  and a few more Griffons had come over to us, all listening attentively to the summary of the events that occurred in the last hour.

“So this is a matter of honor.” He replies once Sergeant Grimfeatehr ends the tale, turning around to address Princess Celestia directly. “I am afraid Princess, but there is only one way to solve this. A Duel.”

“I was afraid of that,” She replies saddened by the prospect of yet another fight. “However, I don’t see a way to avoid this. But since Wingy and her family were the ones insulted, I expect that she is the one to choose the weapons.”

“Of course Princess.” King Gustav replies seriously before turning to me. “So what weapons do you choose?”

Before I answer the Kings questions, I ask dad if he brought my armor and my blades with. Much to my mother’ dismays, he admits that he smuggled them on board of the airship, having predicted that I would end up in trouble again and would be in need of good equipment. When he leaves to retrieve everything I fully focus on King Gustav. “While I will be using Wingblades, Prince Georg can use whatever close combat weapon he desires.”

“You heard her!” The king shouts towards the young prince, who I released a while ago, causing him to run in a direction that either is his room or the armory. “Someone please inform the kitchen staff that the next course will be delayed a half-hour.” He addresses one of the servants who was serving drinks. Now much calmer after his son left, he changes his orders slightly. “No better make it an hour, after all, we don’t know how long this fight will last. Also, inform mister Bean that I may have found a solution to his problem and that I want  to talk to him.”

“Of course, sir.” The servant replies before hurrying off.

A few moments later dad comes back with a large chest, and alongside Cadence hurries me over into the next room to change. While Cadence is a great help to quickly get out of the dress without damaging it, dad just hooves me over everything out of the chest so that I can don my Armor, helmet, and the Wingblades.

With that done, we return to the dining hall where everyone, including Prince Georg, is already waiting for us. King Gustav then asks if we have all we need, the prince and I confirm this and he announces that we will head to a nearby training field so we can settle the matter properly.

I use the short walk to take a good look at the young Prince, inspecting what weapon and armor he chose. He is clad in light leather armor, and while this allows greater maneuverability, it isn’t very thick. Seeing a short sword strapped to his side doesn’t really come as a surprise. Although it is a short-range weapon, it does allow for quick and decisive strikes.

Shortly after I began to think about a possible strategy to defeat my opponent we reached a training ground, similar to those of the Royal and Night Guard. Around fifty ironclad Griffons were training hoof, or in that situation, talon combat in pairs before King Gustav ordered them out of the ring.

Prince Georg, King Gustav, and I walked into the middle of the ring, and he looked around to make sure he got everyone's attention. “Normally, disarming your opponent would be enough to gain victory, this isn’t the case for obvious reasons. This time, you have to either knock your opponent out, force him to surrender or force him to step out of the Ring.” He pauses for a moment, gathering his breath before he says something that is directed at the Guards who had been training here a short while ago. “And you lot better pay attention, it isn’t every day you get the chance to see a member of the Equestrian Night Guard fight.”

“Sir, what could we possibly learn here? I don’t want to sound insulting, but she is just a young chick, after all.” One of the Guards replies, earning the attention of his King.

“This young chick here managed to defeat a member of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard that had served her for over twelve years in single combat. To embarrass the former lieutenant even more, she was only armed with a blunt sword and didn’t wear any kind of Armor during the fight.”

Shock now written clearly over the face of every Griffon present, it doesn’t come as a surprise that now every pair of eyes is focusing on me. “You may begin as soon as I leave the ring.” The King says finally before walking over towards Princess Celestia.

I wait patiently until the king left and even wait a bit longer, allowing the young Prince to slowly come closer. He is only around two yards away when I quickly rush forward and swing my left wing directly at his head. Taken completely by surprise, he manages just in time to bring his sword in the way, blocking my attack. At least that is what I let him think for a moment, before my helmet strikes him right in the face. 

I step back, ignoring the reactions of the onlookers, and allow myself a moment to recover from the headbutt, since even if I am wearing a helmet, it still has consequences. 

While I let him advance once more, I notice a small but bleeding cut above his right eye, which is slightly weakening his sight. I avoid the crude swing of his blade by ducking under it before I swing my right wing at his left leg. 

With no possible way to block my strike, he is forced to jump back a bit. I am quick to close the gap between us and take advantage of his limited sight when I swing my left wing into his right side. The strike is weakened by his armor, but the blade still manages to draw a bit of blood. 

I however take too long to admire my small victory, and while I still see the strike directed at my right side coming, I notice it too late to block it. With a loud “CLANK” his sword slams into my side, but I was saved from most of the damaged by my armor. 

I cursed inwardly at my dumb mistake before I pushing it into the deepest part of my mind, telling myself that I should focus on the here and now.

His next strike came once more from my right. I saw it coming early and had enough time to raise my wing and block his sword with the attached blade. However much to both of our surprise, his sword broke just over the hilt.

While the young prince stares stunned at the remains of his sword, I take full advantage of the situation. Grinning I quickly spin and buck him right in his chest, flinging him backward and right into one of the armored guards with a crash.

From the unexpected impact with the prince, the Guard is driven back, allowing Prince Georg to slide out of the ring, securing my victory.

Stunned silence dominates the training field and when I look around everyone looks at me in shock and utter disbelief. However, what happens next is the total opposite of what I expected. 

I thought they would be mad at me for defeating him, furious even, but this isn't the case. Instead, every Griffon, except King Gustav and Queen Gertrude, form ranks and bowing before me in respect deliver a griffon phrase that I don't understand.

“Can someone please take a look at Prince Georg?” I ask the Griffons once they finished whatever they just did. 

“Of course Princess, I make sure your fiancé is doing well.” One of the Guards replies much to my shock, before walking towards the unconscious form of the young griffon.

“Why do I have the feeling that you forgot to mention something important when you had been teaching us about Griffon costumes?” I ask the largest alicorn in the group, once I recovered from the shock of being called princess, only to get a reaction out of her, none of us mortals could ever have thought of.

Princess Celestia, one of the immortal diarches of Equestria, actually facehooves. “Of all the possible things I could forget, it just had to be this one.”
> 28 An interesting explanation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Princess Celestia, are you really implying that you forgot to inform your entire delegation of the importance of duels between Royals and commoners, no offense recruit Wing.” King Gustav asks the snow-white alicorn, not even trying to hide how upset he is about her failure.

“No, she didn’t tell us anything about that.” Princess Cadence answers in her stead, knowing that her aunt currently isn't being held in the highest regard by the ruling couple. “Or anything at all about duels. I would definitely remember something like that. Now, could you please explain to us what she obviously forgot?”

“Not here.” The King replies defensively before addressing the Guards. “You lot go back to your exercises,” shifting his attention now towards the remaining Griffons, “while you go back and enjoy the feast.”

He waits until only he, his wife, and us ponies are present. “Would you please follow me into the parlor? I think it would be the best place to discuss the consequences of what just happened.”

Our group begins to march off, but when Queen Gertrude notices that this includes Princess Celestia, she raises her voice for the first time since we left the dining hall earlier. “Not you! Tell the servants to bring our food into the Parlor, before you join the other nobles. Also, I think sergeant Grimfeather has something for you.” At first Princess Celestia looks upset with the Queen's decision, but her ears perk up the moment sergeant Grimfeather’s name is mentioned. Without any further protest Princess Celestia, accompanied by Rumble, follows the other group back to the dining hall, while our group walks in the opposite direction. 

It takes almost ten minutes for us to reach the Parlor, where servants are almost done rearranging the furniture. Several recliners, as well as a coffee table had been moved aside and there is now a large round table in the middle of the room. Much to my surprise, their aren't regular chairs, like you find in most of the noble houses, but a set of different colored bean bags are arranged around the table.

“I thought that a more comfortable seating arrangement would be better to discuss such a sensitive topic. After all, I do not expect this matter to be solved quickly.” King Gustav explains to us and I bet he only took a detour so that the servants could prepare this room. 

However, I soon notice one more important thing that is different from the dining hall we were in earlier. While there everyone could sit where he desired, here there are nameplates at every seat. I walk clockwise around the table in search of my seat, passing by Queen Gertrude, Mama D’s seat and King Gustav’s.

I can barely hide a chuckle when I realize that Mama D won’t be too happy about this, but at least this isn’t my seat. Dad’s place is right next to the King’s and once more a pony has to sit between two Royal’s since Princess Cadence is directly next to him. So this leaves only two places left and after a short look at the remaining nameplates, I realize that I didn't need to take a full turn around the table, and could have just walked counterclockwise as I found my name prominently displayed between mommy and Queen Gertrude.

It takes a moment for everyone to take their place, and after a slight pause, Queen Gertrude surprisingly raises her voice. "It actually is pretty simple. The reason why we separated from the others is that I think it will be easier to come up with a solution to this problem in a quieter setting than the dining hall." 

Everyone nods in agreement, however when she is about to continue, servants enter the room so that everyone can order the main course. There are two options, one being a vegetarian dish  and the other a meat dish.

The vegetarian option would be the carrot lasagne accompanied by a small mixed salad, while the other option is a breaded salmon filet with potato salad and remoulade. 

That King Gustav and Queen Gertrude choose the fish is no surprise, but when I choose this as well, everyone in the room looks at me in disbelief. “Yes, I am sure about this,” I reply annoyed when the servant wanted me to confirm my order.

“Ha, I already like you more than that hypocritical Princess of yours. Not only are you already a decent fighter, but it also looks like you, unlike most ponies, have very little to no problems with eating meat.” King Georg exclaims excitedly.

“Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a very clever brain hidden under your mane and I would be very happy to call you my daughter in law.” He continues to praise me, causing me to blush in response. For the first time in a very long time, I am actually glad that Rumble isn’t around.

I see you wonder why I consider Princess Celestia to be a hypocrite. She would never really eat meat of any kind if she could avoid it somehow.” King Gustav continues now much colder, after I confirmed my order once more, and the others told the servant that, unlike me, they prefer the vegetarian dish. Also, if you exclude dad, I doubt that anypony noticed how King Gustav just praised me.

“What do you mean by this,” I ask confused since I clearly had seen Princess Celestia eating meat earlier. Curious how he will explain this, I wait for his answer.

“Since you sat so much further away from her, I understand that you doubt my words. Even I would have trouble spotting the small, but important details from the distance between you and her.”

“For example, she made sure to eat the meat and the salad separately. While you could see her swallowing the salad, the same wasn’t the case with the fried turkey.”

“In the last few years servants always found meat in the potted plants or other places where it shouldn't be, so we assume that she just used her magic to teleport it out of her mouth. And since she always uses her magic to handle the silverware, this makes it easy to hide the preparation for a teleportation spell.”

“But wouldn’t it take a lot of fine control to even attempt something like that?” I ask once more, highly doubting that this is even possible. Besides, the few times I saw Twilight teleporting, there was always a popping sound when she vanished.

“True, but Celestia had over 1000 years to practice this.” He counters with ease. Now, the more I think about it, I remember that I have also seen Celestia teleport before, but unlike with Twilight, there was never any sound when she teleported.

Still, there is one more thing that could prove him wrong. “What about the goulash soup earlier, how could she possibly have avoided that?”

“You do remember that she took a restroom break, directly after she was done with it?” He replies smugly, only leaving me the option to admit defeat before he continues. “I actually planned to confront her this year about that matter, but with the unique situation we find ourselves in, I thought it was not a very good idea.”

“As interesting as that is, could we please return to the matter at hoof? How a duel resulted in Wingy becoming the betrothed of Prince Georg?” Princess Cadence asks slightly annoyed. If she is annoyed that we have to discuss this at all or the news that her aunt cheated on the whole meat-eating thing is something I can only guess. Probably the former, since she loves to ship ponies, and I am pretty certain that her plans to ship me with somepony else are now ruined.

“Of course Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” he replies as calmly as possible, but still managing to make his annoyance known before he turns his attention to his wife. “Do you want to explain it or shall I do it?”

“I'll take care of it Gustav,” Queen Gertrude replies after a few moments before she takes a long look around the table, her face resting on everyponies for a few moments. “Before I explain the details, you should know a bit of the background.” She tells us after making sure that she has everyponies undivided attention.

“Let’s begin with why it will be hard to find a solution that everyone will be happy with. 653 years ago, right after the last war between our nations, Princess Celestia agreed that all ponies in our Kingdom, regardless of visitor or permanent citizen, is accountable by our laws. ALL of our laws and that includes dueling.”

She pauses for a moment to drink of her whine, that had recently been brought by another servant, giving everypony time to let this information sink in. “Around 950 years ago dueling became a major problem for us, true it had always been a part of our culture but back then it was simply used as an excuse to kill others. This placed our populace in serious danger, it was obvious that the rules had to be tightened, but that wasn't all they did. Much to the shock of many griffons back then, the rules had been changed into laws, and breaking them would have harsh consequences."

“The first law that was agreed on without any voting against it, was that duels are only legal if it's a matter of honor. This includes serious crimes in which the victim or one of the victims relatives demanded retribution. Accusations that were proven to be incorrect or major insults of one's family are the two other cases in which someone could demand a duel.”

“And with Prince Georg calling me and Dashie whorse earlier, the third reason was accountable. But if I understood you correctly, shouldn’t Wingy have to demand a duel in the first place?” Mommy asks in return, voicing what is already going through my mind. 

“True, but she did this by hitting Prince Georg, and from that point, there was no way back.” The queen answers calmly before addings a few more important details. “Would she had ignored him instead, the duel could have been avoided entirely and she would have made clear that she saw him as unworthy.”

“That’s unfortunate,” mommy replies while giving me a look that makes it clear that I have to learn better control of my temper. On the other hoof, if Mama D or dad would have been close and noticed Prince Georg's words, I doubt that they would have reacted differently.

“Okay, we have learned so far why the duel was unavoidable and that the rules are actually laws. So what exactly are those laws saying?” I ask curiously by now doubting that there is an actual way out of this marriage.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to skip most of the actual duel rules, except one, and go directly to the part that deals with the consequences, possible rewards, and the punishment should you refuse to accept said rewards.” Queen Gertrude asks us, while the main course is served to which everyone present agrees.

However, the queen doesn’t reply immediately, instead, she waits a bit, probably using this time to think about how she could explain it best. What she says next is something that causes everypony to gasp in shock since no one expected those rules to be so harsh.“Duels that are demanded by someone wanting retribution for a serious crime, can only be won by killing your opponent, but luckily this doesn’t apply here.”

There is a short pause in which she focuses on her food, allowing everypony to comprehend this information before Princess Cadence speaks up once more. “If that doesn’t apply here, why mention it at all?”

“If I understood you correctly, Princess Celestia informed you of our customs on your trip here correct?” She asks in return what everypony confirms before she continues. “And she admitted earlier that she forgot something important, correct?” She asks once more, getting the same response from everypony. “Then I am just making sure you never end up in a similar situation like now, having to face unexpected consequences, only because you haven’t been aware of the law in question.”

“Now, shall we move on to the next point, or do you have any further questions at the moment?” Queen Gertrude asks once she is finished with her short explanation,having easily convinced everypony of her  good points. Even if those are details that are currently unimportant, they could lead to serious problems in the future, if you aren’t careful.

“Good, the next one is about the different classes of duels and their rewards.” She continues a few moments later when nopony voiced their disagreement. “There are six to be exact and while I will only give a short summary for three of them, I will go into a more detailed explanation of the others.”

“With all due respect Queen Gertrude, but why don’t you go into full detail of all those six classes. I for my part am very curious about this.”

“I am not surprised that this question comes from you lieutenant Mango, but there are exactly two reasons for this. One of them being that only those two are important right now, while the other is simply the amount of time it would take.” She pauses for a moment and is about to continue when she sees dad’s frown, making her change her plan a bit. “But if you want, I can explain the four other classes we ignore for now later to you and everyone interested.” Now satisfied with the answer he received, he relaxes slightly and gestures for the queen to continue.

“The first three of the classes we are only skimming are: duels between two commoners, duels between commoners and nobles, and duels between two nobles. In all three classes, a notary and a pair of Guards have to be present all the time. Since the possible rewards will be set by the participants itself, those can range from a simple apology, should that be seen as necessary, up to everything the loser owns, which can include all owned property, money, and noble titles as well.”  

Many ponies gasp in shock at this, except me, since I get a great idea and can’t hold back my laughter for long. This results in everypony looking at me in bewilderment. “We must convince Princess Celestia to establish these laws in Equestria as well!”

“Are you mad? After all the problems they caused us today you want to bring those laws to Equestria. Give me just one reason why this could possibly be a good idea.” Cadence yells, clearly upset about my proposal.

