> The Seasons
>  by Scootareader
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Introduction - What Makes a Season
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Just as there are four seasons in Earth's yearly cycle, there are also four seasons in Equestria's yearly cycle. Four seasons of bipolar weather and rapidly changing climate. Depending on a slight shifting of the axis of the planet, a massive number of changes are undergone each time a new season is ushered in.

Spring brings with it all of the stinging, biting insects you can imagine. Flies eat laboriously prepared food by spitting on it, bees and wasps sting unsuspecting children for seemingly trivial reasons, and beetles find every little nook and cranny in our homes and pop out to bother us at the most inopportune moments. On top of this, allergies abound at this time of year; pollen laces the air, some insect bites can be lethal, and even the grass we walk on can cause rashes.

Summer is no better. The Sun constantly beats down with the heat of a sauna, cooking everything on the surface of the planet. Houses turn into thermoses, people become coated in sweat and misery, and exorbitant amounts of money are paid for just the small convenience of not having to die from the overwhelming heat. Even worse, the constant waves of burning bring with them a type of radiation, ultraviolet radiation, which causes skin cancer, shortening the lifespans of millions of people.

The next season is autumn. The best symbolism we can conclude from here is death. We watch as living things visibly go into their final months of existence. The plants wither and decay, and shameless creatures snatch up the slowly disappearing greenery in their final desperate attempts to survive until more food finally grows. Looking around at this time of year, one can see why bitterness and contempt exist all around us.

Finally, we have winter. If autumn is death, then winter is nothingness. Found everywhere at this time is the perpetual cold and persistent freezing, clinging snow that encourages all to stay indoors, away from the elements, comfortable to stay cozy in their little dens and homes. The best recommendation for surviving winter is to ignore it as much as possible and find every excuse not to go somewhere; when forced to go outside during this terrible time of year, it is best to go wearing as much protection as possible to shield from the harsh, biting wind cutting through the air and the treacherous patches of ice coating the ground.

This cycle of constantly forming and reforming limbo that is our atmosphere seems awfully turbulent and unstable. The seasons make hateful, despicable, selfish cretins out of the greatest of men. There is no reason why they should exist.

Yet, they do exist.

And so, rather than decry and despair and destroy, there are those who see the positive side of things. They choose not to pick out the cruel or wicked, instead focusing on the great and powerful. Happiness is far better than hatred.

Spring is a new beginning, a rebirth of that which was lost. New animals are born, beauty blooms everywhere that can be gazed upon, and the air is fresh, clean, and crisp. Brash birds suddenly burst into song, delicate butterflies alight upon timid flowers, and newborn foals shakily rise to their feet to begin their journey of the world.

Summer is a time of happiness and joy. Naps can be had on net hammocks suspended between two trees, youngsters play and relish in the bright, vivid sunlight, and local ponds and watering holes are filled to the brim with swimmers who enjoy their attempts to beat the heat. Even the air is infused with a warmth and vibrancy that can never be conveyed in any other way. Just as spring breathes life into living things, summer gives these living things substance, inspiration, and a reason to live.

Autumn is proof that even the darkest things in life can provide happiness. There is a unique beauty in watching as plants and trees relinquish what life they managed to produce and wisely conserve the energy they struggled so hard to obtain. Even in seeing the most desperate acts of survival that so many living things have to take, it serves to remind that there is beauty in all things. Mortality is an expected contention, and all living creatures must someday lose the life they fought to cultivate and nurture; this should not bring sobriety, or sorrow, but rather a reminder that we are all a part of the life cycle, and that, while all good things must come to an end, it needn't be on a regretful note.

Winter is the most interesting of them all. In the attempts to stay as estranged from the outdoors as possible, it brings family and friends closer together in a bonding that can be gotten nowhere else in existence. There is a certain magic to the season, walking outside and not hearing a single sound, apart from muffled, light breathing as it puffs quietly into the air. Watching as tracks are made in the fresh, clean snow. Winter cleanses the earth of all of the birth, the life, the death... and, in lieu of these things, it provides silence. A quiet that pervades the very ground being walked upon. Even in nothingness, there is beauty.

It is here that we find the unlikely stories of eight ponies. In these four seasons, love is found and cherished as eternal bonds are formed and strengthened. Strange circumstances, some may say. Far too predictable, will retort others.

It can be guaranteed, however, that these ponies have found something truly special.
> Spring - Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Now, Angel, there's no need to run away! I promise I'll listen to you more and make sure you get enough to eat and buy you a new bed and—”

A soft yellow pegasus with a bright pink mane was slowly hovering above the ground, keeping pace with a small white bunny who was attempting to escape her incessant concessions.

“—then you don't need to worry about anything, because none of the other animals will be able to bother you or be mean to you. Oh, Angel, please just stop running away!”

Angel turned around for a few moments and faced the pony, attempting to stick his tongue out at her, but before he could finish, the pegasus swept him off his feet. “Oh, thank you for being so understanding! I'll make sure you get all kinds of wonderful things once we get—”

Her speech was cut short by a bunny foot in her face as Angel vaulted out of her captivity and back onto the ground, valiantly darting off in a futile attempt to escape his owner's clutches. The pegasus sighed to herself, landing on the ground and slowly trotting toward where Angel had darted.

A frown formed on the pony's face as her bunny zipped into a wall of trees. She told herself, “Oh, Fluttershy, you have got to be more assertive. Don't let him go that easily next time, or it'll only cause more trouble.”

As she traveled deeper into the copse of trees, Fluttershy became increasingly paranoid of the sounds around her. She wasn't sure where Angel had gone, and she had no idea where she was going, either. Several times, she called out, “Angel! Where are you?” but received no reply.

Quietly, in the distance, she heard a distinct thump.

Squeaking, the frightened pegasus dove inside a bush, her breath quickening as her mind conjured any number of things that could be thumping in the woods.

There was another thump.

And another.

She began to hear a stallion's voice which lost volume as it twisted among the trees. “Give me some hay, Ah'll work for a day, gimme some buckin', Ah'll keep truckin', don't lemme roam, or Ah'll never come home, another meal please, and Ah'll clear all these trees...”

Fluttershy's face split with a smile. She recognized that voice.

As she hopped out of the bush and walked in the direction of the voice, she began to pick out more of what was being said. He was singing a song. “...It's a simple life for me, applebuckin' with mah family, and Ah couldn't ask for more....” His singing stopped as Fluttershy caught sight of him. He was tapping his hoof on his chin thoughtfully. “Well, 'cept one thing.”

As she closed in on the treeline, the stallion continued his work of ramming trees with his hind legs, breaking into song once more. “Fer if there was one fer me, as happy a stallion Ah'd be, Ah'd bow and plead and beg, even give up mah left hind leg, just fer a chance t' see, the mare of mah dreams.”

The pegasus stared in captivation at the gentle giant of a pony as he bucked another tree. The entire thing shook as his powerful legs made contact, then he pulled back quickly, the apples falling neatly into the baskets situated at the base of the tree. Despite the large amount of force that had been applied, all the leaves did was move around; not a single one fell from the branches.

Astonished, Fluttershy watched as Big Macintosh bucked another tree, the apples once again landing safely in their designated baskets. Another tree bucked, another round of full apple baskets. And still, not a single leaf fell.

He was perfect.

At that moment, Angel chose to dart out of the trees directly in front of Fluttershy, attracting the attention of Big Macintosh. As the big red stallion looked toward where Fluttershy had been spectating, the mare froze. She had a chance to hide... and she just stood there instead.

Their eyes met.

Big Macintosh's large body quivered slightly as he saw Fluttershy looking back at him. It registered in his eyes that she had been standing there for some time. Both of them stood there a few precious seconds, eyes locked and staring into the souls of one another.

Angel kicked Fluttershy in the leg. She looked down at her pet, feeling faint. As if in a trance, the pegasus collapsed on the ground, her vision going black.





Fluttershy's eyes fluttered open. She was... on somepony's back. She looked at the ground and saw Angel hopping next to her rescuer.

Applejack's voice piped up next to her. “Why'd she faint? Did she tell ya why she was in the forest like that?”

One of Big Macintosh's two surefire answers came back from the pony carrying her. “Nope.”

“But yer sure she didn't come from somewhere else? The forest is the only place?”

“Eeyup.”

“Well, ain't that just the strangest thing. Fluttershy don't seem like the adventurous type.” Applejack was silent a moment. “She say anything about why Angel's with 'er?”

“Nope.” Fluttershy slowly smiled at Big Mac's familiar answer.

Suddenly, the big stallion stopped as Applejack rushed around to Fluttershy's face. “Fluttershy! You all right, sugarcube? Ah heard ya fainted!”

The pegasus blinked. “I'm... um...”

The earth pony looked in the direction of Big Mac's face, then back at Fluttershy. “You all right t' stand?”

She thought for a moment before nodding. Her wings fluttered slightly as she rose slightly into the air. The big red stallion moved out from under her as she hovered for a moment, then she alighted once more on the ground.

Applejack ran up to her friend. The orange mare peered with concern at Fluttershy's face. “Y' sure yer all right? We can take ya back up to the farmhouse and get ya some water t' drink. Big Macintosh said ya fainted! Is there somethin' wrong? What were ya doin' in the forest?”

Fluttershy explained her chase with Angel and where it had led her, omitting the part about Big Macintosh singing and instead saying, “And I was, um, tired, and when I saw Angel, I was just so relieved... I guess my legs fell out from under me.”

Applejack seemed to accept this as they neared the farmhouse. She trotted ahead a little, holding the door open for Big Macintosh and Fluttershy. The shy red earth pony and the equally as shy yellow pegasus seated themselves at a table, looking awkwardly at the ground. The orange earth pony trotted into the next room, leaving the two of them alone.

There was silence for a few moments before Big Macintosh, seizing his chance, finally spoke. “You, uh... ya heard me?”

Fluttershy looked at the ground as her cheeks gave off a soft glow. “Yes.”

The stallion said nothing, instead looking out the window distractedly. His red coat would have hidden any embarrassment he was experiencing, so Fluttershy continued her focused stare at the ground.

Applejack burst back into the room with a glass of water, as well as some auburn-colored liquid, announcing, “Ah decided it'd do ya better t' chase that water down with some nice, refreshin' Apple Family apple juice! Hope ya like it!”

Fluttershy smiled weakly, offering her thanks and sipping from the glass of water. Entire minutes ticked by, Applejack discussing her plans for the rest of the day while Fluttershy nodded and pretended to pay attention. Her thoughts kept straying to the red stallion sitting next to her.

Occasionally, she would catch him sneaking a quick glance toward her. The only reason she knew was because she kept doing the same.





That evening, Fluttershy trotted back into her cottage, having finished her refreshments and with no other reason to stay. She'd really wanted to stay longer.

She put Angel into his new bed that she'd promised him and regretfully hopped onto her bed. She... wanted to see him again. She didn't have a reason, though; she'd just let him go. He was probably too embarrassed to even talk to her anymore. The nervous pegasus was certain he would never return her feelings, even if she wanted him to.

She sighed and closed her eyes.





That night, Fluttershy had a dream.

She was lying in one of the fields in Sweet Apple Acres, staring into the night sky. Countless stars winked back at her as she smiled and sighed. Rolling over, she nuzzled a big, red stallion next to her.





She awoke from her bed with a start. It was still dark out. But... she had to do something! She couldn't just let it go!

She leaped into the air and beat her wings, eliciting a shocked squeak from Angel as he was spooked from where he'd just been sleeping peacefully. Fluttershy flew into the window located in her room, knocking it open and disappearing into the night, her bunny squealing and hopping in circles as he debated what to do.

The pegasus couldn't see where she was going, but she knew the general direction, so she simply continued. Luna's moon wasn't very bright tonight, covered quite extensively by clouds, so she soldiered on, flying blindly towards her destination.

Slowly, she realized that there were trees below her, their dark forms becoming a carpet below the gliding pegasus. Eventually, she began to pick out small familiarities; she'd been here enough times to recognize the general area.

She focused her sights on one area in particular.





About an hour later, Big Macintosh purposefully departed the farmhouse as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. The big stallion traveled in the direction where he'd been bucking yesterday, before he'd found Fluttershy there watching him.

It still put his nerves on edge. A mare—one he liked, no less—had seen him singing! He wasn't sure he would ever live it down. Or if he'd ever be able to sing again.

This early in the morning, though, there was nopony else around. Deciding there was no way anypony would hear him now, he sang a little tune to himself. “Oh, if Ah was a little apple tree, Ah'd shake mah leaves and make some seeds, Ah'd spread mah boughs and make some roots, t' make some ponies some tasty fruit...”

He trailed off as he approached the place where he'd been working. There was the shape of a pony sitting there.

Big Macintosh ran up to the yellow pegasus as she stared at nothing. “Fluttershy! Are you all right? What're ya doin' out here so early? Should Ah go get Applejack?”





Fluttershy looked at the earth pony touching her shoulder and smiled. She knew she would find him here. She looked up and stared into his eyes.

Big Mac stopped shaking the pegasus and returned her gaze. Then he broke contact and mumbled, “Is there somethin' wrong?”

She stared at him for several eternal moments. As she felt the seconds tick by, she saw the stallion begin to stop worrying about her. She... wanted him to notice her. To pay attention to her. To be there for her.

So, she simply said, “Yes.”

The stallion looked back at her in surprise, but before he could say or do anything, she was leaping at him in an embrace.

For a moment, there was total silence. Then, slowly, Big Macintosh raised his hooves and wrapped them around Fluttershy.

You lied, you silly filly.

It didn't matter. She felt like she finally had somepony.
> Summer - Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"And make sure you get plenty of rest!"

A turquoise-colored pegasus was quickly being sent to the door of Ponyville Hospital in a rickety-looking old wheelchair. He glanced nervously at the doctor trotting beside him, having just received an earful of lectures about proper exercise and healing. His right wing was folded up next to his body; his left was coated in a cast that restricted all hope of movement.

As it rolled to the edge of the walkway, the nurse-powered chair's wheels hit a small lip, bringing the speedy throne to a sudden, jarring halt. The pegasus lurched forward in his seat, then glanced at the nurse in irritation.

The doctor drew himself up closer to the pegasus. "Um... Sea Spray? This is where you get off."

Sea Spray hoisted himself out of the wheelchair. "Yeah, yeah. I was just about to." He landed on all four hooves, stalking menacingly away from the hospital, shooting several venomous glances back at the ponies waving him off.

It was just his luck. He was on holiday, having come from Manehattan, and a very prestigious member of the city's weather team, too. Keeping the skies clean of all that pollution was very laborious—and dangerous—work. Some silly mare wasn't looking where she was going and had crashed into his side with her cart, and it busted up his wing. He was grounded for a few more days.

The pegasus sighed dejectedly and wandered through the town. It would probably pay to find somewhere to stay tonight. There was... something big happening this weekend... some thing about a Ponyville Day, with fireworks and a big fair. As such, the town was more packed than usual.

The packed inns and potels reflected this as he walked down Mane Street. He looked at one of the inns, noticing a large glowing sign that declared, "NO VACANCY." He glanced at another sign, seeing similar red wording. Seeing another such sign with the first word dimmed, he decided he would go in and see about inquiring a room.

Upon entering the lobby, the pegasus was stunned at the line of six or seven ponies waiting to book rooms, two or three of them tapping their hooves impatiently. The clerk at the front desk was apologizing profusely to a posh stallion wearing a fancy vest and demanding that he be boarded in this potel for the evening or she'd be hearing from her manager.

As Sea Spray watched this diatribe, another clerk trotted past him, unlocking a small box next to the vacancy sign with a key he held by magic, then flipping a small switch contained within. Nothing happened for a few moments, until the clerk rammed his hoof into the sign. The "NO" that had just previously been off now flickered to life.

With a groan, Sea Spray cantered back out of the potel, wandering down the street in no general direction. He'd probably end up sleeping on a bench tonight, something he hadn't had to do in years. If only he could have stayed in that hospital a few more days....

As he trotted past a cherry red house, a mare with a half-blue and half-pink mane opened the front door. There was something about her, something in the air, that compelled Sea Spray to ask her something.

"Excuse me, Miss...?"

The eggshell-colored earth pony smiled encouragingly. "Bon Bon."

"Ah, yes, Miss Bon Bon. You, um, wouldn't happen to know anywhere to stay, would you?"

Bon Bon glanced at Sea Spray's right side, having noticed his cast. "Oh, you poor dear! Let me go get Lyra."

The pegasus stallion stood awkwardly while he waited for his hopeful savior to get back with this "Lyra."

After a minute or two, Bon Bon re-appeared in the doorway with a minty green unicorn. She took one look at Sea Spray, then looked back at her friend. "Yep, he's staying here."

Sea Spray was very quickly whisked through the doorway and into the home of at least one of these mares. Perhaps they lived together? That seemed a little bit odd.

"What do you like to eat? Candy? We've got plenty of that." Bon Bon looked into Sea Spray's face eagerly.

Lyra pushed her friend out of the way. "I think we should give him a tour first, Bon Bon." Lyra proceeded to guide Sea Spray through the house. She pointed out the dining room, the kitchen, and their lounging area, then headed upstairs. The green mare gestured into one of their two guest rooms, stating that Sea Spray would be sleeping in there, then pointed to a door at the end of the hallway,saying that she and Bon Bon slept in there.

All right, so they lived here. Together. In the same room. Sea Spray let out an inward sigh. This definitely wasn't his ideal vacation.

After completing the tour, the two of them sauntered back to the dining room, where Bon Bon was preparing a meal. She swayed her flank to and fro as she hummed a tune to herself. Lyra smiled abashedly for her marefriend, walking up and halting the movement of the earth pony's hips, whispering something that Sea Spray couldn't quite make out, but that he knew was concerning him. Bon Bon smiled and looked at the pegasus standing awkwardly in her kitchen. “Go ahead and take a seat in the dining room. Food'll be right up.”

Sea Spray breathed a sigh of relief, cantering to the table and hopping onto a chair. He heard a hushed conversation between the two ponies responsible for making his food. Knowing his luck, they were plotting what poison they should put in there to knock him out so they could tie him up and... do Celestia-knows-what.

Several moments later, Bon Bon served up a big steaming plate of asparagus. Sea Spray's nose wrinkled as his small rumbling of hunger disappeared altogether. He knew he was supposed to be a good guest, so he obediently bent his head over the plate and slowly, tenderly took a small bite from one of the offending spears. He stuck it in the side of his mouth, feeling the disgusting juice seep onto his tongue, before he threw caution to the wind and swallowed his bite whole. For a few moments, his airway was blocked as the large piece of nasty vegetable became lodged in his throat. Through sheer force of willpower, he managed to gulp the entire piece of asparagus down, chasing it quickly with some water.

Bon Bon stared into his face expectantly. Sea Spray stuttered, “Oh, um, it's uh... it's, uh, it's good!”

The enthusiastic mare practically vaulted into the air. “Oh, he likes it! I'll go fix some more!”

She's trying to kill you! came a voice in Sea Spray's head. For pony's sake, stop her! The brown-maned pegasus kicked himself off of his chair and onto the ground, knocking the chair over in the process. For a few moments, nothing in the room moved, the two mares simply staring at him.

