Rarity sat in Lacey’s car, staring straight ahead and concentrating on keeping her emotions in check. Anger and disgust congealed inside her, poisoning the determination she had felt at first, when she agreed to Twilight’s idea.

They were on their way to the studio: Rarity, under the pretense of doing a follow-up video, and Twilight—invisible in the back—to track down the papers Strawberry needed.

While Lacey drove, Rarity’s eyes alternated between the rain-streaked windshield to the rear-view mirror, where she could see the slight depression in the seat, where Twilight sat.

“This’ll be easier for you,” Lacey said casually. “You’ve already delivered the goods. What I’m envisioning now is a simple interview. We set you up on the bed, you wear something provocative, and talk to our camerapony for ten minutes or so.”

“Hm.”

“Make it sexy, Rarity. But you already know that.”

Rarity didn’t respond, and Lacey didn’t press her. They drove in silence.

When Twilight had first come up with the idea, Rarity couldn’t even respond; at the mention of returning to the studio, her ears roared and her blood froze. But as they continued to bounce ideas off one another, Twilight’s slowly started to make the most sense. She fell asleep that night with a mind full of dread, and woke up even worse.

They parked. The rain was slowing down, and Rarity feigned a moment of hesitation before closing the car door, for Twilight to get out. She saw the splash of a misplaced hoof in a puddle.

“Come on, my little pony,” Lacey said neutrally.

“I am not your little pony,” Rarity muttered, approaching the studio with her.

Twilight followed closely behind Rarity and Lacey as they entered and separated from them when they reached the filming area. She took one last look at Rarity, so quiet and collected, but who had cried herself to sleep the night before. She didn’t know what Rarity was planning to do to buy time, or whether she even intended to do the video. When asked that morning, Rarity simply shook her head.

Twilight passed the first set into a large, open area of talking ponies, surrounded by props and equipment. They were preparing for another video, one that sounded more complicated than Rarity’s. One unicorn gestured pointedly with a riding crop, and she had to skirt the edge to avoid bumping anyone.

She passed into a hallway off the side of another set, occupied with a pair of warmly smiling stallions, posing on chairs. She walked slowly under the dead lights, focusing on softening her hoofsteps, until she turned into a differently colored corridor, sloping downwards slightly. She looked back quickly, remembering the area just before. The last thing she wanted was to be lost in a studio that was larger than she was expecting.

For the first half of the corridor, there were no doors and no windows, only the constant slope downwards. The temperature dropped, and the air grew musty. As the floor leveled out, she began passing doors, each with a number, but no names or designations. At the hall’s end, she stopped at an emergency exit.

Sighing, she turned to head back, but froze. At the corridor’s beginning, standing together and talking happily, were two pegasi. One vaguely reminded her of Fluttershy, for her mild, creamy coat, and the other was almost black, and faded in and out of the shadows as they walked. She could only watch with growing fear as the pair approached, side by side and taking up the entire corridor.

“Well, I was thinking I could turn up the front ones a bit, you know, to really get those sheets reflecting,” the dark one said.

“Too much, I think,” the pale one replied. “What if we go a little further back? She likes to look around a lot; maybe we can get her squinting or something.”

“But what if some ponies are into that?”

“I keep telling you, you can’t ask yourself that every time something like this comes up. Everything is a fetish, Jet.”

“I had a coltfriend once who was really into sneezing.”

The pale one laughed loudly. “I know that. You bring it up all the time.”

“It was weird!”

Twilight looked back and forth desperately. They were only a dozen feet away, and still approaching.

“Hang on a second,” the pale one said.

Talking, and breathing, stopped.

“I think I heard something.”

“Oh, you’re being paranoid,” Jet said.

“No, I definitely heard something. Breathing, sounded like.”

“I’ve been breathing next to you the whole time.”

“No, you halfwit—over there.” She gestured at Twilight. “Breathing, over there.”

“That’s an empty hallway, tho—waaaaaaait a second.”

“You hear it?”

“I hear nothin’. I see it, though.”

The pale one took a step forward and squinted, and Twilight pressed herself up against the fire escape. She could feel the metal handle against her, and looked back quickly to make sure she wasn’t accidentally going to open the door.

“Oh, yeah, I see it real good now,” Jet said.

“Hey! We know you’re there, whoever you are. Just become visible now, please? We’re not going to eat you or anything.”

“Unless you’re a dude.”

“Yeah, unless you’re a dude. Wait, no, unicorn dudes suck.”

“Hey, racial sensitivity. This is what that class was talking about.”

“I slept through that class.”

“Yeah, so did I.”

Twilight watched, petrified. She knew she was found out, but the act of releasing her curtain of invisibility seemed too great a forfeiture.

The pegasi turned back to her. “Come on, unicorn,” Jet said, exasperated.

“We’re not, like, security or anything.”

“Yeah, we’re not gonna hurt you.”

Twilight sighed. “Damn it,” she whispered, letting her spell fall away.

“That always looks so weird to watch,” the pale one said.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing back here? Are you lost or something?” Jet asked.

Twilight looked at them. No responses came to mind, and she could only gape at them.

“You mute or something? C’mon, just gimme an answer,” Jet pressed.

“Uh… uh…” Twilight stammered.

“I bet we freaked her out,” the pale one said.

Jet rolled her eyes. “All right, all right, just calm down. We’re not here to hurt you, or get you in trouble, or whatever. We’re just curious. Ya know, an invisible unicorn sneaking around the studio—that’s kinda odd.”

“Um, I’m looking for whoever’s in charge of this studio,” Twilight said ashamedly.

“She speaks!” Jet exclaimed.

“Why?” the pale one asked.

Twilight backed up a little more. “I… it’s a secret.”

“Awesome, that’s what we need more of,” Jet said, rolling her dark eyes.

“Maybe we should get security in here,” the pale one said.

“I’m not planning anything,” Twilight said weakly.

“Ah, you hear that, Wings? She’s not planning anything,” Jet said.

“Well, what a relief,” Wings said, smiling.

