CHAPTER NINE: OF FRIENDS AND ENEMIES p2

October 10

Rarity and Bryn left the Boutique shortly afterward. It was actually an hour later, when Rarity had tried on six different dresses and found the proper hat among her dozens and dozens of hats, that she announced herself ready. She wore a slinky cyan dress with white feathers and a wide-brimmed floppy hat perched jauntily atop her curls. "Lovely," she finally exclaimed. "Not too formal or casual, just right. And you do look dashing if I say so myself."

"Then why is everyone staring at me?" said Bryn. Staring was perhaps too weak of a word; not only were ponies staring at him as the pair strolled down one of Ponyville's main thoroughfares, they were gasping and pointing hooves and, in some cases, diving behind nearby barrels, hay bales or other convenient objects. A yellow pony let out a shriek and herded her two fillies into their house.

"Nopony has ever seen a human before," Rarity said. "Let alone such a fabulously dressed one. You have to expect some… confusion."

He tugged at the chestpiece of his new tunic. It fit as well as a familiar pair of jeans, although quite snug across his torso and legs, and made him stand a little straighter than he was accustomed to. The sleeves were also tight but not enough to restrict his arms. Its foremost feature, though, was the rippling cape fastened at his waist. When standing still, it fell around his legs like a trenchcoat; in motion it became a weightless black mantle behind him, and the whole ensemble brought to mind an assassin's cloak done in muted camouflage colors.

All she had to do was make this thing blue and red and I'd look like some reject Power Ranger.

"That green really does bring out your eyes."

His eyes stung from the bright light; his cheeks and hair were slightly sore from Rarity's heavy-handed 'makeover'. After finishing his outfit she had said, "You want to make a good impression on my friends, don't you? Let's make you absolutely stunning." Thus followed fifteen minutes of vigorous combing and scrubbing until his skin was raw and his hair at least looked presentable. She then offered a hoof and led him out into the sunshine.

Ponyville's town square was bustling and as human and pony ambled into its midst, exclamations of shock and even outright hostility caught Bryn's ears. "By Celestia, what is that thing with Rarity?" one gasped. Foals cried and cowered behind their parents' forehooves.

"Pay them no mind," Rarity soothed. "See? Sugarcube Corner, where my friend Pinkie Pie works. I can't wait for you to meet her!"

A small part of Rarity was afraid that her friends would react as many Ponyville citizens were doing, especially in the case of Rainbow Dash. The reader will remember that she fainted before the conflict of Pegasus and human and thus had no inkling, besides Rainbow Dash's boasts, of what had happened. Her flying friend was known for attacking first and talking second.

Bryn, on the other hand, wondered vaguely why the building in front of him looked like it had been drenched in pink and white cake frosting.

"Let's go in. I bet they're waiting for us." She led Bryn quickly through the door, hoping the stream of whispered comments would stop. It didn't.

Four of her best friends were at their usual table in the back of the Cakes' bakery. It was bustling with the lunchtime traffic, including a booth full of rowdy ponies still dusty from a morning's work in the fields. Ponyville was a town of honest working ponies and the crowd reflected this; Sugarcube Corner was a place for amazingly delicious meals regardless of one's lot in life. Pinkie Pie was working and in typical Pinkie fashion, bubbly and effervescent and completely overdosed on sugar.

"Ah'm telling ya, it ain't natural," Applejack was saying. She turned her Stetson nervously in her hooves. "Our family's never lost a crop o' apples this early before. At this rate we won't have nearly enough for cannin', let alone cider."

"Not again," Rainbow Dash sighed. "You never have enough cider."

"According to my research, this winter is supposed to be mild, not severe," answered Twilight. "I found it-"

"-in a book," Rainbow finished.

Twilight frowned at her. "It's awfully strange, whatever the reason. Rainbow Dash, have you heard anything at the weather station lately?"

"Nothing except some trouble with thunderheads last night, but Thunderlane's team handled it. They're pushed back over the Everfree Forest and the gorge. Nothing to panic about."

"I would have panicked," said Fluttershy timidly.

"That's your answer to everything!"

Fluttershy flinched and shrank back in her chair.