Sea Spray looked down, embarrassed. “I'm, uh, actually not hungry at all.”

Bon Bon's infectious smile once again adorned her face. “Oh, not a problem! We'll just have an extra big breakfast in the morning to make up for it! But that means... oh, I need to get everything ready!” The earth pony dove back through the entryway into the kitchen to concoct whatever diabolical scheme she could to further jeopardize the fortitude of Sea Spray's stomach.

A few moments after Bon Bon left, Lyra tapped Sea Spray on his shoulder and smiled apologetically. “It's all right; even if you liked asparagus, Bon Bon is a terrible cook.”

He looked skeptically at the friendly unicorn. “How do you put up with it?”

She smiled and winked knowingly. “Lots of ketchup drowns out whatever she puts in it, usually. It'll still take a few days to get used to, though. Just try not to interfere with my bathroom time.”

Sea Spray decided to end the conversation, hoping instead for something better to come around the corner with Bon Bon. Against his better hopes, however, it was just the simple earth pony, covered from head to toe in... flour? Cinnamon? Brown sugar? He wasn't sure with her coat color.

The sugary mare—he decided it was some kind of sugar, guessing from her cutie mark of a piece of candy—skipped by Lyra, saying, “Guessss what I'm covered in!”

The minty unicorn seemed familiar with this game. “Hmm... sugar!” Her cheery friend shook her head. “Um... brown sugar!”

The earth pony nodded profusely, saying, “Give it a try!”

The unicorn obliged, taking a long lick off of Bon Bon's flank.

Sea Spray made an audible gasp. The two mares looked at him, as if not having realized he was still standing there, before the both of them blushed profusely. Bon Bon quickly trotted upstairs to shower herself off while Lyra led Sea Spray to their lounging area to unwind.

What followed was an evening that, to Sea Spray, wasn't altogether unpleasant, but that he wasn't quite comfortable with, either. His upbringing in Manehattan say he see things one way, but the way these mares were treating him—it was something very different than what he had expected from anypony. Several games of Pin the Tail On the Pony and several more games of Ponies to Ponies later, Sea Spray let out a mighty yawn. He'd had a long day.

As he sought his room, the two convincingly crazy mares whom he'd somehow gotten dragged into staying with trotted softly behind him. Yet, despite all their shortcomings and crazy quirks, they held a sort of magic, the likes of which Sea Spray had never encountered before.

Sea Spray shut the door behind him, sauntering next to, then collapsing on, his surprisingly comfortable bed. He was surprised such simple ponies could afford such nice beds. He sighed and gave in to sleep.





What couldn't have been ten minutes later, his sleep was interrupted. He was already a light sleeper, and he expected to be woken up by the slightest noise. He dismissed whatever it was that had awoken him; it was probably just somepony moving around. He rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.

With how silent the house was, however, his ears began to pick up on something. He was hearing muffled voices through the wall. The mares were talking.

About a minute later, he heard one of the mares let out a loud moan. Confused, he sat up in bed, almost leaving to go check on them, before the loud moan was heard again.

Sea Spray froze, listening intently. Slowly, dramatically, another moan sounded.

Just then, he put two and two and two together.

Slowly, over the next hour, he heard the two mares eliciting moans through the wall, his face burning with embarrassment at hearing these two ponies enjoying one another's company so highly. He tried burying his head under his pillow; he tried turning on the fan as white noise; at one point, he even shouted, “I can hear you!” but the two mares were too caught up in their current task to notice.

Finally, he heard one of them give a particularly loud moan, and the house once again went silent.

What have I gotten myself into?
> Autumn - Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Brian, you have to get up!”

A young man, around 12 years of age, awoke with a start, his tousled blonde hair sticking out from his head to form cowlicks and spikes wherever they pleased. He quickly jumped out of bed, staggering sleepily as he blinked his bleary eyes in an attempt to make the world materialize around him.

“You've missed the bus, young man! That's double chores for today!”

The pre-teen looked at the hazy face of his mother through eyes that felt as if sand had been rubbed in them. “Mum, it's your fault for making me stay up so late waiting for dinner.”

The face of Brian's mother finally materialized in front of him. She had a look of shock on her face. “Why, I never! I got up just fine, why can't you?” She held up a finger at his attempted protest, saying, “No, no, I don't want to hear it. Just go get ready so I can take you to school. Oh, I'm probably going to be late to work....”

His mother finally gone, Brian got around to changing into his school clothes and tossing some food down his gullet before he departed the house and hopped into a white sedan. His mother hurriedly followed suit and situated herself in the driver's seat, asking her son if he was sure he'd gotten everything before starting the engine and backing out of the driveway.

Brian contented himself to look out the window of the vehicle as his mother silently cursed and lamented under her breath. It was another fairly typical day.

As she sped down the quiet road toward the highway that would lead her to the school most quickly, the mother decided she would skip the stop sign that segmented the two roads. She'd done this while in a hurry before; nobody drove around these parts this early in the morning, anyway.

Brian dully noted that the stop sign went by awfully quickly. He looked at his mother, saying, “We don't need to break the law, Mum.” He went back to maintaining his vigil over the side of the road as he saw a semi come speeding into him—





He was nowhere. Weightless.

He wasn't looking around, per se... but he could see things. He saw the whiteness he was floating around in. He felt like he was nothing, but he was wading through a swamp.

“Oh, now this won't do.”

He felt himself being sped quickly to somewhere else. He didn't feel as if limbs were moving, but it was like something was pushing him from behind. He couldn't look around; there was only the whiteness everywhere.

Eventually, something came to view in front of him. As the object loomed closer and closer, he began to pick out colors. It was wavy... green, blue, purple, and pink. It reminded him a little bit of toothpaste. Its body was white, and it was looking down at the ground, focusing on something. It had a long, white horn that glowed with a yellow light.

He was nearly on top of the thing before it finally looked up at him, the yellow light around its horn flickering off. It said in a kind, motherly voice, “Oh? And how did you get here?” Her smile seemed to dissolve any misgivings he may have felt.

A silence fell between the white thing with the wavy toothpaste and the ethereal Brian. He couldn't speak; he didn't have a mouth. The strange creature stared for a few more moments before she said, “Well?”

Brian focused on his name. “Brian.” It was almost like realizing he had a new body part. He didn't manipulate a mouth or anything, or even move, but he felt like he'd said it.

The creature smiled. “That's a very lovely name, but one I've never heard of before. And what brought you here today?”

“I... died.”

The toothpaste creature registered sadness in her eyes as she sighed. “And so young, it would seem. Just a moment.” The odd thing seemed to waver for a little bit, then almost totally disappear. He could see it talking just a tiny bit, but there was no way he could hear what the thing was saying.

A few moments later, the creature rematerialized, and another creature appeared a few seconds later. This one wasn't white; it was actually quite a dark purple. It had soft purple stuff that looked like hair. The white one said, “This seems like a good creature, don't you think, Luna?”

The purple one named Luna replied, “We shall see, Sister.” The new arrival now focused on Brian, her horn glowing, as she commanded, “Now, sleep.”

Brian felt himself go deeper into his mind.





He was dreaming of his morning. He watched as he groaned and woke up, the Brian inside the dream as annoyed with being woken up as he'd been just recently. He watched as his mother commanded him to prepare for school, and his half-baked excuses as to why he'd missed the bus just to get a bit of extra sleep.

A great sadness fell over the Brian observing his dream. He missed his mother already. She'd never get to see him or hear his voice ever again. As she went back to her bedroom to get ready for work, he tried to call out to her, but his voice no longer worked. She probably wouldn't be able to hear him anyway.

He rushed to the next dream. He was in the schoolyard, being picked on by one of the bigger kids. The Brian in the dream cried as the bully threw his books on the ground, tearing a few pages out of one of them before reaching into Brian's pocket and fishing out a few quarters. The bully yanked Brian's jacket off next, tossing it into a nearby tree. He then laughed and left Brian to try to recover from this.

He remembered how this ended, too. He had gone and talked to the principal about what the bully did. The principal told Brian that while the other student's actions were wrong, he'd never actually done anything to physically harm Brian, so the bully would be let off with just a warning this time. Never mind that Brian was in here weekly, complaining about the same thing; they never did anything about it. The only reason he still told anyone about the bullies was so the school would buy him lunch.

He was rushing to the next memory again. This time, he wasn't the one being bullied; it was a girl who the other kids said was “slow.” She seemed like a really nice person to him, but they put her in a bunch of classes separate from most of the other kids, and there was a really weird kid in her class who ate glue all the time.

There were two bigger girls making fun of the girl, telling her she was stupid and useless. The girl being tormented was curled into a ball and crying in the face of the onslaught the other two girls were giving her. It made his blood boil just to watch them.

As he watched this memory, the dream Brian was cursorily walking by in a nearby hallway, then slowed his walking as he heard one of the bullies fling an insult at the crying friend. He stopped, then redirected his movement toward the tormentors.

“Hey! You know what they call girls like you? Hags!” dream Brian spat. The observing Brian's mind swelled with pride as he watched himself defend the poor girl from two older aggressors.

The girls turned as one toward Brian with nasty sneers on their faces. One of them menacingly asked, “What did you just say?”

“I said, you should go soak your heads instead of being mean to her. She's a person; how could you act like that?”

The two bullies quickly surrounded dream Brian as he tried to back away, catching him by his backpack and picking him up as they carried him off to the ladies' restroom. He remembered them dunking his head in the toilet, then shoving his face in and making him drink the water before they left him there, throwing up water that he'd choked down.

He zoomed to another memory... no, this wasn't a memory. This was a dream he'd had before.

In his dream, there were a bunch of kids playing and laughing. He and his bully were playing hopscotch while the slow girl had lunch with him. His mom was smiling and happy instead of nagging him and always rushing everywhere. He was laughing and playing instead of crying and afraid.

He knew the world wasn't perfect, but... he was happy in his dreams, and that was enough for him.





The dream ended, and he found himself staring at Sister Toothpaste and Luna once again. The purple creature looked at him closely, then smiled and looked at the one with the colored wavy stuff. “He is of good heart, dear Sister.”

Sister Toothpaste smiled warmly. “That's good. I had a feeling this was a good pony.”

Pony?

Sister Toothpaste was talking again. “Young one, it doesn't matter where you come from, or how you came to be here; what matters is that you are of good heart. If you should so choose, my sister and I will grant you another life with us.”

Brian thought about it for a moment. “Is it like my old life?”

“If you're asking if there will still be unhappiness, yes. There will always be unhappiness wherever you go, and my sister and I are not promising a perfect life. However, there is still very much for you to do before your time comes, and we deem you worthy to live in our world.” Sister Toothpaste gave Brian another warm, reassuring smile.

“Can't I just go back?”

The smile faded from Toothpaste's face. “I'm afraid not. If you choose not to go with us... we don't know what will happen to you.”

Brian's mind was quickly made up. “Then I will.”

Sister Toothpaste smiled. “That makes me glad. Luna?”

The horns of the sisters glowed as they channeled power. They each fired a beam from their horn simultaneously, creating a mixed beam of yellow and purple, which was fired directly at where Brian perceived himself to be. He felt himself enveloped in the bright light....





Brian's eyes slowly opened. He looked up. He was in... a strange place. It looked like a bedchamber from a book. They never made rooms like these anymore.

“Hello, little colt.”

He turned his head in shock at the big white toothpaste creature looming over him, scrambling away immediately with his arms and legs. As he did so, he realized that his fingers weren't responding. As soon as he was a safe distance from Sister Toothpaste, he lifted his arm in front of his face.

It was flat on the end.





Slowly, rumors circulated through Canterlot concerning a skittish young colt who was living in the castle with Princess Celestia who went by the name of Briar Patch. To those gentleponies invited to Canterlot Castle who did see him at their fancy meals, he seemed quite polite and intelligent, if a bit shy.

Eventually, due to several inquiries as to the colt's education, it was decided they would send him to a public school several months after his first appearance. The Princess had considered private options, but she stated that she felt it would be best for Briar Patch if he were to go to public school to further encourage him out of his shell.

Nopony knew it yet, but this was where Briar Patch would meet his special somepony.





Briar Patch departed Canterlot Castle with infectious optimism. It was his first day of school in his new home of Equestria.

He'd been adjusting to his new home quite well. He liked his yellow coat and his orange mane. He liked his new mom. He liked all of the guard ponies he'd met. He even liked some of the few nobles who'd been invited to dine with the Princesses.

It wasn't the life he'd wanted, though. He asked Princess Celestia if he could go to public school, like he had in his previous life. She'd smiled and nodded her consent, and had him enrolled immediately.

Now he was finally going to get to meet other ponies like he wanted to. Today was going to be absolutely perfect.

He rushed through the front gate that he'd never been past prior to this and immediately halted, realizing he was somewhat lost. He reached into a small saddlebag he was wearing, sifting through it for a few moments. He found his lunch, an apple for the new teacher, a small assortment of pencils, a folder with some blank paper in it, and... aha! A map of Canterlot.

Briar Patch laid out the map he had, finding and poking a hoof at the school he was assigned to, saying to himself, “There, that's the place.” He immediately picked the map back up and stuffed it into its place within his saddlebag, sprinting once again along the streets of the robust city, his orange mane billowing out behind his sandy-colored coat.

He wound his way through the network of roads, becoming lost more times than he wanted to remember, continually having to consult his map and drawing looks from the nobility out for their morning strolls. He did his best to ignore them, as he knew how they would react to a poor-seeming colt speaking with them.

Eventually, however, Canterlot Central School for Happy Fillies and Colts loomed ahead. He halted at the front gate, took a few deep breaths, steeled himself for the coming day, and entered his new school.

He was expecting a school like his old one. He was expecting very little difference between his old world and Equestria. He was expecting to see and deal with bullies, antagonists, and aggressors.

He wasn't expecting to have to deal with it so quickly.

As Briar Patch trotted into the main corridor that ran in a square around his school, he caught a commotion in the corner of his eye. He immediately looked toward what was happening, taking everything in a glance: There was a small grey pegasus being belittled and degraded by a colt with a cutie mark of three money bags and an expertly styled mane, who was being accompanied by a filly, whose cutie mark resembled an upturned nose, and another colt, his cutie mark an empty wine glass.

The ringleader with the money bags was degrading and belittling the pegasus, who was curled into a ball, crying on the ground.

This was unacceptable. No living creature, pony or otherwise, deserved to be treated like this. He began walking purposefully toward the colt with the moneybags. “Hey! What's up with you, stinkin' rich?”

The colt with the moneybags turned toward Briar Patch. “I'm Actually Filthy, the son of Stinkin', but I thank you for... wait, who are you, commoner? And why are you talking to me?”

Briar Patch gave a knowing smile. “Briar Patch.”

“Uh-huh...” continued the snobby earth pony. “And what makes you think you have the right to address me?”

“I don't. You're just a bully, and I just can't stand to see a pony like you keep being mean to other ponies with your rude mouth. Now leave her alone, before you make me mad.”

The pony turned his nose up and gave a derisive snort. “And the common rabble comes to pull the other out of the ditch? Dirt cannot clean dirt, simpleton. What do you hope to do?”

Briar Patch smiled wistfully, losing focus on Filthy Rich and staring past him. “Change the world.” He sighed resignedly, then refocused his attention on the bully. “And you're making it dirty, not my friend.”

The pegasus visibly brightened at this statement, offering Briar Patch a weak smile. Her pale yellow eyes sought his, pleading for... something.

Their eyes met. The left eye of the pegasus then trailed down, looking at the ground. She seemed to think she'd done something wrong, so she closed her eyes, the frown once again marring her face as she cast her nose to the ground.

“And common ponies are most definitely not worthless!” Briar exclaimed, stomping his hoof on the ground as emphasis. He seemed to have lost interest in Filthy Rich, instead noticing the young pegasus filly who was crying on the ground. He trotted over to her, placing his hoof below her chin and lifting her face up to meet his. “Hey... you all right?”

The pegasus opened her eyes once again. One was pointed up while the other was pointed to the right. They seemed to converge together at the same time as they focused on the face of Briar Patch. “Mmhmm... now I am.”

Briar's heart leaped into his throat. He had never heard a voice so beautiful, so welcome, as he did just then.

Except... maybe once.





He was back at his old school. He'd confronted the bullies, standing up for someone. They insulted him a little bit, then left. He was alone with the girl that everyone called slow.

He'd walked over to her while she stared at the ground. He put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up towards his. He asked her, “Hey... you all right?”

The girl had replied, “Mmhmm... now I am.”





He had found her.

He spun around, looking at Filthy Rich once again. It was time to finish things.

“Y'know,” he started, cantering back to his newly found nemesis, “I can't change rich, snobby ponies to be better to other ponies. I will fight them every step of the way, though. You know why, Filthy?”

The smug colt tried to cut a noble pose, instead coming off as posh and uptight. “And why is that, simpleton?”

“Because you don't deserve to breathe Equestrian air, let alone share it with me or my friends.”

Filthy Rich's eyes suddenly bulged, and he looked back at Briar. “Take that back... you take that back right now.”

Briar smiled menacingly. “Make me.”





It wasn't often that Princess Celestia visited  Canterlot Central School for Happy Fillies and Colts, but today was an exception.

She arrived to take Briar Patch home early. He had been sitting in the administration office for about ten minutes, not even having made it to his first class.

During those minutes, Briar Patch had been talking to a certain mare.

With the proper forms signed, the Princess of the Sun departed the school, her adopted colt in tow. Noting that nopony around, she whirled on him. “Why, Briar Patch? Why today of all days?”

The little colt smiled contentedly. “Derpy Hooves... or Ditsy Doo.”
> Winter - Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Yeah, well you, you—you are such a, a flip-flop! Cool one minute, and then lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call."

A brown griffin with white head feathers flew angrily from her party in Sugar Cube Corner. She distanced herself from the building quickly, subsequently landing and walking purposefully in the opposite direction of the building where she'd just been made a complete and total fool.

As she made her way to the outskirts of Ponyville, her face was etched with anger and shame. Ponies were looking at her questioningly, and she did her best to hide her face and ignore them.

Finally, the lone griffon arrived at the edge of Ponyville. There were no ponies around that she could see.

She sat down on the ground and let a few tears fall.

"No, no. This is so not cool." She stood once again and took to the air, winging off into the blue, sunny day.

One set of eyes watched her go.





Several months later, that same griffon shivered in an alleyway of Manehattan.

She'd never asked for help; she never needed to ask for help before. That wasn't going to change now.

She was still certain that she was awesome. She stared into a puddle that had formed earlier that day, looking into the eyes of her own reflection. Within them, she saw pride, fearlessness, and capability, all well within her reach.

If that was all true... then why was she here?

She reflected on the last 6 months of her life. She'd traveled back to her home a short ways from the edge of the Hollow Shades Forest, about an hour away from Fillydelphia. After settling in for a week or so, she set off once again to look for somewhere to work.

Things had gone downhill shortly after. Her family said they were tiring of her attitude, and one day, she came home to find all of her belongings at the edge of the property, and a new sign erected that said, "No Trespassers." She sighed and sifted through the pile for her necessities, leaving her memories behind.

She had tried living in Fillydelphia for a little while, but the weather team there was ruthlessly efficient. Even if she'd gotten a chance to show her stuff, she hadn't been working together nearly as long as all those ponies. There was no way she could compete.

