Winter walked down the stairs in a daze, holding the snowflake close to her heart, feeling confused and wonderful all at the same time. She dimly noticed her cutie mark flashing slightly, and for some reason this didn’t concern her much.

She sat next to Pinkie on the couch, and Pinkie looked closely at her cutie mark. “…Winter, why is it…”

Winter shook her head slowly, and was dimly aware of herself saying “I don’t know what it’s doing.”

Pinkie knew that things like this didn’t happen without a reason. She glanced at the picture, and she understood. “Winter, what was your cutie mark before?”

Winter thought for a moment. “…C-claw marks…”

Pinkie nodded. “Now, I see that as Pain. Is your talent Pain?”

Winter nodded hesitantly, as though not even that was certain anymore. Pinkie smiled slightly and showed her the dimly glowing picture. “…Or is your talent Beauty?”

There was a bright flash as her cutie mark disappeared and the paper lost its beautiful picture, the snowflake now adorning her flank. She dropped the blank paper, her eyes wide and tearful.

Upstairs, Page dropped his quill, his mind nearly shutting down. “W-winter,” he said, feeling the change in the mare, knowing what had happened before it truly dawned on the mare herself. He felt tears fall from his eyes, staining and wrinkling the paper he had been working on, smudging the now forgotten picture. He had finally done what he had set out to do.

He heard a small knock at the door, and somehow he knew instantly who it was. “…Y-you are always welcome, Winter.”

He made no move to wipe away his joyful tears as Winter ran in and hugged him tightly. She said through her own tears “T-thank you,” sobbing yet smiling brightly. He lightly stroked her mane, responding. “W-winter, do not thank me… I-I did this b-because…” Lightly, he lifted her head up to look into her violet eyes. If he must say it, now would be the time. “… I love you, Winter.”

Her eyes lit up as he said this, and Page knew what she would say next… and what he needed to say afterwards.

“P-page, I love you too.”

He was silent for a moment, preparing himself for what came next. “…P-please, sit down,” he said, giving her some room next to him. She nodded and sat beside him. He closed his eyes so she couldn’t see the deepness of his sorrow. He sighed deeply, knowing this had to be said. “…Its time you learned about my past.” She nodded… and his story began.

Next Chapter: The Past, Part 1 Estimated time remaining: 29 Minutes