Pinkie Pie was in exceptionally high spirits today. Most of it was due to the Cakes' introduction of a new variety of cupcake, called the Chocolate Raspberry Eruption. The 'eruption' referred to Pinkie's contribution to the dessert, which was secretly disguised in its creamy chocolate icing, and when eaten would produce a small bubbly blast of frosting in an unsuspecting pony's mouth. They were quite the hit in Sugarcube Corner as mare and stallion alike experienced miniature nuclear frosting detonations. Ponies leaving the shop were seen splattered with frothy chocolate and yet were buying the cupcakes in droves to take home.

A pile of them sat in the center of the Mane Six's table and only Rainbow Dash and Twilight had tried the deceptive desserts. Applejack bit into one, wiping gobs of icing from her muzzle, and said, "Not ta mention all these strange folk comin' through Ponyville lately."

"Strange folk?" wondered Twilight. "I haven't seen anypony new around here." This was, in fact, true. Since Fluttershy had arrived on her doorstep three nights ago, Twilight had indeed been kept indoors by her duties to her friend and to the library; between the two, she had no spare time at all. Today was the first day that Fluttershy had seen daylight and only at Twilight's urging.

"Well then you haven't taken a stroll lately. Just last night Big Mac an' Ah were workin' the east field when this wagon rolls by on the main road. Mind ya, we see lots o' travelers but this one was Appleloosan by the looks of it. Out of repair an' overloaded. Them poor oxen could barely budge the thing, an' even with two ponies pushin' from the rear." She took a hesitant bite from her cupcake, afraid it would expel more goo into her eyes. "The look on their faces, Twi'… Ah don't wanna see that look again. Like they were runnin' away from something and they'd die before givin' up. Like they were all hollow inside."

"Relatives of yours?" said Twilight uneasily.

"Ah ain't never seen 'em before, honest. Still, it unsettled me a little."

"Then you need… ANOTHER CUPCAKE!" Pinkie shrieked. She had bounced over to the table so quickly that she appeared to teleport. "They're sooo good. Which I should know, because I'm the one who made them, but still! Try one! I made this batch extra chocolaty for my bestest friends."

Pinkie's eyes were bulging out from the effects of so much sugar. Applejack inched away before saying, "Ah think Ah'm good, sugarcube."

"Okay! Well let me know if you want another because there's another batch in the oven and I put even more special frosting on them!"

Applejack face-hoofed.

The talk vacillated between the weather, which somehow never ceased to amaze, and plans for this year's Running of the Leaves celebration which was fast arriving in two weeks. A book lay open on the table in front of Twilight, who rolled her eyes at Pinkie, and Rainbow went on and on about how she would finally beat Applejack in this year's race. Yet Applejack's attention was not on her Pegasus rival but on the other Pegasus at the table. Fluttershy had been completely quiet save for a few whispered greetings and in the shop's bright lights, she also caught the painfully obvious scars on her friend's face as well as horrible bags under her eyes. Someone- an animal or perhaps Fluttershy herself- had tried inexpertly to cover them with makeup.

"You're quieter than a worm eatin' zap apples," Applejack said. "Are ya all right, Fluttershy? Ah haven't seen ya around lately."

Her answering "yes" was quieter still. She glanced at Twilight as she said it and Rainbow Dash caught the guilty look on her face.

"I came around your house yesterday and you weren't there… is everything all right? You look awful."

"Rainbow!" said Twilight. She put a hoof around the trembling yellow pony. "She was only asking because she cares about you, Fluttershy. Even if she's asking too aggressively."

Fluttershy tried to reply and could only produce a hoarse rasp. She had dreaded being in public today but could never let her friends down, even if her own life depended on it, and had followed Twilight with the hope that somehow her absences and barely healed scars would be overlooked. And now her friends' attention was focused solely on her. Their eyes were six glaring spotlights. She looked around at their concerned faces and found that the words just would not come.

"I… was…" Sweat poured down her forehead. How would she begin to explain about her nightmare in the forest? Or where she had been for the last three days, darting furtively home to care for her animals and spending nights at Twilight's library where only the comfort of her unicorn friend allowed her to catch a few hours of restless sleep? The fatigue and fear showed on her face. Fluttershy found herself caught between wishing to disappear from Ponyville and craving the love and security of her friends, and inch by inch she shrank down into her chair.

Nothing could stop her nightmares. Forgoing sleep seemed a better solution than facing them.