She tried to find some work on the farms between Fillydelphia and Manehattan next, but they proved just as fruitless. What small amount of work she did get only lasted a day or two; she wasn't used to manual labor, and the jobs that took a flier were handled by the Fillydelphia weather team.

Nopony required her talents. She had no home. Despite how capable she was of turning her life around, no opportunity had presented itself.

So, here she was in Manehattan. She'd tried to clear a smog cloud in the city, but it had gotten the better of her and still had her wheezing two days later. Needless to say, the weather team here wasn't interested if she couldn't get rid of such a small cloud without issues.

She shifted from her side to her back, her lungs protesting by forcing another shuddering cough from her spent lungs. She spat out a wad of black goop, her misery compounded into this one moment.

She was alone. Her life was nothing.





The griffon awoke the next morning shivering. It was cold.

She attempted to lift her head, something on her head shifting. It had snowed. How had she slept through that?

She groaned and pushed her body from the ground. A light blanket of snow shifted and fell off her. There was still plenty more collecting on the ground. She gesticulated annoyance at the snow, kicking it and mumbling incoherent insults. Satisfied that she had taught the bothersome stuff a lesson, she spun around to leave the alleyway and find more to do with her day.

There was a pony standing in the entrance, just off the road, who was watching her curiously.

She knew she'd just been caught throwing a tantrum. There was no way she could save face now. So, instead of ignoring this stallion, she chose instead to gaze back at him. "What?"

The pony continued to watch her. He was wearing a cloak that shrouded his face, though his legs and part of his body were visible below it.

She looked around in irritation. "Say something, dude."

The pony spoke. "I'm aware of who you are, Gilda."

She walked angrily toward the stranger, her coolness suddenly melting away. "You don't know me! You have no idea what I've been through! I...." She paused in thought for a moment. "Wait. How d'you know my name?"

The pony replied, "I can help you."

Gilda was instantly mad again. "I don't need your help! I don't need help from anyone, especially a pony! I'm outta this place. This is so lame."

She marched haughtily past the passive pony. As she brushed by him, she caught what he looked like. His coat was a dark brown, and all along his body were white jagged markings. Despite his choice in fashion, it was still relatively easy to see his looks. Pirouetting off his flank was a twisted black tail with the same white markings shooting all the way through it.

He looked... cool. No, not cool. He was awesome.

She ignored this, instead opting to feign indifference, trying her best to suppress a shiver as it ran over her body. There was a lot of snow.

"I have a home here. 314 Herbert Hoofer Avenue. You are invited."

Gilda snorted derisively. "I'll think about it. Don't expect me any time soon, though; I got things to do."





About an hour later, Gilda found herself at 314 Hoofer Avenue.

She had checked the mailbox at the street corner for his house. The name printed on the side simply said "Grey." She begrudgingly admitted to herself that even that was cool.

The proud griffon disinterestedly approached the door, raising a clawed leg and rapping on it.

The door opened, and on the other side stood a young filly. Gilda eyed the little unicorn suspiciously before saying, “Is, uh, Mr. Grey here, dude?”

The filly smiled and said, I'm a filly, not a colt! I'll go get Mr. Grey for ya, miss.”

Gilda was left tapping her clawed foot against the stoop of the building while she waited for the bizarre yet cool pony to appear. Finally, the door opened again, revealing Mr. Grey, who was standing behind it.

Now Gilda had a good look at him. Sure enough, he had jagged white marks literally everywhere on his dark brown coat and his jet black mane, including a single mark that spanned all of his right eye. Coming from the center of his head was a horn. His eyes were a mellow green color, which he used to look calculatingly at the griffon on the other side of the entryway. His tail looked just as jagged as his markings, seeming kinked at odd angles, yet still managing to look completely natural, and just as thoroughly bedecked with the white jagged lines.

Gilda's gaze traveled a short ways up from the tail to his flank. On it was a strange, cylindrical object. It had a small part sticking up on one end, and on the other end it was smooth. It looked like a metal canister.

Grey's voice cut through her fascination. “Enjoying the view?”

Gilda couldn't hide her blush in time. Her feathers tinged red as she stammered, “N-no way, dude! I was just wondering what that weird thing is.”

Grey nodded his head. “That's a battery. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them. They're like a way to give power without magic or electricity. Just put one into a receptacle, and it will last as long as it can before it uses up all of its energy and dies.

“Your next question is going to be, 'Why is it your cutie mark,' yes?” The fascinating unicorn nodded knowingly. “Because I create them.”

Gilda was even more fascinated by this cool-headed pony now. She still didn't know much about him, though. “Who are you, dude?”

“I,” he began with a lavish bow, “am Alkaline Grey. Only manufacturer of batteries in the world that I'm aware of.”

“Uh-huh.” Gilda attempted to feign boredom, but she couldn't hide the interest in her eyes. “You wanna, uh, show me how one works?”

Alkaline Grey nodded and moved behind the door, holding it open with a small spark of magic from his horn. Gilda entered the home, immediately shocked by the sparse furnishing and simplistic decorations for such a cool pony.

After she had taken a short look around, her host trotted in front of her to a small living space just in and to the right. She followed him, looking at the familiar household items: A lamp, a calculator, a vacuum cleaner. Alkaline grabbed the nearest object, the lamp, and floated it in front of him.

As Gilda observed silently, Alkaline's magic wrapped around one of the cylindrical objects—a battery—from a nearby bowl that held a few. He inserted the battery into a receptacle on the underside of the lamp, then he set it down. He turned to Gilda. “Hit the switch.”

Looking at the lamp thoughtfully, Gilda hit the switch on the side of the lamp. It illuminated as brightly as any lamp she'd ever seen, but there was no glow of magic around it, nor was there any cord running to it. It appeared the lamp was running independently of any power source.

“Now, take the battery out.”

The griffon obliged, yanking the battery from the bottom of the lamp. The light immediately flickered off.

“And put it back in.”

She once again thrust the battery into the lamp. The room was once again more brightly illuminated.

Alkaline nodded his head to himself and picked the lamp up with his magic, yanking the battery out and placing it back in the small bowl of its brethren. Gilda looked at the unicorn with a kind of newfound awe. Not only did he look really cool, he'd created something really cool, too. This guy just seemed extremely cool all around.

“Gilda... I saw you. On the last day that you saw your friend, Rainbow Dash.”

The griffon, who had just been smiling, froze. She turned slowly, angrily, toward her newest enemy. “Oh yeah?”

“They made a fool out of you, Gilda... but you're not a fool. You're not a fool,” he repeated, as if trying to convince her of something she already knew. “I know it's been difficult for you since. They took something special from you... something you would not release.”

“Shut UP! I don't need your lectures, and I don't need your sympathy! I'm fine on my own! She just needs a bit more time, and she'll... she'll find me! And she'll apologize!” Gilda was instantly furious, advancing on Alkaline and shouting into his face while he averted his eyes and did his best to look uncomfortable, but stood his ground the entire time. “You know nothing about me! I never even saw you until today! How can you just walk into my life and tell me everything is going to be all better? You can't do that!

“You think I got where I am by telling everyone else how they feel? That's not... not okay! How dare you try to tell me who I am!”

Alkaline Grey simply looked to the side and kept silent for the remainder of Gilda's tirade. As she spoke the final words, she seemed to be searching for something more to say. Alkaline took this moment to quietly state, “You're all alone.”

Gilda had had enough. She turned around and tore open the door, stalking out and leaving it ajar. Alkaline Grey trotted over to watch her go.

As Gilda barged down the narrow stairs, she attempted to focus on the walkway ahead. A few feet away, she unwittingly turned her head for a moment, tears falling from her face. Alkaline Grey stood, maintaining a vigil over the hurt griffon.

Gilda gave a few powerful beats of her wings and flew into the evening, her tears spattering on the ground where she'd forsaken them.

Alkaline Grey approached the spot Gilda had left. He watched the tears as they slowly turned to ice.





Alone and abandoned in an alleyway, a proud, angry griffon was shivering.

Her life was so dark. So bleak. So pointless.

She gazed out into the winter night. She watched the snowflakes gather together on the ground, slowly lowering her head as she watched the little white dots land on her feet.

Who was this Alkaline Grey? Perhaps he was plain, like her. He was blank, hollow... nonexistent. The snow reflected its utter nothingness to Gilda as she reflected upon the utter nothingness of her life.

She had no ambition, no future, no plans. This was her life. Perhaps she should just let the snow take her. It would make no difference.

“They don't know you like I know you.”

She jerked her head up. Standing right in front of her was that accursed unicorn. “Just. Go. AWAY!”

“I know you better than they do, Gilda.”

She huffed a large gust of air through her nose. “And what do you think is so special about you? What makes you think I even want to know you exist?”

“I swear I won't go away.”

She stared blankly into his face. Her pride screamed profanities at this upstart. He was acting all cool, but he was taking advantage of her. Manipulating her.

And she was so weak.

She stood up and walked next to him. They went back to Alkaline Grey's home together.
> Spring - Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	She was afraid.

Fluttershy wasn't the kind of pony to be bold like she had been lately. She put it down to jittery nerves and the nice weather. It wasn't like her to act this way, and she needed to ensure it wouldn't happen again.

Even so, she wanted to see him. There was something wrong with how she was feeling about him.

She wished more than anything that she'd never seen him that morning. Why did she even feel this way? It wasn't as if she'd never met the dashing stallion before....

She reflected on her previous encounters with Big Macintosh. Not a single word spoken... not to each other, at least. And I never looked into his eyes. In fact, I never really looked at him at all. It just... feels different now, though. Than before.

Nodding her head to herself, Fluttershy confirmed her resolution. I won't see him anymore, that's that.

She felt a tapping on her leg.

The yellow pegasus looked down to see her bunny kicking her to get her attention. "Oh, do you need something, Angel?"

Angel pointed at a cabinet where Fluttershy held food for herself, then pointed at her, crossed his arms, and began tapping his foot.

Fluttershy glanced at the clock: 12:00 noon. "Oh, it is that time. But... don't you want some of the yummy food that the other critters will get?" At the shaking of the white bunny's head, she said, "Well, all right... I guess you can eat some of my food today."

She flew to the cabinet and opened it, baring its contents. Within was a tasty-looking hay-and-tulip sandwich and nothing else. "Um, Angel... if I give you this, then I won't have anything to eat. That's not very fair, is it?"

In reply, Angel threw a food bowl at her. The pegasus caught it with a practiced movement, deftly placing the fragile container onto the top of a nearby counter. "Well, all right... I guess I do need to get some shopping done today, anyway."





Fluttershy strolled through the marketplace of Ponyville, looking for food. Her tummy was rumbling, and she knew it was a bad idea to shop on an empty stomach... but she needed to find something to eat.

As she cursorily looked from shop to shop, the pangs of hunger becoming steadily stronger from wafts of baked goods, her eyes darting voraciously from stall to stall of food, she felt ready to gorge herself on everything at once. Patience, she counseled herself. I have to find something I'll eat, not just nibble on.

She found herself drifting off to something she would actually eat. Apples immediately came to mind. She would go for a big, red, juicy apple. That sounded like the best idea for her right now; maybe an apple or two, and she would be fine to get her actual shopping done. She began trotting toward the apple stall—

She felt a tap on her shoulder.

Not expecting to be touched by another pony, Fluttershy squeaked and bolted straight into the air, hovering a few feet above the ground.

Standing on the ground and giving a grin that quickly turned into a quizzical raise of an eyebrow was Big Macintosh. "Well, uh, howdy, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy didn't reply, instead lowering herself back to the ground and lowering her head to stare at the dirt meekly.

"How're you today?"

The shy pegasus scuffed the ground with her hoof, looking to the side.

"Ah, uh, was just walkin' through town, and Ah saw ya and thought t' mahself, 'That Fluttershy, she looks pretty lonely.' So Ah came here to see how y'all were doin'." The stallion seemed happy to see her, being uncharacteristically chatty and sociable.

Oh, why can't he just stay quiet? Fluttershy silently berated herself for not foreseeing this. This is a bad idea....

Her stomach gave a small gurgle of protest.

Big Macintosh's eyes lit up. "Are ya hungry? Ah could whip ya up somethin' tasty back at the farm, if ya'd like. We could catch up and see how we're comin' along." He obviously thought that there was more to things than Fluttershy did.

He was offering apples, though... apples that she was craving greatly.

"Um... yes." She offered a weak smile as she accepted. Subconsciously, he knew why she decided to say yes. It had nothing to do with the apples.






The walk to Sweet Apple Acres was deliberately devoid of conversation. Big Macintosh would glance at Fluttershy occasionally, open his mouth as if to tell her something, then snap his mouth shut and not say a word. Once, he decided to mention the nice spring weather they were having, to which Fluttershy replied with a timid "Yes." He decided to keep quiet for the remainder of the trip.

Once they had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy began glancing at the trees, her mouth watering as she imagined munching on delicious apples. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea, after all.

Big Macintosh, as perceptive as ever, noticed her sneaking glances at the bountiful fruit. "We're almost there, don't ya worry. Ah can't respectfully leave another pony hungry, especially with as big a harvest as we're gonna have this year."

The shy pegasus kept her peace, enjoying the sound of Big Macintosh's voice as he attempted to break the ice. It was a voice quite unlike any she'd ever heard before. She liked the sound of it, when she thought about it.

She knew this was a bad idea. It was a terrible idea. Yet, she couldn't turn around now. She was with Big Macintosh, alone, at Sweet Apple Acres. There was no telling what he would say or do... or what she would say or do.

Fluttershy followed Big Macintosh into the farmhouse, which was now familiar to her from her previous visit. She trotted absentmindedly to the dining area, seating herself daintily on a stool.

The big red stallion disappeared into the kitchen, emerging about a minute later with a grin on his face. “Pie's cookin'.”

Fluttershy smiled politely, her heart melting inside. This was just too much for her, too fast. She didn't want to be noticed by him; she didn't want this kind stallion to know she didn't exist.

Her inner sense hissed at her, Why not?

Because I don't deserve him, came her reply. I don't deserve anypony, let alone a wonderful pony like Big Macintosh. I'm just so... unworthy.

So prove that you're worthy. Prove that he's worth things to you.

She shook her head at herself. Oh, no, there's no way I'm doing that! He'll... he'll deny me! Make me feel worthless! I can't take the pressure, I'll just—

“Uh... Fluttershy?”

The yellow pegasus snapped back to reality, realizing that she'd been staring into Big Macintosh's face for several long moments. She blushed and consigned herself to staring at the ground once again.

Big Macintosh looked down silently as well, mirroring his guest's meekness. He didn't seem very sure of himself, and as prone to freezing up as she could expect from such a shy pony... she would do the same thing in his place.

Fluttershy gulped down a mouthful of fear. Her suddenly completely dry mouth opened slowly as she prepared to say something. Just tell him thank you. That's all. You can do it.

“I—I...” she stuttered. “I... um....” Trailing off, the pegasus winced and closed her eyes, the words unable to come forth. She shook on her chair, afraid to move lest he think something of her, whether it was good or bad.

She didn't know how to act. She'd never been in this situation before. There was nothing she could do. Nothing she could think of. This was hopeless for her.

“Now, c'mon.” The big stallion spoke encouragingly to her. “Ah wanna hear what ya have ta say, Fluttershy.”

She half-opened an eye and looked at him. He had a wise, understanding smile on him. He seemed to get how much trouble she was having. He also had the bearing of infinite patience, as if he would wait centuries just for her to speak a word.

“Thank you.” The little pegasus said it quickly, mumbling a little near the end, but she said it. In response, Big Macintosh's grin grew wider as he said, “Eeyup,” nodding his head politely in regards to the compliment.

An incredibly deep silence pervaded the room afterward. Fluttershy continued her perpetual fascinated stare at the floorboards while Big Macintosh waited for a miracle to happen.

Finally, the big stallion couldn't take it anymore. “Fluttershy... Ah've got somethin' Ah wanna ask ya.”

She peeked demurely at his face, nodding once quickly before looking down again.

“Well, Ah've been wonderin' this fer a while, and seein' ya today has made me wonder about somethin'. Ah figger you'd be the best one t' ask, seein' as how we're friends 'n all.”

Fluttershy's heart quickened its pace. She felt the edges of her vision growing dark.

“How's it...” he paused thoughtfully, “how's it feel t' fly?”

Immediately, Fluttershy's vision brightened. She had been expecting something far more suggestive, or romantic; perhaps Big Macintosh didn't feel that way about her.

“Well, um...” she began, “it—it's not that special....”

After an awkward silence, Big Macintosh said, “Ah think it is. Anypony who c'n fly is really lucky.”

“It's... not that special...” she repeated.

“But it is,” came the enthused reply. “Y'all don't know what kind of gift y'all got. Ah look up at the sky and wish Ah could see what it looks like up there mahself.”

Fluttershy inwardly beamed at the stallion's sincerity. “Well, I, um... I know what it's like... but I'd rather stay on the ground with you.”

There was a moment or two of silence.

“Oh, no, no! That's not what I meant! I meant, stay with my animals! I—I...”

Big Macintosh held a hoof to Fluttershy's mouth. “Ya don't need t' try ta justify it t' me. Ah'll just pretend Ah never heard it.” He smiled charmingly at the flustered mare.

At that moment, a ding sounded in the kitchen. Big Macintosh glanced in the direction of the obtrusive sound as he heard it. “Yer pie's done.”

He plodded slowly from the dining room to go retrieve Fluttershy's meal.

For a few moments, there was stillness in the room once again.

Then Fluttershy bolted out of the room, out of the house, and out of Sweet Apple Acres, tears in her eyes as she flew home as quickly as her wings would allow.

What is wrong with me?





That evening, Fluttershy lay on the floor of her cottage, Angel curled up next to her as she sullenly glared at the wall.

Fluttershy the foal. Fluttershy the stupid mare. Fluttershy the hopeless wreck. She taunted herself in her mind, degrading and grinding her morale as she berated every thought of hope and optimism that dared sneak into her psyche.

Angel was brushing her hair in an attempt to make her feel better, but the pegasus didn't want to feel better. She wanted to be with Big Macintosh right now, but she was afraid of how he might feel. She was almost certain that he didn't feel the same way.

Yet, she still thought about him.

She couldn't seem to tear any thought she had right now from that of him smiling, his hoof against her lips as he told her she didn't need to tell him anything to show him how she felt. He was... being nice. She knew he wouldn't like her. She was nopony... just a shy, foalish mare.

A knock sounded at her door.

Fluttershy kept her mouth shut. She knew better than to think it may be Big Macintosh. She wanted to be alone right now, anyway.

The knock sounded again. Sticking to her policy, the timid pegasus kept her lips sealed.

“Fluttershy, if ya don't answer, Ah'm gonna assume somethin's wrong and kick the door down. Open it up 'n save me a repair bill, would ya?”

Fluttershy, suddenly at a loss for words, looked panickingly toward the door. She kept silent, however.

Big Macintosh called, “Last warnin'!” before slamming his hooves on the door a few moments later, blasting open his entrance with a single practiced buck.