“Just think of it, this would allow us to clean the nobility of such idiots like Jet Set and Upper Crust. As arrogant as they are, there is no doubt that they would go for less than the highest possible reward and lose everything.”

“I like how you think Wingy.” Cadence replies after a moment of consideration, seeing the benefits such changes could bring. “But how do you even know those two?”

“I ran into those fools at the Grand Galloping Gala, a while after the talk with Princess Celestia regarding the cake incident.” I tell her, remembering the unfortunate encounter, which I really would have preferred to avoid.

“That is one of the reasons why every attempt to change the laws regarding dueling is considered treason. The other and more important one is that the constant changes of noble families reduce the chance for inbreeding significantly since most nobles tend to marry their social equals.” King Gustav explains, speaking up for the first time in a while. 

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Princess Cadence replies much to my surprise, only a few moments ago she had been vehemently against that practice, only to turn into a supporter of these laws in record time. “You just have to take a look at a few of the noble families in Equestria and you see how inbreeding is becoming a problem.”

“This is all interesting, but can we please go back to the important part? Why is my daughter the betrothed of Prince Georg now?” Mama D asks annoyed by the fact that everything takes so long, just as desperate for answers as I am.

“I was coming to that miss Dash,” Queen Gertrude replies, not bothered in the slightest by mama D’s outburst. “But there is one more simple thing I have to address first.” She adds, earning a groan from mama D in reply.

“In these three classes it is possible, that should it come to multiple duels between the same two participants, the winner can still gain something. However, the same isn’t the case for duels that involve members of the Royal family. Here the challenger has only one chance to gain something, even if it should come to multiple duels.”

“Also note that should someone that challenges members of the Royal family lose his duel, there won’t be any consequences for him.” 

“If someone that isn’t part of the Royal family itself, challenges a married member of the Royal family and wins, he will earn 100.000 Bits. If the challenger isn’t already part of the nobility, he will also earn a minor title and a house befitting to his new status.” Shocked gasps are heard from everypony, except Princess Cadence, about what could possibly be won. 

“In those four classes I just informed you about, it doesn’t matter if the duelists are our own subjects or from a nation that agreed to respect our laws. However, if it involves unmarried members of the Royal family it’s much different. Since challenging an unmarried member of the Royal family, it can be considered nothing other than a marriage proposal.”

The moment the Queen finishes her sentence, multiple gasps are heard in the room. The only one not shocked by this, other than King Gustav, is me, since I already assumed something like that when she implied the difference between married and unmarried members of the royal family and I wonder how screwed I am, or if there is a way out of this marriage for me at all.

Once more, the queen waits for everyone to let this information sink in before she comes to the part that interests me the most. “If one of our own subjects actually manages to defeat an unmarried member of the Royal family and tries to back out of the marriage, it is considered treason and will be treated as such. Luckily, this never happened before.”

“However, if the victorious challenger is from a different nation and tries to back down from the wedding, regardless of their social status there, it is nothing short than a declaration of war.” 

Nope, there is definitely no wait out of this marriage for me. “Cadence, can you try to figure out a way how I can still be together with Rumble after the wedding? I am going to go and catch some fresh air?” I don’t even bother to wait for her to reply, when I get up and make my way to the closest door, wanting nothing more than to get out of the room as fast as possible.







Meanwhile in a different part of the Castle:

“I heard you wanted to talk alone with me Sergeant Grimfeather.” The white alicorn asks the female griffon shortly after she entered a sparsely furnished room, standing in front of a large chest.

“It isn’t the talk that is so important but the present my father wanted to have delivered to you.” The female griffon replies, placing one of her talons on the large chest, implying that this is what she is talking about.

“May I?” The alicorn asks with a curious expression on her face, wondering what could possibly be in the chest. As the Griffon steps aside, she uses her magic to open the case and gasps in surprise at the sight of the horned red head resting in there. Still, she can’t help it when a satisfied smile spreads across her face. “Tell your father that he should stop by in Canterlot in three weeks, then we can make everything official.” 

“Then I’ll return to the feast, thanks for your time Princess.”

“No, it is I who has to thank you Lady Grimfeather, after all, your family did a great service for Equestria.” The white alicorn replies genuinely happy, before returning to the dining room alongside the heir to a new noble family.







I am currently lying atop the highest tower of the castle, looking at the stars, thinking about what could have been if sunbutt hadn’t screwed up, when I hear someone land behind me. Curious about who this could be, I turn my head around only to look right into the face of someone I really don’t want to see right now, Prince Georg. 

“You know this is actually my spot for when I need to clear my mind.” He says from behind me, barely a few moments after I turned my attention back on the night sky. 

“And why should I care about that?”I reply annoyed, not really in the mood to talk with him, or with anyone at all if I am honest with myself. I just wanted to have a bit of quiet, but that this couldn’t last shouldn’t really surprise me after how this evening has gone.

However, he doesn’t choose to reply and instead just walks forward and lays down next to me. Several minutes pass in silence while I continue to look at the stars until I can’t bear the silence anymore. “Did you plan all this?”

“What do you mean?”

I turn my head around, surprised about what I just heard, but when I look into his face, I only see confusion written all over it. “You know, making me mad so that I would challenge you and become your bride?”

“WHAT? TARTARUS NO!!!” He screams, obviously shocked by what I just said. “At first I only wanted to know the story behind your earring. After that I wanted you to admit to your lies, but only when I saw you in your armor, I realized that those weren’t lies at all.” He admits with a sigh, lacking the confidence he had shown almost the entire time I had to spend with him today. 

“And what made you think that I told you lies in the first place?” I asked him, now with mixed feelings. While on one hoof I am curious for his explanation, on the other hoof I can only wonder why he sounds so depressed right now.

“Normally, everyone I have to spend time with was a boaster, told stories that made no sense or exaggerated their ability greatly only to get my attention. Most of the time, they backed down after a while and admitted their lies. Those that didn’t, were mostly ones that bragged about their fighting skills but made a sudden withdrawal when I tried to lure them into a duel.” 

 “And you expected me to back down as well?” I continue for him, not having suspected something like that to be the reason for how he behaved earlier.

“Yeah, and while it was an interesting break from the routine, I actually wish I hadn’t started it in the first place. Just how am I going to explain this to Gabi?” 

“Gabi?” I ask surprised while moving closer a bit, never having thought about how Prince Georg feels about what happened, and now I kind of feel bad for being so self-centered.

“Yes, Gabi. To say we are close would be an understatement.” He replies dreamily, giving me an idea of just how close they are, or how close they used to be. Depending on how this Gabi will react to this news.  

 I lay there for a bit thinking about everything that happened today and am about to take off for a late-night flight when he speaks up. “Can I ask  you something?” I motion for him to continue, but what comes next is not exactly what I expected him to ask.

“Is it true that Princess Celestia failed to educate you about dueling and the consequences before you arrived?” 

“Yes, but I doubt that I would have reacted differently if I had known the consequences beforehoof. “I reply only to add a few moments later, “Anyway, I am off now,” before I take off into the sky, hoping that a late-night flight would help me to clear my head. Sadly, it shouldn’t.
> 29 When it rains it pours
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The merciless heat of a late summer sun is pounding down on a small secluded valley far away from any major cities of the Griffin Kingdom in the deepest part of the mountains.

A wooden cabin is nestled in the shadow of a large mountain with a small lake. Not too far away, a small stream flows toward the glistening pools southern end. Near the lake are a few oak trees and in the shadow of one from them lies a large white alicorn studying the contents of a very thick tome.

She hopes to find something that would allow them to lessen the consequences of her latest screw up. True, she doesn’t screw up often, but when she does the aftermath is always hard to deal with.

However, her concentration is broken by the sound of approaching hooves and the giggling of foals. Having a good idea of what is about to happen, she earmarks the page before closing the book, waiting for the inevitable to happen. To be honest, she is actually glad for the interruption from her monotonous task.

Even if she has a good guess about what the foals are planning, she decides to play along so as not to ruin their fun. “Hey, mom.” One of the foals shouts from behind her, causing her to turn her head in the direction, only to see something approaching  fast. “Catch.” The colt finishes his sentence right before the balloon hits her face and bursts, deposing his contest all over her.

Only moments after the first balloon hit her, she is bombarded with more from three different directions. Wait, three directions? That can’t be, there are only two foals with them. Looking around she spots her son, his fillyfriend, and a certain pink annoyance.

She gets up and slowly makes her way over towards the pink pony while using her magic to gather water from the lake and sneakily floats it right over the mare “Cadence, look up.” She addresses the pink pony with a smug grin on her face, giving her the time she needs to realize what is meant by this before releasing her grip on the magic.

The pink alicorn has just enough time that her eyes can go wide in shock before getting drenched by enough water to fill multiple bathtubs. Satisfied, the white alicorn turns towards the two laughing foals and gives them a short warning before she advances slowly.

“Oh, shit.” The filly replies before storming off, quickly followed by her son. She begins to run after them, chasing them toward the lake. The foals quickly realise this, and with no intention of getting near it, they do the only logical thing and split up.

“You will never catch us.” The filly shouts, marking her as the first target for Celestia’s revenge. The filly runs even faster once she realizes that she is still  being chased. Laughing, she makes multiple sharp turns and much to the annoyance of her significantly larger pursuer, takes full advantage of her smaller size. 

The alicorn has almost caught up with the red-maned filly, when her target gets tired of running and instead takes to the air, gaining a few meters in distance before turning once more. Mockingly, the filly sticks her tongue out as she passes the alicorn and flies back to the lake. 

Deciding that she has enough, she takes to the air herself and catches the filly shortly after they are over the lake. The filly squirms between her hooves, in a futile attempt to get free, but the alicorn is having nothing of it. Instead, she makes a sharp loop and at its peak, drops the filly into the cold lake.

With one foal taken care of, she looks around and soon spots suspicious movement on a low hanging cloud. Believing that this can only be her son, she uses her magic to quickly get rid of the cloud.

However, her assumption proves to be wrong when a thestral and a greyish blue pegasus fall the short distance and impact the water with loud splashes. Ignoring her minor blunder, she continues her search, until something hits her from behind.

Startled for a moment she loses her focus and her attacker uses this moment of distraction to successfully send her down into the lake as well. True, she could have used her magic to avoid this, but she didn’t care if she stayed dry or not as long as everypony that dared to attack her gets punished accordingly. 

Once her head is above the surface again, she spots a certain grey pony hovering directly above her. With a grin and a flash of brilliant magic she teleports directly above him, only to return the favor as she lets herself fall back into the lake again.

The small group of ponies continues to play in the lake for a bit more before the solar princess decides that it’s time for her to go back to work. An hour of reading passes, in which she makes no real succes in her work before the next distraction arrives. “Any luck yet, Princess?”

At the sound of the cocky voice she looks up from her boring task, just in time to see the cyan pegasus mare sit down in front of her. “Unfortunately not Rainbow Dash.” She replies slightly annoyed, not at the interruption, but ator the lack of progress in her work.

“Why not ask the egghead for help? I am sure she would be a great help with that problem.” The element of loyalty replies, confident that her suggestion could make some things easier for all of them.

“The egghead? Who are you talking about?” Princess Celestia asks slightly confused by the name, not having any idea who she could mean.

“Twilight of course.”

A big grin spreads over the face of the solar alicorn, wondering why she hadn’t thought of her favorite student before. “That is indeed a great idea Rainbow Dash.”The mare replies while gathering everything needed, and begins to write a letter to her most faithful student.







After recovering from the exhausting attack on Princess Celestia, the following chase and battle in the lake, I make my way back into the cabin on the search for some towels. After I got myself dry, I went into my room and grabbed one of the books I brought along, before I went out again. After all, there is still some reading I have to do before school starts in three weeks. 

I know that this should be plenty of time, but with all the things happening in the last few months, I think it would be better to get it done sooner than later before anything interferes again. Besides, reading can be quite enjoyable if you have the right book, so I don’t really mind.

Two chapters in and I find something casting a shadow over me all of a sudden, since the place I choose as a reading spot is as far away from anything that could cast a shadow as possible, it can only mean that somepony wants something from me. “Yes?” I ask without looking up from my reading, too engrossed am I in my book to care

 ”Hello Wingy, mind If I have a word with you?” A voice that became very familiar to me in the last two weeks asks. I take my time to see if what I assume is true, only doing so after finishing the current paragraph and earmarked my page.

When I look up from my book, I realize that is indeed who I feared and I only hope that this encounter will end better than our last. “Hello King Gustav.” I greet the proud griffon standing in front of me, fully taken by surprise from his sudden visit. “What brings you here today?”

“Politics, some decisions regarding your future were made in the last few days and I think it’s best to inform everyone involved as soon as possible.” He replies much to my disdain and I can only hope that whatever he has to say won’t be affecting me too badly.

“Okay, any idea where they are?” I ask him, but instead of giving me an answer, he just leads me back to a place near the lake, where everypony is already waiting.  “So, what is it you wanted to tell us about?" I ask curious after I nestled myself between mommy and dad.

“The first thing concerns your wedding. The nobles demanded that you marry Prince Georg within a week, but I was able to put a stop to this by simply reminding them of our laws.” I sigh in relief, not really a fan of how fast they wanted things to process. I may have agreed to marry him, but that doesn’t mean that I am that eager. “However, I had to accept a compromise. So to speak, after you come of age on your sixteenth birthday, you have exactly six months in which the wedding shall take place on a day of your choosing.”

“You don’t do subtle King Gustav, do you?” Princess Cadence asks with a frown on her face, sounding just as shocked as most of the ponies look, which probably includes me. I may have expected some unpleasant news, but never imagined that I would learn about something like this today.

“Not in matters like this, no. Besides, it’s actually not as bad as it sounds, since it gives you enough time to form a herd. As long as you and Georg marry as the leadponies, when the time comes, there shouldn’t be too many complaints about it.”

I sigh in relief when those words hit my ear, now with my worst worries put to rest, there are so many other things I can finally think about. Another important question comes to my mind, who is this Gaby, Georg was talking about and how would we get along? 

“Also, to make sure that Wingy and Georg get to know each other, it was decided that Prince Georg will accompany you on your way back to Equestria.”

“Okay, what else?” I ask, not really minding this one, since it actually makes some sense. Besides, if we indeed form a herd, it’s only fair that he gets to know more ponies than just me and Rumble.

“It’s also expected from you to attend every important official function in Canterlot Castle or our embassy, while wearing this.” He replies while giving me a small wooden chest. Curious about its content, I open the lid only to stare in disbelief at what I am seeing. There, on red velvet lies an intricately carved emerald encrusted silver diadem. "Please try it on."

A bit hesitant I raise it up out of the box and carefully place it on my head. To my surprise, the glittering circlet fits surprisingly well. I look around, wondering how everypony else is taking this and realize that everypony, except one, has looks of utter disbelief on their faces. "Did you know about this Celestia?"

"I expected it not to be so soon, but it doesn't come as a surprise." She replies cryptically while conjuring and levitating a hoof mirror towards me. I grab it out of her magical aura and have a look at myself. While I personally am not that much a fan of jewelry, I actually like this one.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"I can only think of one more thing." He replies and after a pause he goes into details. "When you return to Equestria, a tutor will accompany you. He will teach you about the finer workings of our government, history, and old griffish." I inwardly groan at the prospect of even more learning, not happy at all with that development and I can only hope that my new teacher won't overload me with work.
> 30 A day of fun and relaxation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Wingy, wait.” I hear somepony shout from behind me as I make my way towards the building that the portal to Canterlot is hidden in. Curious who this could be I come to a halt and turn around, seeing a certain orange filly approaching.

“Hey Scoots, what’s up? No crusading today?” I ask her, wondering why she isn’t with her friends. After all they had a lot of crusading planned for today, so seeing her without her friends is actually very surprising.

“No. Apple Bloom has to help out on the farm and Sweetie’s parents showed up out of nowhere and took her and her sister to Baltimare.” She responds saddened by unexpected change of plans.

“Man, that sucks.” I reply, feeling really sorry for her, wondering what could be so important that Apple Bloom can’t leave the farm. After all, it’s just an apple farm.

“So, what are you up to Wingy?”

“I am gonna meet up with a friend who wanted to prove something to me.” I tell her, purposely dodging who that friend is and where we will meet. She forces me to make a difficult decision by asking me if she could tag along. On one hoof I would love to have her around since Rainy is unable to join, and I highly doubt that Georg or Rumble are willing to join. On the other hoof, I am  not sure if I should entrust her with the secret of the portal. True she may be the Crusader I trust the most but I am concerned how the others would react.