“But it is a secret, what you’re doing.”

Twilight looked down the hall nervously.

“How much you wanna bet this comes back to Lacey?” Wings asked.

“Lacey?” Twilight repeated.

“Oh, now we’ve got something,” Jet said. They approached her, smiling wide.

“You know her?” Wings asked.

Twilight’s tone was guarded. She was no longer completely afraid of the pegasi, but she didn’t trust them. “My friends and I do, yes.”

“Friend or foe?”

“Yeah, unicorn. Which is it?” Jet asked.

“Uh… foe.”

“Hm.”

“I dunno,” Wings said, unfurling her wings to block the end of the hall. “This smells funny.”

“And not ha-ha funny,” Jet said.

Wings snickered.

“Wait,” Twilight said, obeying a sudden impulse. “Do you know Rarity? The white unicorn in the studio?”

“We know of her,” Jet said.

“Why?” Wings asked.

“She’s my best friend,” Twilight said.

“Best friends?”

“‘Cause they’re the Elements of Harmony, you nincompoop,” Jet said. “They have to be best friends. It’s the friggin’ law.”

“And Lacey’s manipulating Rarity…”

“Who is the best friend of this unicorn,” Jet completed. She smiled. “I think I see what’s going on here.”

Twilight frowned, her pulse speeding up once more.

“I think we’ve got a revenge game going on here,” Wings said quietly.

“I think that also,” Jet said, nodding. They looked at each other for a moment.

“And I think we can help you,” Wings said. “If you’d like.”

Twilight looked at one of the doors, then back, then down the hall. “Um… yeah, I think that would be nice.”

Wings grinned and dug a key out of her plumage as she turned back down the hall. They walked together, Twilight at a distance behind, head hung low. They stopped at a door at the midpoint, and Wings opened it without a word to let the three of them in.

“Is this your office?” Twilight asked.

The door closed, and Wings locked it.

“Nah. This is the studio director’s,” Jet said.

“We’re not supposed to come in here,” Wings said.

“But we do.”

“He’s out for brunch right now anyway.”

“And it’s not like we don’t handle way more than we’re supposed to.”

“Help yourself.”

Twilight stared at them. “Just like that?”

“You are trying to get revenge against Lacey, right?” Wings asked.

Twilight hesitated. “Yyyyyyeah, I am.”

“Then get to it. Do what you gotta do,” Jet said.

“We won’t snitch,” Wings said.

“Yeah, we hate her too.”

“I don’t hate her.”

“Okay, Wings doesn’t hate her. I do,” Jet said.

Twilight nervously moved around the desk, and, taking her eyes off the pegasi for the first time, started looking through it. “Why do you hate her?”

“She threatened us,” Jet said simply.

“To keep us silent,” Wings added.

Twilight looked up quickly. “What? What about?”

They exchanged eye contact. “Do you know what she’s doing with your friend Rarity?” Wings asked.

“Making videos,” Twilight said slowly.

“And do you know where those videos are going?” Jet asked.

Twilight paused. She hadn’t thought of it.

“There’s a lot of profit to be made in Ponyville,” Wings said.

“Oh, no.” She closed a drawer softly, searching for deception in Wings’ voice.

“Yup, that’s what’s happening,” Jet said.

“We tried to stop her,” Wings said.

“But she wouldn’t listen.”

“Threatened us, to keep us from blowing up her spot with Rarity.”

“We were gonna keep quiet.”

“We don’t wanna get our apartment burned down.”

“But now you’re here,” Jet said, her smile audible. “And we’re not above helping a saboteur.”

“Really?” Twilight said. She opened a drawer full of manila envelopes. “Aren’t you worried you’ll lose your jobs?”

“We thought about that,” Wings said.

“We were kinda planning on pulling something ourselves, though.”

“Yeah, we’re willing to roll the dice.”

Twilight picked through a sheaf of papers, and folded a few up, tucking them into her pocket dimension. “So, how exactly do you know her? Are you actresses too?”

“Fuck no!” Wings blurted. “I mean, I’m flattered, but no. We’re light technicians.”

“And studio counselors,” Jet said.

“Unofficially. It’s actually someone else’s job, but they’re, like, no good at it.”

“Whenever anypony has some sort of problem, they find us first.”

“I’ve got no idea why it’s us; we’re too abrasive and stupid to be any kind of helpful.”

“I don’t know how to advise somepony whose giant dick gets in the way all the time,” Jet said.

“We have enough problems without having to get all emotional with the actors.”

“Do you know how creepy it is to hug a giant muscle monster for half an hour?”

“Sounds stressful,” Twilight said, taking another page crawling with tiny numbers and lines.

“Yeah, it is.”

“But what else is there?”

“There’s no room in this city for two aspiring comedians.”

“You want to be comedians?” Twilight asked, suddenly intrigued.

“Yeah, that’s the dream. See?” They turned their flanks to Twilight, a pair of microphones—though Jet’s was barely visible against her fur.

“We even have our comedy team name,” Jet said.

“Wild Life. Since we’re both so wild, you know?”

“So you don’t actually like this job,” Twilight said.

“Nah, not really. But we need it. You know how screwed up the economy is right now.”

“No, I don’t actually.”

“Seriously?” Jet said. “They don’t get the news in Ponyville?”

“We’ve been traveling,” Twilight said guardedly, grabbing another paper. She closed the drawer with a quiet snap.

“How? There’s no trains. You have to know that, at least.”

“We have an airship.”

“Whoa, whoa. An airship?” Wings said. “By Ponyville standards, that’s pretty impressive.”

“What do you know about Ponyville?” Twilight asked.

“I have a pair of cousins that live in Cloudsdale, and they go to Ponyville from time to time,” Wings said. “Flitter and Cloudchaser.”

“I met ‘em before. They’re pretty cool cats,” Jet said.

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know them.”

Jet turned around and looked at the door unhappily. “Yeah, great. Look, I don’t like being here too long. Are you done stealing our company’s information?”

“Oh, um, yes,” Twilight said with a little smile.

“Then let’s get out of here.”