On the other side of the door, Fluttershy looked with horror as the stallion she'd been obsessing over lowered his hooves back to the ground, turned around, and locked his eyes to hers.

Squeaking in fear, Fluttershy leapt into the air and flew directly into her window, knocking it open and finding herself suddenly airborne outside her cottage. She gave a few powerful beats of her wings, rising above the building and dropping down silently to land on the thatched roof of her cottage.

Half a second after she'd alighted on the rooftop, Big Macintosh had arrived at the window, looking around wildly. Fluttershy pushed herself as flat against the roof as she could while the stallion stood at the window. She imagined his head jerking to and fro in an attempt to see what direction he suspected her of having flown off in.

Eventually, the earth pony spoke. “Look, Fluttershy... Ah dunno if yer around to hear me right now, but one thing that Applejack's taught me is ta always be honest t' other ponies. Ah'm tryin' t' be honest right now. Ah wanna spend more time with you.

“Ya seem like a real nice pony, and Ah think it'd be real nice to see ya again soon. But ya can't be afraid 'a talkin' t' me... or seein' me. Ah'm not tryin 'a push you, but it's just so frustratin' seein' ya get worked up in a tizzy over so little. Ah'll be at Sweet Apple Acres if ya wanna talk.”

With that, the big stallion departed once again through the front door.

Fluttershy let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. She already knew she wouldn't go to Sweet Apple Acres. She was just... too afraid.

She let out a sigh. “Fluttershy... why can't you do this? If not for him, then for yourself?”

Her only reply was an oppressive silence.

Sighing, the pegasus flew back into her home, closing the door and coaxing a shivering Angel from his hiding spot under the couch, singing a soothing lullaby to calm the agitated bunny.

On her table was an apple pie. She'd been so worked up thinking about Big Macintosh that she'd forgotten how incredibly hungry she was. Now, the stallion had delivered her meal and offered a companion to confide in.

She ate the entire apple pie with a vengeance, the debilitating pain in her stomach gradually receding until she no longer noticed it at all. She felt better... and, at the same time, worse.





That night, Fluttershy dreamed.

She was sitting at Sweet Apple Acres with Big Macintosh, the wind playing through her mane as he nuzzled her side. She had an incredible feeling of happiness infused within her body. She felt good and wonderful all over, as if everything was right with Equestria.

She looked at Big Mac questioningly, and he reached to the side, pulling out a pie and giving it to her. She ate happily next to him.

Angel hopped next to them, and Big Mac lifted Angel up playfully with his hoof, the small bunny smiling in excitement as he was lifted hundreds of feet in the air and then dropped safely back to the ground. Big Macintosh then bucked a single apple tree, all of them dropping their precious cargo and landing in front of Fluttershy, who ate all of them.

After she finished eating, the pegasus opened her wings and took off into the air, grabbing Big Macintosh in her hooves and bringing him up, up, into the sky, where they saw all of Equestria's beauty and splendor the way Princess Celestia intended. Very quickly, however, she didn't feel right, and began plummeting back to the ground.

About halfway through her free-fall, Big Macintosh pulled her into his hooves and held the scared pegasus in an embrace. Immediately, their fall slowed and they landed peacefully.

Fluttershy spoke in her dream. "I don't want to leave the ground. You're always there."

Big Macintosh smiled again, not saying a single word.

At this moment, Fluttershy knew that she loved him.





The yellow pegasus woke up with a start. Her dream had been so vivid... but she couldn't remember most of it.

She remembered eating. And Big Macintosh. And being happy.

What else matters? I've found him.
> Summer - Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sea Spray's eyes snapped open. What a nightmare.

Just as quickly, he realized he was not in his home in Manehattan. He groaned and rolled over in the unfamiliar bed, recounting the previous day's events to himself.

He knew he was with two crazy mares. Lyra seemed a bit more reasonable, but Bon Bon was utterly insane. He was going to leave today, no ifs, ands, or buts. This had been a mistake, and he was going to fix it.

With any luck, the two mares would still be fast asleep, considering what they'd been doing late into the night. It would probably be best to spirit himself away before they were up and about.

The turquoise pegasus rose silently from his bed, creeping into the hallway. He arrived at the stairs, tried to remember if any of them creaked, and gave up on his imperfect memory, praying to Celestia to not let these wooden steps creak just this once.

He placed his hoof upon the first step. It let out a tiny creak. So far, so good. He continued his descent, testing the next step, and the step afterward, each time experiencing only a small disturbance caused by his passing.

Finally arriving at the bottom of the stairs, he began to sneak towards the doorway. It appeared illuminated, the rising sun almost directly on the other side, calling to him, a beacon of hope in his disturbed mind.

A pan fell from the kitchen and landed on the floor.

Sea Spray froze as he heard Bon Bon chuckle, saying to herself, "Oh, clumsy little mare you are. Breakfast isn't cooked on the floor."

Sea Spray let out a quiet, slow breath of air that he'd been holding. He crept up to the entryway, peeking around to see what Bon Bon was doing.

Her back turned to him, the mare appeared to be nodding her head to some unheard tune. Sea Spray, seizing the opportunity, decided he would sneak past now, before he had a chance to psych himself out.

He made several tiny steps into the illuminated entryway. Still, the mare continued to work at the oven. Emboldened, he took several long, silent steps, watching his captor warily for any movement all the way. She never reacted.

Sea Spray arrived at the other side of the entryway, his head still turned around, looking back at the opening he'd just managed to pass without being spotted. He smiled triumphantly as he silently celebrated his victory. Turning around, he went to sneak to the door.

His nose came into contact with a mint-green one. "Uh, hi there."

Sea Spray gave a small cry of surprise, his euphoria dashed as he gazed upon the judging unicorn. "I, uh—why'd you scare me like that?"

"Well, you weren't actually looking where you were going. I trotted in about 5 seconds before you decided to run into me. Why were you sneaking, anyway?"

By now, Bon Bon had finished whatever it was she was doing and joined the conversation. "Oh, I was about to call to you and ask if you'd like some breakfast! I'm making waffles!" Judging by her face being coated in a thin layer of batter, she wasn't as experienced as she was leading Sea Spray to believe.

Lyra was still looking questioningly at Sea Spray. He coughed nervously, his mind racing to come up with something. "I, uh, was trying to be quiet. I saw Bon Bon was awake, but you may still have been sleeping."

The minty musician nodded knowingly. "I know what you mean, but I can't get an extra wink of sleep with—" she nodded toward Bon Bon "—this one."

Bon Bon blushed and disappeared back into the kitchen.

Sea Spray asked, "So, why aren't you helping her with breakfast, anyway?"

Lyra gave a quiet giggle. "When we're both in the kitchen, nothing ever gets done. Toast burns, dough rises too high, and eggshells are accidentally mixed in with cake. I'm nothing but a distraction to her, and I can't cook well enough to feed an insect, let alone myself and other ponies."

Sea Spray nodded knowingly. "I usually just eat prepared meals, or I go out and eat often."

"Where'd you say you were from?"

"Manehattan. I'm part of the weather team."

Lyra nodded. "Oh, um, where were you going, anyway?"

Ack. Time for another excuse. "I was, uh, just going for a morning walk. I like walking while the sun is still low, it's nice and cool out." In reality, he got plenty of fresh air doing his job, but he wasn't about to mention that.

"Ah, makes sense. Wait... aren't you a part of the weather team? Your job is outside."

Oh, horsefeathers. "Yeah, but, uh... the atmosphere... it's pretty polluted. With all those, uh, ponies. We have to clean smog out for a good portion of our shifts. I don't get any fresh air on the job." Wow, he was even convincing himself.

The unicorn nodded understandingly. "All right, fair enough. Mind if I join you?"

He gave an inward sigh. "Fine."





Against his better judgment, Sea Spray found Lyra to be quite a genial and pleasant mare. He considered this a little during their walk.

On the one hoof, she was completely and utterly insane. Not Bon Bon insane, but insane nonetheless. He didn't know how these ponies could be so friendly and open about... their lives. He didn't consider it a problem, but it was a foreign concept to him.

On the other hoof, she seemed genuinely good-natured and fun to get along with. Perhaps the kind of mare he'd like to meet someday. He liked her boldness, too.

After several minutes of silent trotting, Lyra said quietly, "So, uh... what are you thinking about?"

Sea Spray looked into the green-and-russet mottled patterns of the trees and slowed down, considering his reply. "Finding a special somepony."

She glanced at him, amused. "And what brought that on?"

"I, erm..." he stammered. "Well, I, uh, I see how happy you and Bon Bon are, and I've never found somepony who can make me happy."

Lyra looked shocked. "How'd you know we were together!?"

Sea Spray stated offhandedly, "The walls aren't that thick," continuing his leisurely canter.

Lyra turned a vivid shade of red, then, realizing her legs had stopped, forced herself to keep moving. "Yeah, uh... sorry about that. We're not all that used to visitors."





Sea Spray enjoyed the remainder of his trot back to the cottage. Lyra had hurried on ahead, claiming to want to help Bon Bon prepare breakfast, but her nervousness bespoke the embarrassing moment she wanted to recount to her special somepony before their guest made it back.

He arrived at the door, considering whether he should knock on it, opting instead to just let himself in. "I'm back!" he announced as he entered once again. He then froze, looking back at the door he'd just walked through.

He could have left.

All too quickly, Lyra had rounded the corner, followed by Bon Bon, who had a rosy glow highlighting her cheeks. It appeared they'd just been talking about it.

Bon Bon stuttered, "I, er, ah... sorry. We got a bit carried away."

Sea Spray smiled nonchalantly. "Carried away with what?"

The eggshell-colored earth pony flushed a deeper shade of red. "Oh, um, never mind, then." There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before she said, "Oh! Breakfast is definitely ready."

For all the strange things that had happened so far, Bon Bon had definitely done a good job making the waffles. Sea Spray's had disappeared moments within his tasting it, and Bon Bon courteously served him another, which he also subsequently began eating.

These ponies were still crazy, but he'd walked back here. Why? Why do I find myself wanting to spend time with these two mares?

Lyra was an obvious choice. Her pragmatism and offhanded way of looking at things was something to be admired.

Bon Bon, however, he found quite anomalous. He found himself sneaking glances at her as he devoured his second waffle.

The mare he saw standing there was eccentric and spontaneous. Nopony could ever expect the same thing out of her twice. She was refreshing, unpredictable, adventurous.... Ah, that's what Lyra sees in her.

So, Lyra was the brains and common sense of the pair. She likely went out and made the money for the two of them to afford this house and be able to hold random visitors like himself.

Bon Bon was the housewife. She was the one to cook, clean, and keep things maintained. When Lyra got home at the end of the day, she would be looking forward to the sweet earth pony who'd been missing her.

Sea Spray liked Lyra because she was like him. He also just realized he liked Bon Bon. He looked upon her with newfound admiration. Eccentricities aside, she'd been nothing but sweet and caring towards him. He'd love to have a mare like that.

“That wall's real interesting, huh?”

The turquoise pegasus blinked and looked at Lyra, who was smiling confidently at him. He nodded quietly.

“Is something wrong, dear?” Bon Bon's concerned face hovered into his vision as well.

Sea Spray could feel his face begin to burn. “I-I, um, I was thinking about, uh-uh...” he stammered. His face was getting hotter now. He was almost certain they could see it.

“Oh, c'mon, silly little colt! We can take it!” Bon Bon beamed at Sea Spray encouragingly.

He took a deep breath. “I was, uh, thinking of how wonderful the both of you are. As mares.”

Silence pervaded over the table as the stunned mares stared at him incredulously. He blushed a deeper shade of red, his visage burning as he attempted to swallow his embarrassment.

To his side, Lyra giggled. “Well, I'm taken, sorry.”

Bon Bon joined Lyra in her laugh. “And I as well.”

“No, no! I didn't mean it like that!” Sea Spray exasperatedly tried to think of a way out of his predicament, then realized there was no way. “I... just see the both of you so happy together... and I'd love to find a mare to make me feel half as special as the two of you must feel right now.”

The two mares blushed and held each other's hooves. Lyra looked toward him. “Uh... thank you.”

Bon Bon added, “You know you get to stay here as long as you want, right? Such a charmer, and only one day in!”

Sea Spray smiled contentedly. This wasn't such a bad place after all.
> Autumn - Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Several months later, Derpy Hooves left Canterlot Central School for Happy Fillies and Colts.

She and Briar Patch spent almost every day talking and sharing and laughing. They were almost inseparable, they got along so well. Miss Chalk thought that Briar was a bad influence for Derpy, and she would tell Derpy as much, but it wasn't the concerned teacher's place to tell a young filly who she should or shouldn't associate with.

Filthy Rich and his cronies didn't try to mess with Derpy Hooves or Briar Patch after the incident on Briar Patch's first day, either. He was a bully, sure, but he didn't like when other ponies stood up to him. He liked dishing things out, but he couldn't take returning insults very well, and he knew it.

Briar Patch, for his part, was inexorably happy. Nopony knew what was going on his head, but he seemed far more content with his current situation than anypony else. There were questioning glances being cast his way fairly constantly, but he ignored them, holding to the thoughts that made him so optimistic.

And then, Derpy left. She leaned over to Briar Patch one day and whispered, "I'm leaving for Ponyville."

Briar, completely shocked in light of this news, asked, "When?"

Derpy whispered back, "Tomorrow. This is my last day."

The brash young colt seemed to deflate instantly. Derpy got back to her studies, seemingly unaware of the anguish she'd just caused within her friend.

The next day, every single pony in class noted the dim, sad expression that had overcome the excitable young foal. It seemed as if he'd been building a puzzle his entire life, and just as he was about to finish, he discovered he'd been missing a piece the entire time, and he could never complete what he'd poured all of his effort and ambition into.

As if to add insult to injury, his cutie mark appeared that same day. Filthy had decided to test the waters now that Derpy had left, and Briar had thrown an insult his direction, glumly staring at his flank as a gnarled thorny vine appeared. He ignored the compliments thrown his way, instead pondering if his special talent was insulting snobby ponies.

The source of his happiness gone, Briar had more time to spend in his schoolwork. He was a bright student, and Miss Chalk was enthusiastic about his marked increase in grades; however, she avoided trying to compliment him on his work, as Briar would just glare sullenly ahead of him as she rattled off his achievements. She enjoyed seeing her students happy at having done well, but Briar's despair seemed just as infectious as his joy had been, and she couldn't begin to penetrate his cloud of gloom.

Months passed, and still Briar hadn't perked up. He graduated as the top student in his class, but refused to be recognized as such, opting to not even attend the ceremony. He quickly became reclusive, no longer showing up much outside of formal dinners at Canterlot Castle and other esteemed social functions, but his demeanor never changed when he was seen.

Princess Celestia, having been the subject of inquiry several times as to Briar Patch's cold attitude, had attempted to reason with the young stallion, to no avail. It appeared not even the Princess of the Sun could shine light on her own adopted colt's dismal life.

For this reason, when Briar Patch approached his guardian in hopes of relocating to Ponyville, the wise ruler nodded her head and requested a transport be prepared immediately.





As he set foot in his new home town, Briar Patch smiled up at the guards that had transported him here, a small glimmer of hope returning thanks, in part, to these two stallions. "Thanks for the ride."

The two guard-ponies nodded at Briar, once again launching themselves into the air and making their return trip to Canterlot. The new resident looked at his surroundings, seeing a considerably smaller and far more quaint town than what he'd become familiar with. It was reminiscent of the town he'd known before he ever met Princess Celestia.

First order of business was to settle in to his new home. Princess Celestia had acquired for him a small one-pony cottage near the outskirts of town, removed from other ponies. Her reason for this, the stallion suspected, was because she thought he may have trouble integrating with the locals, given his chronic depression of the past year or so. He didn't blame her for believing that; he would have done the same for his foal.

His small amount of possessions relocated, Briar decided to explore the town a little bit in search of his reason for moving here. He asked several ponies for Derpy's location, giving a short description, but none of the ponies seemed to know who he was talking about.

His sense of dread growing, he approached a bouncy pink pony. "Um. Yes, excuse me?"

"Oh, hi! You must be new here! Are you new here?"

"Yeah, I'm Briar Patch--"

The pink pony cut him off mid-sentence. "I'm Pinkie Pie! I know everypony in Ponyville, and I mean everypony, and I didn't recognize you, so I figured you must be new!"

Briar Patch nodded slowly throughout the conversation, his brain having to process quickly to get everything she was saying. "Yeah, I just got here about an hour ago. Listen, you said you know everypony?"

"Oh, yes!" Pinkie Pie seemed to light up at this. "I know Rarity, and Lyra, and Scootaloo, and Colgate, and Rainbow Dash, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and--"

"Oh, I need to know about a specific pony." Briar did his best to interrupt with tact, but it seemed nearly impossible.

Pinkie Pie didn't seem bothered by it. "Oh, really? Ooh, who is it! Who is it!"

Briar Patch took a deep breath. "Derpy Hooves... or she also goes by Ditsy Doo."

The pink mare's face lit up. "Of course I know who that is! She comes to pretty much every single one of my parties! What do you need to know about her?"

"Absolutely everything."





Through a relatively interesting conversation with Pinkie Pie that was full of derails and tangents, Briar Patch managed to glean a few bits of knowledge about Derpy Hooves.

The first thing that Briar Patch learned was that Derpy Hooves still lived in Ponyville. She didn't live alone, as she had a daughter named Dinky Hooves, but nopony seemed to know much about the little filly under Derpy's care, Pinkie Pie included. Briar filed this information away as one of the first things he would ask about.

He also learned that Derpy was the mail-mare for Ponyville. Once a day, she and a near-blind stallion would split the town down the middle and alternate which half each of them would take. They were a great team, although she was almost always a little late, and he never seemed to put the mail in the right mailboxes.

Thanks to Pinkie Pie's freaky knowledge of everypony, he also learned where Derpy lived. Like himself, she was on the very outskirts of town in a removed cottage. The only difference was, she already lived with somepony.

Briar Patch was shocked to hear this, and Pinkie Pie had limited knowledge on the pony that Derpy lived with. She did reassure him, however, by saying it was a young filly named Dinky Hooves. Had Derpy had a foal while he was gone?

He wished he'd taken his consideration to move to Ponyville when Derpy did seriously. Princess Celestia could do just about anything; it would have solved all of his problems and given him more time with the mare he felt so strongly about.

Now, many things had changed. It hadn't really been that long, but Briar had done some growing up, as had Derpy. It was time to resolve everything and see her again.

Briar Patch thanked Pinkie Pie for all her help and trotted in the direction she pointed for Derpy Hooves' cottage.





As he approached the clearing where Derpy's house would be, Briar Patch began to feel nervous. It wasn't a foreign feeling to him; he just hadn't had reason to experience it in a while. He was afraid of what she might think.

Briar Patch had originally met Derpy Hooves in a confrontation. He would invariably defend other ponies, no matter what the situation was. He didn't care whether he got in trouble or if it was in vain, because he was certain that every single pony was worth fighting for.

This was different. It was like meeting a new mare all over, one that he already knew he would like. He'd gotten older, and so had she. It felt new... completely changed from when he'd met her before.

The cottage hovered into view. Briar Patch stopped in his tracks, staring at the door blankly. His brain was screaming at his hooves to stop. He couldn't do it.