You know what, screw it. Mama D trusts her enough to let her know about my past, so I should easily be able to entrust her with this. Besides, out of all three Crusaders she is the one I like and trust the most. “Okay, but there are two things you should know. First off, I have to tell you something you can never tell anyone about.”

I give her a moment to think about it, but much to my relief she instantly Pinkie Promises me that she will never do that before I go to the next and the more shocking part. “And it will be incredibly girly.”

At first, she is shocked about this and thinks of backing out, but I can convince her to go along with it anyway. We chat a bit about regular things, mainly if she is as “excited” as I am about when we have to go back to school while we walk up to the house the portal is in.

To keep up the illusion that Rumble still lives in Ponyville, and to hide the secret about the Portal, Princess Celestia thought it a good idea to buy a house. The house itself is mostly empty, except for the Guards who protect and live within. “She is with me.” I explain to the Guards, who tensed up at the sight of an unknown, causing them to relax again.

But still, “Mam, are you sure that this is a good idea?” One of them asks worried, to which I just reply with a simple yes. “You know that I have to tell the Princess about this?” He reminds me of one of the few rules I had to agree to, but I just nod and go on like nothing happened.

I led her into the house and into the back room, where the portal is before I grab one of her hooves and lay a wing over her back. “Wingy?” She asks surprised, taken completely off guarded.

“Don’t get any ideas Scootaloo, I am just doing this so you can step through the portal as well.” I explain my actions to her before I basically pull her through the portal without warning.

“Wow, what is this place?” She exclaims in shock, having been taken by complete surprise from the sudden change in environment and staring in disbelief at everything.

“Hello Wingy, I see you brought a friend with you.” The white alicorn greets us, looking up from the desk where she is helping Rumble with something, he himself is too engrossed in his studies to notice.

“Hello Princess, this is Scootaloo.” I reply, unlike her, not in the slightest bit bothered by who we just stumbled into, before I come to the important part. “Do you know where Cadence is?”

“She should be in her room.” Princess Celestia replies after a moment of consideration before she wishes us a nice day. We leave her and Rumble alone to their studies and make our way to Cadence’s room.

It doesn’t take us long to reach her room and after a swift knock at her door, we wait for a bit until patience leaves me. I open the door and step into the room seeing Cadence laying on her stomach with her back to us, fully engrossed in one of her romance novels when I have a brilliant idea. 

“You go for her hooves while I hold her down.” I whisper into Scootaloo's ear, who nods to this, even if it’s a bit reluctantly. I approach slowly before I jump on her bed and within moment's I am on her back and press her front hooves into the mattress.

At the same time, Scootaloo approaches her slowly, waiting for me to pin her down before she starts to tickle her furiously. Cadence reacts immediately by raising her head and gasping in shock before she starts to laugh.

However, our success doesn’t last long and I find myself suddenly engulfed in her light blue magical aura, being levitated in front of her and placed on my back. “Hi Cadence.” I greet her with a wide grin, knowing very well that I am bucked right now since I broke the golden rule to never tease the tickle monster.

“Hello Wingy, what made you think that this is a good idea?” She asks me curiously before starting to tickle me and it seems to me that she doesn’t care about Scootaloo, even if she can’t suppress the occasional giggle.

“Nothing, but I thought it to be at least fun.” I reply between fits of laughter, glad that she hasn’t started to use her wings on me yet.

“Now, who is this little friend of yours?” She asks with a devious grin before her horn lits up, and Scootaloo is levitated and placed right next to me. She uses her magic to hold the two of us down before she sits on her haunches and raises her wings threateningly.

“I am Scootaloo.” The filly laying to my right replies, falsely hoping that this would save her only moments before Cadence begins to tickle us furiously. Struggling to breathe from how hard I am laughing, I futilely plead for mercy. In what feels like an eternity to me before she finally ceases her attack.

“Now, you two, what did we learn from this?”

“To never provoc the tickle monster.” We two reply instantly at the same time, praying that this is indeed the right answer. 

“Good, are you two ready?”

“Ready for what?” Scootaloo asks nervously since I only told her that what Cadence and I planned to was incredibly girly. 

“Well, since I know Wingy very well, I am sure she was exercising before she came over, so a trip to the Spa is in order.” Cadence answers while pointing with a hoof at me.  I can only look away knowing that she is indeed correct and I had spent the last hour sparring with one of the Guards.

“What? I will never go to the Spa with you.” Scootaloo responds quickly not taking this news well, but since I did warn her that we are doing something girly, I won’t let her back out now.

“That was my mindset at first too Scootaloo, but let me tell you something.” I reply with a smirk, knowing that what I am about to do could get me in trouble later, and it will convince her for sure. “Even if she would never admit it in public, Mama D loves going to the Spa herself.”

“Well, if Rainbow Dash enjoys it, it can’t be that bad.” She replies after a few moments of consideration, having a complete change of heart.

She had barely finished her sentence when Cadence horn lights and moments later we find ourselves in a foyer. Frantically I look around and race towards the closest potted plant just in time  for my lunch to leave my body from the wrong end.

When it finally ends I turn around seeing that Sootaloo is doing exactly the same thing on the other side of the room. I really hate it when other ponies teleport me! It may be the fastest method of travel but it is also the most unpleasant one, especially when you aren’t used to it.

However, Scootaloo and I are quick to recover and are taken to a steam room sto prepare us for a pleasant mud bath. I spent most of my time in silence knowing that disturbing Cadence when she is studying somepony to find out how to ship them in the best way is never a good idea.

When the mud bath is over and after we take a quick shower, we make our way over to the massage area when Cadence slyly whispers two words into my ear. Words which cause me to trip. “I approve.”

Only after I laid down on the massage table I realize what she meant by this. I am about to reply that it isn’t what  she thinks, but can only moan in delight as a pair of hooves begins to rub all the tension out of my sore muscles.

The moment the pony removes his hooves from my back, I spread my wings signaling that he isn’t done yet and it only takes a moment until he continues his work.

“Able to form coherent thoughts again Wingy?” Cadence asks mockingly once the massage came to an end and we moved on to the next room for our hooficure. In response, I just glare at her but cease this when she starts to laugh and I realize that I must look more cute than threatening to her.

“So what are we doing after this, Cadence?”

"Now Scootaloo, we'll get some ice cream and walk back to the castle before the real fun begins.” Cadence replies smiling, which in return earns me a questioning look from Scootaloo. Knowing that she will soon find out anyway, I tell her about our trip to Griffonstone, including when Cadence helped me to dress up and decided to prove to me that a filly can never be too cute. The high point for Scootaloo was definitely the final part of my story, when I fought Prince Georg, after which I ended it. Purposely not telling her about what happened after it and the consequences it brought down upon all of us.

I finished my tale only a few moments after we reached the Castle's entrance. I am sure the walk to her room would have been spent in silence, if a certain stallion had not shown up out of the blue. “Hey Cadence, where have you been? I have been looking all over the place for you.”

“Shinny.” Cadence calls happily and the only reason she doesn’t jump at him is that she doesn’t want to make a scene in front of his man. “What are you doing here?”

“I was hoping to treat my favorite mare to dinner and maybe have some “fun” with you afterward.” He replies dreamily, and I am quite sure that she would have jumped at the chance for a date with him, if she didn’t already have other plans for today.

“Not today Shinny. Maybe tomorrow evening?”

“Sorry, I am on duty till the Night Guard takes over at nine.”

“Well if you still want to have some fun you should come to my room after dinner.” Cadence replies in passing, leaving a confused Shining Armor behind us. While I have an idea what she has planned, I hope for the poor colt that I am wrong.

We spent a long time playing dress up in which we all tried on many different outfits. Somehow, Cadence had managed to get Princess Luna's royal regalia and Scootaloo is in the process of trying it on when the nocturnal alicorn herself steps into the room. “Cadence, have you seen my regalia? It seems that I have misplaced it.”

Without saying a word, Cadence points with a hoof towards her mirror and right at Scootaloo. Princess Luna turns her head and begins to smile when she sees the filly wearing her barding. “While this does indeed look good on you little one, I would appreciate it if I could have it back.”

Shocked, Scootaloo turns around and apologizes countless times before Princess Luna puts a stop to it, saying that it’s okay and replaces them with Cadence’s, telling her that they look better on her than on the princess of love herself.

Pouting, Cadence is about to complain that this isn’t true when the inevitable happens and the midnight blue alicorn finally spots me wearing a prench maid costume. It begins as harmless giggles but only moments pass until Princess Luna breaks out into uncontrolled laughter.

My cheeks turn red from embarrassment and I actually pray to Celestia to show me some mercy, while desperately wishing that the floor opens up and swallows me whole.

Much to my dismay, something entirely different happens and I am taken completely by surprise when the first photo is taken. What's even worse is that they somehow convince me to stand in several different poses while taking photos all the time.

“I hate to stop this, but we should all hurry up if we don’t want to be late for dinner.” Luna says after some time reminding all of us how late it really is. There is a short argument between us but they aren’t listening to reason, so all of us make our way to the dining hall dressed the way we are.

“Well since it is already so late, would you two be up for a sleepover?” Cadence asks in concern a few moments after we left her room, having forgotten the time due to the fun we had. While I nod eagerly, secretly having hoped for this, Scootaloo decides to reply in an entirely different manner. 

“Please let Matron Cream Heart from the Ponyville Orphanage know that the filly she is currently missing is having a sleepover with one of her friends.” Scootaloo addresses one of the Pegasus Guards, who just looks confused at her and then towards Princess Luna and the real princess of love. With a nod, she silently orders him to obey the command before he makes his way out of the castle.

When the door to the small dining room is opened and I make my way inside Princess Celestia, Prince Blueblood, and the servant present don’t react in any way. However, Dusty doesn’t possess that much self-control and only manages to hold her laughter back for a few seconds.

After she finally calmed down I am about to tell her what I think about her reaction, but the solar alicorn is faster than me. “Wingy, you almost look as cute as my little Dusty here when she was your age.” This causes her to freeze in shock and her expression turns to one of absolute horror when Princess Celestia summons a book, probably a photo album.

My assumption is proven to be correct when she opens it and passes it around, showing everypony some photos where a filly Dusty is wearing a dress similar to mine and is actually assisting a maid with her tasks. “You promised to never show that to anypony.” Dusty replies with a pout, certainly not appealed by the solar alicorns action.

“No, I agreed to never show them to anypony as long as you stop making fun of others.” She replies bluntly, which shuts the light turquoise mare up immediately. A bit more time passes in which everypony has a good laugh at the pictures before the book is returned to Princess Celestia, who soon shifts her attention to me. “Wingy, what made you change the color of your mane and tail?”

“She did.” I reply without hesitation, pointing directly at Cadence before I explain why I was willing to agree to it. “When we were playing dress-up, she complained how the red clashed with most of the outfits, so I allowed her to change the color temporarily.”

“While I agree with her that this green does look good on you, I think something blue would have been a better choice.” Princess Celestia responds after a moment of consideration, deciding to give advice instead of scolding her niece. 

A bit more is discussed, including different ideas of how to dress up for the ball next week when the new ambassador from Griffonstone arrives, to which Scootaloo is promptly invited before everything comes to a conclusion. “Now, how about we try on a few more outfits before we play something else.”

“Okay, but I’ll keep the socks.” I answer her, which surprisingly causes everypony to stare at me in shock. “What? They are really comfy.” I add before I get up and walk next to Cadence and Scootaloo back to the former mentioned ponies room.

Halfway there I get curious and ask her why everypony reacted that way. “Socks are a difficult item of clothing and are by many ponies considered as lingerie.” She explains much to my shock, having never thought of them like that. “But as long as you don’t wear them with a saddle and certain other items, in which I am not going into now, there should be no problems.”

“You mean like the bridle I saw in your wardrobe earlier?” Cadence freezes mid-step and takes a moment to recover from her shock before she can form any coherent thoughts again, telling me that this is exactly what she meant.

As soon as we are back in her room, I get out of the maid's outfit and look into her wardrobe for something different to wear when I finally ask her something that I had been wondering for quite some time now. “Cadence, how is it possible that no matter what we choose, it always fits perfect?”

“Simple, everything in there is enchanted to adjust to the size of the pony who is wearing it.” She replies while I replace the white socks of the prench maid outfit with a set of pink socks and a set of matching bows for my mane and tail. Finding nothing else that I would like to try on  at the moment I turn around and step out from the walk-in closet, only to mostly freeze by the glorious sight in front of me.

There right in front of me stands Scootaloo wearing dark green striped socks, a slightly brighter dress with pink frills, having her mane done in a braid, and a bow in her tail. “I think Wingy likes it.” Cadences says to Scootaloo while I slowly recover from the shock, struggling to get my wings back under control.

Now, feeling slightly underdressed I rush back into Cadence’s walk-in closet, desperately searching for something that could fit until I finally find it. A dress similar to Scootaloo’s, light blue with pink frills.

Scootaloo doesn’t react in the same way as I step out again, but I am quite certain that she isn’t displeased by it while Cadence simply smiles in approval. “I think we tried on enough dresses for today, so how about we play some games before it’s bedtime for you two.”

While I agree a bit reluctantly to this, it takes far more work to convince Scootaloo. She only agrees to it when we offer her to make the first turn and after a short discussion we agree to play “Pony, Don’t Get Angry.”

The game starts simple and nothing special happens for the first few rounds. We mostly chat about some stuff. The first exciting moment of the game happens when I kick one of Cadence’s pieces so that she has to move it back to her base. “That wasn’t very nice of you Wingy.”

“No, but it is the first step towards my victory.” I reply with a grin, unaware of the danger another of my figures is now in, since I didn’t move it further. To my great luck Scootalo, gets a six and puts her second figure into the match, clearing her spawn with a three.

“Cadence, can I ask you for a favor?” I ask after a while, having thought about this for the last few hours since I first saw the flyer at the Spa earlier. “Can you help me to enter that modeling competition in a few weeks?”

“You mean Fleur De Lis “Grand little fillies modeling contest” and didn't the deadline for registration ended yesterday?” I nod somewhat, feeling extremely nervous all of a sudden. “That is something I didn’t expect to hear from you, so why would you ever want to do that?”

“Well, mom thinks I train too much and that I really should try different things that aren’t related to fighting in the slightest, and since today was so much fun, I thought this could be fun too.” 

“Okay, I'll talk with her about it but what about you, do you want to join as well, Scootaloo?” Cadence asks, much to my surprise, to which the orange filly vehemently shakes her head, definitely not pleased by this in the slightest. “Why not?”

“That’s far too girly for me.” She shots back within a moment's notice, I on the other hoof point out that she thought the same about the Spa visit too, but still tried and enjoyed it. 

“Tell you what, why don’t you take a bit more time to think about it and I’ll ask Fleur if she can save you a spot.” Cadence offers as a reasonable compromise to which Scootaloo agrees. From then on, this game and a few others are played without any interruptions until late into the night. We soon decide to bring things to an end and agree to do this again sometime soon.







The next morning in Ponyville a young filly walks into Carousel Boutique looking for something she could wear to the upcoming dinner at the griffon embassy. She is inspecting the dresses on display and waiting for the Owner of the establishment to come out of the backroom which she had been calling from.

“Hi Rarity, how are you?” She greets the approaching unicorn who suddenly stops, her eyes go wide in shock after she was finally able to take a good look at the Pegasus.

“Wingy, dear, what happened to your mane.” The mare in question asks, sounding genuinely shocked which surprises the filly quite a bit. Rarity had always been the one to  complain about her horrible mane colour. “The red was already bad, but this is just horrible, tell me, who was the vile monster that did this to you.”

“Just a small color changing spell, but don’t worry it should wear off in a few days.” She replies in earnest, before the second part registers in her brain, changing her demeanor significantly. Feed up with the unicorn's permanent complaints about the look of other ponies, she turns around and leaves the store, knowing that there are far better ways to teach her a lesson that will stick than just exploding at her.

The filly returns around an hour later to Carousel Boutique, but this time she isn’t alone. When the two enter the shop, Rarity looks up from the dress she is currently fitting and gasps in shock when she realizes who her visitor is. It takes her only a moment to fall into a deep bow, “Princess Cadence, it’s an honor to have you in my humble boutique.”

“I highly doubt that.” The pink alicorn replies in an unusual cold voice, causing the blood of the fashionista to freeze in shock. “After all, you think of me as a monster.”

“Princess, I would never do such a thing.” Rarity replied, unsure how the alicorn of love could come up with such things before her eyes focus on the filly standing motionless next to the Princess. “You! What did you tell her?”