Twilight's hoof found hers; she said, "It's okay, Fluttershy. Just tell them what you told me last night."

Only one thing saved Fluttershy from a sticky situation. "Celestia's beard! What is that thing?" shouted a pony from across the room. Rarity and Bryn had come to Sugarcube Corner.

Rarity passed through the door looking every inch a princess. Her head was held high and her form-fitting dress showed off her perfect figure, turning the heads of every single stallion in the place. Those not watching Rarity's flanks soon noticed the lean, darkly handsome human walking beside her. It was hard not to notice him, after all. He was taller than any pony and utterly alien to pony eyes.

Fluttershy jumped and uttered a small shriek, but her predicament was quickly forgotten as Twilight Sparkle looked toward the disturbance and caught sight of Bryn. Her muzzle opened in a soundless O. Applejack stood up and exclaimed, "What in tarnation?!" She produced a coil of rope from behind the chair. In her hooves it was as good a weapon as any blade.

Rainbow Dash was the first to act. "YOU!" She jumped from her chair and landed in front of him, too fast for Applejack to grab her tail and restrain her. "Did I not make myself clear enough when I told you to leave, freak?"

"AAAHHHHHH! A MONSTER!" Pinkie screeched. She dove behind the counter and brought a whole tray of cupcakes onto the floor in her haste. Volatile chocolate frosting mingled together in a slow explosion, spraying everywhere and hitting the walls in thick gobs.

"You're not welcome here," growled Rainbow. "Leave before somepony gets hurt and by somepony, I mean you."

Twilight and Applejack stood shoulder-to-shoulder wearing identical shocked expressions; Fluttershy simply crouched underneath the table. Upon seeing Bryn, the unicorn had prepared an immobilizing spell but the scarlet energy died on the tip of her horn when she saw Rarity at his side. They had walked into Sugarcube Corner like old friends. What in the name of the Elements is going on? she wondered. Applejack's rope fell from her hooves when Rarity said, as calmly as if she was stopping a stranger for the time, "I'd like you all to meet Bryn Hansen. Bryn, this is Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash."

She indicated each pony with a sweep of her hoof. Rainbow Dash's name had barely left her lips when her winged friend growled and pounced on Bryn with a gigantic crash.

"RAINBOW DASH!" yelled Rarity, to no avail. Human and pony smashed right through the glass display of Sugarcube Corner and demolished an entire rack of Pinkie's newly made cupcakes as well as nearby donuts, eclairs, and cream puffs.

A more hilariously horrible scene could not have been imagined. More than a dozen ponies ran head over heels from the bakery, some covered in debris and confectioners' sugar, while inside three friends watched Rainbow Dash and Bryn slug it out in the midst of a chocolate nuclear reactor. Frosting and furniture and broken glass and sawdust mingled in a deadly bubbling concoction upon the floor. Bryn spat out a mouthful of the sugary stuff- where is all this fucking frosting coming from? -only to receive Rainbow's left hoof in his face. The Pegasus was all snarls and quick attacks but couldn't take flight due to her feathers being glued together with chocolate glaze. There was, however, nothing wrong with her hooves.

"I don't want to fight you!" Bryn bellowed, dodging her strikes by mere centimeters.

"I wouldn't want to fight me either," was Rainbow Dash's sarcastic remark, and a vicious kick found his groin. It hurt so badly that he almost retched on the spot; he went flying into the rear wall and saw stars. Pure fighting instinct took over. Knowing that the finishing move was only seconds away, he shook off the disorientation and grabbed up the remnants of a broken chair. All he had to do was time it perfectly and-

WHAM. The chair, flung with all of his might like a shotput, caught his opponent squarely in the face and its legs would have impaled one of Rainbow's eyeballs if not for her remarkable reflexes. She grunted in pain and rose to her hooves, angrily brushing crushed cupcakes from her eyes, and in that moment Rarity acted.

"Stop!" A bolt of unicorn magic hurled Rainbow to the floor and pinned her there. "You're both my friends and I order you to stop fighting right now!" A moment later she said, "Ugh! Chocolate stains on my brand new dress! Do you know what happens when chocolate gets into goose feathers? Do you?"

Applejack's muzzle had yet to close. "Twi, Ah think Ah'm daydreamin' the worst gosh-darn daydream ever."

