Once all four members of the family have arrived, the conversation quickly goes from Winter to his sister; a change that both children are perfectly happy with. While Limelight had stayed in Fillydelphia for a couple of years after Winter left, she had moved to Manehatten just under a year ago to take on a new job, which her family is very curious about.

“Well, there’s a lot of shows going on in Manehatten lately,” Limelight explains. “Plays, fashion shows, music performances… that’s just the kind of city it is, really.”

“Oh, are you an actor now?” Perma asks, smiling proudly. “Or a model? I always imagined you’d be great at that!”

Her daughter shakes her head. “No… I help run the technical equipment. Lights, special effects… just stuff that goes on behind the scenes.”

“Aww...” Perma pouts. “They don’t see your true talent, then.”

“Well, it’s still a very important job,” Bulwark interjects, kissing Limelight on the forehead. “I’m proud of you.”

Winter watches with mild interest. It’s not like he doesn’t care about his sister, but he already learned most of this from her letters. Guess she didn’t write to mom and dad as much…

“Winter? Helloooo?” A turquoise hoof waves in front of the unicorn’s face, and he snaps out of his thoughts, looking to his sister curiously. “What about you?”

He blinks. “I missed it. What was the question?”

She sighs. “I asked all of you if and when you wanted to meet my new boyfriend.”

...why do I suddenly feel like I should be angry? “Uh… depends on who and where he is?”

“He’s one of her fellow workers in Manehatten,” Bulwark explains. “You must have really zoned out, huh?”

Winter looks away, nodding. “Sorry.”

Perma frowns. “You need to pay better attention. How would you like it if Lime tuned you out when you were talking about your job?”

“Tuned me out? Mom, I deliberately avoid telling stories about my job to Lime.” He notices his sister glaring at him. “Trust me, most of it is boring ‘same old same old’ and the rest is pretty graphic.” He smirks. “But, if you really want to hear about the time I got stabbed in the lung, happy to oblige. I woke up one Thursday morning-”

“Never mind!” Limelight cries, flattening her ears against her head.

Perma and Bulwark look at their son in surprise, and his mother speaks up first. “I don’t think either of us heard that story...”

Winter glances at Lime, who shakes her head rapidly. “Uh… I’ll tell it to you later.”

“How often does that sort of thing happen?” Perma asks. “You getting hurt, and such?”

Bulwark chuckles. “Dear, it just comes with the job.”

“But in Ponyville?” The mother shakes her head. “I just find it hard to believe protecting such a peaceful little town could be so dangerous.”

“Well, for one thing, it’s right by the Everfree Forest,” Winter points out. “And for another thing, most of my injuries come from missions that take me away from the town. Backing up the guards somewhere nearby, or venturing into some other territory for whatever reason. Usually those end up being for peaceful negotiations that turn sour, and then we’re battling for a few days until one side surrenders and gives the others something in exchange for backing off.” He shrugs. “Even griffons will give up an even fight if you offer them a few dozen eclairs. They seem to have a thing for baked goods.”

Bulwark nods. “At least you’re not getting involved with any actual wars.”

Winter shudders. His history lessons taught him of only two actual wars in Equestria’s past, not counting battles to overthrow corrupt rulers such as Discord. The first one was between the three pony races before winter hit, and they were forced to work together, though obviously that hadn’t lasted long. The second, more recently, was a war lasting several years between ponies and changelings that only ended when the latter seemed to go into hiding, planning for eventual sneak attacks. Of course, that simply led to an eventual surrender and offer of a peace treaty, which was another story altogether…

“Who would we go to war with, anyway?” Limelight chimes in. “I mean, I know there’s some fights every now and again, but from what I know, we’re mostly at peace with griffons and changelings, and the dragons don’t bother us if we don’t bother them...”

“Maybe zebras?” Bulwark suggests jokingly. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll have a huge war with them in the future. Over coal or something like that.”

“Let’s not tempt fate,” Winter suggests.

After a few more hours, the growling of stomachs indicate it’s about time to head off to dinner. Since the weather outside is still rather warm, none of them bother wrapping themselves up, and instead just head right out the door.

Perma leads the way, being the one who knows where the restaurant they have in mind is, while her husband walks beside her. Limelight trots along just a little bit behind them, and Winter brings up the rear, letting both his eyes and his mind wander as he walks through a city that feels familiar yet new to him. Just about everything he looks at brings about a sense of nostalgia.

There’s the hoofball field our school always used… and never won a single game in, as far as I can remember. He smirks. There’s that one ice cream place Lime always dragged me to… there’s Tempest’s old apartment… and there’s the place Tal- His eyes widen and he quickly looks away, trying to immediately focus on something else. No no no no no no no…

“Winter?” The unicorn jumps as Limelight nudges him, concerned. “Something wrong?”

He rapidly shakes his head, doing nothing but ensuring something is indeed wrong. But before his sister can continue questioning, their mother speaks up. “We’re here!”

Sighing in relief, Winter trots ahead of Limelight and next to his parents, hoping to avoid continuing the discussion as Perma leads them inside. The four are taken to their reserved table, and within minutes are scanning their menus.