“Only what happened earlier,” Wingy replies with a grin before she recounts what transpired earlier in perfect detail. When questioned once more if this is true, Rarity admits that this is indeed what happened.

“You should know Rarity, that I was the vile monster that cast the color-changing spell on Wingy. Maybe this will teach you that it’s sometimes better to keep your muzzle shut.” Princess Cadence replies, before turning around and leaving the shop accompanied by her cousin's fillyfriend.

“Now Wingy, can you show me where Twilight lives? I have so many questions for her.” She asks the young filly before the door closes behind them only moments after Rarity realizes how bad this could be for her should anypony hear of today's events. Unknown to any of the three, the pony Rarity had been fitting a dress for giggles in delight, overjoyed to have some juicy gossip she can share with her friends.
> 31 A differnt kind of Celebration
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is a large crowd that is assembled in front of the Castle, even larger than at the celebration in honor of Princess Luna’s return. Not only are there ponies from this city, but ponies from the surrounding settlements, other major equestrian cities, and much to everyponies surprise, around an eighth of the crowd are also griffons.

No pony has an idea why they should travel all the way to Canterlot from their homeland for something that shouldn’t concern them, but unbeknown to most, it concerns them in more ways than they would ever be able to guess.

The sun is shining brightly down upon her when Princess Celestia steps on a stage, built directly in front of the castle’s gate. The balcony normally used for announcements is simply too small for today’s events. 

“It is with great pleasure that I welcome all of you, fillies, gentlecolts, honorable griffons, and every other creature that was able to come here this very special day. I asked all of you to come here today because in the last few months since the defeat of Discord, two very important things happened and all of you deserve to know the truth.

So instead of making two separate announcements, my sister and I decided that it would be more fitting if we do this in one big event. After all, what my sister and I want to tell you is of unprecedented magnitude.”

Prince Celestia pauses for several long moments, allowing everyone present to come to grips with the easy part before she decides to continue. “When Discord escaped from his prison, he did many terrible things but all of them were nothing compared to what he did shortly before he had been defeated once more. He opened the gates of Tartarus, setting many of the imprisoned monstrosities free.”

It is here where the entire crowd gasps in shock, some talking among themselves, giving two armor-glad griffons time to step upon the stage. One of them standing on each side of Princess Celestia.

Princess Luna on the other hoof has already stepped back, knowing that this is the time for her sister and her old friends to shine, while her part would come shortly after her sister is done.

“These brave Griffons here are Lieutenant Heinrich Grimmfeather and his daughter Sergeant Gilda Grimfeather.” She explains, looking at the respective griffons when saying their names before she continues with her story. “Those two lead a powerful group to track down and successfully defeat Lord Tirek, making sure that this vile creature will never threaten any magical creature again.”

Here, Princess Celestia is forced to take a break, as the entire crowd breaks out into cheers, making her wait for a few minutes before she is able to continue once more. “In honor of your victory and all those that perished in the battle, I had something special prepared.”

She stops, her horn lights up and ripes an illusion apart, that had been placed upon an unoccupied area of the large area, making it seem like a construction site. But where once stood an assembly of random tools and building materials, now stands a marble statue.

That statue is one of a proud Griffon standing on a pedestal, having his sword raised high into the air and he seems ready to charge whatever is threatening him at a moment's notice. This however isn’t all that is so important about the statue. No, on the pedestal of the statue is an engraving of the names of every one of the brave warriors that sadly didn’t survive the battle.

The moment everyone is focused on the statue is used as another well-planned distraction, allowing Sergeant Grimmfeather to step back into the shadows again, turning all the focus on Princess Celestia for the final part of the first announcement.

Lieutenant Grimmfeather now stands in front of Princess Celestia before he falls into a bow and Princes Celestia places a till now hidden sword first on his right and then on his left shoulder before packing it away. “Rise now, Sir Grimmfeather, Duke of Ponyville.”

He does as command and Princess Celestia is pleased by the reaction of her subjects, except most of the nobles of course, since all of them are showing a look of absolute horror. Concerned just how much of the power they wield  just has changed, some of them already scheming to get into the new nobles favor. But to the misfortune of most, they have no clue just how experienced the new player in the political game truly is. After all, holding a position of power in the Griffon Kingdom was never easy and he succeeded in that task for a long time now.

“Now, I would like for my sister to take my place, since she has quite some important news for you as well.” Princess Celestia ends, switching places with her sister and begins to talk with Lord Grimmfeather about his plans for the future, but still observing her sister.







I was observing Princess Celestia, impressed by the show she was putting on for everyone, Griffon and Pony alike. However, as she continues my nervousness rises to impossible highs, and I dread what I will have to do once she is done.

I knew that this had to happen someday, but I had hoped that this day would be far in the future, sadly, this hope proved to be futile. At least the attention of all those assembled in front of the stage wouldn’t be focused only on me.

I am fidgeting uncomfortably in the plain white dress that I am in, not really comfortable with the kind of attire I am wearing. Truly, I would be much happier if I was allowed to wear my Night Guard Armor and my small crown instead of the helmet, but more than one pony protested vehemently against it, leaving me no other option as to comply with their request.

I turn my head, looking with envy at the young Griffon next to me. Still unable to understand why he is allowed to wear an armor decorated with golden engravings. By now I just want to get done with it, hopefully being allowed to change my attire in the short time between what will happen now and the small reception that will be held in the Castle’s gardens.

Not feeling any better at all, I turn my attention back to Princess Luna, waiting for her to end and the proper time to start moving. Once I set my first hoof on the stage, the only description fitting me is nervous wreck. Still, I have to ignore all this for now, and only focus on the act I have to play to finally get this done.







“What I have the honor to tell you may not be as dramatic as what my sister already announced, but it is something of equal, if not far more importance.” Princess Luna explains to the crowd before she gestures for something from behind the stage, which results in a young male Griffon and a slightly younger filly entering the stage.

She waits until the two of them stand in front of her, and after composing herself, raises her voice again. “My friends, this is Prince Georg son of King Gustav and Queen Gertrude from the Griffon Kingdom.” She tells everyone before turning her attention to the filly. “And this one here is Princess Silent Wing, daughter to Flitter and Lieutenant Mango.” She ends the introduction, in the case of the filly only naming the lead ponies of the herd that adopted her.

“And I have the pleasure to inform you all of their engagement.” The same moment the last word left Princess Luna's muzzle, the unusual pair shares a quick kiss, but it doesn’t stop there.

The filly let’s one of her hoof’s slide into a hidden compartment of her dress and brings out a silver Pendant. When he sees this Prince Georg goes into a slight bow, making it easier for her to place the pendant around his neck.

Directly after she is done, it’s Prince Georg’s turn to produce something that had been hidden away from public view. Smiling, the young pegasus raises her left foreleg and allows the griffon to place a silver ring on it. 

Just as young Wingy lowers her foreleg, the entire crowd breaks out into cheers loud enough to be heard for miles when they realize just how serious the two are about this. Both of them turn back to face the crowd and bask in their attention, before they fall into another bow and leave the stage, quickly followed by Princess Luna.







“That was an incredibly good performance from all of you.” Princess Celestia praises everyone on their way back into the castle. “Even if there was a minor mistake at the end.”

“What do you mean Celestia?” I ask the white alicorn, curious what exactly went wrong.

“Usually, the couple kisses after the trinkets have been exchanged.” She replies with a giggle, sounding definitely more amused than upset. “Now, how about all of us freshen up for the reception a bit and meet there in around 20 minutes?”

“Do we have to go? I ask once more, not really being keen on the idea of receiving even more attention than I already got today. 

“Yes, you have to go.” She replies sternly. “But if one or two foals get lost in the hedge maze after an hour or two, I will personally join the search party.” She finishes her statement with a smile, making clear that she is as excited about it as I am, and offering a reasonable compromise, that also serves her as an excuse to escape the event early.
> 32 back to school
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey guys, how have your holidays been?” I ask cheerfully when I arrive at the school and see Rainy, Rori and Ruby already talking with Button, silently praying that the news of the day before yesterday's event haven’t come down here already. 

“Hey Wingy, where is your crown?” Ruby is the first to ask, shattering my hopes that everything would continue like nothing happened. Stupid Celestia, why couldn’t she just agree to keep the results of our trip to Griffonstone down for a bit longer.

“Safely stored in Canterlot, where else should it be?” I reply calmly, all the cheerfulness about finally seeing my friends again gone. “So, what did you do over the time I was gone?” I continue in an attempt to change the topic.

“Well, I was on tour with my dad, seeing all those shows and spending so much time with him was great. Too bad you and Rumble weren’t there, we could have really used your help in   Baltimare.”

“Sorry Rainy. You know that I would have loved to help you?” I reply in earnest, only able to guess for what they would have needed me there. I am about to ask what the others have been up to, when something happens I could have really lived without.

“Your majesty, wouldn’t you like to spend your time with some more refined company, that actually equals your social standing?” The pink annoyance asks, falling in a bow so deep that I fear she falls over if a breeze only hits her in the wrong way. 

“More refined company eh?” I reply with a cocky grin, fed up with all the shit she threw last year at me and my friends, thinking how I could possibly take advantage of the situation. “Then why are you bothering us, I am already in the best possible company.”

“But they are blank flanks, how could they possibly be a better company than Silver and me?” She retorts, unaware that I am not willing to make a scene at the first day of the new school year, not realizing that I gave her an easy way out of the situation.

“Yes, some of them are blank flanks, but so am I. Besides, did you really think that I want to be longer than absolutely necessary in your company, after how you treated me and my friends the entire last year?” I reply once more, already beginning to calm down again, still I can’t stop myself from delivering one last blow. “Truly, you can’t be that naive.”

I wait patiently for her to reply in any form, but this doesn’t happen, instead she just turns around and leaves us. I look at her retreating form for a moment before I turn my attention back to the other fillies. “So, who wants to go next.”

However, this question never gets answered since the school bell rings barley after the last word has left my muzzle, calling us all inside. “Good morning Class. It is nice to see everypony again after such a long time.”

A chorus of “good morning miss Cheerilee” is said in return and she looks around the class, only stopping when something catches her eye. “Does anypony know where Scootaloo is?” She asks a bit surprised to see her seat empty. A bit reluctantly I raise my hoof earning her attention. “Yes, Princess?”

Slowly getting annoyed by the fact that everypony seems only interested in that ocursed title now, I give her a glare that could have melted an ice block from the size of Canterlot Castle within a second, before I tell her what I know. “She has a few medical appointments in Cloudsdale and won’t be able to attend classes this week, maybe even next.”

“Oh, I hope it’s nothing bad.” Miss Cheerilee replies in understanding and after a few moments continues as planned.

“Before we begin with our math lessons, I want to let you know that the school newspaper staff will have a meeting today directly after class. Everypony that wants to join is welcome to stay.” She announces proudly, before starting with the previously mentioned subject, reminding everypony to focus on the task at hoof when the generall chatter becomes too loud.

Time flies by fast for me and all too soon we are released into recess, where Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle approach me immediately. “Hey Wingy, Sweetie and I want to try for our journalists cutie marks, are you willing to join?”

“Sorry girls, but that isn’t something I feel comfortable with.” I say to the excited filly, blocking every attempt to convince me otherwise from them. I have been pestered by those kind of ponies in the last week more than enough, so the simple thought of getting my mark in something like that sickens me.

A few more words are exchanged between the three of us before we separate ways, and I make my way to Rainy, Rori, and Ruby. I would have loved to listen to how they spent their holidays, but sadly I don’t even make it half the way, before I am surrounded by foals, all asking me countless questions.

“Guys, calm down!” I shout after a full minute of listening to this not understable mess. “I can’t answer anything if you don’t stop talking.”

“How long have you been a Princess now?” Dinky is the first to ask, causing me to think back slightly, when I try to remember when exactly the fight with Georg was.

“I think the events that lead to me becoming a Princess of the Griffon Kingdom happened around five maybe six weeks ago.” I reply unsure, since I didn’t bother to remember the exact day.  Of course everypony, including Miss Cheerilee, wants me to retell how I accomplished this and that is how I waste all of my break. 

Annoyed by this, I let myself drop unceremoniously fall on my bench and start to eat my daisy sandwich when classes start again. “What?” I ask annoyed as Miss Cheerilee gives me a disapproving look.

“You know that this is where reces is for?”

“Good one. As if I got the chance to eat anything.” I reply between two bites, not caring in the slightest what the others may think.

With a sigh of annoyance, Miss Cheerilee just continues with what she has planned for the rest of the school day. Which proves to be nothing out of the ordinary and once we are free to leave, Rainy, Rory, Ruby, and I decide to go to the park, maybe even taking advantage of the nice weather and go for a swim in the lake. 

Halfway there, Rori is the one to break the awkward silence that had been hanging over us since we agreed on our destination. “So, how is it to be a Princess?”

While I don’t like that this topic comes up this early, I knew that I couldn’t avoid it forever and I am almost glad that I can get over with it so soon. There is just one tiny detail I have to know first. “Do you want to know the truth, or shall I fabricate a nice tale a la Trixie?”

“Truth.” All three of them reply in unison, making it easier for me, even if I doubt that they will like what they are about to hear.

“It sucks.” I replied and am not surprised to hear them all gasp in shock, even if I fell a little bad for shattering their perception of Royal life, I don’t regret it. After all, they asked me to do this.

“You basically have no time for yourself. What isn’t filled with meetings or horrible amounts of paperworks you have to go through, is wasted on formal events, like the Grand Galloping Gala for example, where you get bored to death.”  

“And while I didn’t have to hold court on my own, I had to spend an entire day with Celestia to listen to every petition and tell her my thoughts of them. believe me when I say that some stuff the nobles in Canterlot can come up with makes Snips and Snails look like the next Twilight Sparkle.” While all of this is true, none of them needs to know that this happened the time after the Gala, when it was decided that sending me to magic kindergarten once more would be a bad idea.

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Rainy replies unintentionally giving me a Steilvorlage (steep template????) for the next part.

“Normally yes, but you have to smile the whole six hours without making it look forced and have to stay calm the entire time. This includes no facehoofing when somepony asks for something incridbly stupid, or keep back your laughter when they make a total fool of themself.”

“Are there other examples you can give us or did you use those two for a special reason?”

“I used those two, because those are the two I failed with.” I answer Ruby’s question this time as we reach the park, hoping to get a short break, I decide that it’s now time for fun. “Tag, your it.” I yell as I poke her with a hoof before galloping off towards the lake.

“Oh, you are on.” Are the words I hear only a few moments later when she recovered from the surprise and chases me as were Nightmare Moon herself behind her, ready to gobble her up. 

It is no surprise that I can’t run from her forever, and as soon as she catches me,  go after Rainy this time. We play like this for an hour or so before the first of us collapses from exhaustion at the beach, quickly followed by the others.

We lay there for a bit, catching our breath and at some point I decided to do something, I had been considering ever since King Gustav had been visiting us at that lake. After all, besides Scootaloo and Rumble, these three are my closest friends.  

While the two mentioned last already declined for very good reasons, I hope at least one of them would be willing to agree. “You all know that I have to someday marry that Griffon Prince, right?”

I ask a bit hesitantly, not sure if I should really go through with this, but when all of them confirm this, I continue as planned. “Somewhere next year I have to travel to Griffonstone for quite some time and I hoped that I wouldn’t have to go there alone. So, any of you want to come with me?”

“How long are we talking about?” Rainy asks in reply and from the sound of it already guess that she doesn’t want to come with me. 

“Six months, maybe more.” I reply honestly, unwilling to hide anything from them. Besides, if somepony would indeed come with me, they deserve to know how long they would be gone.

“Sorry Wingy, but that is far too long for me.” Rainy is the first to answer and I really can’t blame her when she explains to me why. “With him being a Wonderbolt I see my father so rarely that I don’t want to miss any chance to spend time with him. Besides, how could I keep up my training there, without all the stuff the Academy has to offer?”

I can only grin at the last sentence, knowing that I would miss the chance to spar with the Guards here in Ponyville as well. “Sorry Wingy, I won’t join you to. I doubt that I could stand to be away from all my friends here for so long. Besides, mom would never let me go anyway.” Ruby is the next to decline, and once more for a reason I can understand too well. 

Now, with two of three out that only leaves one of them left and now six eyes are focused on Rori, everypony curiously waiting for her answer. “If mom allows it, then yes.” She replies much to my surprise, and my inner filly hopes in a circle from sheer joy, shouting yes for quite some time.