He leaped into a bush beside the road, poking his eyes out and watching for movement.

Not five seconds later, the front door opened, and a purple unicorn filly complained, "But Mom, I don't wanna play outside right now! I wanna help you bake!"

A beautiful grey pegasus rounded the corner. The stern look on her face was complimented by her banana-colored mane and equally as yellow eyes. "Now, I know, but being outside is just as important as knowing how to cook, and you helped me with dinner yesterday. Today is play day for Dinky!"

Briar found himself staring at the mare he'd missed for eternity. His heart began to beat faster as he saw her nuzzle her filly lovingly and retreat back indoors, the door closing between him and his hope once again.

The filly, Dinky, began to trot about outside happily. Briar couldn't move without alerting her to the fact that a pony had been hiding in the bush. He watched warily as the small unicorn's horn lit, her magic lifting a Daring Do action figure and a Princess Celestia doll, her innocent mind imagining an epic battle that had put the two at odds.

He began trying to listen in on Dinky's conversation with herself. "You cannot hope to defeat me, Daring Do! I have magical powers! That is nothing, Princess Luna! I will escape your traps! Hahaha! You think that you have a chance? Of course I do! I'm Daring Do! I will always defeat evil wherever it may be!"

Briar smiled as he remembered himself playing with similar toys at Dinky's age. He lost himself in nostalgia, temporarily forgetting where he was.

"W-who are you? Come out right now!"

Briar snapped back to reality. The filly unicorn was staring right into his eyes. He hadn't realized she was slowly scooting closer and closer to him at the forest's edge.

"Hey! I said come out!"

Briar moved swiftly, vacating his hideout and standing silently beside it where Dinky Hooves could see.

"Who are you?"

His mind working furiously, Briar had to think of a convincing name. He couldn't give his real one to Dinky, lest she speak with her mother about this meeting. "I'm, uh..."

"Your name's not Uh! That would be silly!"

"It's Bramble."

"Bramble? I think that's a nice name! Did you come here to play with me?"

Well, that was easy. "Um... kind of."

"Hooray!" Dinky beamed brightly. "Who do you wanna be, Daring Do or Princess Luna?"

"That's not Princess Luna. That's Princess Celestia."

"I know that! But she wouldn't be evil if she was Princess Celestia. Miss Cheerilee says that Princess Luna got sealed in the moon for being bad, and she's still there now."

Briar Patch nodded in agreement. "Yes, but she's Nightmare Moon now, not Princess Luna. Princess Luna was a kind and caring mare, and she turned evil and became Nightmare Moon."

Dinky looked quizzically at her new friend. "How do you know all that?"

"I know Princess Celestia." He winked conspiratorially at her. "I'm a secret agent who's here to make sure you have a friend to play outside with, on orders from her."

The filly's face lit up and her grin broadened as she imagined Princess Celestia ordering somepony to come play with her. "Kay! Daring Do or... uh... Nightmare Moon?"

"I'll be Nightmare Moon."

As Dinky's magic levitated the Princess Celestia doll towards Briar Patch, there was the sound of a door opening behind her.

Briar, thinking instinctively, dashed into the forest as quickly as his legs would carry him. Behind him, he heard Derpy calling Dinky, asking what was wrong. He was almost certain that she would chase him.

Finding another good bush to hide in, Briar dove headlong into it, immediately regretting his quick thinking. Ironically, he was now in a small patch of briar. He wriggled his way painfully into the security of the thorny bushes, wincing as several sharp spears jabbed into his side.

A few seconds behind him, a beautiful grey pegasus sped in the same direction he'd been heading. From his uncomfortable hiding spot, he watched as Derpy flew purposefully in pursuit of him.

Briar Patch quieted his breath, standing stock still as Derpy glared angrily around the forest in an attempt to spot whoever had been talking to her daughter. Celestia, she's protective.

His eyes stayed focused on the mare as her eyes darted to and fro, often looking different directions, but still menacing. I can't talk to her like this....

Eventually, to Briar's shock, Derpy left off the hunt. She had been zipping through the trees for several minutes in an attempt to find him, but she finally sighed exasperatedly and made her way home.

As the pegasus flew resignedly back toward her home, Briar let out a relieved sigh. He'd escaped the wrath of the fierce mother for one day. He'd be back to see her again soon, at any rate.





Having had enough suspense for one day, Briar Patch headed towards his own home in Ponyville. The evening ahead of him was to be filled with boredom and loneliness. It was a similar feeling to how matters had been for a while now. He had hope that it would end soon, but he wasn't sure of it. Not yet.

In the midst of his pondering, he was slapped directly in the face with a piece of paper. Grumbling in protest, he extricated himself from the offending flyer and scanned it irritatedly.

The paper read:


RUNNING OF THE LEAVES
Ponies get to race in an annual tradition to knock leaves off the trees!
Every year, ponies gather together to participate in the annual Running of the Leaves, a hoofrace that is necessary to shake those pesky leaves off the trees so they can continue the cycle of life in accordance with the seasons. Gather your friends together and help Equestria stay healthy!


The earth pony smiled to himself. It would be wonderful to do that with Derpy.
> Winter - Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	All right, she admitted, he is pretty cool.

Gilda was sitting on a flattened piece of cardboard in a nondescript alleyway not far from 314 Hoofer Avenue. She hadn't directly approached Alkaline Grey for several days, but she'd seen him coming to and departing from his home several times a day. He seemed quite a busy stallion.

Adding to Gilda's interest was a small filly that would occasionally leave Grey's home and return with him each time. It was the filly who had originally answered the door, but the griffon had forgotten about her until she saw Grey leave with the small, excitable foal in tow.

She wanted to work up the courage to go up and apologize, but a part of her always halted just before she could set a single talon or paw toward the building that she found so fascinating. There was just something so distinctly lame about apologizing, she'd rather be caught dead than do that.

She let out an involuntary shiver. His home looked warm, and he seemed like a nice enough stallion. Perhaps it was worth losing some face for a warm home and a kind, cool pony... she'd lost enough by living on the streets as it was.

"Cold?"

She jumped onto her feet, snapping to look at the pegasus behind her. He stood nearly as tall as Gilda and was very well-built. He stood in a suggestive stance and glared hungrily at her.

"Don't scare me like that, doofus! What do you want?"

"Oh, not much... just you." The stallion took an aggressive step forward. "Griffons are too rare for me to pass up an opportunity."

"W-w-what? No, get outta here dude! I ain't that kinda griffon!" She turned her nose up at the offending creature, dismissing him as inconsequential.

The pegasus leapt, his wings spreading as he swooped down on top of Gilda.

Gilda attempted to flap her wings, but they were near-frozen and weak. She hadn't flown in weeks, and the muscle was atrophied throughout, not to mention her being weak from lack of proper food. She couldn't get any lift.

The pegasus knocked Gilda to the ground, the strong gryphon attempting to roll her attacker off her, but he seemed practiced with this kind of move. He deftly slipped around her feeble attempts to stop him, slipping between her forelegs and positioning himself on top of her.

"Whoa, what the hay! Get off me, NOW!" She let out a loud screech in a vain attempt to bring any passersby to her aid, but heard no reply. She was in this alone.

She whipped her tail around, grabbing his tail and tugging on it as she swung one of her clawed feet around. The pegasus was immediately distracted by the tugging behind him, then he turned around to feel several large talons swipe him across the cheek.

Her assailant howling in pain, Gilda scrambled across the icy floor, trying to find grip and run away. She tried again to flap her pathetic wings, but the cold hostility of winter had bitten them to the bone. She was a flightless griffon.

Too quickly, the pegasus wiped the blood from his face and attacked Gilda again. She was more prepared this time, her powerful forelegs lashing out to catch him in the stomach, but the pony was prepared, giving one powerful beat of his wings and landing on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

"Oh, you're feisty, huh? Guess I'll just kill you first!" The mad pegasus cackled as he wrapped his hooves around Gilda's head, the griffon gasping for breath as he slammed her skull against the ground. She was dazed now, and he bashed her head into the ground again, disorienting her and causing her world to spin.

CRACK!

Suddenly, Gilda didn't have anything on top of her anymore. She laid there, gasping for breath, as her world continued to spin. As soon as she had the werewithal to do so, she checked the back of her head for damage. It was going to have a sizeable bump, but nothing really injured, miraculously.

Blinking, the griffon sat up. She looked deeper into the alleyway, where the pegasus who'd been attacking her was also standing upon his hooves. He glared angrily past Gilda at something behind her.

Still trying to clear the cobwebs from her head, she slowly turned around to look toward the entrance. Standing there was Alkaline Grey, a small filly just behind him, his horn giving off a menacing crackling sound in addition to its glow.

"Shouldn't get involved, filthy unicorn! This griffon's mine."

Alkaline Grey barked a laugh. "Try to take her and find out what happens."

The pegasus gave a single powerful beat of his wings, rising in the air toward Gilda.

CRACK!

Lightning arced from Grey's horn, catching the would-be harasser in the wing and sending him flying backward. He sailed into a wall, his head snapping backward and striking the hard cobble. The defeated pony slumped as he fell unconscious, sliding down the wall and coming to rest on the floor.

"Posie." The tiny filly at Grey's side looked up at him. "Go find a policepony. I'll stay here and keep Gilda company." Posie nodded and dashed off to follow his order.

Gilda stood there for a few moments, looking around in bewilderment at the scene in front of her. Her muddied brain put together that Alkaline Grey had just saved her. She needed to thank him.

Gilda opened her mouth and said "Th—" before her brain forgot how to form the rest of the word. She looked at him, confused.

"He hit your head against the floor. You may have a concussion." Grey watched her in calculated amusement. "We'll get you to the hospital for a check-up as soon as the policeponies come to apprehend this criminal." He nodded toward the slumped pegasus.

Gilda stared at him for a few seconds, uncomprehending, then nodded dumbly.

A few seconds later, Posie came dashing back with three policemen in tow. The three of them skidded to a stop at the alleyway entrance, looking at the scene.

Within was a dark brown unicorn with white markings standing calmly, a griffon looking around in a daze, and a red pegasus slumped against the wall of the alley with two large black marks on his body.

They looked questioningly at the calm unicorn, who explained, "The pegasus—our very own infamous Flap the Clipper, if I'm not mistaken—was attempting to claim our griffon friend here as his next victim. I believe she has a concussion. I helped the victim fend off her attacker, hence the black marks on his person, and stayed here in case he stirred."

One of the policeponies, a star on his hat, nodded and said, "We'll still need you to come back to the station and give a full report. We'll take care of things from here."

Two of the policeponies trotted forward, dragging the pegasus onto his legs and placing hoofcuffs on him. The third pony dashed off to call an ambulance to transport both the injured pony and the injured griffon to the nearest hospital. Grey stood patiently, waiting for all necessities to be taken care of before one of the idle law enforcement stallions escorted him to their nearby policecart.





Several hours later, Gilda was lying in a bed in Manehattan General Hospital District 4, with Alkaline Grey and the small pegasus filly Posie sitting next to her. They had just entered and situated themselves in their seats, remaining quiet until she deemed herself ready to speak and listen.

The griffon cleared her throat. "Thanks for helping me." She gave a small smile, the cheeks on both sides of her beak upturning slightly.

Alkaline Grey looked at her seriously. "I didn't do so for no reason, Gilda."

Gilda let out a groan. "What do you want from me, dude? You seem pretty obsessed with me."

Grey's face was impassive. "You're going to come live with Posie and myself."

Gilda snorted. "Yeah, thanks but no thanks! I'm glad you helped me with that jerk pegasus and all, but I don't owe you that much."

"He was a repeat offender, Gilda. You're not the first creature—pony or otherwise—that he's taken advantage of. Thank Luna I arrived just in time to save you, and that you only got the small injury you did. You don't want to know what his other victims looked like after he was through with them."

Gilda looked beseechingly at Posie, but the little pegasus seemed to be looking at her in a mixture of anger and shock. Maybe I'm being too harsh.... "All right, fine. Maybe I do owe ya one. We'll give it a few days and see how things go."

Posie's face immediately brightened at the declaration of the griffon. "Hear that, Uncle Grey? We gonna have a new family member!" Gilda realized belatedly that Posie was missing one of her front teeth as she watched the filly talk.

Grey nodded sagely, allowing himself the tiniest of smirks. "It would appear so."





Around the same time the next day, Gilda departed the hospital, Grey and Posie still in tow.

During her time in the hospital, the griffon and the filly were officially introduced. Posie's full name was Posie Rose, but almost nopony called her that, preferring her shorter first name. She was apparently an orphan whom Grey had adopted about 2 years ago, having no recollection of her parents or anything prior to arriving at the orphanage.

Gilda had seen Grey departing by himself in doing door-to-door sales of his battery-operated products; the unicorn had no problem manufacturing the batteries, but none of the shops would carry his product, and the average Equestrian citizen wanted the convenience of a general store for everything they would need, so, while he often was asked to provide demonstrations with some help from Posie, he very rarely sold anything.

Gilda had been considering this as it was all explained to her. She didn't have much respect for salesponies knocking on her door. Grey had just lost about 30 coolness points in her book. Add the little filly that he was commissioning for free labor, and that put him awfully close to being most decidedly uncool.

Still, he was offering for her to stay at his place for free, so he seemed okay enough. He had to pay the bills somehow, and it wasn't necessarily her place to tell him what he could and couldn't do based on coolness factor. Door-to-door sales just seemed so below him, though... and now she was living with this borderline lame unicorn.

She was absorbed in her thoughts for the entire walk home. Grey and Posie had been holding a soft conversation in front of her that she hadn't been paying any attention to, the both of them noticing that Gilda was deep in thought about something and not wishing to disturb her. Now that they were home, however, their attention turned back to her.

“Welcome to your temporary home, Gilda.” Grey gave an exaggerated bow as a ghost of a smile crept across his face.

“Yeah, well... don't get too comfortable with it! As soon as I get back on my paws, I'm splitting.” She couldn't let this pony see how much she desperately needed help. That would just be so uncool.

She looked up at the lightly falling snow. In all likelihood, this would probably be her home for the next several months at the least. She may as well get used to it.
> Spring - Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Fluttershy let out a lonely shiver.

It had been... weeks, maybe, since Big Macintosh had come to her house. She'd lost track of time.

Every time she saw her friends, they would ask Fluttershy if something was wrong. She would smile and tell them, “Of course not.” She couldn't tell them how she felt about Big Macintosh; they may not like it and stop being her friends if she did. Liking the brother of somepony she knew as well as she knew Applejack, it would only complicate things and drive a wedge between the two of them.

These were the things she told herself as she paced the floor of her cottage yet again. Her mane was being brushed by several birds, the pegasus too preoccupied with current matters to worry about her hygiene. In the mornings and evenings, Angel and several other bunnies would provide her with some vegetables or hay that they'd managed to procure; her house was out of food, and had been for several days now. She just didn't really feel like taking care of herself or anything around her.

Today, just as they'd done every day, several of the animals from the forests around Ponyville came to visit her, attempting to cheer her up. Fluttershy managed to put on her false, apathetic smile, as she'd done every time, promising them that she'd feel better tomorrow, and that they didn't need to worry about her. Satisfied as they always were, her woodland friends departed to accomplish the day's errands for themselves.

Fluttershy let out a long, tired sigh. She just wanted there to be an easy way to fix this. Either she would have to confront Big Macintosh and apologize to him for giving false hope, or she would have to disappear and not have anypony worry about her ever again. She was trying to accomplish the second option, but her friends wouldn't let her, and she wouldn't want them to worry about her anyway if she did.

She gazed sadly out the front window. Her perceptive eyes picked up movement on the road. Applejack was rounding the corner, presumably to talk to her. Fluttershy hadn't left her house in several days, and it seemed like everypony was just getting more and more worried about her, so Applejack's presence was no surprise.

The yellow pegasus' dull green eyes tracked her stern-faced friend as she approached the door, knocking three times. Fluttershy called in a deceptively happy voice, “Come in!” once again donning her facade of an unworried and happy pony.

The door opened, admitting Applejack into Fluttershy's home. The earth pony's stony expression never flickered as she said, “Fluttershy... we need t' talk.”

“Oh, hello, Applejack! What do you need to talk about? It sounds serious....”

“You.”

Fluttershy looked with surprise at her friend, stuttering, “Wh-w-”

Applejack interrupted her, nodding toward the open doorway and adding, “And him.”

Big Macintosh entered through the doorway as well. “Eeyup.”

Fluttershy's mind began running circles. I can't pretend nothing's wrong, he's right there! But if I panic, I worry Applejack... oh, how much did he tell her? “I, um...”

“Ah know, Fluttershy.” Applejack's statement hung thickly in the air, weighing the unstable pegasus down and preventing her escape. The look of accusation that glared deep into Fluttershy's soul melted all of her resolve and caught her tongue, barring her from saying anything, so she simply stared at the earth pony for a time.

Big Macintosh stepped between the two of them. “Ah told 'er 'cause Ah couldn't bear t' see ya hurtin' yerself like this. Every time Ah come up t' see ya, yer never home, but y'all seem easy enough t' find when Applejack or Rarity or Rainbow Dash needs t' find ya. Ah figured it'd be easier if Ah got AJ t' help me this time 'round.”

Applejack nodded her head, still in sight of Fluttershy behind the large stallion. “We're worried about you, sugarcube. Let's all take a seat and talk this out.”

Fluttershy began taking faster and faster breaths, making a self-induced panic as her heart began to beat more swiftly and her face began to sweat. I need to get out of here! She was practically screaming internally, torn between standing her ground and speeding away.

Applejack noticed the change in her friend's demeanor, saying, “Ah ain't mad, Fluttershy. Ah just wanna talk about it.”

It was too late, though. Fluttershy bolted, making for the window that she'd been looking through and shattering it as she came into contact. Shards of glass flew all around her, some embedding themselves in her skin and hurting her, but her eyes were shut tight and she kept flying, carrying her far, far away from the situation behind her.





An hour later, Fluttershy sat on top of a tree in the Everfree Forest, just far enough within the branches to obscure her from flying creatures. She was doing her best to pick out shards of glass from her body, scolding herself for acting so rashly.

Her friends were probably looking for her. She'd just proven to Applejack that something was the matter, and Big Macintosh was to blame. If he hadn't told his sister everything already, the big stallion was going to spill the beans now.

The quietly crying pegasus briefly considered never going back to Ponyville. Her friends would worry for a while, then they would forget about her. She'd make everypony unhappy for a just a short time, but it would go away eventually, and she'd never make them sad or disappointed ever again.

Just as the thought began to sound tempting, she squelched it. She knew she needed to return to Ponyville. She couldn't live in this tree forever.

Picking out one more tiny piece of glass, the pegasus picked herself up to fly to Ponyville Hospital.





Fluttershy was lying in a clean white bed with small bandages covering a good portion of her body. After a small lie of an eagle flying into her window and having the glass shatter on her, the yellow pegasus had quickly been admitted and had the rest of the glass removed. She specifically requested no visitors, but asked that her five best friends be notified she was fine. Perhaps with no creatures around to distract her, she would have time to reflect on her life.