“So, what’s it like being in the city again, Winter?” Bulwark asks with a chuckle as he looks through his menu. “Ponyville isn’t much of an urban place, if you don’t mind me saying. Does the sudden change of scenery feel weird?”

His son shrugs. “It’d probably feel weirder if it was someplace I hadn’t grown up in.”

“Fair enough.”

The small talk continues on for a few minutes as they figure out their orders, laying down their menus as they decide. When the waitress comes by, they each go in turn giving her their orders.

“I’ll take the sea salad with rose petal garnish and light oat sauce,” Perma requests, passing in her menu. The waitress nods, looking to her husband.

“Spiced wheat noodles with sliced tomato topping,” Bulwark says, giving in his own as well.

“Um… grilled veggie-stuffed squash, hold the lettuce.” Limelight passes her menu in next, grinning a little sheepishly.

This leaves Winter, who just shrugs. “...two hayburgers.” He notices the others looking at him funny. “Hey, I like hayburgers. Why fix what isn’t broken?” He glances to the waitress as he hands his menu in last, before doing a double take.

The waitress is a stark black pegasus, with a long flowing snow white mane and tail. Her bright red eyes have locked with Winter’s, and an uncomfortably large smile has taken place on her muzzle. While her outfit covers her flank, the unicorn has a feeling he knows exactly what cutie mark would be on it: a plastic pouch of white powder, almost like salt.

“Well, hello again, Winter Solstice.” She giggles knowingly. “I haven’t seen you in years.”

“Oh? You know my son?” Perma asks, smiling. “Old friends?”

Before Winter can respond, the waitress giggles again and nods. “You could say that. We were very close back in school, weren’t we?” She glances off to the side, then smirks back at the family. “So sorry to cut this short, but I must get back to work. I’ll be back with your meals very soon!”

With a final, spine-chilling giggle, she trots off back to the kitchen. Limelight turns to her brother, grinning. “Soooo, who was that? One of your ex-girlfriends?”

“Talcum Powder,” he grunts, glaring at the floor. “I don’t want to talk about her.”

“Yep, ex-girlfriend,” Limelight declares with a snicker.

Perma and Bulwark, meanwhile, don’t seem to see the humour that their daughter does. “Is something wrong, dear?” the mare asks.

Winter hesitates before shaking his head. “...everything’s fine. Just fine.”

Though his reassurance is weak, it’s at least enough for the others to hold off on pressing the issue until they can get back home. Instead, they resume their previous table conversations, only minus one unicorn who just sits in silence.

The rest of the building’s sounds are drowned out as thoughts rush through Winter’s mind at a rapid pace. Even when the all-too familiar waitress returns with their food, he refuses to acknowledge her presence, just going right to eating and avoiding eye contact. Not just with her, but with the rest of his family as well.

Soon, his silence begins to worry the others even more, and the dinner grows more and more awkward before they’ve eventually all gone quiet. When Talcum comes by to check on them, she quickly notices something off, and approaches with a large smile. “Is everything okay here?”

Bulwark nods. “Yes, miss. Thank you.”

“Are you sure? You were all very talkative before.” She glances at Winter. “Is his attitude growing contagious?”

“Is that really any of your business?” Limelight asks, sounding a little irritated.

Talcum coughs. “Oh, I do apologize for intruding. I’m just very sensitive to sudden mood changes; it’s a part of my special talent.”

Horseapples, Winter thinks to himself. Your special talent is in cosmetics. You told me so yourself…

“Everything’s fine, dear,” Perma insists with a weak smile. “I’m sure he’ll tell us sooner or later what the problem is...”

Talcum giggles. “I do hope so. I just can’t imagine what it could be.”

The young unicorn grits his teeth. You are either the biggest liar or the biggest idiot of the century…

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your meals,” the waitress finally says, her smile not faltering even a bit. “I do apologize for intruding.”

“Not a problem, miss,” Bulwark responds with a grateful nod. “You were just worried. It’s understandable.”

A giggle escapes the mare’s lips once more. “Please enjoy the rest of the evening together. After all...” She grins before turning to head off, playfully tickling under Winter's chin with a hoof as she walks. “...this is a night for fun.”

The unicorn’s eyes widen. His body tenses up, and his horn begins glowing brightly. But before anypony at his table can take notice, he whips around with a shout and practically throws himself out of his seat, nearly landing in front of another waiter. As soon as he touches the ground, he goes running, headed straight for the door outside.

“Winter, wait!” Perma yells after him, but her words fall on deaf ears. He’s already out of sight before she can even finish. “Limelight, go after him! Get him back home!”

Nodding, her daughter stands up and starts running for the door as well, abandoning her food. Bulwark turns to his wife, looking concerned. “Should we go too?”

“No need.” Perma shakes her head. “That was just a knee-jerk reaction of his. He won’t go too far before calming down, but I don’t think he’ll want to come back here. I’m sure he and Lime will be back home soon.”

“Then what do we do?” Bulwark asks incredulously. “I don’t have much of an appetite anymore.”

“Then you get the bill and take care of it.” She stands up, eyeing their waitress, who still seems a little stunned. “I think I need to go have a talk with somepony.” Next Chapter: Chapter 6: Once Again Hope I Died for the Last Time Estimated time remaining: 10 Minutes