In reality, I just race over to her and embrace her in a bearhug, what only moments later turns into a group hug. Sadly, we can’t keep this up for long and I find myself face to face with a very annoyed looking griffon. 

“Hey Silverbeak, fancy meeting you here.” I greet my tutor, knowing immediately that I am in trouble.

“Princess, while I know socializing with your friends is important, you shouldn’t skip out on your lessons for that.” He replies with a sigh, not sounding as upset as I expected him to be.

“I am sorry Silverbeak, I simply forgot.” I reply upset with myself over a mistake that could have been easily avoided, had I taken a look at my new schedule this morning before leaving for school.

“Now, trot along, there is still a bit of light left and maybe I can actually teach you today’s lesson before dark.” He instructs me and I comply without resistance, unwilling to make him even more annoyed than he already is.

“Sorry girls but I have to go. See you tomorrow at school okay?” I say to all my friends, getting similar reactions out of them, before we walk off towards the place Silverbeak decided to make his own.

Still, I can convince him to make a small detour so I can pick up the first edition of this year’s Foal Free press. True, the story about Snips and Snails is quite hilarious, but it gives me a really bad feeling for some odd reason, making my night not a pleasant one.
> Interluder VI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next two days weren’t to my liking, especially with the course the newspaper was taking. After a very nasty article about Twilight Sparkle, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

I flew towards Sweet Apple Acres where Applejack informed me that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were in the clubhouse. After thanking her I made my way over there and knocked on the door waiting for anypony to open.

“Oh, hey Wingy did you change your mind and now want to try for your journalist cutie mark too?” An excited Sweetie Bell asks me as she lets me step into the clubhouse. 

“While I am here regarding the newspaper, I am not here to join you two. Seriously, what where you thinking when you created that abomination?” I reply upset, slamming the newest article of that horrible mare on the ground.

“What, how did you know it’s us?” Bloom replies shocked, more because I know who Gabby Gums truly is than about what I think of their articles.

“I may not be the brightest filly in class, but I am not that dumb either. You two are not only the two ponies that recently joined the newspaper but also the two that aren’t credited in any of the articles.”

“Now, with that out of the way, what possessed you to write such crap?” I finish my explanation, once more repeating my question, waiting impatiently for them to answer.

What they tell me isn’t what I expected, but I am not really surprised either when I learned that Diamond Tiara is blackmailing them into writing such crap. I haven’t seen the pictures she has of them, but I doubt that they are that bad.

Honestly, I would rather bear the embarrassment for a while, then hurting and publicly humiliating my family and friends. 

I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what I am about to do. “Untill you haven’t come clean about Gabby Gums you can’t count me as your friend anymore.” I say finally before I step out of the door, holding in for a moment just inches past the threshold, and turn my head saying one more thing before leaving. “You have three days or somepony else will do it for you.”





A few hours earlier at Golden Oaks Library:

“Spike, can you please open the door?” I shout from where I am currently putting some books back in their proper place. When nothing happens and the knocking intensives I remember that he went to help Rarity with something, so I walk there myself.

“Mum, what are you doing here, don’t you have school?” I ask in surprise by the sight of the light grey unicorn standing on the threshold to my home.

“Twilight, we need to talk.”  She replies in a cold voice that reminds me of my filly days especially those days I did something very reckless. 

“Okay.” I respond simply, leading her into my home which also serves as the town's public library. While she makes herself comfortable, I go to the kitchen and prepare some tea for us, somehow having this weird feeling that I will need something to calm me down.

“So, why did you come here mom?” I ask her after some time, trying and failing not to sound nervous.

“Do you know the Foal Free press?”

“Yes, it’s the newspaper of the local school, why do you ask.” I answer surprised, more interested how she got her hooves on an edition of this gossip rag than what had been written in it.  Either way, it was enough to end in the impromptu visit from her.

“One of the colt’s I am privately tutoring informed me about a very interesting article in it.” As she says this she hooves me a copy of it, which is already opened to a particular page with a marked article.

I read the article more than once, and I am about to get up to hunt that horrible mare who is currently spreading her lies all around Ponyville, when the door opens and a certain stallion steps in.

He closes the door and walks over to me before he gives me a kiss on the cheek and sits down next to me. “Hey beautiful, how was your day.” 

“It could have gone better, Eve.” I am quick to reply and return the favor before I silently give him the article I had been reading. It takes a few moments for him to read it, but the soft chuckles aren’t the response I imagined.

“You know, if they would have waited a year or two, this would be true, my love.” He explains his reaction to me, driving away all the anger towards that mare. “But if you are up to it, we could start a bit earlier.”

“So, you aren’t pregnant?” The mare I totally forgot asks me, her tone a bit disappointed as our tongues intertwine with each other. The blush spreading along Eve’s cheeks is really cute but I doubt that I am any better.

“Excuse me mam, but who are you?” Eve asks slightly confused, sounding slightly embarrassed about being caught in such a situation with me, even if it isn’t the first time.

“Eve, she is my mother.” I tell him, more focused on the here and now, than the other questions that came up since she showed me that article. For example, who is this colt she is tutoring and how did he get his hooves on something that as far as I know, is only available in Ponyville.

“A pleasure to meet you miss.” He replies politely even thought the answer catches him a bit by surprise. I go back into the kitchen to make some more tea only to get the shock of my life when I come back and discover that mom is showing him the book. I know immediately that her visit just turned very embarrassing.
> 33 Taken too far
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had spent an interesting afternoon with Rumble and Georg in Canterlot and am on my way back home now. As I make my way through the portal and from then on walk towards home, I already have a bad feeling about the rest of this day.

After a moment of thought I decided to get today's new school newspaper and take a look at the newest shit Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom came up with. Whoever they targeted today, I already feel sorry for them.

For some odd reason, I have a bad feeling about it. The strange looks I receive from everypony aren’t helping me to feel better at all. In truth they make me feel very uncomfortable.

In fact, those looks I receive make me change my plan and I decide to avoid as many ponies as possible for now. I turn around and leave the more populated part of the town and walk to a nearby lake.

Once I am there I lay into the shadow of a tree, getting one of the textbooks and something to write out of my saddlebags before I start with my homework. Usually I don’t have this stuff with me, but since we went to Canterlot directly after school. Today is one of the few occasions where I didn’t bother to drop the stuff at home first, which comes in pretty useful right now.

Math is taken care of pretty fast, with history I struggle a bit more but not that much. As usual it’s equish I have problems with, so much that I just drop it annoyed after some time. A short look at the sun reveals that it’s time for me to return home, if I don’t want to be late for dinner.

A bit sluggish I get up from my comfortable position and slowly walk home, however, what awaits me as the house comes in sight isn’t something I ever could have imagined. There, right in front of the house is a mob of ponies, holding torches and pitchforks in their hooves.

I approach them slowly, wondering what all that could be about when somepony screams something I never expected to hear. “There, there is the monster. Get her!”

Within a moment's notice everypony is focused on me, the looks they are giving me are some of utter hatred and disgust. I wait for a few seconds, totally confused at what’s going on, but when a pitchfork comes flying into my direction, I immediately turn around and run as fast as I can.

I don’t care where I am running to as long as it’s as far away from those crazy ponies as possible. I hope that whatever possessed them to act that way towards me will pass soon.





It's a worried pegasus that looks through the window, sighing in relief when the gathered ponies begin to leave. Not even a minute after the first pony left, the entire front yard is completely empty again.

"Rainbow, they are all gone now." She tells her marefriend, relive evident in her voice. "Do you have any idea what that was about?"

"I wish I knew Flit's, but honestly, I don't plan to go out and find out about it just yet."

"Neither do I. Maybe Mango and Wingy know something when they come home, which should be pretty soon." She replies worried, hoping that both of them are alright.

Her thoughts are by her two loved ones as she spends the next ten minutes laying the table and putting the final touches on dinner.

"Flitter, Rainbow, please tell me that Wingy is with you." The stallion that ripped the door open asks, sounding as he had just run a marathon.

"No. Do you know what's going on and why there had been a bunch of ponies waiting in front of our house earlier?" She asks her beloved, now once more extremely worried about her little filly.

Instead of saying anything, he just hoofs her something, which proves to be today's issue of the Foal Free Press, showing the newest Gabby Gums article.

"I am gonna kill that bitch!" The usual calm pony screams, no trace left of the kind mare she normally is. A short glance at the headline of it was enough to cause this reaction.


Silent Wing, the monster wearing a ponies coat.


Is written there in bold letters. She doesn't need to read anymore, knowing that everything the article has to offer are only more lies. She doesn't know nor care why that horrible pony saw it as a good idea to write such things about her little filly, since there are far more pressing matters at hoof. 

With the knowledge the newspaper gave her, and the actions of those ponies from earlier, a terrible thought comes to the mind of the worried mare. “If Wingy isn’t here, and those ponies from earlier left in such a hurry, that can only mean one thing.”

“We have to find her!” The rainbow coloured pegasus says first, quickly followed by the other two ponies as all of them come to the same conclusion.

The two mares are already halfway to the door when they are stopped by their coltfriend. “Stop!” He shouts, making them stop instantly, more surprised than anything else by his stern tone “We can’t just run around blindly, that way we will never find her in time.”

“Flitter, you go to Canterlot and tell Luna what happened, we need as many Guards as possible.” He orders the greyish blue pegasus before he addresses both of them at the same time. “I’ll get all the Guards and we start to search the Everfree forest.”

“Mango, why focus on the forest, I mean Wingy could be everywhere.”

“Because that is where I saw many ponies heading on my way home. I wouldn’t be surprised if they chased her in there.” He replies stoic, trying to keep his voice from worry in an attempt to not make the mares even more nervous, than they already are.

“Hey, and what about me?” The brash pegasus protests, as the two others are already on their way to leave. Not in the slightest happy, that he forgot about her.

“You stay here!” He says with such finality that no normal pony would think about protesting, but Rainbow Dash isn’t a normal pony. “Rainbow, you are seven months into your pregnancy. There is no chance that I let you set even a hoof into that forest and that is final.” He states before the mare is able to say anything, knowing that under normal circumstances she would ignore all of his commands.

"Rainbow, I know how hard this must be for you but I would never be able to forgive myself if something happens to you or our foal." He continues, his gaze trayling off from her face to her swollen belly, that is clearly showing the signs of the mare's pregnancy.





I lost them, I finally lost the ponies chasing me. I still don’t know why they did this and honestly, I don’t care anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that I can’t go back into the town, at least not yet.

I really know that I shouldn’t go any further into the Everfree forest, but with what would await me if I should go out too soon, I don’t really have a choice in the matter. Still, I stop for a moment to think about where exactly to go now. I could try to go into the castle and wait there for a while, but with how far that is, I don’t really think of it as a good idea.

Heading west, where the terrain is mostly flat, doesn’t seem like a good idea as well. So, the only real option that is worth trying would be to head east, where the terrain is made out of small hills, which would reduce the chance to get spotted by any predators tremendously. The only drawback with this plan is that I wouldn’t see them from afar as well, making it much more difficult to avoid them.

Slowly, I begin to make my way into the direction I choose, examining everything that could be the entrance of a burrow or a small cave, where I could spend the night in relative safety.

The journey is slow and tiring and I regret that I dropped my saddle bags earlier, where still a small canteen with water was in it. Truly, something to drink would be really nice right now.

I walk in silence for quite some time, but stop when I hear something very unsettling. I approach a nearby rock slowly, trying to make as less sound as possible before I look around it.

What I see there is absolutely horrible and it cost me all my willpower to not throw up. There, only a few meters away, a Manticore and her cubs are eating something that looked like it once used to be a deer.

Without a second thought I turn around, knowing just how dangerous of a situation I am currently in. There is only one more thing unsettling me, more than what I just witnessed. Where the fuck is the partner of this Manticore?

To my misfortune, I get this question answered sooner than I would have liked, as I stumble right into it on my retreat. Frozen in fear I am unable to move even an inch until the Manticore roars directly into my face.

I bolt instantly, wanting to get as far away as possible from the creature, that thinks of me as a threat to its offsprings, or as food for them, what would be even worse. Unwilling to find out what it is, I gallop as fast as my hooves can carry me back to where I came from.

I raced down the hill, headed for a denser part of the forest, hoping that it wouldn’t follow me into it. Sadly, it does and while I struggle slightly to make my way through some bushes, it simply powers through them like they aren’t there. Coming far more closer than I am comfortable with.

When I spot a hole in the treecover that could allow me to fly above the forest into relative safety, I am quick to spread my wings and take to the sky. Only to scream in pain as my left wing collides with a thick branch, sending me tumbling back to the ground.

The impact on the ground isn’t very comfortable but the pain from that is nothing compared to the pain in my wing. I get up again and try to bolt once more, only to scream in pain again when the Manticore sinks its teeth into my right hindleg.

The short moments I needed to get my bearings back under control was obviously enough time for it to close the final gap. Instead of simply biting my leg off, it just keeps hold on me and begins to drag me back to where we both came from, thinking me defeated.

The Manticore drops me to the ground, more from surprise than pain, as I kick it with my good hindleg in the snout. I try to get as far away from it as possible, but with one bad leg, I don’t get very far before the beast is over me again.

This time however the Manticore wants to make sure that I am finished, as it tries to ram its stinger into me. I manage to roll to the side, its stinger landing harmlessly into the ground.

I manage to pull this off once more before the Manticore gets too annoyed and simply steps on my already ruined leg. Once more I scream in unimaginable pain, which distracts me so much that I almost don’t realize what its true intentions are.

As in slow motion I see its jaw approaching, aiming directly for my throat. I don't know how I do it, but somehow I managed to avoid this, only to realize that it didn’t miss me entirely when its jaw closes around my uninjured wing. 

Its sharp teeth are quick to go through the flesh before they make contact with the bone. This however isn’t enough for the best as its jaw mercilessly crushes the bone. Much to my surprise, I am not the only one to scream in pain when something unseen by me, hits the Manticore into its back.





Some time earlier at the Ponyville Guard post:

Princess Luna pants heavily when she and 30 Guards arrive with a pop at the small barracks, usually housing the Guards stationed in Ponyville. By now however it had been repurposed and serves the Captain of her Guard as a command post, from where he organizes the search for the missing filly.

She waits for a few moments until Captain Nightshade gave his orders to the newcomers before she approaches him, curious how the situation is developing. “Any news yet Captain?”

“The questioning of the locals confirmed that they indeed chased the filly into the Everfree forest. With those Guards you brought we have now 158 ponies searching for her in there.”

“What about the 10 Royal Guards stationed here. What are they currently doing?” I ask after a few moments of thought, when I realize that he never mentioned them. Hopefully, he has a good  explanation for this.

“They have found out who Gabby Gums is and should currently arrest them and the editor-in-chief of this horrid paper.” He replies, making it clear that he knows more than he is letting me know.

“I see, throw them in the Castles dungeon once you have them, Tia and I will deal later with them.” I reply before I leave him to his task and make my way into the Everfree forest, joining the search parties myself.





“Are you sure it is a good idea that we didn’t wait for reinforcement to arrive, sir?” One of the stallions in the first group to enter the forrests asks his CO, concerned about the fact that they are far ahead of everypony. After all, usually that would mean that it takes quite some time for back up to reach them, should it be necessary.

“No, but that is why I didn’t protest when you brought purple smarts to the base and she insisted on going with us.” He replies to his subordinate, earning once more a groan from the unicorn in their group, who clearly dislikes that nickname.

“If something goes wrong, she can not only shoot flares into the sky, but also teleport us out if necessary.” He continues his explanation, which, even if it's only slightly, raises the spirits of everypony in his group. “Besides Eve, you and I both know that her brother taught her some things.”

The focus on everypony turns now to the purple unicorn in their group, and they are about to ask her just what her brother taught her, when they hear a terrifying scream. “It came from there.” One of the eight Thestral says, pointing into said direction before all of them run into the direction the scream came from. 

The unicorn of the group all the while shooting red sparks into the sky, hoping that anypony would see them and come to their aid. Within two minutes they are atop a hill and spot the Manticore standing over the helpless filly, only around ten meters away.

The Guards are quick to approach the beast, but they aren’t the first to strike, as the Manticore screams in pain when a bolt of purple magic slams into its back, only a moment after it bit down on the fillies wing.

As a second bolt slams into its back, the Manticore turns around, but not without delivering one more blow to the filly as it buries a paw deep into the fillies side. Now, enraged by the purple unicorn that is reading another spell, it storms towards whom it thinks to be the greatest threat, only for a sword to cut deep into it’s leg as it passes a Guard.