They exited the office, and she stood back as Wings locked it back up. “Hey, uh, total shot in the dark,” Wings said. “But does the name ‘Strawberry’ mean anything to you?”

Twilight froze. “Maybe.”

“Aw, hell,” Jet said.

“Is this one of his schemes?” Wings asked.

“How do you know him?” Twilight asked.

“Well, before Lacey totally betrayed us, she liked to include us in her little games,” Jet said.

“Strawberry was her number two,” Wings added, flourishing the key.

“Her rival.”

“Her top competitor.”

“And now he’s at it some more.”

“Or so it seems.”

“Hang on, hang on,” Twilight said. “I already know about Strawberry and Lacey. But what about you two?”

“We were just along for the ride,” Wings said.

“Didn’t actually have a stake in things,” Jet said.

“But we do now.”

“And we’re very much in the interest of letting him do what he wants.”

“So do you need anything else, or can we get back to work?” Wings asked.

“I think I’m good,” Twilight said.

“Cool.” They made to depart, and Twilight watched them move down the hall.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“How did you know I was hiding at the end of the hall?”

“Your invisible body was screwing with the shadows,” Jet said.

“Kind of twisting them,” Wings said.

“And you spotted that?” Twilight asked.

“We spend so much time around lights,” Jet said.

“It was actually really obvious,” Wings said a little meekly.

“To us.”

“Yeah, to us.”

Twilight frowned, and they walked away. Wings turned at the end of the hall and gave her a tiny wave, and she donned her invisibility spell once more. She took a moment to reassert calm, and then walked out of the studio to search for Rarity. She didn’t need to go far; Rarity was in the parking lot, near the outer wall, staring at the ground.

“I’m ready to go,” Twilight said, and Rarity jumped with a small gasp.

“Oh, dear. Don’t do that.” She looked around. “What took you so long?”

“I… got lost. How about you, Rarity? What happened?”

“I cried and ran,” Rarity said matter-of-factly.

“Just like that? Lacey let you go?”

“What else can she do? She can’t force me to act if I don’t want to.”

“I guess. Is she mad?”

“Probably,” Rarity said. “I don’t care.”

When they returned to Lacey’s apartment, Twilight loitered outside for Rarity, who would call Strawberry and tell him his information was ready. From there, she would either go with her to his apartment, or try to meet the others at Glass Ribbon, where she had told Lacey she was going earlier. It was with mild anticipation that she waited under an awning in the parking lot, listening to the rain.

When Rarity returned, she dropped her spell, and they headed out.

“Twenty bits,” Rarity said. “That’s all we have left in physical money. We’ve spent the rest on taxi rides.”

Twilight nodded as she hailed one. She wanted to know how much Rarity would make from her video, but didn’t ask. While Rarity had improved slightly, Twilight could still see the confusion and anger in her eyes. Any question could shut her down entirely.

They got to Strawberry’s twenty minutes later, where he was quick to let them in.

“That was quick of you,” he said. “Run into any trouble?”

“No trouble,” Twilight said, producing the stolen papers.

He examined them for a moment. “I thought I said photographs.”

Twilight licked her lips with a dry tongue. “Uh… oh yeah.”

“You did understand my explanation for why I don’t want hard copies, did you not?”

“No, I did.”

“Based on what you’re delivering here, I don’t think you did.”

“I forgot, okay. No one… saw me take them.”

“Irrelevant.” He flexed his wings as his green eyes dulled in irritation. “Now I have to change my entire operation to accommodate the very likely possibility that Lacey sees something coming.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, annoyed. “I’m sure it’s not that big a deal.”

“Oh, are you the one who decides if something is a big deal?”

“Excuse me?”

“Because I was operating on the premise that I was the one who knew what is, and is not, a big deal. Being that it’s all my operation, you understand. You do understand that, don’t you?”

Twilight glared at him.

“I’m sorry. Can you talk? Is that something you can do?”

“Why are you doing this?” Rarity asked.

“Let me talk to Twilight,” Strawberry snapped. “Twilight? Can you talk?”

“Yes,” Twilight ground out. “Can you be a little more respectful?”

“Answer the question.”

“It’s just a little mistake!” Twilight cried. “I got your stupid papers. Just get over it and help us.”

He smirked mercilessly. “Did you at least manage to keep my name out of it?”

Twilight hesitated. “I didn’t even see anyone.”

“So you’re not completely inept. Good.”

“We helped you with your arsonist,” Rarity said. “You don’t have to be so mean to us.”

“Make mistake, receive consequences,” he said, looking over the papers. He was silent for a long time, ignoring the mares’ sour expressions entirely. “Okay, this all looks good,” he finally said.

“So you can take it from here?” Rarity asked.

“I’ll do my best,” he said dourly, fixing Twilight with a cold stare.

“So you don’t need anything else from us,” Twilight said.

He shook his head.

“Good.”

They left without further discussion and returned to Lacey’s.

“I hope Rarity’s gonna be okay,” Applejack said. She and Fluttershy sat in a small coffee shop across from a linen store, where the others were shopping for some sheets for their beds.

“I feel terrible about what I said last night,” Fluttershy said. “When she told us she went to the studio. I said there was no way she did anything… I made her feel so bad.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah understand.”

“I just can’t believe Lacey tricked her.”

Applejack scowled into her latte. “That nag manipulated her sense of generosity fer her own selfish ends. We can’t let her get away with it.”

“Oh, um… well…”

“What is it, sugarcube?”

“I think, maybe, we should focus on Rarity first. To make sure she’s okay.”

Applejack thought. She knew Fluttershy was right, but didn’t want to look into her eyes. It reminded her of her own anger, small in comparison to the help they owed Rarity. “Thinkin’ ‘bout it gets me so mad, Ah just wanna do somethin’. You know?”

“Um, I suppose so.”

“Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“Oh, I hope so. I can tell she’s really upset about it.”

“She’s angry,” Applejack said.

“Justifiably.”

Applejack paused; she wasn’t expecting Fluttershy to defend it. “Yeah.”