The sound of Pinkie Pie's mop was loud in the silent shop. Six ponies and one human stood in the chaos, staring at one another in outright shock from what had just happened, and nopony was in a hurry to break the awkward moment. The dumbfounded pink pony had sobbed for an entire minute at the devastation, but eventually produced some cleaning supplies and dabbed at the mess.

Without realizing it, Bryn started chuckling, and when Applejack said, "Just what in the hay are ya laughing about?" he answered, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Er- hoof. The wrong hoof."

"You speak our language," said Twilight. It was the first she had spoken since seeing Equestria's very first human.

"I speak English. Not sure what language you're talking about."

Twilight moved toward him, examining him for the first time like one might examine a specimen under a microscope. "You clearly speak the common language of Equestrian, which would mean that you come from this world or at least have a passable knowledge of it. So therefore, since you aren't a pony or a mule or a zebra, you are not scientifically possible." She poked different parts of him with her forehooves. "This isn't scientifically possible!"

"Ah think what she means is… what are ya?" put in Applejack. "Some kinda messed-up hairless mule?"

"He's a human and he's my friend." Rarity stood at his side, doing her best to look regal despite being stained with chocolate foam. "Anypony who tries to hurt him will have to deal with me first. Yes, you, Rainbow Dash."

Much like Sweetie Belle, Twilight was more curious than frightened, and soon began to pepper him with questions. "But what exactly is a human? Why is Rarity defending you? How did you get here?" She walked in a circle around him and admitted, "I'm quite flabbergasted at the moment."

"Ah'll join ya in your flabbergastation."

"Applejack, that isn't even a word!" complained Rarity. "And Bryn, darling, just look at your brand new coat, all dirty from chocolate… I'll clean it for you when we get home."

"Uhhh… why are you callin' that thing 'darling'?" Applejack asked.

"Because he's only a lost and lonely human that somehow ended up in Equestria, and he needed a friend. He wasn't trying to hurt me last night. He was just scared. Weren't you?" Rarity smiled at him and winked.

An angry and chocolate-covered Rainbow Dash regarded the human with loathing. "Then why was he slinking around at night outside of your place last night, Rarity? For all you know, he's a changeling that shifted into that shape."

The mention of shifting made Bryn slightly uneasy, and he recalled last night when he had been forced to phase away from Rainbow Dash to escape. Just how much does she suspect? He quickly changed the subject. "I'm not a- changeling, whatever that is. I'm human and I'm not sure how I got into your world, but I don't want to hurt anyone. Rarity offered me a place to stay and I'll help out however I can."

"Ya offered it- Ah mean him- a place ta stay?" exploded Applejack, pointing a hoof at Bryn. "Are ya sure it's safe?"

"I would stake my life on it," said Rarity.

Bryn looked around at the faces of the ponies around him. Applejack looked uneasy, Twilight amazed, Rainbow Dash infuriated, and Fluttershy- or, to be exact, the two yellow pony ears poking up from behind the table that were the only visible parts of Fluttershy- too shy and terrified to do anything but tremble. Pinkie Pie mopped up chocolate while occasionally gasping at the human standing in the wreckage of her shop.

"Well then! This is… certainly a pickle." Applejack kicked at the floor. "So Twi', what do we do now?"

"Introduce ourselves, of course. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I guess I can be the first to formally welcome you to Equestria." She smiled and shook his hand.

"Thanks…?" said Bryn.

"Ah'm Applejack." The farmer pony held out her hoof to him, the hoof that wasn't clutching the coil of rope. "If Rarity trusts ya, Ah'm willing ta give ya the benefit o' the doubt, but just keep in mind that if ya lay a hurtful hoof on her or any o' my friends, ya'll be the first an' last human in Equestria."

Bryn found himself liking this pony already. Or, at least, respecting her. She was a straight talker and, unlike Rainbow Dash, wasn't as quick to judge, but he also noticed that she had not been overly friendly. Her mouth was a thin straight line and her eyes were wary and unsmiling. He shook hooves with her- holy crap, she's strong- and said, wincing from her viselike and slightly calloused grip, "I'd never hurt her."

"And this is Fluttershy," said Twilight, "but she's a little- well, shy." She rolled her eyes at Fluttershy's ears. "Fluttershy, please come out? I promise it's okay."

Her whispered "no thanks" was too soft for even mice to hear.