The Manticore leaps at the unicorn only to crash right into a purple wall before the sword of a Night Guard cuts through its tail and serves its stinger. While one of the Guards rush to the filly to treat her wounds, will the remaining seven encircle the wounded predator.

“Twilight, how long can you keep that shield up?” The commander of the small group asks, mere moments before he aims with his own sword for one of the beast's legs, but has to cut his attack short as the beast now goes after him.

“Not more than fifteen minutes, if I still want to be able to teleport all of us back to Ponyville. Should it only be me, Silverfang, and Wingy not more than two hours.” She replies immediately before she drops the shield and sends a gust of flames at the Manticores back. “But I don’t plan to sit idle by and just watch.”

Once more, the beast turns it’s focus onto Twilight and lunges at her in its rage, only to crash once more in a purple shield the unicorn created. The confusion of the Manticore is quickly replaced by a scream, as three Guards take full advantage of its momentary distraction and ram their swords in its back before retreating quickly.

However, the new wounds aren’t slowing the Manticore down, only managing to enrage it even further. In a bold move, the only Guard to be armed with a spear, charges the ferocious beast, almost catching it by surprise.

The Manticore swings a paw at him, hitting his right forelegs and its claws leaving deep cuts into them. This however doesn’t stop the Guard and he successfully rams his spear in its open mouth with so much force that the tip of it comes out the back of its head.

The Manticore staggers for a moment before it collapses to the ground. To ensure that the beast is indeed dead, one of the Guards cuts its throat open before everypony focuses on their medic and the filly they had been searching for in the first place. “Silverfang, how is she doing?”

“Not good sir. We need to get her to the hospital immediately, if she is to have a chance to survive the night.” The Thestral in question replies, draining the color out of their commanders face as he receives the devastating report.
> 34 Error 404, Name not found
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Can you teleport us back Twilight?” Lieutenant Mango asks the mare worried, who instead just looks at Silverfang, the medic of their small group.

“No, but I can cast a stasis spell on her, which should buy us some time.” She replies a moment after Silverfang shook his head. True, they could ignore his warning and still teleport her and his daughter to the hospital, but by wounds so severe it always managed to worsen the situation.

Nopony knows why it is like that, but none of them is willing to take the additional risk either. “Mind you, I can only keep this spell up for an hour, two at the most, so we still need to hurry.” She informs everypony once she got the okay of the medic and Lieutenant Mango before she cast said spell on the unconscious filly.

“How is your leg doing Corporal?” Lieutenant Mango asks the only pony to get wounded during the fight, worried if he will slow them down, while two of the Guards build a makeshift stretcher.

“It won’t make any problems sir.” He replies after a moment, while he uses the sulies he got from Silverfang to bandage his wound. A few test steps proves his statement to be true, but nonetheless, he decides that a doctor will have a good look at the wound later. 

From then on it only takes a few more moments before everything is ready to go and they make their way back into town. However, after around five minutes they run into another Guard squad from where Lieutenant Mango sends two messengers ahead. One to inform everypony that the search came to an end, the other to the hospital, so the doctors know what awaits them and are fully prepared to treat the fillies injuries.

It’s an hour later when they arrive at the hospital, and while those bearing the stretcher stay unmolested, the commanding officer of this group doesn’t have this luck.

“Mango, what happened?” The greyish blue Pegasus asks the stallion in charge, after she was able to take a short glance at her daughter before the medical staff rushes her into an ER.

He however doesn’t respond, he doesn’t want to. At least not yet. Instead he undoes the straps of his armor and let it fall unceremoniously to the ground, which is quickly joined by his helmet before he takes his beloved into a tight embrace. “I was too late, Flits, I was too late.” Are the only words he manages to say before his emotions get the better of him.

It doesn’t take long for a second mare to lay her forelegs around his neck, giving him the comfort he needs and helps him to calm down. “Mango.” The pegasus who was there first to comfort him says in a caring voice. “Whatever happened there, it wasn’t your fault.”

“But.” He tries to protest, only to be quickly silenced by his two mares.

“We will have nothing of that, isn’t that right Dashie?” She addresses the cyan pegasus, that is with them in the embrace, only to get her words confirmed.  “You tried everything you could to be there in time, didn’t you?” She wants to know from the depressed stallion, who isn’t able to answer with more than a weak nod. “Then there is nothing you are to blame for. Now, please tell me what happened out there.”

“There isn’t much to tell, really. We found her getting attacked by a Manticore and after we finished it off, we came here as fast as possible.” He recaptures everything that happened out there in less than two sentences, not bothering to go into deeper details.

He knows that at least one of his mares doesn’t approve of that, but he just can’t bring himself to do it. Currently he is far more concerned about the wellbeing of his daughter than to such trivial details.

He was shocked when he saw how serious her wounds are, and he knows very well the consequences it could have for the little filly. Those injuries at her wings looked especially nasty, if it comes to the worst, she won’t be able to fly for a long time.

Soon after that they separate and sit down in the waiting area, until they are approached by an amber unicorn. From the look on his face, they know immediately that what he has to say won’t be pretty. “Hello, I am Doctor Horse, are you the parents of the young filly that got brought in recently?”

“Yes, that would be us.” Rainbow Dash confirms, speaking up for the first time since they met again.

“Than the good news first. Her broken wing will be easy to fix, and while she won’t be able to use it for a while, it should be fully healed within a month. The other wounds however are more troublesome. While the Manticore didn’t break her right hindleg when it bit down on it, it served the achilles tendon and the soleus.”

He pauses for a moment to let this information sink in and give himself sometime to prepare for the hard part, that is about to come now. After all, what he just told them are only minor injuries if you compare them to what he has to tell them now.

“The wound on her left side, where the Manticore hit her with its paw are far more troublesome, especially where its claws cut her stomach open. If not for miss Sparkle’s stasis spell, the filly would have never made it.”

“So, she will survive?” Flitter asks barely audible with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“What about her right wing? You haven’t said anything at all about it.” The worried Thestral asks, not giving the doctor any time to answer Flitter’s question.

“We are unsure if we can save it, sir.” The doctor replies after a moment, confirming what he already feared from the moment he saw the wound. “I am sorry sir but I have to leave now and assist doctor Fine Stitch in the surgery.” Is all the further explanation they get before they are left alone again.







The alicorn looks at the newest additions to her dungeons, unwilling to believe that these three ponies are responsible for the horrible things that transpired in Ponyville earlier. At first she didn’t want to believe it when her sister woke her up earlier, but sadly, the facts only confirm it.

That two of the three guilty parties are directly related to the element bearers doesn't make things any easier. She can already hear their pleas to be lenient in their sister's punishment, something she may not be able to.

Her only hope right now is that it takes some time before word about today's events reaches the Griffons. After all, she already knows what they will demand and she isn’t up for that discussion just yet.

However, she can only wonder, why their teacher didn’t put an end to this earlier, when all this was indeed published in a school newspaper. Hopefully, she gets some answers soon, otherwise she has to travel to Ponyville and get them herself.

Screw it, she is sick of the waiting and all those second hand reports. “Prepare my carriage, I will travel to Ponyville immediately.” She addresses the closest Guard before she gets herself some calming tea, after all, nopony wants to deal with her in a bad mood. On the other hoof, a new statue for her garden would be indeed nice.







“You really shouldn’t have put that much strain on your leg, Eve.” Twilight Sparkle scolds her coltfriend. She really would have preferred it if he would have returned with one of the other squads and not ran back with everypony. She also knows that every attempt to convince him to do just that, would have been only a waste of time, something they didn’t have to spare.

“Look Twilight, I appreciate your worry for me, but you know that it isn’t necessary. Besides, there is also something good to it.” He tries to reassure the mare that everything is fine, only earning a look of utter disbelief from her in return. “I am now on sick leave for at least a week and we can spend that time together.”

“You are such a dork sometimes, you know that, right?” She replies after a moment of thought, actually looking forward to that time, but sadly, that isn’t the only thing on your mind.

“Yes, but I am your dork.” He replies with a grin before they step out of the treatment room and make a quick stop in the cafeteria. But unlike what they would love to do, they don’t return home immediately. They just can’t without seeing their friends first.

“Here, we brought you some coffee.” Twilight says before she hands out the brown wakefulness, knowing just how much they need it right now. “How bad is it Rainbow?” 

“They are not sure if they can save her wing Twilight.” The cyan pegasus in question replies, sounding so depressed that Twilight struggles to recognize the pony in front of her as her friend. The mare she is looking at right now just has nothing from the brash pegasus she got to know over the course of the last year.

“You know that my offer still stands.” A pony unseen by the newcomers reminds the worried family at something they aren’t aware of. However, the look the pony that said those words receives isn’t a pleasant one.

“I know Princess, but you also told me how dangerous it would be to perform this transformation right now. There is no chance that I subject my daughter to even more danger this night than she already is in.” The Thestral replies slightly annoyed at the nocturnal princess, who in return just sighs in disappointment.

“I understand Lieutenant, still, if there is anything I can do to help you and your family don’t be shy to ask.” Princess Luna offers them before making her way towards the exit of the room, after all, there are still other duties she has to attend to tonight.

“There would be one thing Princess.” He replies much to the surprise of everypony, causing the lunar alicorn to stop halfway to the exit. “I need permission for my family to visit Hollow Shades.”

“I will prepare everything necessary. Anything else Lieutenant?” She asks once more, but when nothing else is said, she takes her leave, now slightly happier that she could at least grant her old friend this small favor.

“Mango, why do you want us to travel to Hollow Shades all of a sudden?” Flitter asks mere moments after the princess of the night left, wondering what their stallion has in store for them.

“I want to introduce my beloved three mares to my family, something I should have done a long time ago.” He replies grinning, knowing very well that under different circumstances this would have been met with cheers, so he isn’t too surprised when he only receives suspicious glances from his mares. “And I don’t think that Wingy would be comfortable with staying in Ponyville for quite some time after everything that happened today.”

“Why now?” Flitter asks him after a minute, knowing that he is right. Even if she knows that the visit to his parents is long overdue, she doesn’t believe that the two reasons he gave them are the only reasons for his choice.

“Besides Canterlot Castle, Hollow Shades is properly the safest place for her in Equestria. Wingy may not know it but when she defeated that Royal Guard, word of her plans to join the Night Guard reached the city. Shortly after that, Luna informed every Thestral that she already thinks of her as one of us, and Thestral’s look after each other.”

While both Rainbow and Flitter would like to say something to this, their focus lies suddenly on an entire different Pony. A pony that just entered the room and from the looks of it, he would love to be everywhere right now, just not here. That the eyes of Mango, Twilight, and Eve also rest on him, doesn’t make it any easier for him. 

“What are you waiting for, how is my daughter?” Flitter asks impatient when several seconds pass in silence without the doctor saying even one word.  

“The surgery went pretty well, considering how bad the fillies wounds had been. Still, we haven’t been able to save her right wing. The damage the Manticore did on it was just too severe.” He says to everypony, crushing the flicker of hope they got after the first part of his announcement.
> 35 Waking up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing I am able to make out as I slowly begin to wake up is the soft sound of snoring. While I wonder who this could be, I don’t  open my eyes and take a look at the nearby sleeping pony. I simply turn around, so that my back faces whoever that is, only to scream from the sudden pain in my side.  

Now fully awake, I open my eyes, planning to take a look at my side and finding out why it hurts so much. However, I don’t even get this far, since what I am seeing in front of me isn’t what I expected. While I now know for certain where I am, I can only wonder why I am in the infirmary of Canterlot Castle?

I try to figure out what happened, but I simply am unable to come up with a reasonable explanation. I knew that I had been doing my homework in the park, but after that, there was simply nothing. 

However, something else comes to my mind as I continue to hear snoring. Whoever that is, they could have some answers for me, but first, I have to wake the pony in question. Just how the buck was this pony able to sleep through my scream? I look around the room, and turn back onto my back, at least finding out who it is.  Now I only have to wake Mama D, who is sleeping on a nearby chair, which is easier said than done. 

I think about how I could possibly achieve this near impossible feat without leaving the bed, but only come up with one way. True, I could either wait till she wakes up on her own or somepony else comes here. But impatient as I am, I get into a sitting position and pick up my pillow, throwing it with as much force as I can muster in her face. It connects with a soft ‘thump,’ but the only thing it does is muffle the sounds coming from her, leaving me without something comfy to rest my head on.

Annoyed by my failure I scoot a bit backwards, so that I can lean on the headboard. It may not be the most comfortable position, but it’s at least better than sitting upright all the time, until I get my pillow back. 

Around fifteen minutes pass before I hear hoofsteps coming closer, only to be greeted by the sight of a certain greyish blue pegasus mare I hadn’t seen for a long time. “Aunt Cloudy, I am so happy to see you.” I welcome her with a smile, happy to see her for the first time since the Grand Galloping Gala. “Mind retrieving my pillow from her?” I add after a moment of consideration, gesturing to where it landed.

Aunt Cloudchaser immediately marches over to the sleeping pegasus, shoving her off the chair and waking her up in the process. While Mama D tries to get her bearings back under control, Cloudchaser begins to yell at her. “What the buck are you thinking? Stealing your daughter's pillow to block out the sun so you can sleep better? Why didn’t you just take one of the other beds Rainbow? I really expected better from you.”

“What is going on here?” another pony coming from the small office at the other end of the infirmary asks, not even trying to hide his annoyance. The pony in question is a grey unicorn with orange mane, light blue eyes and is currently wearing a white coat. That in combination with his cutiemark, a needle with some thread attached to it over a scar, clearly identifies him as one of the doctors.

“Sorry doc, it won’t happen again.” Aunt Cloudy is the first to answer, while picking my pillow up and giving it back to me.  I readjust my position a bit, glad to have it back before I turn my attention towards our new arrival.

“Hey doc, mind telling me why I am here?”

“Ah, it’s good to see you awake again, Princess.” He is quick to answer and I can only groan in annoyance, not really liking it when others remind me of my relatively new political status. I may not be able to escape it at formal events, but can’t they at least drop it in informal settings, like now for example.

After he introduces himself as Doctor Fine Stitch, informing me of Doctor Horsenpfeffer’s retirement and that he is his successor, he describes to me in short words the seriousness of my injuries. Still, I have the feeling that he left something out. If the injuries on my barrel and my hindleg are the only ones, why are my wings bound to the side and covered completely in bandages. They also feel a bit strange.

When I ask him this, he refuses to tell me what happend, and why exactly I am here and not in a regular hospital, saying that somepony else would be more qualified to explain this. Directly after this, he leaves to inform somepony that I woke up.

“Hey, where are mom and dad?” I ask both Mama D and Aunt Cloudy, once Doctor Fine Stitch has left, only now realizing that they aren’t around.

“Mango is currently on duty, having temporarily been reassigned to Canterlot Castle. My sister on the other hoof will be here pretty soon, I just have to wake her.” Aunt Cloudy replies with a smile before turning towards the exit.

“Don’t bother, Luna already did this when she noticed that Wingy was leaving the dream realm.” I hear the voice of my favourite pegasus coming from the room's entrance. I look in said direction and not only do I see mom approaching me, but said princess and her sister, along with my dad. 

However, all of them become meaningless when a grey blur slams into me, successfully driving all the air out of my lungs. I react without even thinking as my forehooves press him even closer to me, ignoring all the pain his sudden approach caused me. “Hey, Rumble.”

“About time you woke up, Wingy. It is so boring here without you,” he replies sheepishly. I know immediately what he means, after all, of all the pranks we played on other ponies, more than half of it had been my idea.

We hold each other for a few more moments before we let go and he makes himself comfortable right next to me. I look at everypony else questioningly, until I can’t hold back my curiosity anymore. “Can you please tell me now what exactly happened? Doctor Fine Stitch refused to tell me anything.”

“What do you know about Gabby Gums?” The solar alicorn asks me much to my surprise, and while I don’t have any idea how this could be important, I still answer truthfully.

“It’s a pseudonym Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle created, so they can publish their crappy stories without other ponies finding out it’s them. However, they couldn’t fool me and I threatened to tell everypony about that, should they not come out with it on their own accord.”

“That explains so much.” Dad replies much to my surprise, his voice full of disgust.

They discuss for a moment, who should tell me what happened before they settle on Princess Celestia. Over the course of the next hour I listen attentively, occasionally asking a question when something is unclear to me.

One of them is, why I am here and not in the Ponyville Hospital? After all, that would have been the closest hospital to the Everfree Forest. However, that the Griffon ambassador demanded for me to be brought to a much safer place, isn’t the answer I expected. 