She questioned her irrational fear of Big Macintosh. She'd been dreaming about him almost nonstop for the past several nights. He plagued her thoughts, her actions, her feelings. He was all-encompassing, the same thing to her as Princess Luna was to Princess Celestia, the other half of an inseparable whole. However she may try to tear away from him, fate would invariably pull the two ponies back together.

She knew this because of how she felt about him. She couldn't answer why; she only knew it was. He was a symbol to her: An end to loneliness, and a beginning to happiness. She knew she would be happy.

Why, then, did he cause her to panic so much? Was there something wrong with her? Or maybe him?

Long ago, in Cloudsdale, Fluttershy had just fallen off a cloud and landed atop another one that had a small fog bank formed on top of it. Inside this obscurity, she silently cried as she lamented her inability to perform as desired.

Some indiscriminate amount of time later, she'd heard a male pegasus flying by... one of the three that kept calling her Klutzershy. He was talking in a low voice, but they passed right next to the cloud that Fluttershy was in. He told the pegasus he was with, “I don't know how to tell her I like her. It... just kinda happened. I wanna help her, but then the other guys start making fun of her, and... I just do what they do. Even though she's wonderful, I just can't stand up for her.”

The pegasus he was with, a mare, replied, “The only way you'll know is by going up and telling her. Maybe she feels the same way. You'll never know if you keep quiet all the time.”

She could feel the stallion nodding thoughtfully. “I guess so, yeah. Once I tell her, though... I think the guys'll make fun of me for liking her. She's not a very good flier, but I just know she has a kind heart.”

At the time, she wondered if the pegasus stallion had meant her. She'd never been told by anypony ever that she was liked or anything related. The stallions always turned away from her, maybe because she never asserted herself or talked to them or made herself noticeable in any way. She did what she was told in Cloudsdale and tried not to put her head up for fear of being cut down, to be ground into the very clouds she stood upon in the name of sportsmanship. She hated Cloudsdale, and she found most of the ponies there boring or cruel.

When she fell to the ground, she never looked back... but now she did. She wondered if that pegasus had ever looked for her after she disappeared. She questioned her existence in Ponyville, wondering if that was where she was meant to be. Perhaps her soul stallion was in Cloudsdale, looking for her.

Perhaps he was in Ponyville. Perhaps he'd already tried to make amends, and had as much as declared his feelings for the shy pegasus. Perhaps everything she'd been doing to avoid him was pointless, and she should simply fly to him and declare how she felt and let him decide right then and there what to do.

She was hopeless. Try as she might to steel herself for the confrontation, she couldn't find the courage in herself to approach him. He would have to come to her, and she'd already snubbed him. He had no reason to look for her now; maybe she should just tell Applejack that she didn't want to talk to him.

Or maybe she should just stand up and face her fears. What a pathetic notion. She would fall short and crumble, as she always did. She sighed dissatisfied with her solution... but it was her solution. She could come up with nothing better.

Having rested for several hours, Fluttershy leaped off her bed and trotted out of her room to check out of the hospital, thanking the doctors as she exited and went home.





Applejack was waiting when Fluttershy made it back to her cottage; Big Macintosh was absent. Her friend exclaimed over the bandages covering a good portion of her body, offering to stay and help and trying to talk to her about Big Macintosh, but abandoning the topic when she saw Fluttershy wincing.

With a look of consternation on her face, the orange earth pony asked if there was anything else the yellow pegasus needed. A simple shake of the head was all that was needed to send her home to Sweet Apple Acres.

Fluttershy slumped, her mask once again crumbling as she let her depression show. She really was hopeless right now.





That night, Fluttershy dreamed.

She was speeding through the air, letting the wind pull at her mane. She felt the exhilaration of the open sky, the world small beneath her as she flew between and directly into clouds, shaking their wetness out of her mane while an enormous grin split her face.

Suddenly, the pegasus she remembered sped past her, knocking her off-balance and sending her plummeting to the earth. He called back, “Sorry, Klutzershy!” as he let out a cacophony of stupid guffaws. His friends surrounded him, their mockery wrapping her in a cocoon and causing her to fall faster.

She heard all of the fillies and colts she remembered from flight school. They sang a chorus of horrible and hurtful insults. “Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!” “Hey, hey gals, it's the divebomb queen!” “Why don't you just give up and go home? You're never going to get the hang of it.”

Tendrils of dark sadness began comforting the flagging pegasus, telling her that it was okay to feel bad for herself, that she should just admit her shortcomings and let them do what they may. She welcomed the darkness, letting it drag her down as she forgot herself and melted away.

In the distance, she heard a boom.

And just like that, the darkness dissipated. The ponies making fun of her suddenly looked toward the source of the sound, then they vaporized as well. She looked in the direction of the sound in wonder. What thing could be so incredible as to save her, even in her dreams?

A large red earth pony stallion was barreling towards the falling pegasus.

Fluttershy flapped her wings, slowing her fall as she glided in his direction. Big Macintosh vaulted into the air, his body outstretched as he intercepted the pegasus and caught her on his back, landing safely on the ground and stabilizing as he looked back at her and smiled.

Fluttershy smiled back. He'd just saved her from... something.

Big Macintosh spoke. “Ah'll never leave ya alone. As long as Ah draw breath, mah job will be to protect you and keep you happy. Never forget that, Fluttershy.” He pulled her into an embrace.





The pegasus awoke suddenly. She didn't want to be alone. Not anymore.

She'd made a mistake, and she was about to pay for it. She had to go, now.

Fluttershy flapped her wings, knocking her bedside window open and bolting out into the night.

She flew over Ponyville to the opposite end, where Sweet Apple Acres lay. There she sped above the apple orchard, the trees dark shapes as she made a beeline for the place where she would find Big Macintosh.

The pegasus landed at the clearing where she'd first fallen for the large stallion. The trees had all been bucked, their precious fruit harvested and turned into whatever it was the Apple family would need to synthesize for their customers. It was here Fluttershy waited.

Several minutes later, she heard the crack of underbrush from the direction of the farmhouse. Big Macintosh wandered in, immediately noticing Fluttershy in the dim light of Luna's moon. He stared incredulously for a moment, then said, “Ah had a dream... that Ah saved you. Ah saw you bein' attacked, and Ah banished mah fears. Ah saved you, Fluttershy....” The big stallion fell silent as he stared at the beautiful mare before him.

Fluttershy, for her part, smiled happily. She didn't run, she didn't faint, and she didn't look scared. She silently rose from where she sat upon the grass and trotted over to him.

Big Macintosh blinked his eyes in surprise. “Fluttershy... why are you here? Is there somethin' wrong?”

Fluttershy's happiness never wavered. “No.” Everything is perfect.

The yellow pegasus leaned forward, pulling the red stallion into an embrace as she breathed a sigh of happy relief.





Silence wrapped the two ponies laying next to each other in the apple orchard. They gazed toward the horizon as the sun peeked out, its fingers stretching across the land and reaching the still-sleeping Equestria, infusing it with light and excitement at the prospect of the coming day.

Big Macintosh looked down at Fluttershy, who had a beam of sunlight splayed across her face. The timid mare wrinkled her nose for a moment, then began building up a large sneeze with a loud “Aaahhhh...” then let it out as delicately as possible with a soft “choo.”

The earth pony took a deep breath. “Fluttershy....” The pegasus looked up attentively at the speaker. “Do you feel alone? Ye're a pegasus... do ya want another pegasus? So the two of you c'n fly together? All Ah'll do is keep you on the ground.”

Without hesitation, Fluttershy had her answer. “Wherever you are is where I want to be.”

The sun rose on a new day in Equestria. There to watch it begin together were two ponies.
> Summer - Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sea Spray's eyes fluttered open. He was in the same wonderful bed, in the same amazing house, having the same incredible experience. He was with Lyra and Bon Bon.

It was still a strange experience for him, liking two mares who liked each other... almost a love triangle, except that there were no lines being drawn toward him. Nevertheless, he quite enjoyed their company, and it made him happy.

His wing had healed a while back. He told himself he would leave as soon as he was recovered, but couldn't bring himself to do so. He also had the feeling his hostesses would encourage him to leave if he told them he was feeling better, or that they saw his cast was off. So, he continued pretending to be crippled. He didn't really need flying, after all.

He crawled slowly out of bed, groaning as he stretched his body and worked out the kinks that had settled in his muscles. His body was very relaxed today. He meandered to the door, hoisting it open and slowly cantering down the stairs.

As he made it to the ground floor, Sea Spray's nose was immediately greeted by a plethora of breakfast smells. He caught pancakes, muffins, sauteed grass, and Sweet Apple Acres apples in three colors all in one lovely waft. He sauntered toward the dining area next to the kitchen, intent on getting his fill.

Around the corner, he heard a giggle.

Not just any giggle, though. This was a suggestive giggle. A giggle that implied far more than something funny.

Sea Spray immediately went into sneak mode. It was time to investigate.

He snuck to the corner, peeping around at the two mares contained within. He saw Lyra on top of Bon Bon, her legs on each side, straddling the mare beneath her, as their faces came inches from one another. Lyra's back was turned to him, but he could see Bon Bon's eyes as they gazed lovingly into her partner's.

Though his first instinct told him to pull back, the stallion was now curious. He knew how everything worked, but he had never seen anything quite like this before. The intimate lives of ponies had been closed off to him until this point. So, he continued to watch.

He watched as Lyra, whose head was positioned at Bon Bon's neck now, slowly worked her way up to Bon Bon's mouth. There, they shared a beautiful, lingering kiss.

Sea Spray's gut began to twist inside of him.

The two mares stared at one another for a few moments, then Lyra initiated another kiss. Once again, they lingered in that position.

Sea Spray purposefully coughed loudly.

Lyra and Bon Bon pulled away from each other as if struck by something, the mint-green mare immediately lifting herself from her partner and putting her hooves back on the ground. The awkwardness of the situation lengthened the silence as the two mares scuffed their hooves guiltily on the floor. Sea Spray simply continued staring, a mixture of emotions playing just beneath the surface of his expressionless face.

Finally, the shocked stallion spoke. “Am I... interrupting something?”

Lyra shook her head quickly. “No, no, nothing at all! C'mon, come eat breakfast. Bon Bon cooked a lot today!”

“Not hungry,” Sea Spray spat. “I'm going on a walk.”

The pegasus immediately turned on his hoof and walked briskly out of the room, not waiting for a response from either of them.





Giving himself some time to cool his head, Sea Spray thought about what he'd witnessed and his reaction to it.

He saw two mares who were hopelessly in love expressing themselves the way that they wanted to most. Despite the two of them knowing it was around the time Sea Spray rose and came downstairs, they still did that in plain sight. Maybe they'd wanted him to see.

Sea Spray wasn't a colt anymore. He didn't have these foolish, naïve fantasies about finding his dream mare, and neither of these ponies fit that description anyway. They both knew he liked them, though; the least he could have expected was that they respect his presence, not this... event.

They ought to know better than to act like that when he's around. They didn't thump around in the night anymore, they kept their flirting to a minimum, and they made an effort to include him in their conversations. They hadn't once complained about him being there, they hadn't hinted towards him possibly moving on, and he was still thoroughly enjoying his time with the two mares. He hadn't overstayed his welcome... had he?

Maybe this was the indication that he needed. Perhaps they were tired of him being around and wanted him to move on. He wasn't certain yet.

He thought back to their first kiss. What had he felt inside him? What was that panging feeling that he had while it was happening?

Sadness, first and foremost. He was reminded of his own aching loneliness. He wanted somepony desperately, and, although it was wrong of him to think this way, both Lyra and Bon Bon were easing the depression that had been slowly creeping into his mind. It was as if a wellspring of life had formed around the roots of his happiness, nourishing him and allowing him the enjoyment that he so desperately desired. Simply being in their proximity banished his sad thoughts and gave him optimism and hope for his future. Seeing them so happy together was like sucking everything they had given him away again, leaving him cold and barren, forced to once again suffer as he starved alone.

He was also jealous. So very, very jealous. He wanted to be the one straddling either of those mares, he wanted to be the pony giving the affection, he wanted to have those same feelings that they were experiencing and he wasn't.

Why did they get to feel that way, and why did he not? Was he undeserving of the attentions of either mare? Was it some wrongdoing he had performed in his past come to haunt him? Had he not spent enough time with the two of them? Perhaps he needed to be more assertive and declare his intentions to them clearly. If he wanted to get socked in the nose.

Or, perhaps neither of these mares was the mare he was looking for.

Long ago, before they'd died, Sea Spray remembered his parents telling him these fanciful notions of finding a “soul mate.” After seeing how bitterly his father died, alone, and his mother going in a likewise fashion, he had dismissed such ridiculous dreams as the delusional ramblings of two hopeless ponies. Indeed, they had never even remotely hinted toward him that they were happy together. They argued often, they rarely kissed, and it appeared every last vestige of happiness had been sucked from their lives by their “soul mate.” At the time, he had reflected on the “soul mate” theory not meaning a single mate for your soul, but rather the only mate who can completely and totally remove your soul from your body whilst simultaneously losing their soul to you.

However, seeing the happiness of Lyra and Bon Bon together this morning, perhaps the “soul mate” theory still had some grain of truth to it. Perhaps he was trying to take after his parents and suck every last iota of enjoyment from the lives of these two innocent mares in his foolhardy attempt to find happiness. They were refusing to let him, of course; there was something that was happening between the two of them that he couldn't hope for them to ever feel for him.

It was that four-letter word that his friends at school had thrown around carelessly, that a mare 2 years his senior had whispered in his ear while she forced him against a wall and kissed him on the cheek, the theme of so many stories and novels that it made him want to puke. Love.

In fact, he would go so far as to say that the only ponies he had ever seen in love were Lyra and Bon Bon. It would stand to reason that he desire such happiness for himself. All of those other ponies that he'd seen declaring love this and love that, they were foolish dreamers who could never hope to feel the way that he'd seen those two mares feeling today.

That look that he'd seen in Bon Bon's eyes was unforgettable. The way she looked up at Lyra... there was nothing that could ever be compared to that gaze. He saw such a fervent infusion of lust, wonder, joy, anticipation... he shivered as he imagined what it would feel like to have those eyes staring into his. Truly, no means of reciprocation for that look was to be found.

So, yes, he was melancholy over his prevalent isolation, he was envious that he had nopony to share intimate moments with, and he knew it was because he had never and probably would never find love.

How was he to find love, then, if not with these two ponies?

By exploring, of course.

Sea Spray had stumbled across these two mares purely by accident. He initially would have rather stayed at a potel than board with them. Yet, two days in, he was having an unforgettable experience that he never wanted to end.

Perhaps if he continued to travel the world, he would find a lonely mare to love. A pony that made him as happy as Lyra and Bon Bon were. He would have to take risks, oh yes, and he would probably be disappointed more often than not... but it was a better plan than stagnating with two mares who were already head-over-heels in love and staring at them creepily while they make out.

Resolved, Sea Spray began his return journey to the home he had been staying at for the last time.





Sea Spray trotted up to the door, intent on making his entrance as clear as possible; however, he paused as his hoof hovered over the doorknob.

On the other side, he heard a harp strum.

Taking advantage of his last opportunity to sneak in, the pegasus opened the door quietly and slinked into the entryway, settling onto the floor to listen to the mint-green pegasus play music.

It appeared that he had just caught the first notes of Lyra's song, as the mare played a beautiful intro, leading into the lyrics of a song that seemed to pierce his very soul.

Through bramble and thicket and dense underbrush,
My journey will lead me alone,
To discover lands once thought to be lost,
As far I will travel from home,
As my heart commands me to roam, to roam,
As my heart commands me to roam.

Though long roads will take me away, away,
Know that I will come home someday, someday,
And I will be able to say, to say,
I'm here forever to stay, to stay.

Through swamp and quagmire and swift-sinking mud,
My life in peril will be,
But never should you fear my fate now my dear,
For a wanderer's spirit is free,
But I keep your heart close to me, to me,
But I keep your heart close to me.

Though long roads will take me away, away,
Know that I will come home someday, someday,
And I will be able to say, to say,
I'm here forever to stay, to stay.

Through ocean and typhoon and endless great sea,
Persistent waves drag me from you,
The storms of my passion will keep me afloat,
And see my journey safely through,
As I gaze upon the deep blue, deep blue,
As I gaze upon the deep blue.

Though long roads will take me away, away,
Know that I will come home someday, someday,
And I will be able to say, to say,
I'm here forever to stay, to stay.

Through death and mortality I will be lost,
To leave you abandoned again,
But know that before then I'll see you again,
And long years of sorrow will mend,
And I'll be there until the end, the end,
And I'll be there until the end.

Though long roads will take me away, away,
Know that I will come home someday, someday,
And I will be able to say, to say,
I'm here forever to stay, to stay.

As Lyra strummed the final notes on her harp, Sea Spray let out a sob.

There was a stunned silence. A few moments later, the mint-green unicorn timidly asked, “Sea Spray?”

The hapless pegasus let out a loud sniff, quickly attempting to cover his crying and saying, “Yeah... that was beautiful, Lyra. Did you write it yourself?”

Lyra seemed uncertain of herself. “I, uh... yeah, a few years ago. Is something wrong?”

Sea Spray emerged from his hiding spot, shaking his head vigorously. “Nope, nothing at all. Where's Bon Bon at?”

The mare stared at Sea Spray curiously, then said, “She went into town to buy some things. Why? Did you need to talk to her?”

“Yeah, and you. Both of you.”

“Uh-huh. All right, we can do that.” Lyra scrutinized him, asking, “You sure you're okay?”

Sea Spray nodded his head, mumbling  quietly about just needing to rest, and Lyra excused him to stay in his room until Bon Bon came back.

While in his room, Sea Spray thought about what he wanted to tell the mares. He knew that he had to leave, today. He was just wondering how to break it to them.

Try as he might, there was no solution in his head. He continually mulled it over, asking himself repeatedly what he should say, but no words came to him. He still hadn't the slightest inkling when Lyra finally called upstairs for him to head down.





Several happy greetings and a few mumbled apologies later, Lyra and Bon Bon sat across from Sea Spray, looking at the unsure pegasus warily. Lyra opened her mouth to say something, then shut it, followed by Sea Spray, who likewise made the gasping fish motion, but snapped his mouth shut when he realized that he also had nothing to say.

Eventually, Sea Spray spoke. “Thank you for letting me stay here. It's been the best two weeks of my life.”

Lyra spoke for both mares. “We're happy to have you, Sea Spray. You can stay here as long as you like. You will always be welcome in our home.”

The pegasus nodded. “As soon as my wing heals up, I'll be on my way; thank you for all your patience, both of you. I know that you've been doing your best to be good hosts, and it was wrong of me to act the way I did earlier.”

“Oh, no, that's really not necessary.” Lyra smiled encouragingly. “We just got a bit... carried away, is all.”

Sea Spray nodded, then hesitated. Something didn't feel right. “That's... all I really wanted to say. Thank you for being so understanding. Both of you.”

The both of them smiled and nodded at him. Sea Spray excused himself to go freshen up while he waited for dinner.

After he had left and they heard him go upstairs, Bon Bon turned her head and looked pensively at Lyra. “Why didn't you tell him?”

Her partner looked amused. “You know why, silly mare.”