“We are ready to go,” Octavia said from behind. She carried a bundle of bags over her back, and behind her, Rainbow and Pinkie were talking quietly.

“Hey, you two might wanna hear something,” Rainbow said, advancing to their table.

“What’s that?” Applejack asked.

“It’s my Pinkie Sense!” Pinkie said.

“You still have that?” Octavia asked.

“Yuppers!” Her smile faltered slightly. “Not so much anymore.”

“What’s it say?” Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie paused in thought. “It’s hard to tell exactly. But it’s bad.”

“How bad?” Applejack asked, her heart dropping.

“Uhhhhh… pretty bad.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “That ain’t too helpful, Pinkie.”

“Like, it’s not ‘Discord possessing me and coming out to fight everyone in the middle of nowhere’ bad, but it’s pretty serious. We… should probably get out of town as fast as we can.”

Applejack sighed heavily. “Well…” She tried to select an appropriate response, but after all the stress the city had brought them, only a single word came to mind. “Okay.”

Spike had a nice habit going. On Fridays, he and Derpy went to the spa to hang out with Flitter and Cloudchaser, and on Saturdays, he got together with her and some others to play cards. The group always changed slightly, with one pony added or subtracted each time, but the core was the same: Golden Harvest, Berry Punch, Allie Way, and Mayor Mare.

It was Allie’s turn to host the game, and they were chatting amiably in her living room while she prepared tea and coffee. Aside from the core group, Berry Punch had brought along her friend, Colgate, who sat on the couch with a tired expression.

“Long day at the hospital, Colgate?” Golden asked.

“Yeah. I had a pegasus with an injured wing this afternoon, and had to spend an hour inside her carpal joint. I hate all those tiny bones.”

“You look tired,” Spike said.

Colgate nodded and picked up a deck of cards in her magic. She shuffled them rapidly before setting them down again. “So what do you all like to play?”

“Poker, usually,” Derpy said.

“Do you play cards at all?” Spike asked.

Colgate sighed. “Not really.”

“I think you’ll enjoy yourself,” Berry said.

“And don’t worry,” Mayor Mare said. “We’re not professionals or anything.”

“Yeah, we won’t be taking advantage of you.”

“It’s fine,” Colgate said.

Allie came back out with a collection of saucers and mugs floating around her head, and she put them all down, taking a seat on the other side of the table. “Well, girls? And Spike. What’s the game?”

Thunder crackled outside, and Golden jumped.

“Let’s start with some five card draw,” Derpy said. “To ease in our guest.”

Allie nodded and shuffled again, then dealt the cards. Rain peppered the roof.

They played for two hours, chatting and laughing lightly. Of them all, Golden was winning the most hands, but not by much. As the storm picked up, and the games grew more comfortable, conversation turned more personal.

“So how’s life without the Elements of Harmony, Spike? Are you getting used to things?” Allie asked.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” he said casually. “It was really weird at first, but I got over it.” He smiled at Derpy, who rubbed his back affectionately.

“Where are they now, anyway?” Berry asked.

Spike shrugged.

“What? Are you saying they don’t write you?” Golden asked.

“No, not lately.” He sighed. “Not at all, actually.”

“Some friends,” Colgate said.

“They’re just busy, I’m sure.”

“No one’s that busy.”

Lightning flashed through the windows, and the rain picked up for just a second. “Well, they are in charge of saving the… er, the whole country.”

“Just put a quill to parchment,” Colgate said drily. She shuffled the cards and dealt.

“It’s not a big deal. I’m sure they’ll write to me when they get the chance.”

Colgate put her cards down on the sofa and stood, stretching. She turned her head away, but Spike could see her lips curled up in a snarl.

“What’s wrong, Colgate?” Allie asked.

“I fold,” she said shortly, and walked to the kitchen.

“What’s with her?” Derpy asked quietly.

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Berry said. “She can get a little touchy sometimes.”

“Was it something I said?” Spike asked.

“I’m not entirely sure. Just let her be.”

They played the hand, and another, before Colgate came back out. Her earlier disquiet seemed gone entirely, and she addressed them all with a dull voice. “It was lovely to meet you all, but I have to go home now. Sorry.”

“Are you crazy? It’s raining cats and dogs out there,” Mayor Mare said sternly.

Colgate flushed. “I need to go home.”

“She’s not crazy,” Berry said as Colgate went to the door. “It’s just a little water.”

“Bye, Colgate,” Spike said. The door closed, and they waited for a moment.

“She’s weird,” Derpy said at last.

“She’s okay,” Berry said. “Like I said, she can be a little sensitive. But she’ll be fine.”

Spike returned to the library just after the rain stopped, in time to do a little dusting and then go to sleep. Usually, he had at least one dream of Rarity, but more often, Derpy was appearing—sometimes even taking Rarity’s place. She was much more complicated than the caricature as other ponies portrayed her, and he felt privileged to be close enough to her to know it. She was more direct than Rarity, more down-to-earth, and less superficial. There was no comparison when it came to physical beauty, but Spike wasn’t shallow; he overlooked her eyes and un-styled mane, and appreciated the beauty within her. In a way, it was her imperfections that endeared her to him all the more.

He woke the next morning, fresh from a dream about the gray pegasus, and hopped out of bed eagerly. The storm had passed, and he set out after a quick breakfast, intending to find Derpy. Instead, he met Colgate, who waved at him from across the road.

“Hey, Colgate. What’s going on?”

“I want to say I’m sorry,” she said neutrally. “Really sorry about last night.”

“Huh?”

“The way I left. I didn’t have to go like that.”

“Oh. Uh… it’s fine. I don’t think anyone thought much of it.”

“That’s good.” She looked up at a bird passing overhead.

“Were you okay getting home? It was really coming down last night.”

“Just rain. I’ve seen worse.”

“Well, good. Uh, why did you have to get home so quick?”

“There was something I had to take care of. It’s not important.”

He nodded, thinking of his own chores. He would never leave his friends early for housework. “Wanna do something?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Nothing specific. What do you like to do?”