There is another discussion at the end of her tale, when I ask what exactly they wrote about me, which Luna wins. “You can’t withhold the truth from her. If we don’t tell her now, she will just look for answers of her own, and it would be much better for her if she has ponies around that she trusts, rather than being alone at that time.”

What she said made me wonder just how bad it is, and suddenly I am not so sure anymore if I really want to know the truth. Unaware of my inner struggles, Princess Celestia summons a single piece of parchment, hoofing it over to me. I am quick to recognize it as a newspaper clipping and what is written there makes me break out into tears. “I really thought they were my friends, just how could they do this.” I ask myself between sobs.

I didn't even finish this sentence, when I get swooped up in yet another hug. I press my face deeply into the soft coat of my mother, currently unwilling to face the cruel world I am living in, crying myself to sleep.

When I wake up again, I am still pressed to her barrel, with one of her wings covering most of my body. "Better now?" She asks me in her angelic voice. Still, I really don't want to answer that question right now, unsure if I could give an honest reply. Just too overwhelming are my feelings right now.

I raise my head a little and look around, wondering where everypony went. "Can we please get out of here?" I ask mommy, unwilling to stay a moment longer in the place where I learned about the disgusting actions from those I called friends.

"Are you sure about this Wingy?"

"Yes, I really don’t like being here," I reply, my voice full of determination. "Maybe we could just go to my room here?" I offer her, doubting that Doctor Fine Stitch would appreciate it, if I leave the castle entirely and go home.

"If you mean I carry you there while you give me directions, then yes. And don't give me that nonsense that you could walk there on your own. Your leg isn't fully healed yet and until then, don't you even think about walking further than from your bed to the bathroom unsupervised," she says, making it very clear to me what is allowed and what isn't.

While I don't like it, I don't even think about protesting. After all, she probably got those instructions from Doctor Fine Stitch. True, I could simply ignore them, but going against the instructions from a doctor seldom ends well. Sometimes it makes the situation even worse.

"Fine." I reply slightly annoyed before she lifts me on her back and carries me out of the infirmary, past a shocked nurse, who's complaints fall on death ears.

I am unsure for a brief moment what the shortest way to my room could be, since I never had to travel between these two locations before. However, I am quick to remember the way and it doesn’t take long for us to arrive at our destination.

"That certainly isn't what I thought your room would look like." Mommy states the obvious once she opened the door and was able to take a good look into it.

"Yes, sometimes I ask myself if it was a good idea to let Cadence decorate it." I voice my own thoughts out loud, while once more taking a good look at the large room, which could almost pass as an apartment.

While the floor is made out of the same marble used in the rest of the castle, this is where the similarities end. The walls are painted in a bright pink and white curtains adorn the large window, with a large white desk under it. 

In a corner of the room stands a white bed, with a small nightstand next to it. While the sheet is white, the pillows and the covers are a slightly darker pink than the walls. A bit to it’s left is a white vanity table, while on the other wall you only find two doors. One of them leads to a large bathroom, while the other leads into a walk-in closet.

“Well, she certainly did a good job.” While saying this, she carries me the few meters to the bed and places me carefully on top of it.

“How are my wings really doing?” I ask her as she is about to leave, so I could get a bit more rest before dinner. While they told me that I injured my wings in the fight with the Manticore, they put a lot of effort into avoiding any details.

“They are fine now. Why don’t we take a look at them, shall we?” I know immediately that something is up, that they didn’t tell me about it because it was really bad, but if that’s true, how could they possibly be fine now?

I think about it for a moment, but now with my curiosity fully awake, I just can’t say no. I get up and let her unwrap the bandages only to gasp in shock at the sight of the leathery wings adoring my sides. “How? Why?” Is all I am able to say, wondering why Luna decided to go ahead with the transformation now. After all, she was the one telling me that it would be too dangerous for several years.

“I think that this is something Luna can answer better. For now, I just want you to get a bit more rest and we can answer all your questions later.” 

“Okay, but can you please stay?” I reply pleadingly, not wanting to be alone right now. Not after everything I learned today.

Instead of replying verbally she lays down on the bed. I also lay down again, scooting as close as possible to her before she pulls the covers over us. Now feeling much more comfortable, sleep comes easily to me.
> 36 Results
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After I woke up in my room for the first time, I was visited by an extremely upset Doctor Fine Stitch, who only came to yell at me, making it clear how irresponsible that stunt was. He almost dragged me back into the infirmary, but by promising him that I won’t leave the bed, except for bathroom breaks, he reluctantly allowed me to stay here.

I spent the next four days in bed, just like I promised, without anything special happening. While this may sound boring at first, it isn’t as bad as it may seem. Many ponies came to visit me on a regular basis and we spent a lot of that time playing games or simply talking.

Most of the time I was alone, I spent reading, coming up with new pranks for everypony, and worst of all, thinking about what to do with the ponies responsible for my current situation. 

Yes, they actually asked me what I find an acceptable minimum punishment, and if there are any punishments I won't allow them to use. The latter is the reason why King Gustav is upset with me. As much as he wants me to, I won't allow them to execute any of the ponies involved.

While he thinks that I show them too much mercy, by letting them live, it's actually the exact opposite. I don't grant them the mercy of a quick and painless death. No, I want them to suffer. I want them to know that it's their fault that I almost died. I want them to live with their guilt as long as possible. This is the sole reason why I am against the death penalty.

Honestly, I don't care what exactly happens to them, I just want them to live with their guilt for as long as possible. That and I never want to see those treacherous fiends again.


I think about other things I should possibly include, but my mind just draws blank. Just as if on command, I hear somepony knocking on the door. "Enter," I say without hesitation, curious who this could be.

The door opens only moments later and in comes Princess Luna. From the look on her face, I know immediately that I won't like where this is going. "Hey Luna, how's your day?" I ask her, trying to postpone the inevitable for at least a bit.

"It has been quite pleasant so far, except for the reason why I am here,” she replies to my dismay, coming directly to the point rather than slowly easing me into it. “There are a few ponies that would like to talk with you about what happened, if you feel up to it."

There it is, the one thing I didn't want to hear. I really want to say no, I really don't want to deal with this right now, but still I am unable to say no. "Send them in so we can get this over with." I inform her of my decision, fearing the worst.

"I fear that isn’t possible, simply due to the number of ponies involved.” A sliver of hope begins to rise in me, as she gives me that snippet of information, and I can only wonder who else would want to talk with me.

“So it isn’t Gabby Gums that wants to meet me?”

“No, but she would be the main topic we would talk about.” I sigh in relief about this news. Even if I am not looking forward to talking about them, it is still better than having to meet them in pony.

“Give me a moment to get ready.” With those words I toss the covers aside and walk directly into my closet. I look around for a few moments before I slip into the same dress I wore at the banquet in Griffonstone. I check in a large mirror if it fully covers the scar from where the Manticore ripped me open and sigh in satisfaction when I realize that this is indeed the case. 

After a moment of consideration, I also picked up my small crown, somehow having the feeling that this would be better for whatever will happen now. I look into the mirror once more before I walk back into the main room again, satisfied with what I see.

Luna then leads me towards one of the smaller conference rooms, upset that against all her protests I don’t let her help me. I may have flinched a few times when I put too much pressure on my wounded leg, but I managed to power through it and arrive at our destination only slightly exhausted.

“Hello everyone,” I greet the assembled ponies, griffons, and much to my surprise, a minotaur, as I enter the room. I am quick to take a seat waiting for somepony to explain what is going on here.

“Now that we are complete, let me introduce everyone before we come to the matter at hoof.” Princess Celestia is the one to speak up in a hurry, making it clear to me that she wants me to go back to bed as soon as possible. 

She starts the introductions with King Gustav and Queen Gertrude, who came to Equestria just for the trial before continuing with my father and moving on to the newly promoted Captain Shining Armor. Last is the minotaur, Judge Ironfist, who is serving as an independent adviser. His job is to make sure that the sentence is agreeable with both the griffon's and the Equestrian royal family. To be honest, to me that sounds more like a mediator than a counselor.

After the introductions are done, dad gives a very detailed report about what led to the chase and what exactly happened in the forest. However, what comes next is far more interesting, and while I didn’t pay much attention to dad’s part, my ears peak up when Captain Shining Armor begins to report the results of the investigation Princess Celestia launched.

“From all the ponies that were involved, we could already clear the teacher, Miss Cheerilee, of all charges. She spent almost the entire time of the Gabby Gums affair in the hospital, due to having a very bad pneumonia.”

I sigh in relief upon his words, remembering this and her substitute Eifel, a very nice cornflower blue earth pony. While he was almost as good as Miss Cheerilee, he always seemed to be very tired. I can only wonder why and would like to ask about him, when the unicorn beats me to it. “The same is true for her husband Eifel, who despite already having a full time night job took care of the lessons, when the head of the school board refused to hire a substitute teacher. Claiming that the school couldn’t afford that.”

“Next we come to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, the two fillies more commonly known as Gabby Gums. While their claim to have been pressured into writing all that gossip is true, they aren’t fully responsible for the last article.” My ears peek up at this, having trouble believing what he just said.

“It may be true that they wrote an article regarding Princess Silent Wing, but it wasn’t the one published.” I gasp in shock at this news, not having seen that one coming. Due to others having similar reactions, there is a short pause before he continues.

“On the day in question was a school board meeting. On the way out, Miss Spoiled Rich saw the article on the desk of the editor-in-chief. When she found it on the discard pile, she decided to spice it up immensely and let it be printed nonetheless. Apparently she had some bone to pick with Princess Silent Wing and Miss Scootaloo from when they humiliated her and her daughter at a modelling competition.”

“ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME?” I scream at the top of my lungs, unsure if I heard this correctly. “Do you really want to tell me that all this only happened because of a blow to that old hag’s ego?” I continue much more relaxed, after taking some deep breaths to calm down. “If anything, she is the one that embarrassed her daughter and herself.”

“Would you mind telling us what exactly happened there, Princess Silent Wing?” Judge Ironfist asks me, speaking up for the first time. "It could be important for the upcoming trial."

“The competition was basically over, and we were in the middle of the award ceremony, when it happened. While her daughter Diamond Tiara had made third rank, I scored second rank, and Scootaloo had won. From then on everything went downhill. Spoiled Rich stormed on the stage, yelling at the judges, and I quote,  “How can those two worthless feather brains be better than my daughter? Just look at them, they are too stupid to even get a cutie mark.”

Needless to say that the judges weren’t pleased with that. Out of fear of what her mother would do to her should she not support her claim, Diamond Tiara said something similar, which led to her getting disqualified before both of them wound up being kicked out. Also, they got banned from all future events of this kind, both, as participants AND spectators as well.”

“That is a very interesting piece of information. I believe that the EFPS should take a closer look at the filly's living situation, if she is indeed afraid of her mother." Prince Luna proposes, earning only nods of approval from everyone present.  "Still, I believe that there is one more thing you had to report, am I correct Captain?"

"Indeed Princess, but compared to everything else it doesn't seem important. Nonetheless, after questioning everypony in Ponyville, the Royal Guard was able to create a list of those ponies that were part of the mob."

"Thank you for your quick work Captain. We will definitely put the information you gathered to good use." Princess Celestia replies before suddenly I am the focus of her attention. "Since you are the victim in this, do you have any suggestions for possible punishments, Wingy?"

"Well a few hundred hours of community service for everypony in the mob would be a good start." I begin with the easy part. I say the easy part, since this is the only thing that was unaffected by everything I learned since I entered the room.

After saying that, I stay silent for quite some time, trying to come up with anything that actually makes sense. Sadly my mind draws blank. Still, I know that they expect more from me, so I decide to give them some guidelines instead. "As long as I don't have to see any of them again for quite some time, and none of them dies anytime soon, I am fine with whatever you come up."

I instantly stare at the two griffons, hoping that they understand that this includes unfortunate accidents as well. "If it's okay with you, I would take my leave now." I add as an afterthought when something else I should do comes to my mind.

Much to my relief, no one protests and I am quick to step out of the room. However, unlike everyone thought, I don't plan to go back to my room just yet. Not if there is somepony I need to talk with first.

"Where do you think you are going?" I freeze in shock as I hear a very familiar voice from behind me, only moments after I started to walk towards my destination. Said voice did sound many things, but definitely not happy. "Your room is in the other direction."

I turn around, only to spot the expected midnight blue alicorn. While her voice didn't sound pleasant, her disapproving glare is even worse. "I am waiting."

It is with a heavy sigh that I admit what I am up to, hoping that she won't be too upset about it. It comes as quite the surprise when she lifts me up with her magic and places me on her back, but every possible protest about this treatment is silenced by what she says next. "I may have been okay with you walking back to your room, but the way to the dungeons would be much too far for your leg."

As much as I don't like to hear this, I know for sure just how true her words are, and I only have to think back at when I came here, to know that she is right. This makes it an even bigger surprise for me, when she uses her magic to place me on her back, and carries me
> 37 Confrontation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took us some time, but we finally made it down to the castle’s lowest floor and the entrance to the dungeons.

Two guards were standing in front of a large iron door, snapping to attention the moment they see us approaching. "Princess Luna, Princess Silent Wing, what can we do for you?"

"We would like to see your newest guests." Princess Luna states matter of factly, making it clear that this isn’t something they can stop her from.

"Of course, Princess," one of the two guards replies before he turns around and unlocks the door. "If you would please follow me."

He led us down a long corridor, with only a few occupied cells before we arrived at yet another steel door. Behind this door is another checkpoint from where a different Guard escorts us to the high security cells.

After a few moments I realize that this corridor is different from that one earlier. The walls are decorated with many crystals that I doubt are there for decorative purposes only, so I ask what exactly they are for. "You are correct Princess, while those crystals look nice, we are more interested in their ability to nullify every magic cast in a six meter radius."

"Must be fun to watch some of the unicorns imprisoned here struggle with their food, when they have to eat like an earth pony for the first time." The grin I get in return from him is all the answer I need.

After he answered my question, it only takes a few more moments until we arrive at our destination. I easily make out a large purple lump, and a smaller pink lump in two different cells, telling me easily just who those ponies are.

This leaves Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sharing a cell, and I can only wonder why, since there are more than enough empty cells available to seperate them. Maybe I could ask the guards to do just that, should I not like their answers.

While the guard wakes them up, I get down from Princess Luna's back and cross the short distance remaining until I stand right in front of the bars. Just as agreed earlier, Princess Luna hid herself under an illusion, giving the impression that I would be alone once the guard left.

"Get up, you have a visitor," he yells at the two sleeping fillies. When that proves to be a fruitless endeavor, he pokes them with his spear until he gets the desired response.

While they get to their hooves, I take a closer look at them. The first thing I notice is that Apple Bloom is missing her bow. In general, you could describe their manes easily as a tangled mess. In addition, their coats are in need of a good brushing, and dirt is clinging to them, from where they laid on the ground.

When they are finally up, I wait for them to make the first move, wondering how they will react to seeing me here. "Who are you?" Apple Bloom asks much to my surprise, not recognizing me anymore. Come on, I haven't changed that much.

"You seriously have no idea who I am?" I reply after a minute, hoping they only need a bit more time. Sadly, both of them shake their heads in denial.

"Somepony that thought of you as friends, only to be proven wrong." I answer cryptically. Giving them one last chance to figure it out on their own. Already considering what I should do if they fail. After all, I didn’t expect them to be that clueless. 

However, they are still as clueless as at the beginning and I decide that I gave them more than enough chances.

"Honestly, I have trouble believing that. After all, it's YOUR fault that Princess Luna transformed me into a Thestral, much earlier than planned. Just like it's YOUR fault that I got chased into the everfree forest where a Manticore ripped my wing off. Would it not be for Twilight's stasis spell, I wouldn't have survived that day," I exploded at them, being done with playing nice. The only thing I regret right now, is that unlike Luna, I am unable to use the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Wingy, is that you?" Sweetie Belle replies stunned, once she has recovered from my outburst. Apple Bloom however just stares at me, having temporarily lost her ability to speak.

“Took you long enough. Now, tell me how in Tartarus could you think it to be a good idea to write such crap about me.” I reply coldly, causing both of them to flinch in discomfort.

"Wingy, I am sorry for what happened to you. We didn't think…. “ Sweetie Belle continues before I cut her off before I voice my anger once more.

"Exactly, you didn't think! You never think about what could go wrong, or how dangerous something could be! Especially when you go crusading."

"That isn't fair now, you went crusading with us too." Apple Bloom protests vehemently, opening her muzzle for the second time since I came down here.

"True, I occasionally went crusading with you, but more than half of the time I stayed at home, because I considered what you planned to be too dangerous." I reply much calmer trying to get my emotions back under control.