In his room, Sea Spray slipped the cast off and flexed his wing, folding it over to massage it carefully. There was no time to delay.

Quietly, he unlatched the window, gathering up his meager possessions and putting them into a saddlebag he'd bought one day while in town. He hoisted the saddlebags onto his back and flapped his wings experimentally, feeling some lift.

Without further ado, he leaped from the window, gave several powerful beats of his wings, and flew in the direction of the setting sun, away from his home of Manehattan and towards the opposite shore.

He wasn't going home until he found a mare he loved.
> Autumn - Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Briar Patch lay concealed in a bush near the home of Derpy Hooves, watching the building with rapt interest. He glanced skyward, taking note of the position of the sun, before looking back at the squat structure nestled inside the forest clearing.

It had been several days since he met Dinky, and he'd been back every day to see her since then. He would talk to her for several minutes, then make himself scarce before incurring her protective mother's wrath.

Every day, he had been asking Dinky about her mother, how she'd been, what she knew of where Derpy had come from, and what she thought the best way to approach her mother would be. She seemed to think the entire situation was a big game of hide-and-seek, and eventually, Derpy would catch him. Perhaps it was; perhaps he wanted to be caught.

Yesterday, he'd finally worked up the courage to ask her what her plans were for the Running of the Leaves; it was less than a week away, so there wasn't much time left for Dinky's mother to sign up. Dinky told him, “Mommy says she'll be going. She went last year, too.”

Briar Patch thought about that for a moment. It had been autumn when Derpy left Canterlot, and it had been almost a year since he had gotten to see her. She must have arrived in Ponyville shortly before the Running of the Leaves last year.

This was his chance to talk to her. He wasn't going to get a shot like this for a while.

Several minutes later, Dinky trotted cautiously out of the house. She made a show of looking around, then trotted over to a ball and kicked it. This was very bizarre behavior for her. Normally, she would have made a beeline for the edge of the forest; Briar hid in different bushes each time, in case Derpy tried to catch him, so Dinky would wait for him to say something to her after she'd come close.

As it was, he'd seen Derpy in the house, so he felt comfortable saying something. “Psst, Dinky!”

The sound echoed through the yard, despite Briar's attempts to say it only just loudly enough for her to hear. Dinky tossed her head agitatedly; something was obviously bothering her.

Clearing his throat, Briar said a bit more loudly, “What's wrong?”

A voice spoke from behind him. “I've caught you. That's what.”

Briar Patch immediately recognized the voice, knowing in the same instant what she was about to do. As he turned to look at her, Derpy's hooves crashed painfully into his side and knocked him to the ground. The grey pegasus gave a powerful beat of her wings, landing atop him and pinning his hooves to the ground.

Briar Patch's eyes met with Derpy's, one of them boring directly into his while the other seemed to stare at his cheek. “What have you been talking to my daughter about, fillynapper!?”

From nearby, Dinky let out a cry. “Don't hurt Bramble, Mommy! He's a good pony!”

Derpy's pin on Briar Patch softened ever so slightly. “Speak for yourself. Why are you talking to my daughter?”

At that moment, a flicker of recognition crossed Derpy's features, and her eyes began to widen.

Not here... not now. Briar Patch rolled as hard as he could to one side, Derpy's hooves suddenly trying to find purchase on a pony that was moving. She scrambled and fell on top of him, the scent of muffins wafting over Briar as he attempted to scramble out from under the grey pegasus. He succeeded, immediately putting ground between himself and the swiftly recovering Derpy. He twisted his head over his shoulder for a moment, his eyes meeting hers once more before disappearing into the brush.

Derpy didn't attempt to give chase. She sat in the dirt for several long moments, stunned at what had just happened. Eventually she mumbled to herself, “... Briar?”





The next day, and for several days thereafter, Briar Patch didn't leave his home. He didn't even try to pretend why he couldn't leave; despite his wanting to see Derpy, he just couldn't pluck up the courage to see her again after all this time. Not with the way he felt about her.

Things were very different now than the first time he'd met her. The first time he ever saw Derpy, the thought of being friends with a mare he liked was nowhere near the forefront of his mind; he didn't talk to ponies much, and when he did, making friends wasn't his interest.

Rather, Briar Patch's focus at the time was defending a pony that he saw being tormented. Never in all his life had he thought not to defend the weak and helpless in their moment of need, and that had been no exception. It had given Derpy a chance to talk to him first, and he simply let things happen.

A lot can change in a year, though. Things felt different. He felt like he didn't know the mare he'd seen today, even if she recognized him.

He felt like a different pony.

Was he a different pony? He was close friends with Derpy, and he may have felt this way about her before... and maybe she'd felt the same way. Neither of them knew it at the time; both of them knew now. That's why he knew he couldn't talk to her like he had before.

Glumly, he approached his window and looked out at the cold autumn afternoon. School had just ended for the foals, and they were all rushing home to where the bitter, biting day could no longer reach them. They were from several varied ages and groups, and he felt an offhanded interest in who each of these colts' and fillies' parents were.

Eventually, his eyes picked out a pair of ponies, one a tiny purplish-grey unicorn, the other a full-grown grey pegasus. The pegasus had a scarf wrapped about her neck, a smaller one clamped in her mouth as she attempted to encase the unicorn filly's neck in the warm wrapping. Briar smiled brightly, knowing how silly he would look if anypony could see him. He was easily entertained.

With Dinky snugly scarfed, the pair cantered past Briar's house. He realized they may spot him watching from his window, so he moved to the side and poked his eyes around the windowsill to continue seeing the mare of his dreams.

As the two of them were about to disappear around the corner, Briar watched as Derpy's wing draped over a shivering Dinky, pulling her close for warmth. He involuntarily collapsed upon the floor immediately afterward.

He hoped somewhere, someday, he would have a colt or a filly of his very own to care for and protect.

Perhaps, at the Running of the Leaves, he would get to adopt one, along with finding the mare he loved.





Briar Patch awoke, glancing first at his clock, then at his calendar. The day had arrived.

He rose, putting on a well-fitted winter hat that covered everything down to his eyes and mentally preparing himself for the marathon he was going to be participating in today. It wasn't every day that a stallion got to confess his love for a mare for the first time.

Upon trotting out the door, Briar made for the edge of Whitetail Wood, where he was told the marathon would begin. As he neared the site, he began to see more and more ponies, eventually blending in with the crowd that was watching the marathon.

He stopped just short of emerging from the crowd to the area where the other runners were currently stretching. Hovering at the edges, he watched as Derpy Hooves began windmilling each of her front hooves about in turn, the second one coming to a sudden stop as she clocked a pony in the jaw, stammering a hurried apology before focusing on her forelegs, preparing to stretch them as well.

Maintaining as much stealth as possible, Briar Patch arrived at the registration table, signed in, and got his racing number, pasting it upon his flank: 13. Derpy had already gotten the number 8. He looked around briefly, looking for a place to hide within the crowd until more racers had arrived.

After 30 or so racers had shown up, Briar Patch felt comfortable moving among them, confident in his ability to stay unnoticed by Derpy. He moved out of the slowly growing crowd and into the preparation area, where Derpy was still stretching, and began going through some small warm-ups himself. It was a little more cramped now, but there was still enough room for him to perform his stretches.

After several minutes, a horn sounded, and 50 ponies assembled at the starting line. Briar Patch kicked his hooves against the ground, preparing for the gallop ahead.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome to the annual Running of the Leaves! This is Pinkie Pie, your announcer for the event and host of the Running of the Leaves After Party at Sugarcube Corner!” Briar Patch glanced to the side, where Pinkie Pie was standing with a microphone. “Now, I know you all want to finish this race quickly so you can have some sweets, and that's perfectly fine! Go as fast as you want! And now, without further ado, 3... 2... GO!”

There was a little confusion from the assembled ponies, several of them glancing at one another to verify they'd all noticed the omission of a 1. “Hey, what gives? Do you not feel like racing anymore?” The crowd gave an awkward glance to Pinkie Pie before they began to pick up their pace, taking up a brisk trot, then progressing to a steady gallop.

Briar Patch opted to stay at the back of the crowd, attempting to locate Derpy. After a minute or so into the race, he spotted her weaving erratically in the crowd, bumping into ponies fairly often, her mouth moving as he imagined her giving apologies for every pony jostled.

Briar grinned to himself as he witnessed the beautiful mare galloping ahead of him. Just a little courage....

Slowly building up his resolve, Briar maintained his gallop and prepared to quicken it slightly so as to catch up to Derpy.

Up ahead, he heard a pony yelling. “That's the fourth time! Either move away or don't race at all!”

He attempted to locate the angry stallion, eventually finding him glaring at Derpy. The grey pegasus was once again trying to stammer an apology.

“Apologies don't cut it! Watch where you're going!”

Derpy slowed her pace, but the irritated unicorn matched it and began dropping behind with her. Briar Patch slowed his pace accordingly.

Now that he had a good look at the stallion, Briar Patch attempted to identify him. He was a blue unicorn stallion with a whitish-grey mane and matching short tail. His cutie mark was a light bulb.

With most of the crowd having passed by, Briar could hear what was going on. The stallion continued his tirade. “What makes you think you should be in a marathon, anyway? You can't even gallop straight!”

Derpy attempted to offer another apology of, “I-I'm, sorry, Bright Idea, it won't—” before being cut off again.

“No, I'm tired of this! I told you three times! Three times! And still you're doing it! What is wrong with you? Why do you go to these things if all you're going to do is make ponies around you miserable?”

“I-I—”

“That's enough.” Briar Patch spoke clearly over the receding din of pounding hooves. “Go be a bully to innocent ponies someplace else.”

“And who the hoof is this? A friend of yours?” Bright Idea gave Derpy an incredulous look before turning back to Briar. “Look, just tell her to stop participating in things that only make her bother other ponies and things won't end up like this. How about you—”

“I'm not taking suggestions from you.” He drew himself up to his full height to confront  his aggressor. “She'll keep running whether you want her to or not, and she'll enjoy it. You're the one bothering other ponies, not her.”

In retrospect, he knew he shouldn't have said something like that. He knew that Bright Idea was already angry, and insulting him would only make him angrier. A vein popped out on the angry unicorn's forehead, and he gave a hostile snort. “You gonna do somethin' about it?”

Briar Patch smiled confidently. “Yeah, I think I am.”

Bright Idea gave a shout and lunged at Briar Patch.

Despite his boldness, Briar Patch knew he was no fighter. He was used to being a punching bag by now, but better he take the beating and stop Bright Idea from picking on Derpy than to pretend he didn't see what was going on.

He still put up a valiant effort, however. As Bright Idea neared him, he reached for Briar Patch, who bit his attacker on the leg. Bright Idea yelped in pain, pulling the injured hoof back and swinging the other to hit Briar Patch on the cheek.

His face left wide open, and his reaction time terrible, Briar Patch took the full force of the hit. Immediately, he felt his nose start burning with pain, then a drop of blood landed on the ground, followed quickly by another.

Laughing, he stood back on his hooves, brashly taunting Bright Idea. “That the best you got, tough guy? C'mon, my mama spanked me harder!”

A small look of bewilderment crossed Bright Idea's face. Briar Patch realized that this stallion didn't know what a spanking was. He began to stifle a laugh, then decided it would irritate his aggressor more to do so, letting a baleful guffaw escape from his lungs.

Bright Idea, taking this as an invitation for more brawling, circled in to attack.

Briar knew this, so he turned around and attempted to buck Bright Idea in the jaw, but the unicorn saw it coming from a mile away, sidestepped, and delivered a buck of his own to Briar Patch's ribs.

Briar Patch collapsed on the ground, coughing and wheezing, the blood from his nose still running in rivulets down his face.

Bright Idea snorted derisively. “Maybe watch your mouth around me next time, foal.” He galloped off to catch up with the stampede that had left him behind.

Briar Patch took a few more seconds to catch his breath, then rolled over onto his back. No matter how many times he got beat up, it still hurt just as much.

And it was still just as worth it.

From his side, he heard Derpy speak. “Oh, Briar Patch! What did you do that for?”

He laughed a little, then coughed. His ribs hurt. “I needed to save you, silly filly.”

“But I'm used to it!” She sounded indignant. “They make fun of me all the time! I don't let it bother me or anything!”

“I'm used to it too. You don't have to take insults like that, Derpy. You're more beautiful than any mare they may have eyes on.”

There was a stunned silence. She seemed lost for words.

Briar decided to push his advantage. “Whatever words they may say, they're going to always be wrong. If you're just going to let them talk to you like that, you're letting them push you down and make you feel even worse. You have to stand up for yourself... or let me stand up for you.”

Derpy gave an irritated snort. “You can't even stand up now... oh, oh my goodness! I'm arguing with you and you're hurt!” Briar glanced over at Derpy as she mumbled worried incoherencies to herself, then grabbed her scarf in her mouth and yanked it off. She placed it just under Briar's nose in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood, the scent of fresh-baked muffins overpowering his senses briefly and making him forget the miserable state he was in.

Several minutes later, Briar Patch rose shakily to his hooves. “I think I'll be all right. Let's keep going.” He began to trot gingerly down the path.

He could feel Derpy's eyes boring into the back of his head. “That's it? No 'hello?' No 'how are you?' I haven't seen you in a whole year!”

Briar Patch looked up in reflection.





He was back in his old school, where the girl he decided to defend was looking curiously at him. He'd had his head dunked in a toilet for her sake several hours earlier, and he didn't get so much as a 'hello' or a 'how are you' from her. They had gone on their merry ways, but she kept looking at him. 

There was something about her look that gave him pause. What was it? He thought at first that she may like him, but found that ludicrous. Girls weren't attracted to the kid that gets beat up all the time; they were attracted to the brawny jocks beating up the little guy. Whether it was for her sake or not, she didn't find him a better person for it. He finally decided on pity.

Every time Brian had defended that same girl, she had looked pityingly at him. She never said a single word to him, and she never made any attempt to be around him. She simply kept... looking at him.

Whenever he saw her, she was looking right back. Eventually, he came to dread the look of pity that this girl had for him. If he was around her too often, she'd end up pitying him more and more.

He liked her, but she felt sorry for him.

So, in order to better further the interests of the both of them, he began to avoid her. Not ignore her; you can never ignore a girl you like. He just went out of his way to try to not be around her because he couldn't stand that look of sadness in her eyes every time she saw him. He knew he wasn't worth her time.





“Maybe things are better off with me not being around. I'll only end up making you feel sorry for me.” Briar Patch continued his trot away from the mare he'd traveled all this way to see. He didn't want to look back and see the pity in her eyes. He wasn't sure he could ever take that look from her.

Derpy said, “Wait... Briar! Why would I feel sorry for you?”

The injured earth pony sighed. “All I ever do is get beat up. You need a stallion who can protect you and Dinky.”

“Yes... and?”

“I, uh....” Briar paused, unsure of what she meant. “You get to choose what's next, Derpy. Where I go after this... that remains to be seen. I'll find somewhere to go, don't you worry.”

Refocusing his attention on the task at hand, Briar picked up the pace of his trot. His hooves began beating rhythmically in the dirt as he accelerated, preparing to gallop all the way to the other racers.

Before he could go any further, however, a large pegasus landed atop him, knocking him to the ground and causing his ribs to thump painfully against the ground. The scent of muffins wafted over him once more, and her head came down right next to his.

Turning to look at the pony who had tackled him, he found himself staring directly into one of the eyes of Derpy Hooves, her other eye trained downward toward the rest of his face. It wasn't pity he was seeing.

“How about you go with me?”





Several hours later, the crowd surrounding the finish line had all but dissipated. There were only a few stragglers left hanging around, one of them a small purple unicorn that seemed lost. She kept glancing toward Whitetail Woods expecting to see something, but kept drawing a frown. Tears had welled up in her eyes several times, but she always shook her head and regained her look of grim determination after several drops had fallen.

Finally, a large grin split her face as she saw a familiar shape round the corner, a loud “Mommy!” escaping her lips.

Then, just as quickly as she said it, she turned her head quizzically. There was another pony with her.

As the two ponies trotted toward the finish line together, Derpy gave an involuntary shiver. Briar Patch, noticing this, pushed his body against hers. The grey pegasus rewarded him with a blush, the shaking she'd just started disappearing just as quickly.

Briar Patch looked to the sky and let out a happy sigh. He'd never felt these feelings before.
> Winter - Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Gilda crossed the threshold of Alkaline Grey's home, the taciturn-yet-caring unicorn and little Posie following close behind. She took a deep breath, releasing it through her nose as she absorbed the environment of her new residence. Well, she thought retrospectively, it is better than snow.

Posie immediately darted between Gilda's legs, her tiny wings flapping slightly to let her move faster. She disappeared into the kitchen; a few moments later, several loud thumps and clangs rang out.

Gilda looked at Alkaline questioningly. The unicorn chuckled and told her, “She's getting dinner ready.”

At the bidding of her host, Gilda went to the adjacent room to rest on a chair. Grey left to help Posie prepare the meal, giving Gilda a few moments to reflect on her current living situation.

She wasn't a guest anymore; she was stuck here for the time being. It wasn't ideal for her, obviously, but she honestly... kinda liked the unicorn. He looked totally awesome, and he had a cool talent—even though he acted pretty lame sometimes.

Besides, she owed him her life. If he wanted to try to impress her, she'd entertain him... at least for a little while.

Maybe, just maybe, she'd end up being impressed as well.

Alkaline Grey appeared in the entryway to the room and beckoned to Gilda, signifying that the meal was ready. The griffon hopped onto her paws and talons and strolled into the dining area.

The room was dominated by a rather large oval-shaped table. It looked like it could hold anywhere from eight to ten ponies of average size. Gilda's sharp eyes swept over it, noting the dust that had collected at all but two spots that were right next to each other on one end.

Alkaline Grey was, of course, sitting at the head of the table, positioned at the end of one of the curves. Posie was positioned just to his left, several vegetables sitting on her plate, a half-chewed stalk of celery poking from her mouth as she chewed happily.

Gilda instantly theorized that she was supposed to sit at Grey's right hoof, as if she were a maid or something. She decided to be bold in her own way. She hurriedly moved to the opposite head of the table from where the surprised unicorn sat, sitting at the peak of the curve and looking down the table smugly at her rival.

There were several moments of stunned silence, then Grey smiled. “If you'd like to sit here, you need only ask.” He removed himself from the spot he had taken, moved one seat down, and sat where he had intended Gilda to sit.

“I... uh....” Now that she had had her plans laid before her, she realized how dumb her decision had been. She was treating Grey as a competitor for the dominant member of the household when she had nothing to offer, and sitting alone at the other end of the table wasn't proving anything to any of them, least of all herself.

Sighing, she stood, moved awkwardly to the opposite end of the table, and took the seat that Grey had relinquished for her.

Posie, her mouth still somehow full of celery, began trying to talk to the griffon, tiny half-chewed pieces of vegetable flying from her mouth. “Grey buys food every Thursday—”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Gilda glared irritatedly at the little filly. “I don't need a food shower, I came here to eat it!”

Instantly, Posie's smile faded, turning to a half-frown. “Oh, sorry....”

Gilda grimaced, instantly feeling stupid again. “Just... wait until you've swallowed your food, then tell me what you wanted to say, okay, dude?”