“I like to walk in the park, when I have some time off.” She looked back, and Spike could see the hospital in the distance. “I’m not scheduled to be on call for another three hours.”

“Let’s go, then.”

They headed toward the Ponyville park at a mild pace. It was still early, and most ponies were just setting up their stalls. The roads, and the spaces between, were largely empty.

“So you’re a doctor, right?” Spike asked.

“Surgeon. Bones and muscles is my specialty.”

“Geez. Sounds hard.”

“It can be a stressful job.” She glanced down to see whether he was paying attention. “If cutting ponies open every day doesn’t get to you, the hours and the paperwork do. I do fifty to sixty hours a week, and I’m on call for three to four hours on Saturdays and Sundays.”

“When do you sleep?”

“There’s a lot of downtime between patients, generally.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that must be.”

She shrugged. “You get by.”

“I guess so. Do you enjoy it?”

“It pays well, and I’m quite popular there.”

“That’s cool.” They walked to a small patch of grass, hemmed by daffodils.

“This is where Lyra always played, when she was alive,” Colgate said.

“When she was alive,” Spike repeated. Colgate said it without a trace of emotion, and Spike had to take a moment to catch up. “She was really talented.”

“Skilled beyond her years.” Colgate walked along the patch’s edge.

“How did she, um, go, anyway? Do you know?”

“Part of her house collapsed on her.” Again, there was no feeling in the words.

“Holy Celestia.”

“I don’t like to talk about these things, Spike.”

“Yeah, me neither.” He followed her, and they walked for a long time without speaking, just appreciating the spring morning.

“In case you’re curious, your friends are in Manehattan,” Colgate said at last.

“Huh? How do you know that?”

“Allie Way told me.”

Spike stopped, as if struck, and Colgate turned around to regard him evenly. His thoughts were still murky from the early hour, and he took a moment to process what she said. “How does she know?”

“She has connections that I do not.”

“Uh…”

“I don’t know what they’re doing there, specifically. Searching for the Elements, presumably. And working on restoring the landscape.”

“Wait… so Allie knows, somehow. And she told you. Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you want to know where they are?”

“I was curious. Twilight and I talked some before she left. She seems a decent sort of pony.”

Spike frowned. To hear Colgate describe Twilight so impersonally bothered him—even if his own friendship with the Elements was straining.

“I’m not spying or anything,” Colgate said. “Spying isn’t my game.”

“I… guess it’s okay. Just weird. Weird that Allie of all ponies would know.” He thought for a second. “She’s so benign.”

Colgate smirked slightly and turned back out of the park. They were on the north side of town. “We’re old acquaintances.”

“I didn’t know that.”

Colgate led him toward a small hill, in the direction of a windmill. They sat down on the dewy grass halfway up, and she lay down to stare up at the clouds.

“So you come here often?” Spike asked.

“I like the peace and quiet.”

“Is it hectic at the hospital?”

“Sometimes. More tiring, actually.” She closed her eyes and breathed in slowly. “I prefer to be out in the open. Too much time inside bothers me.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He picked a blade of grass and chewed on it. “So… Manehattan, huh?”

“That’s what she told me.”

“Have you ever been there?”

“I grew up there.”

“Really?”

“I’ve only been in Ponyville a few years. I did my residency in Manehattan, and moved out here immediately after.”

“Needed a change of pace?”

She sighed and turned her head farther up.

“Colgate?” She didn’t speak, and he got up to look at her. “Are you okay?”

She closed her eyes, and her horn glowed a brief blue. By her side, a blade of grass slowly crumpled into a tight, tiny knot before sinking down into the soil. After a moment, she sat up. Her eyes were hard.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to go.”

“Huh?”

“I shouldn’t have done that,” she said quickly. “I… yeah, I have to get out of here.”

“Wait!” Spike pursued her off the hill, back toward town. “What’s going on? Did I say something? I’m sorry, if I did.”

“Not your fault, Spike. I’m the one who’s sorry. Again.” She stopped and sat down again. “Oh, Celestia.”

“But you didn’t do anything.” “She's like a more direct version of Fluttershy.”

She looked at him for a long time. Though her eyes were still empty of feeling, her face was taut—with what emotions, Spike couldn’t guess. She shook her head. “I have to get out of here. I’m really, really sorry, Spike.” She trotted away, and turned back quickly. “Please don’t follow me. I’ll… talk to you later.”

“Bye then,” he said as she disappeared. He scratched his head. “What the heck is going on?”

Spike was near Derpy’s house, and so, remembering his original intent, walked over to see whether she was around. She was working in a small flower garden when he approached, and didn’t notice until he was halfway up the path to her house. “Spike! You’re up early!”

“I wanted to come by and hang out. I hope that’s okay.”

“No problem at all. You know I love your company. Here, I was just pruning these zinnias, but I’d love it if you could use your claws to help me out.”

Spike crouched next to her and began clipping where she indicated, and he was reminded of Twilight. She often had him climb up into the windows to tend to her flowers, and he had cultivated a fair amount of skill in the area, as well as an appreciation for the delicate beauty the plants could bring to a setting. “These are beautiful, Derpy. I didn’t know you gardened.”

“It’s just a hobby, really. I don’t have much skill. Now Golden… she has one of the best gardens in Ponyville, I think. She got second place in a most aesthetically-pleasing garden contest a couple years ago.”

“I remember that!” he said. He and Twilight were still in Canterlot then, and he had seen part of the contest from their tower. He wanted to stay and marvel at the beauty, but Twilight had been in the middle of one of her periodic re-shelving frenzies, and demanded his attention for the entire day. He fluffed a zinnia’s petals and looked up at Derpy, trying to center a flower in her vision.

It was, as it was with everypony, the first thing about her that he noticed. Her deep, golden eyes, offset only slightly, gave her a very distinct, unintelligent appearance. What would be seen as sweetness and friendliness in anyone else was, for her, an indication of simplicity, of naiveté. For this, ponies talked about her, made jokes about her, condescended to her, and very occasionally, openly insulted her. But instead of covering her eyes, or turning hostile, Derpy kept her pleasant mien for all, friend and stranger alike. Spike stared only briefly into one of her eyes, and she caught him. She smiled, and he blushed back.