“Anyway, I can’t come around noticing that you haven’t answered my question yet.” I continue with a heavy sigh before I repeat what I asked earlier, only to receive the answer I feared.

I have trouble believing that they really did this, only to ruin my credibility so that nopony would have believed me, when I told them just who behind Gabby Gums is. Whoever, the thing they end their statement with, makes me explode once more. “Please Wingy, we are sorry. You are our friend…,” Apple Bloom begins but I never give her the chance to finish.

“FRIENDS???  Did you really just say we are friends? No, the moment you came up with that crap, you backstabbers threw my friendship away.” I yell at them before walking off, ignoring everything they are shouting towards me.

I make it back into the corridor outside the dungeons, and out of sight of any guards before everything becomes too much and I break down into tears, crying for all of it’s worth. I am so focused on myself that I only notice that somepony brought me elsewhere when I am laid down on a soft surface and a soft blanket is pulled over me.







“What happened?” I ask the midnight blue alicorn as I pull my daughter closer to me, dropping a wing over her, trying to shield her from this cruel world.

It takes Princess Luna several moments until she gives a very detailed description of what happened earlier. Starting with the conference, over the events in the dungeons, and how Wingy let Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle know how she feels about this.

While I don’t like what I hear, I can understand Wingy. If that would have been my friends, I also would have asked them to tell me the truth. Still there's one thing that bugs me, just why didn’t she interfere? Would those two acted differently, if Luna would have revealed her presence earlier? Or why didn’t they at least wait for me, I would have loved to ask them a few questions of my own. Still, the damage is done and now we can only make sure that it doesn’t get any worse. "Luna, how soon could we leave for Hollow Shades?”

“A carriage could be prepared in under an hour and three more hours to retrieve whatever you want to take with you from your home. If Doctor Fine Stitch is able to make a final exam of her wounds during that time, you could be on your way in four and a half hours.”

“While that sounds great, I think it would be better to wait for that until tomorrow.” I replied after hearing this news, surprised that everything could get arranged that quickly.

“Flitter, you are aware that you would miss the trial, if you leave for the month you had planned to stay there?”

“That’s the plan, Luna.” I reply instantly, knowing that she doesn’t approve of this. Still, I stopped caring what others think about me, if it helps me to keep my filly safe. 

“Not even for the proclamation of their sentence?” Princess Luna asks hopefully, but I can only shake my head in denial. Fearing what could happen, if she has to meet an upset Rarity or Applejack. While I believe that Rainbow could keep her friends somehow in check, the risk of Wingy getting hurt is just too high.

“Especially on that day. Maybe Dash or Mango will be there, but certainly not the two of us.” While I would love to be there, I don’t want to leave Wingy alone for too long, fully aware that these events caused a lot of new problems for her, and that so soon after she was starting to come to terms with the fallout from the last major incident.

“I fully understand, Flitter.” She is quick to reply before she pauses for several moments. “I assume that you don’t plan to return to Ponyville either?”

While I haven’t thought that far yet, Luna has a very good point, what is the point of avoiding the trial when she is forced to see them only weeks later on a daily basis, when she returns to school. “While I still have to run this with Rainbow and Mango, it seems like a good idea."
> 38 Welcome to Hollow Shades
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To see a carriage in the colours of Princess Luna's Night Guard moving through the sky in the middle of the day is quite the unusual sight. Even more so if said carriage is drawn by a thestral and a pegasus, instead of the usual two thestrals. Yet, that isn't everything unusual about it. Where they usually are filled to the brim with supplies for some remote outposts when not carrying the mistress of the night, this one has two large chests, a pegasus mare, and a thestral filly aboard.

As they approach a large forest with a canopy so thick that except for a few spots, sunlight doesn't reach the ground, where they are spotted by its inhabitants within moments. So it doesn't come as a surprise when they are intercepted and forced to land by half a dozen guards. "State your business," says the pony who’s clearly in command.

"My family and I are on our way to visit my parents in Hollow Shades, Sergeant," replies the thestral that drew the carriage. As he finishes saying that, he helps a very exhausted looking cyan mare out of the harness.

Barely does he finish saying, "I assume you know then what I want from you?" before he has his answer. The pegasus riding in the carriage had already disembarked with papers in hoof, introducing herself as he inspects them. The documents prove that, unlike most, they have Princess Luna's permission to approach Hollow Shades without hindrance.

The guard takes a good look at said documents before giving them back, and much to the surprise of a certain pony, calls out to one of the other guards. "Private Shooting Star you escort these four ponies to their destination."

"Yes, Sir," is her short reply before she forces the vehemently protesting cyan pegasus to continue the journey in the carriage, by strapping herself into the harness. "Come on bro, if we hurry we can still get home in time for breakfast."

"STAR???" The thestral shouts back in shock, never having expected his little sister to join the Night Guard as well. "When did you join the guard?"

"I am happy to see you too Mango. Now, let's get going or do you want to explain to mom, why we are late?" Her retort hits home and it takes less than ten seconds until the carriage is in the air again, now flying faster than before.

Usually you would complement a pony for getting ready and taking off that quickly, but not this time. No, this time it has the opposite effect, since not everypony got back on the carriage in time.

It takes almost five minutes for the two thestrals drawing the carriage to notice that they forgot somepony, if the stunned look on Star's, and the heavy blush on Mango's face are any indication. After all, the things Flitter shouts at them as she attempts to catch up with the carriage promise Mango a very interesting time.

"You really believe it to be a good idea to say such things in the company of a filly?" Star asks Flitter calmly, once the pegasus mare managed to catch up and is now flying next to her.

"Hey, at least now I know to put my ear plugs in before I go to bed. They can be very loud," said filly replies immediately, much to the embarrassment of her parents. 

"Anyway, thank you for your help with Rainbow. I already feared she would never take a break. That mare can be so stubborn at times.”

“No problem,” Star replies kindly before she turns her full attention towards the sweating stallion next to her.  “Now Mango, mind explaining to me, why you never wrote? I would have loved to hear about this sooner,” she asks her brother. As she questions him about everything she missed out on, she only gets evasive answers, making it clear to her that he doesn’t plan to explain it right now.

Half an hour after the questioning began, they passed through a small hole in the canopy and continued to fly only inches above the rooftops of a large city for around two minutes before they touched down in front of a large house near the city's center. “Sure you don’t want to go first, sis?” Mango asks Star futility, who instead just knocks on the door before quickly shoving him in front of her. 

Several long moments pass in silence until a chartreuse green mare with a solid except for one silver streak, arctic blue mane, and two slitted light blue eyes opens the door. At first she appears to be a bit shocked to see her son, but that quickly changes as she pulls the stallion in front of her in for a quick hug. “Mango, I am so happy to see you again.”

Once she releases him from her embrace, she looks over his shoulder, only now realizing that they aren’t as alone as she thought. While she isn’t surprised to see her second oldest foal standing there, the sight of a thestral filly, that desperately tries to hide behind the legs of two pegasus mares, is something entirely different.

However, before she has the change to say anything, Mango steps aside. “Mom, meet my two lovely wives, Flitter, and Rainbow Dash, along with our daughter Silent Wing.” He introduces them to her before doing the same thing for the others. “Flitter, Dashie, Wingy, meet the oldest of my sisters, Shooting Star and my mother Silver Lining.” 

“Your daughter?” Silver Lining asks in disbelief, once she recovered from the unexpected surprise, eyeing the filly curiously. As said filly notices the look Silver gives her, she is quick to shuffle closer to the mare her son introduced as Flitter, giving off the impression of a scared kitten.

She realizes immediately that it isn’t as perfect as it seems, since something is clearly troubling the filly. And so she can only wonder why the filly seems to be so scared, making a quick mental note to ask her son later about it. 

"Well, then come in. Breakfast should be ready in a few minutes. It may get a bit crowded at the table, with almost everypony home, but I am sure we have enough space." She finally says, ushering everypony inside.

"And who exactly isn't home?" Mango asks, worried about overwhelming Wingy, should indeed the majority of his colony of fourteen siblings, two dads, and all three mom's be at home.

"Well, Pierce got called back to Canterlot by Princess Luna yesterday. Hammer and Anvil are on a business trip to Ponyville, but everypony else is at home." As he hears this news, Mango loses some of the color in his face. While he is indeed happy to see most of his family again, he also knows very well that the sheer size of his full family could easily overwhelm not just his daughter, but Flitter and Rainbow as well. After all, both of them come from very small monogamous families. So, how will everypony react when they meet his family?

“Okay mom, can we have a moment?” He asks hopefully, and much to his relief, his mother grants that small wish.

After Silver Lining went back inside, he turns his focus back on his three favorite ponies. “While I already told you that I have a large family, I never told you just how large exactly, correct?”

“No, you only said that your family is large even by thestral standards,” Wingy is quick to reply, now  feeling a bit more relaxed since she isn’t stared at by Mango’s mother anymore. Relieved that she is able to take a breather before they enter that house.

“I really had hoped that we would arrive at a time where most would be away, but it looks like I should have thought more about the timing before coming home. Anyway, besides my three mothers, two fathers, and Star here, I have thirteen more brothers and sisters.” 

“Fourteen,” Star corrects him, making him look at her in confusion. “We have fourteen siblings now, but I don’t blame you for not knowing, since you had been away for over one and a half years.”

“What?” He asks his sister, ignoring the three ponies staring at him open mouthed, still shocked from his last revelation.

“Just ask Stella, I am sure she loves to tell you everything about our little brother.”

Mango needs a few moments to comprehend this news before he is able to turn his focus back to his family. "Wingy, I want you to stay close to Flitter, and be careful, my siblings have always been on the wilder side."

Everypony waits for a few more moments before Star enters first, quickly followed by Mango, Flitter, Wingy, and Rainbow at the end. Not even ten seconds after Mango entered the house, still in the entrance hall, he already gets tackled to the ground and buried under six different ponies. "Mooom, can I have some help here?"

He pleads for help to get out of the pony pile but whoever of his three moms answered has different plans. "No! Mango, that's your own fault for not visiting sooner. Belladonna, Eclipse, what are you still doing here? Go "say hello" to your brother," she shouts before more hoofsteps are heard and two more ponies jump upon the pile.

Flitter, Rainbow, and Wingy just watch in amusement upon the scene directly in front of them. That is until somepony walks over and decides to interfere. "Now, don't you all think that was long enough? Even such a mean pony like Mango needs to breathe."

It barely takes a second until Wingy is in the face of the moderate blue mare, making clear what she thinks about this. "Hey, dad isn't a mean pony!" Wingy yells right into her face, stunning the mare into silence.

“Did, did you just say this mean pony is your father?” the mare stutters out in surprise, still slightly shaken from that revelation, ignoring the second half of what Wingy just said. When Wingy replies with a soft “yes,” she begins to fear that she made a grave mistake by getting into the mare's face, only to be scooped up into a hug.

This lasts for several seconds, with Flitter and Rainbow just staring into confusion at the mare holding their little filly, completely ignoring their stallion’s cry for help. “I can’t believe that Mango made you walk on your bad leg.” She says in addition, fully aware of the bandages around her granddaughter's leg, while carefully placing the filly on her back.

“I can walk just fine, ma’am.” Wingy replies upset, attempting to climb down, only for a hoof pressing her back down again. 

“None of that, little one. You hold tight, while Grandma Rose shows you around the house.” She replies in a voice that, while still sounding kind, makes unmistakingly clear that you don’t protest against her orders. 

“What just happened?” a confused Rainbow Dash asks nopony in particular, getting it answered by Mango, who finally managed to crawl out from the pony pile. 

“That’s Bloody Rose for you. Fiercest Drill Sergeant in the Night Guard, but softest pony in Equestria when it comes to her foals.” He replies with a sigh, hoping that the mare in question didn’t hear that. She doesn’t take kindly to being called soft in front of strangers.

You could say that Rainbow, and Flitter aren’t strangers, since they are engaged with her oldest son, but she doesn’t see it like that. So it doesn’t come as a surprise when she demands retribution, calling in even more help to deal with her unruly son. “Crescent, Crimson, help Belladonna and Eclipse to deal with Mango. The rest say hello to our unexpected guests.”

“Not again,” is everything Mango manages to complain before he is being tackled to the ground by four ponies, who start tickling him immediately. Being taken completely off guard by this, Rainbow and Flitter follow soon, each being attacked by three different ponies.

However, Wingy doesn’t notice this, nor the cries for help from all three of her parents, since Grandma Rose had already left the entrance hall before giving her orders. The tour of the house begins with a quick march through the second floor, which, except for a bathroom, holds the rooms of the older foals. 

The tour of the first floor takes a bit longer, where she shows her another large bathroom, the two guest rooms, the rooms of the younger foals, the bedroom she shares with her herdsisters and their stallions before they stop in front of a single door. “Now you must be extremely quiet, we don’t want to wake anypony, should they be asleep.”

Only when Wingy promises this, Rose carefully opens the door and steps into the room, being relieved to see both ponies wide awake. As she turns around to close the door again she hears a squeal of delight before the weight on her back vanishes. “Ooooh, he is so cute, who is this little guy?”

When Rose turns around again, she isn’t surprised to see Wingy balancing on her uninjured hindleg, her front hooves leaning against the side of the crib, allowing her to peek over the edge.

“That is Lucky Moonrise, but who might you be? I only remember having nine, not ten daughters.” The pale yellow mare approaching Wingy from behind asks, only to get ignored by the filly, who is more focused on the little colt than anything else.

The filly is so focused on the colt, that she only notices the two mares around her when Stella picks him up. “Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself, while I change your little brother.”

“I don’t have a brother.” Wingy replies devastated, much to the surprise of Stella, only to continue with something even more surprising. “maybe in fourteen weeks, when Mama D is supposed to go into labor.”

“Oh? Who is this mama D and where can I find her?” Stella asks curiously, while throwing the used diaper blindly over her back and into the direction of the trash bin, missing it by a few feet and instead hitting a very displeased Bloody Rose. If on purpose or not, is a question to never be answered.

“Well, the last time I saw her she was down in the entrance hall with mom and dad before Grandma Rose sicced everypony on them.” Unnoticed by the filly, Stella’s ears peek upon this piece of information, making her very happy. How could she not be, if this still unnamed filly called Rose her grandma, this means she is her grandfoal as well.

“Do you want to tell me a bit more about your parents?” she asks curiously, after placing Lucky Moonrise on the ground, sitting down in a nearby bean bag.

Instead of sitting down in another bean bag, Wingy lays down on the ground, her eyes fully focus on the little colt. “Well, both of my mothers are weatherponies, while dad is a Night Guard.”

With the knowledge that weatherpony is a pegasus only job, Stella tries to figure out who the father of this little filly could be. Until it dawns on her that Mango is the only pony fitting the description. Still this raises the question how Wingy could be her grandfoal, since she is far too old to be his own foal. "Would you like to play with Lucky for a bit, while Rose and I go talk with him?"

The squeal Stella gets in return is more than enough of an answer for her, and she quickly tells Wingy which Lucky's favorite plushies are, where she can find the building blocks, and where most of the other foalproof toys are stored before leaving the room alongside Rose.

When the pale yellow mare returns around ten minutes later with Flitter in tow, they are greeted by a very peculiar sight. Wingy lies on her stomach with the tiny colt lying directly next to her, only into the other direction and with the tip of his muzzle shoved under her. Would it not be for the closed eyes and the soft sound of snoring coming from those two, you could get the impression that Lucky Moonrise is nursing on the filly and not sleeping. "I wish I had a camera. Those two look so cute together."

Flitter had barely finished her sentence when she indeed hears the sound of a camera going off. She looks to her right, spotting Stella holding such a device, just as she makes another photo. "I take it, you want copies of those?"

"That would be nice." Flitter replies hopefully, relieved that her little filly is alright. In truth, she had been a bit worried when Bloody Rose walked off with her daughter like that, even if she only saw concern for the filly written in the mare's face.

Still, the timing couldn’t have been better for Wingy to be distracted like that, so they could talk with Silver Lining and Ivory Moon, without the risk of triggering another panic attack. Too fresh are the memories of what happened the last time they discussed what happened in Ponyville, and how bad Wingy took it when they didn’t notice her presence immediately and just keeped on talking. 

“So, do you want to wake her for a late breakfast?” Stella asks after a few moments of silence, enjoying the sight of the two sleeping foals. 

“No, after all the stress from the last week she deserves every bit of rest she can get.” Flitter replies softly before settling down directly next to them, dropping a wing over both foals to keep them warm.