"So now that Rarity speaks up for him, we're all supposed to get lovey-dovey with this changeling?" Rainbow Dash snarled. "He knows who I am, and I'm not pleased to meet him. I say he gets out of town as fast as he can walk. Or better yet, I can give him a helping kick."

"You might be turning an endangered species out in the wild to die!" exclaimed Twilight. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study these 'humans'. I've never heard of their kind before, not even in the Encyclopaedia Equestritannica. Perhaps they come from south of the Badlands where nopony has explored in centuries."

Bryn and Rarity exchanged glances. Somehow Twilight had gotten the idea that he was not a resurrected teenager from Earth but an endangered Equestrian species. Brilliant. "I'm from Earth," he said pointlessly. "You know… the solar system? Milky Way galaxy. Orion Arm." He rattled off every muddled fact he could remember from seventh-grade science class.

"If those are constellations, they're not familiar to me. Although your people might have different names for the same stars that we see at night." Twilight produced a thick book from her saddlebag and buried her muzzle in it. "I wonder if the system you mention is part of the Equus cluster…"

He felt suddenly like he was back in school and in the presence of the teacher's pet who knew far more about astronomy than he ever would. He turned back to Rainbow Dash. "Can you forgive me for startling you last night and we can start over? I'm sorry we had that fight. I didn't want to fight anyone."

"Anypony," whispered Rarity, nudging his elbow.

"Whatever." He tried to shake the cyan Pegasus's hoof but she took a step back and said, "If I don't let my friends touch my hooves, I'm certainly not going to let some slimy changeling touch them."

"He's a changeling?" shrieked Pinkie Pie.

Twilight rolled her eyes once more. "Although I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check." Before Bryn could blink, he was laid onto the floor by a blinding flash of magenta light. His skin tingled and he gasped for breath. "That spell would have revealed a changeling's base form… looks like we have nothing to worry about. He's not lying."

"Thanks for being so trusting," he growled, getting to his feet with difficulty, although he knew the purple unicorn was right to be wary of him. A talking pony suddenly appearing on Earth would no doubt receive much worse treatment. Whatever a changeling was, it must have reassured these ponies to know that he wasn't one, because Applejack visibly relaxed. Pinkie Pie had produced a giant cannon from somewhere (out of thin air?) and pointed its barrel between his eyes, but after Twilight's spell proved his humanity, she rolled it away and grinned at him.

"So he's not a changeling. Big deal. I still don't like him one bit," said Rainbow Dash.

"Give him a chance, Rainbow dear," Rarity replied. "If he wanted to hurt me or cause trouble, he would have done it already. Remember when we all thought Zecora was out to hurt us but she was only helping? What if he came here to help us?"

Rainbow snorted but said nothing.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" exclaimed the party pony, jumping in front of Bryn and shaking his hand with both hooves. "It's super duper nice to meet you, changeling- I mean human- I mean Bryn. I really really really love meeting new friends because it's so much fun and you know the best thing to do when you meet someone new?"

"Here it comes," said Applejack dryly.

"A PARTY! And I love parties because I love to make my friends happy! You should come to Sugarcube Corner tonight and I'll throw you a giant welcome-to-Equestria party!" Confetti rocketed into the air as she shouted the word 'party' and much like the cannon, nopony knew how it was produced.

"Um, sugarcube? Maybe ya should clean up this party first. We'll all lend a helping hoof."

"Me too. After all it's my fault that your shop got messed up, Pinkie. Can you help me lift this table?"

Rainbow Dash's grumbling notwithstanding, the group set to cleaning up the mess that was Sugarcube Corner. The hardest thing to clean up was the chocolate, which sputtered and foamed even after exhausting its energy. For the next half hour they scrubbed frosting stains from every surface in the room and then swept up the broken glass and other debris. The job went quickly with six ponies and one human working together.

Or, to be exact, one human and five ponies. For when the tables were shifted aside so the jagged glass could be collected, a certain yellow Pegasus was missing. Fluttershy had slipped out the door when all attention was focused on Bryn. Twilight frowned but said nothing.

Regardless, it was hard to get a word in edgewise when Pinkie Pie was so chatty. "Ooh, I should make a batch of really big Chocolate Raspberry Eruption cupcakes for the party tonight! Except I'm out of the secret ingredient because I made so many. I wonder if Zecora's home. She's the only one that sells it." She elaborated about cupcakes and other non sequiturs, and by the time the bakery was tidied, the others were a bit weary of her voice.