“Here, can you get these down here?” she asked, pointing to a tiny cluster of leafy, green weeds under the flowers’ stems.

He reached down to pick at them. “Derpy, how can you be so nice when ponies make fun of you so much? I don’t understand it.”

“No one bothers to get to know me,” she said with a little shrug. “It doesn’t worry me. I have my friends, so I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t feel bitter at all?”

“Well, maybe a little bit, but I get over it. They don’t mean any harm, usually. And those that do are just hurting on the inside.”

“Hmmmmm.”

“Got something on your mind? It’s unusual for you to talk like this so early in the morning.”

“Just thinking about Twilight.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Sometimes I miss her, and sometimes I don’t. She came back from Canterlot and didn’t even give me a full explanation of what was going on; can you believe that?”

“She was probably preoccupied,” Derpy said, pulling up a weed.

“Yeah, but for the entire time? She was here for five or six days, and she only ever told me what she was going to do next.”

“That sounds preoccupied to me.”

“She didn’t even know what she was doing, either. She was completely surprised when I told her how I felt.”

“Some ponies empathize easier than others, Spike.”

“I guess.”

“Do you still consider her a friend?”

“Of course I do. I consider them all friends, but… they were so insensitive. Especially Rarity.”

“I’ve heard you mention her before.”

“Yeah, well, she was… special, I guess.”

“Special how?”

He blushed a little, but didn’t question himself as he told her the truth. “I had a bit of a crush on her.”

“Awwww, that’s cute. Um, I mean, nice. That’s nice, Spike.”

“Hm.”

“What happened?”

“Well, I told her my feelings, and she rejected me.” His voice dropped. “She said she didn’t like me like that.”

“Aw, Spike, I’m sorry about that. At least she was honest with you, though.”

“I guess.” He paused, remembering when Derpy had first come over to check on him. She had offered for him to talk then, and he rejected it. “I still like her, though. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. I know, it’s stupid.”

“It’s never stupid to follow your heart,” Derpy said.

“You think so?”

“For sure! Be careful not to dwell on it, though, otherwise you’ll just end up making yourself feel bad for no reason.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He broke apart a dirt clod in his claw. “Do you think I’ll ever find a special somepony?”

“Well, I’m sure there are lots of dragonesses out there.”

“No, I mean a special somepony. I don’t want to date a dragon.”

“Why not? You don’t like your own species?”

“The dragons I’ve met are all jerks that only care about fighting and eating and being greedy, and I’m not like that. I want a girl who can appreciate beauty, and who I can act natural around.” He looked at her. The words “like you” perched on his lips, but he reigned himself in.

“Well, I don’t know about finding anyone here. Ponyville’s kind of conservative. But I’m sure there are tons of ponies out in the world who’d be comfortable with a dragon as their special somepony. Special somedragon?”

“Yeah, maybe.” He sighed and dusted dirt off his claws. “Hey, do you know Colgate at all?”

“Nope. I’d never talked to her until last night. She’s nice, isn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Spike said hesitantly. “She’s kinda skittish, though.”

“Yeah, I got that impression too.” She pulled another weed and flicked it aside. “Still, I like her. She seems like a good pony.”

Spike nodded absently. He had only been awake for an hour, and he already felt overloaded. First Colgate, and her abrupt, mysterious departure, and then time with Derpy. His heart felt tight and weird in his chest, and he suddenly felt the need to stand. As he paced, Derpy watched him.

“Something wrong?”

“Just thinking,” he said.

“What about?”

“Uh…” He licked his lips and looked back into her eyes. In his head, he was telling her how he felt, to be reciprocated with a warm, downy hug. Then he remembered Rarity. “Never mind.” He crouched down and looked over his shoulder, in the direction of the park, and Colgate replaced Rarity in his thoughts. “If she can do it, so can I.” He stood up again and dusted himself off. “I have to go.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.” He looked away, trying to suppress a guilty smile. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you around.”

“Oh. Okay, then. Uh, see you later.”

He nodded and walked away. He felt strong. Derpy hadn’t questioned his departure, or objected to it, or anything; it was as simple as walking away. “She’s got some good ideas,” he thought happily, craning his neck to try to spot the hospital.

As he walked, his exhilaration faded, and he wended his way deeper into the northern residences with a guilty feeling hanging over his head. There was really no reason to abandon Derpy like he did; he had merely fled out of discomfort. He only stopped walking when he found another house he recognized.

While Derpy lived on the inner edge of the hilly, grassy area north of town, Berry Punch’s house was one of the last ones out. Her house and just two others, a good distance away, were the only structures between Ponyville and the wilderness, and as Spike walked up the path to her front door, he felt cut off from the town.

He had only been to Berry’s house a couple times, but every time he saw it, he had to stop and stare. Even among the individually unique houses of Ponyville, it managed to have an aesthetic all its own with a triangular lawn, edged with dandelions, and pink and purple smudged walls. The thatched roof was fluffy and soft-looking, and its chimney was an unusually long extension, six feet of light-colored bricks. Not knowing exactly what he was planning, he knocked on the door.

Berry appeared in the doorway, a harried expression on her face. Spike could see moisture glistening on her fur, and she smelled of grapes. She softened slightly when she looked at him. “Oh, hey Spike. What’s going on?”

“Not much. Just thought I’d come by and hang out. You busy?”

“Not particularly. Come on in.” She stepped aside to admit him. “I was just finishing pressing a new batch of grapes.”

“Oh, cool. Can I watch?”

“Uh, I’d rather not. My crusher’s being a little temperamental right now.” She gestured at herself. “It’s pretty messy down there.”

“Oh, okay.” Spike watched her disappear into the basement, where she made her wine. She was the only vintner in Ponyville, and, in his opinion, a very good one, considering she only had a home operation. They had met at one of her poker games, to which Derpy had dragged him; of all the participants, she was his favorite.