Posie's positive demeanor almost instantly returned as she nodded a couple times, then chewed a little bit longer before taking a gulp. “Grey buys food every Thursday from the fresh food market. He says it's worth the extra price to make sure we're eating the best stuff because he wants me to grow up big and healthy.”

Gilda smiled warmly at the young pegasus. “And I bet you will. You seem to like your celery.”

Posie nodded agreeably, then dove back into her light meal. Gilda looked for her own plate on the table.

In front of Grey were two plates of food: his food, which he had slowly and methodically separated into groups which she couldn't pick out the pattern of, and was now slowly eating one pile at a time—and Gilda's food.

“Hey, gimme that!” She reached across the table, snatched her plate, then deposited it in front of herself, grabbing a carrot and snapping off half of it in her beak.

Grey chuckled. “Very well, then; I'll allow it.”

Gilda glanced up distractedly from her plate. “Allow what?”

“Oh, allow you to eat. It was a joke.”

“Uh-huh,” came her distracted reply as she focused once more on her food. There wasn't a full plate of food, but this was just the salad or appetizer or whatever, so she wasn't one to complain. She made short work of the plate, then looked up at the other ponies, noting that both of them had half a plate of food remaining. “What's takin' you slowpokes so long? Don't you wanna get to the main course?”

Grey gave Gilda an amused glance. “This is all we have for dinner tonight.”

“Huh?”

“I don't sell enough batteries to afford lavish meals; we eat light, and we eat healthy.” The dark brown unicorn glanced downward. “That won't be a problem, will it?”

Not wanting to seem greedy, Gilda shook her head. “Oh, no, of course not, dude! I was just expecting you to be more wildly famous, seeing as your batteries are so cool and all.” She paused, then realized that he'd told her before how little batteries he managed to sell. She opened her beak to say something, then decided otherwise and let it close.

The rest of the meal was finished in silence, Gilda staring at an empty plate while Posie and Grey relished their meager amount of food as much as possible.

Dinner being over, the next event on the list was to go to sleep. The trio departed from the table, making for the stairway that led to the rest of the house. Upon reaching the landing at the top, the griffon peered down a cramped hallway at the doors situated within: two on the left and one on the right.

Grey offhandedly told her what the doors were for. “First door on the left is a restroom, second door on the left is the guest bedroom—you and Posie will be sleeping in there—and the door on the right is the master bedroom, where I sleep. Any questions?”

“Yeah. Why don't I get the master bedroom?”

Alkaline Grey smiled at the griffon. “Because you're not the master, of course.”

“And what if I wanted to sleep in there anyway?”

Grey paused. “Well, you would probably be sharing a bed with me.”

Gilda barked a laugh. “Yeah, that ain't happenin', dude. I'll take the guest room.”

Grey led the group, popping into his bedroom first. Gilda followed Posie as she pranced happily toward the door of the place that the two of them would be sleeping in.

Just as they were passing Grey's door, he came back out, a book being held by his magic. “Ah, I'm reading Posie her bedtime story.”

Gilda rolled her eyes but didn't complain. Posie flapped her little wings to better reach the door handle, then opened it, displaying the contents of the room within.

There were two simple beds, two nightstands with a lamp each, a rickety wooden chair, and a simple rug. Nothing else.

Gilda examined the sparse furnishings with dismay. Grey, noticing her disappointment, told her, “Were I a king, I would offer the best for my guests. Sadly, this is all I have.”

“Yeah, yeah, I ain't complaining.” Gilda sauntered to the larger bed, tossing herself upon it, as Posie climbed onto hers. Grey grasped the chair with his magic and put it next to the nightstand abreast of Posie's bed, clicking on the lamp as he donned a small pair of glasses.

“Now, where did we leave off? Oh yes, the three little fillies were following Princess Luna in their dreams. They were seeing all kinds of wonderful things to do! They saw lands where there was candy everywhere, even the ground they walked upon. They also saw lands full of beautiful animals, from the little peeping birds to the great roaring bears. Finally, they saw a land full of peace, serenity, and quiet.

“'I want to go to the first place! I love candy!' shouted the first filly. 'I want to go to the second place! I love animals!' said the second filly. 'I want to go to the third place. I like peace and quiet,' said the third filly.

'Little fillies, you may go wherever your heart desires. Follow that which your dreams are made of,' said the great and kind princess. She sang the fillies a song as they each went to the place of their dreams.

Come little fillies,
I'll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment,
Come little fillies,
The time's come to play,
Here in the garden of dreams.

Follow, sweet fillies,
I'll show thee the way,
Through all the pain and the sorrow,
Weep not poor fillies,
For life is this way,
Loving and beauty and passion.

Hush now, dear fillies,
It must be this way,
To weary of life and deceptions,
Rest now, my fillies,
For soon we'll away,
Into the calm and the quiet.

Come little fillies,
I'll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment,
Come little fillies,
The time's come to play,
Here in my garden of dreams.

“The first filly rushed into the land of sweets. She dove into cakes, she dove into pies, she dove into gingerbread houses. She ate the ground she walked upon, she ate the sky she looked up at, she ate the walls of every building she saw. Just when she thought she'd finished eating everything, she would find more delicious candy to eat.

“The second filly arrived in the land of animals. There were bunnies and kitties and squirrels and wolves, platypi and flamingos and tortoises and deer. Just when she thought she'd met all of the wonderful animals, more would come to see her.

“The third filly tiptoed into the land of silence. Here she was able to look at everything with a clear head and know that the world was beautiful. She saw little colts and fillies smiling in their sleep, she saw stallions and mares sharing dreams, she saw the twinkling stars watching over everypony. Everywhere she looked, she saw happy ponies enjoying the beautiful night.

“After they had explored their dreams, the three fillies came back to Princess Luna. 'What have you learned about your dreams, young fillies?' Princess Luna asked.

“'I learned that Equestria should be made of candy!' said the first. Princess Luna chuckled. 'I learned that animals should overrun Equestria,' said the second. Princess Luna chuckled again. 'I learned that Equestria is a beautiful land,' said the third.

“When the third filly said this, Princess Luna smiled and nodded. 'Yes, young fillies,' she said. 'A land made of candy will only exist in your dreams, because such a land would cause your stomach to ache and your teeth to rot if you were to live there.

“'A land full of cute animals will also only exist in your dreams, because such a land would cause the animals to eat all of your food and stay in your house if you were to live there.

“'A land full of peaceful, happy ponies exists all around us. We may go wherever we want in our dreams, but we can feel peace in the beautiful night. That, young fillies, is the Equestria you live in.”

Grey paused, the story finished. Posie said, “Again! Again! The song again!”

Grey smiled and said, “All right, but straight to sleep afterward.”

Before beginning to sing the song again, the unicorn glanced behind him at Gilda. The griffon was fast asleep.





Several hours later, Gilda awoke with a pain in her back. It felt like the mattress was filled with rocks instead of feathers.

She rose from the bed, tested the softness of the mattress, and found it was not, in fact, full of rocks. Her curiosity abated, she decided to take a walk around the house to wake herself up. The sun was just peaking its watery eye over the horizon, a drizzling rain promising a warmer day than usual.

As she tiptoed out of the room with a lightly snoring Posie, shutting it behind her, she noted that Grey's door was cracked open. She decided to see what the most lavish room would look like. She nudged the door open a little more, poking her head in.

Inside the room, there were several stacks of books, some laboratory equipment, and a small paper-thin pad in one of the corners. On top of the pad was Alkaline Grey.

Gilda withdrew her head quickly. The garish covers on the books led her to believe they were all children's books that he read to Posie; the laboratory equipment was likely to do with how he manufactured the batteries.

Where he was sleeping, on the other claw, was a total shock.

Grey may have the master bedroom, but he could only afford two beds: One for himself and one for Posie. Gilda imagined him moving the bed ahead of time in anticipation of her coming to live with him; he'd predicted that she would say yes, that she would end up in the room with Posie, and that she would end up living with the two of them.

She didn't much like being put in checkmate, but the griffon was more distracted by something else: He gave up his bed for her comfort.

Gilda should be the one on the ground, not Alkaline Grey. He lived here; this was his house. She didn't deserve the bed... he did.

Yet, he gave her the bed. She wasn't looking for a free handout, but he seemed almost happy to give up his small amount of luxury to make her happy. She wasn't going to argue his generosity.

She clambered down the stairs back to the living room, taking in the smell of the new morning through a partially opened window. She closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle pitter-patter of the rain as it splashed upon the cobblestones of the city streets. It was a beautiful morning.

Her reverie was suddenly snapped by a bitter wind which whipped into the living room, at once chilling her to her bones. She gave a quiet squawk of protest, moving to close the window, when she saw an officious-looking unicorn in a pressed suit approaching the door.

She shut the window quickly and began walking toward the door. Shortly after the knock sounded, she opened it to greet the pony on the other side.

“Hello, Mr. Alkal—who are you?”

“Uh... that's not a very nice way to greet someone, dude.”

“Ah, my apologies. I am Mr. Repo Zess, and I am here to speak with Mr. Alkaline Grey as to the current state of matters of his owning this residence; do you live here?”

“Yeah, just moved in last night.”

“I see. And this is now your permanent residence?”

They both were distracted from the conversation by the sound of hooves coming hurriedly down the stairs. Alkaline Grey rounded the corner, still blinking sleep from his eyes. “Gilda, I'll talk to him; you go wait in the living room.”

“What're you talkin' about, dude? We were just havin' a talk—”

“I'd appreciate it if you go wait in the living room, Gilda.” Grey's voice sounded hard as steel, yet commanded understanding. The griffon was lost for words for a few moments, then silently walked back into the living room.

Things had quickly turned dark and gloomy. The cold winds the pegasi were making had brought with them a host of roiling, thunderous clouds, the ponies up above hard at work to create some heavier cover. And here I thought today was scheduled to be nice.

She decided to listen in on the conversation between Repo Zess and Alkaline. The businesspony was speaking. “Mr. Grey, there are two residents here, and you can't even pay for one! What would you have me do?”

“You know that sales haven't been very profitable lately; just give me a few more weeks and I guarantee you I'll have all of the funding for two residents.”

“We don't have a few more weeks, Mr. Grey! Your talent is being a con artist, as far as I can tell, not creating those Celestia-damned batteries! I've been holding your payments for three months, now, three months! I have a family to feed, too! What would you have me do, Mr. Grey?”

Alkaline Grey sighed. “Posie, I know you're listening. Come here.”

The sound of small hooves hitting the stairs was evident as Posie rounded the corner. “Pack your things. It looks like we're going to be explorers for a little while.”

Repo Zess grimaced. “A third resident!? When were you going to tell me about this? Three residents living here! That's a lot of money you haven't been paying, Mr. Grey!”

“I'll pay it as soon as I have it.” The dark brown unicorn dismissed the suited businesspony, coming around the corner to the living room. “You heard me, Gilda; I guess we don't have a home anymore.”





The rest of the morning was very somber. Another light breakfast of fresh vegetables was eaten, Alkaline Grey chewing miserably, Gilda glaring at him, and Posie, seemingly oblivious of the situation, happily munching on a crunchy carrot.

Shortly afterward, they began packing. Despite this being his house, Grey had a very meager amount of possessions. He stuffed some of his lab equipment into one saddlebag, asked Gilda to carry some books for Posie, and placed the rest of the food that he had into the other saddlebag.

Letting his breath out in a slow, sorrowful stream, Alkaline Grey led the small group out of his home.

The drizzling rain this morning had been replaced with a light snowfall. It slowly joined its comrades on the ground, the banks along the streets being coated anew with fresh white beauty.

To Gilda, she saw only a cold, wet, miserable evening spent in it.





After several hours of pointless meandering, they ate a lighter than usual lunch and Grey decided he would try to sell some batteries. They went down an entire street block, the door being slammed in the desperate unicorn's face every time he told the ponies what product he was trying to sell. Electricity simply worked too well; there was no room for a portable lamp in the city, it would seem.

This took them several hours, Grey being invited into a home three times and departing with a crestfallen visage each time. Gilda, upon seeing each rejection, became gradually more and more irritated-looking. Finally, she decided that she'd had enough.

“What's the plan, dude? We can't just wander around Manehattan hoping for a free handout. Equestria doesn't work that way.”

“We'll figure something out. I promise.”

“Yeah, you promised me a home, too. That doesn't seem to be working out too well, either.”

Posie looked at Gilda with optimism. “Grey will figure something out! He always does!”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” The griffon rolled her eyes. “I'll believe it when I see it. And it better happen soon, or I'm outta here.”

The journey continued in silence, Posie's mind absorbed in emphatically perpetual happiness, Grey's with worry over the next course of action, and Gilda's with simmering resentment of the situation she'd been thrust into.

The day grew progressively colder, its icy grip strangling what small cherished warmth had been held by the now-homeless ponies and griffon. Gilda wished she'd never dared to hope that her life would be better; now, instead of suffering by herself, she was going to have to deal with the suffering of two ponies as well. One of them was even a filly; this made Alkaline Grey most decidedly uncool.

Why was she even with him, then? What was compelling this griffon to follow such a pathetic unicorn as this? Was she delusional? Stupid? Crazy? Probably all three.

Yet, she couldn't bring herself to walk away. There was something she couldn't put her talon on... a draw to this pony. She'd never felt it before, but....

For the first time in a very, very long time, she had hope that things would turn out all right. Not the ridiculous, pigheaded, arrogant hope that foolish griffons would cling to, either; this was genuine hope, and she was putting this hope in Alkaline Grey.

“We ought to find somewhere to stay for the night. It's getting cold.” Grey shifted his head about, looking for an alley that would suit them.

“I, uh....” Two sets of eyes rested on Gilda. “I know a good place.” She smiled sheepishly. “Follow me.”

They twisted through the city streets for a few minutes, eventually arriving at the small alleyway in which Grey had originally found Gilda. “There's a few shops who've got dumpsters near here. It's the best you'll get, dude.”

Grey nodded understandingly. The three of them ventured into the alleyway.

“Oi! Wot're ye doin' 'ere?”

As one, they turned to look at a brawny male pegasus glaring at them menacingly. He had a jagged scar across his cutie mark on one side of his sickly green coat, and depicted on the other side of his flank was a fully intact serrated knife. He was standing very aggressively, his mohawk-shaped dark blue mane quivering as he looked ready to pounce.

“We're not looking for anything in particular; only a place to sleep.”

“Not 'ere. Git goin'.”

Grey looked questioningly at Gilda. “No, it's fine. We'll find another alley.”

The unicorn nodded his head. “Very well. Have a fine evening, sir.” Grey turned his back on the wary pegasus and departed from the alleyway, an unhappy Gilda and a confused Posie in tow.

Several minutes later, Grey let out an unhappy sigh. “I apologize to both of you for this having happened.”

“Yeah, yeah, shut it,” came Gilda's reply. “We ain't dead yet.”

“I took on more responsibility than I could handle.”

“Yeah, and you're a pony, not a griffon. Even I mess up sometimes, dude. Life isn't perfect for all of us.”

A single tear twinkled in Grey's left eye, silently slipping out and making a track down his cheek. “It's my fault, Gilda.”

“Uh... you just lost, like, 30 coolness points. Quit crying.”

Grey looked up at Gilda mournfully, then seemed to realize something, his expression clearing up once again to take on the demeanor of detached observer. “Apologies. I'm not used to being in so dire a situation.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep walkin'.” This stupid unicorn is getting worse and worse. So much for hope.

Why am I still following him?

Finally, Gilda told them to stop at a certain alley. They explored it briefly, and she nodded her approval.

The griffon quickly got to work clearing a spot in the snow for the three of them to sleep tonight. When she finished this, she found some miscellaneous cardboard nearby and formed a makeshift canopy over the swept ground, then laid some cardboard on the ground to provide some cushion from the harsh, frozen stone.

Upon finishing the manufacturing of the new home, Gilda said jokingly, “Nice and cozy, huh?”

Grey smiled. “It looks wonderful. Posie? Let's get some sleep.”

The unicorn stallion and pegasus filly both crawled into the small area and curled up next to one another. Grey removed his saddlebags, placing them next to himself and withdrawing a blanket, draping it over himself and Posie. “Gilda, get in here.”

The griffon glared at Grey briefly, then came to a split decision. “I ain't that kinda griffon. I'm sleepin' out here tonight.”

Grey looked in shock at Gilda. “It's freezing tonight. That's not a good idea.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, and you're a survival expert now? I'll be fine, believe me.”

Grey fell silent, looking deeply into Gilda's eyes. Finally, he nodded his head.

Gilda swept herself a small spot in the snow, then grabbed the final piece of cardboard lying in the alleyway and draped it over herself like a blanket. She shut her eyes, pretending to try to fall asleep.





About an hour later, Gilda heard Grey's and Posie's breathing lessen, indicating that sleep had taken them. She sighed, slipping out from under her snow-covered cardboard blanket, approaching the home that the unicorn and pegasus were living in.

She lifted her tail, sweeping the cardboard roof that was beginning to sag slightly with dampness and snow. It probably wouldn't last the night, but at least they wouldn't get a huge dump of snow on them.

She sighed, looking at them one last time. This wasn't for her.

She departed the alleyway in sad silence and didn't look back.

Inside the cardboard house, Grey's eyes popped open. He quickly rose, wrapping Posie in the blanket like a burrito and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. The filly yawned sleepily, then drifted back into unconsciousness.

Grey hurriedly departed the alleyway, spilling out and spotting a set of lion's paws disappear around a street corner. He dashed after Gilda, determined not to lose her.

He spun around the corner, sliding briefly on the cobble, before he found purchase and began closing the gap between him and the griffon. Gilda heard him coming and turned around.

“Grey... what? What do you want?” She glared irritatedly at him.

“You know what it is I followed you for, Gilda.”

“Yeah... because you're trying to be as creepy as possible. I'm leaving, dude.”

Alkaline Grey wouldn't be deterred. “You know.”

She sighed. “Yeah... you came to bring me back. Because you like me or something, right?”

“I know how alone you've been, Gilda. I know how alone I've been. This is what I want, and I believe wholeheartedly that this is what you want as well.”

She looked uneasily at the unicorn. “Even if that was true, why do you think I'd want a homeless pony after he showed me how bad he is at budgeting? You're not doing a very good job of impressing me, dude.”

“I don't need to impress you. I never needed to.”

Gilda considered this for a moment. “And what if I do come back with you?”

Grey smiled. “Happiness, I'd imagine.”

A pleasant silence fell as the griffon and the unicorn stared into the eyes of one another. Large flakes of snow fell all around them, sentinels watching over this moment in time that seemed to last an eternity.

Finally, Alkaline Grey broke the silence. “The snow is getting heavy.”

Gilda nodded, saying nothing. She simply followed Grey as the stallion made his way back to the alley that they had claimed for themselves.

Grey slipped under the home that Gilda had made as she dusted off the small amount of snow that had gathered once more. She then joined Grey as he carefully unwrapped Posie, then slipped under the blanket with them, stretching her nearly-frozen wings to cover both the unicorn and the filly.

The warmth of the three creatures felt nice to the griffon. It felt like belonging. It felt like hope.

It felt like love.

Perhaps, together, they would make it through this winter.