"Seven o'clock! Be on time or you're a mule!" called Pinkie to her friends, as they left in pairs after everything was set back in order. A passing mule shouted and shook his hoof at her. "Sorry! No offense."

"Let's go home and get you cleaned up," said Rarity. "We can't have chocolate all over that gorgeous outfit. Besides, Sweetie Belle will want dinner and then there's the dinner mess to clean up and then I have to find something dashing to wear for Pinkie's party tonight. Just any old dress will never do."

The pair headed back to the Boutique, walking slowly and enjoying the afternoon sun. "Is she always like that? Hyper and crazy like she just snorted a sack of sugar?"

"Oh, that's nothing compared to some of the things Pinkie's done in the past. Like at the last Grand Galloping Gala where she turned a stately ball into a party with foals' songs and cake and confetti. It was the talk of Canterlot for weeks."

"Umm…" said Bryn, not understanding any of it.

"And yes, she did throw a party for me when we first met. I was only a young filly at the time and was fresh from Manehatten without many friends here in Ponyville. Pinkie went out of her way to make me feel welcome even though she was two years older than me. She likes you already, you know. It was good of you to lend a helping hoof with that ghastly mess in her shop."

"I guess it could have gone a lot worse. Besides Rainbow Dash, your friends don't seem to mind me."

"Give her time, dear. Rainbow Dash is… headstrong and brash and impatient but there's nopony more loyal to her friends and her family. The six of us are like a family really, when you think about it. Our Elements make us a family."

Element. There's that word again. "If you don't mind me asking, what's the element thing about?"

Rarity gave him an appraising look. "I suppose the easiest way to explain it would be that each of my friends and I carry powerful magical artifacts. Each one represents a different value that Equestria was founded upon, and with the help of the Princesses, we're responsible for defending the kingdom. Mine is Generosity."

So she's a fashionista and a ninja and she defends the country… what more awesome things can she possibly be? "Then I'm sure glad I met you first and not Rainbow Dash, because she would have kicked my ass instead of letting me stay. She must be the element of fighting. Magical fighting, probably."

"No, silly," said Rarity, laughing. "She is the Element of Loyalty. Couldn't you see it? How she leapt into action because she thought I was in danger? She would go to the ends of the world and beyond for her friends. That's what friends are supposed to do."

What friends are supposed to do. Like what I tried to do when Caitlin and I were in that closet, but I wasn't quick enough.

He glanced sidelong at the unicorn, who stepped daintily through mud puddles so the fringes of her dress wouldn't get wet. The words he really wanted to say were tied in nervous knots around his tongue and, in typical Bryn fashion, came out all wrong. "If you can believe it, I never had any friends until the day I- well, died. And then I found myself here and you know the rest. Maybe you and I could be friends too. I only knew what it was like to have a friend when it was too late."

A soft and very warm hoof touched his shoulder. "You're already my friend, Bryn dear. In time you'll get to know all my friends better."

What Bryn truly wanted to say was thank you. It was the sort of thank-you, however, that ran deeper than merely 'thank you' could say alone. Those two words couldn't convey the adoration he was now feeling. He had the sentence somewhere on his tongue, ready to be spoken, and yet Rarity's eyes gazed up at him like sultry liquid sapphires and muddled up the next thing he wanted to say, which was I hope I get to spend more time with you. It emerged as "I don't remember the last time I felt this happy." Which was nowhere near the original meaning, but Rarity beamed all the same.

"The days will only get better. You'll love it here in Ponyville, I just know it."

"What if I already do?" he answered, and Rarity playfully brushed her tail against him.

---

Pinkie Pie never skimped on parties. Everypony who ever attended one knew that she pulled out all the stops. "Expect a wild night," as Rarity succinctly put it. "Last time, I wasn't home until three in the morning and was doused in lemonade with bits of confetti stuck in my mane. Not to mention a headache from drinking so much cider."

"Am I underdressed or overdressed?" he wondered. Once they were home, Rarity had used her magic to vacuum the chocolate from his robes. They skipped dinner because, apart from not being very hungry, they discovered a note from Sweetie Belle on the kitchen table. Sis, it read, Hanging out with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and Applejack is making us dinner. I'll be home later. At the bottom was written Sorry, Sis in a hasty scrawl.