He looked around the front room, taking in the ostentatious décor. Berry had a penchant for eye-catching decorations, and it had thrown him off the first time he set foot in her house. Until then, he had only seen her as another pony in the background, devoid of color or passion. Her living room was a wide, windowed collection of paintings and vases on pedestals, with a gilt birdcage hanging in the corner, empty.

He walked slowly through the living room, admiring the paintings, the smell of the oils. Everything was dusted and clean, and the colors jumped out at him in a way that made him smile. His eyes fixed on a large painting of the ocean, its foaming waves tumbling over a lump of wrecked ship.

From below, he could hear Berry murmuring something under a series of banging noises, then a loud, long scraping sound, followed by her alarmed shout. He ran down into the cellar, where Berry was resting a hoof on a large machine, purple juice and bits of pulp in her mane.

“Sorry to startle you,” she said. “This stupid thing keeps getting stuck.”

“Are you okay?”

“Just sticky.” She picked a bit of grape out of her mane and tossed it on the ground. “I’m gonna have to go to the river after this.”

“Berry, what’s the painting in your front room?”

“Ummmm, which one is that?”

“The one with the ocean.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s called ‘Pursuit’. That’s a pirate ship that’s wrecked in the foreground.”

“I didn’t know Equestria had pirates.”

“Where there’s ocean, there’s pirates, Spike.”

“Where did you get it?”

“Bonbon gave it to me a long time ago.”

Spike nodded. He had never spoken with her. “How is Bonbon nowadays, anyway? I know Lyra’s… death really got her.”

“I don’t know, Spike,” Berry said with a sigh. “She goes out into town all the time, but she never really talks to anyone anymore. At least not me.”

“Geez.” He didn’t know what to say.

“I think she’s depressed,” Berry said. “But it’s all part of the grieving process. I’m sure all she needs is time. She’s a sensible mare.”

“I hope she gets over it.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“So, were they, like, dating?”

“Who, Lyra and Bonbon? No, I don’t think so. They were just really good friends. Friends since birth, I think.”

“That’s tough,” Spike said.

Berry nodded. They were both quiet while she fiddled with the grape crusher, and then she spoke again. “You and Derpy seem to have a good thing going.”

Spike looked up at her, perplexed. The comment was given casually, but it caught him off guard. “I guess you could say that. We’re pretty close.”

“Only friends, I take it?”

“Uh… yeah, I suppose.”

“You suppose?”

“Well, you see… okay, promise not to tell anypony?”

“I promise,” Berry said without looking up from what she was doing.

“I kind of have a crush on her.”

Berry nodded.

“Uh, I really do.” Her response wasn’t what he had expected. He had braced himself for a gasp, or a chuckle, or even a startled “what?”

“I know. I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to say. You sound like you want to talk about it.”

“…Yeah, I kind of do.”

“Go ahead. My ears are always open.”

Spike took a deep breath to order his thoughts. “Well, I like her, a lot. I think that we could be really good together, and that we could have a great relationship, but I’m not sure if she likes me like that.”

Berry nodded.

“I dunno. She’s nice, but what if she doesn’t see me the same way? I don’t know what I would do if she rejected me too.”

“Too?”

“I already tried it with somepony else. It didn’t go great.”

“I see.” Berry sighed and walked around her machine. “Are you over this other pony?”

“Uh… maybe.”

“Nope,” Berry said. “That hesitation in your voice speaks volumes, Spike. You’re not over her.”

He thought of Rarity. Her pristine coat, her eyes, her generous nature. He leaned against the wall. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I would caution you about falling so easily for Derpy, Spike. She was your first friend in our little group, right?”

“Yeah, but what’s that got to do with anything?”

“She found you when you were hurting and helped you get yourself back together. It’s only natural that you would develop an attachment to her.”

“Yeah, but, I mean, I feel different when I’m around her. I really do! I’ve never felt this way before.”

“Not even around your other friend? Whoever she was?”

“I don’t think so,” Spike said, shaking his head. He remembered the pain as Rarity told him he wasn’t right for her, his embarrassment, his tiny anger. He remembered crying in the forest.

“Trust me, Spike, I’m familiar with this kind of thing. It’s called ‘rebounding,’ and plenty of ponies do it. I’ve done it many times myself, and it’s never worked out.”

His cheeks flared. “Thanks for the advice, but I think I know my heart better than you do.”

“I’m sure you do, but I just want you to be careful. You’ll just get hurt otherwise.”

“Hey, the heart wants what the heart wants.”

“That it does, but that doesn’t mean you should blindly follow it. Think about Derpy’s feelings too.”

He frowned. “I already know she likes me. She said so herself.”

“Just be careful,” Berry said innocently.

“Yeah, right.” He sighed and thought of how he left Derpy. “Hey, I’m gonna go now. See you later, Berry.”

She didn’t look up. “See you later, Spike.”

He left and headed back to the library, passing no one familiar on his way. He considered tracking down Colgate, to see how she was doing, but thought better of it. She was very private, it seemed, and he didn’t have the emotional capacity to talk to her besides. Derpy and Berry both held opposing stances in his mind as he plodded down the dirt road. Love, true and pure, shone brightly on one side, while cold, passionless consideration dampened the other. He knew Berry was right, that he should be careful, but every time he thought of it, Derpy’s smiling eyes shunted all his doubts away.

He fixed himself a simple lunch and did a few chores, and then sat down with something out of Twilight’s romantic fiction section until evening.

“Spike! Hey, Spike, you in there?”

It was Monday, and Spike had fallen asleep in the living room with his book open on his lap. He scrambled out of the chair and went to the door, where Allie Way stood, looking pensive. “Hey Allie. What’s going on?”

“An airship just drifted into town and landed at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“An airship?” Spike was instantly awake. “Was Twilight on it?”

“I couldn’t see.”

“Well let’s go!” Spike cried, racing out the door.

“I can get us there faster,” Allie said, telekinetically lifting Spike and placing him on her back. He quickly wrapped his arms around her neck as she galloped away, surprised at the firm muscles across her back. She seemed to hardly exert herself as she took them toward the orchard, under fragrant apple trees and up to the barn.

A large airship rested near the barn doors, its balloon a bloated, red apple with a shock of vibrant green for the leaf. Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith were talking to whoever was inside, their heads tilted up awkwardly. Spike watched from where they stopped, and a tan pony slowly debarked. It wasn’t his friends; it was Braeburn. He looked grim.

They exchanged hushed words, and Big Mac hugged Apple Bloom, his own face displeased. Spike looked at Allie questioningly, and she shrugged and cocked her head back. “Shall we leave them?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She took off at a trot. “Sorry to get your hopes up like that, Spike.”

“That’s all right.”

She carried him back to the library, and as he slipped off her back, he thought back to his conversation with Colgate.

“Say, Allie. How did you know my friends are in Manehattan?”

She looked at him quickly, her eyes wide in shock. “Did Colgate tell you?”

“Yeah.”

“Figures. Spike, I’ll tell you about it, but not now. I have to go to work. Dinner maybe?”

He perked up. “Sure!”

“I’ll come get you when I get off work, then.” She leaned in for a quick hug. “But I really have to go now.”

He retreated back into the library and went to the basement, where Twilight kept her science equipment. All of it was covered in dust, and long inactive, but he didn’t feel right with it slowly fading into obsolescence underground. He spent the majority of his afternoon cleaning, dusting, and reorganizing. Twilight had an array of mechanical devices, the functions of which Spike knew he had been told once. All he recognized was a projector, a VCR, and a couple defunct TV screens. He knew that most of the country had surpassed Ponyville in terms of technology, and thought of Twilight as he cleaned her old things. What kind of fantastic machines had she encountered in her travels?

It was six-thirty, and Spike and Allie walked at a leisurely pace to the south side of town, to Ponyville’s second fanciest restaurant. They were seated in a cloistered booth under a long, softly glowing window, out of earshot of the rest of the restaurant. A pair of torches sat outside, unlit in the sunset. After they placed their orders, Spike looked at Allie speculatively, and she looked back openly.

“So, Colgate told you they were in Manehattan,” Allie said.

“Yup. She said she heard it from you.”

“She and I are friends. Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“I like her, but I get the feeling she doesn’t like me all that much.”

“Why?”

Allie sipped her drink. “I’m not sure. Just a feeling. Anyway, Manehattan. I’m friends with the mayor of Fillydelphia, and I asked her.”

Spike leaned back, dissatisfied. “Okay, how does she know?”

“It’s her job as mayor to know where the Elements are. Most city leaders have some way of keeping tabs on them.”

“Does Mayor Mare?”

“I think so, but I’m not certain what it is.”

“Okay.” Spike pinched the bridge of his nose. “But why do you care where they are? Why does Colgate?”

Allie smiled. “Let’s call it professional curiosity.”

“You manage the bowling alley. She’s a doctor. How do your professions have anything to do with them?”

“Uh…” She looked side to side; they were alone, save for a nearby waitress. “This is a secret, Spike.”

“My lips are sealed,” he said eagerly.

“Seriously. You can’t be blabbing this, okay?”

“Okay, okay.”

“I used to be a part of the Canterlot Guard. Years ago.”

His eyes widened, and he looked her up and down quickly. “You?” Just yesterday, he had commented on how benign she was.

“Colgate too. Different cities, different divisions, different jobs. But both of us were Guards, yes.”

“But you don’t act like a Guard.”

“I quit after something unpleasant happened.” They paused and received their orders.

“What was it?”

She shook her head. “I was stationed in Baltimare. Or what used to be Baltimare. Do you know of it?”

“I think I’ve heard the name,” he said slowly.

“It was a small town on the northwestern tip of the Everfree Forest. Me and some others—and the pony who would later become Fillydelphia’s mayor. It was our job to protect a team of herbalists and botanists when they went into the forest.”

Spike nodded, his food untouched.

“But then… something happened. I don’t know what, but it destroyed the entire city. We had to relocate with the survivors.”

“Something destroyed the entire city, and you don’t know what it was?”

Allie sighed and looked down. “When we got to Canterlot, a lot of us were pretty traumatized. I was one of them. I had my memory erased.”

“Whoa.” Spike had heard of memory-altering magic from Twilight, but had never met anyone who had undergone it. “So when you say you don’t know what happened, you mean it.”

“Whatever it was, it was bad enough for me to request a memory wipe spell. And then quit.”

“You quit after the spell?”

“They wanted me to stay, but I knew I didn’t want it. Even if I couldn’t recall the specific event, I knew it really freaked me out. I considered staying in Fillydelphia with my friend, but she was still part of the Guard, and I didn’t want to be involved. So I moved here and rebuilt my life.”

Spike tapped his chin. “But you still like to know where the Elements are.”

“Once a Guard, always a Guard. I still think about it, sometimes. No one here knows, except Colgate and a few others.”

“Yeah, Colgate. She was a Guard too?”

“I don’t really know her past, and it’s not my place to talk about it anyway.”

“Hm.” Spike started in on his food, and he and Allie ate in silence for a few minutes. He had hoped for some explanation from Allie, but every answer she gave just bred more questions. “So, are there Guards in every city?” he asked finally.

“Every town has some.”

“But I never see any in Ponyville.”

She nodded. “Yeah, there’s a reason for that.”

They finished their food, and by the time they were leaving, the sun had gone down and the restaurant was filling up. The torches next to the windows were lit, and clouds of fireflies orbited them. They parted ways, and as Spike returned to the library, his mind was filled with questions. Who were these ponies Allie refused to talk about? What had happened to her? And how did Colgate fit into it all?

As he approached the library door, he jumped at the sound of thunder directly above. He went in and grabbed his book, and there was another peal of thunder as he settled in to his chair. Through the window, the eastern sky had turned into a charcoal wall of rolling clouds, with lightning dancing within in thin, jagged fingers. Shrugging, he returned to his book, and sleep claimed him an hour later.