Besides, Pinkie was bound to have plenty of food. Especially cupcakes.

"You are just right. Tell me, is this dress too… small?"

They were whiling away time in Rarity's workroom before seven o'clock arrived. He had begun to wonder if the closets in the Boutique were also magic, because there was no other way that she could fit so many different dresses and hats and feathered scarves and other fashionable creations inside. She tried on dress after dress and he had lost count of how many times, just in a single day, she had changed clothes. Are all girls this crazy about their clothes, even if they're ponies?

She emerged from the fitting room and his jaw dropped. "A lady does need a gentleman's opinion," she said, when words failed him.

At that moment, Bryn was struggling with a difficult concept. She's a pony. And yet right now, she looks like the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. How can I think that about a horse? Isn't that a little perverted? Part of his mind saw Rarity as an aberration of nature, or at least the nature he knew, and the other part imagined her as a female friend who just so happened to have four legs. Horses weren't supposed to talk, no matter what size or color they happened to be… but she can talk and every time I'm around her, I can't help the way I feel. Especially when she looks like that.

Bryn Hansen had a very quickly growing crush on a pony. To be fair, any stallion in Ponyville with a heartbeat would have felt the same way if they caught sight of Rarity in that getup.

It all started with her hooves: four satin sandals, the clasps of which were pure silver and wound in flowing spirals up her legs. She had picked a shimmery evening dress that fell to her upper thighs and left her snowy white flanks uncovered. On a human, the same dress would barely be considered a tank-top. Her usually bouncy purple mane and tail were combed out and pinned in soft, flowing waves, more casual beauty than high society queen, and she completed the look with small sapphire earrings. She smiled up at him and his heart stopped.

"Wow," was all he could choke out. "You look amazing."

It was only later that he wondered if Rarity always dressed up this way for parties or if her fashion choices were for his benefit. Or a little of both. "Darling," she asked, "are you ready to go? Let's make them all green with envy tonight."

They were quite early for the party, but the extra time let them walk slowly through the town square and enjoy the sunset. Rarity soon began to regret her choice of clothing because during the past hour, a brisk breeze had picked up and the cobblestones held a damp chill that seeped right through her shoes.

"I can just imagine it now," began the unicorn. "Sugarcube Corner will be warm and bright and sweet-smelling. Pinkie will have balloons and streamers and confetti and all sorts of nice delicious things to eat. Not to mention steaming hot tea to drive out this cold. Ugh!" She shivered and moved closer to Bryn; with each stride, her hips touched his. "And we'll dance and play games and have a marvelous time. Just wait and see."

Dusk quickly approached. The walk to Pinkie's bakery took about ten minutes and by the time they reached its doors, Bryn's hands ached from the chill. He flexed his hands to keep blood circulating. "Is it usually this cold in Equestria?" he asked.

"It is nearly wintertime, darling. One year when I was a filly, Manehatten got three feet of snowfall."

Rarity pushed open Sugarcube Corner's door. Experience told her to duck, for fear of being buried in confetti or knocked to the floor by a fluffy pink pony, but this was not the case. She instead found herself face-to-face with a worried Twilight Sparkle. Behind Twilight, Rainbow Dash paced uneasily. Applejack sat at a nearby table with a hoof supporting her head.

"Rarity! Bryn! You made it. We were worried something had happened." Twilight quickly embraced Rarity.

"Whatever do you mean, Twilight? Of course we made it all right. We…" The unicorn trailed off, just now realizing why Twilight was upset.

The bakery was exactly as they had left it following their lunch date. The wooden 'Closed' sign still hung in the window and every chair- save the one occupied by Applejack- was stacked on the tables. A fire burned in the hearth and yet Bryn, who had grown up in a house equipped with a wood-burning fireplace, sized it up with a practiced eye and noticed that the fire had been burning for some time. Its flames were beginning to wane and soon it would be only embers. Above the hearth hung a white banner bearing the hoof-painted words "Welcome Home Bryn". The rest of the decorations lay either on the counter or the floor.

Rainbow Dash put to words what they were all thinking. "So where's Pinkie?"

A gust of wind rattled the windows.