The dawn was grey and the sounds of birdsong could be heard all over. Loch Skimmer was the only pony up for the dawn, the entire house was still sound asleep. She wandered around outside, exploring her new home, and she waved cheerfully at the guard pegasi who were posted around the farmhouse.

There was a raspberry thicket, a vineyard, an enormous garden full of vegetables as well as melons, and there were songbirds everywhere. Loch Skimmer began to whistle with them, joining them with her song.

She stopped when she heard wings, big wings, and the sounds of hooves in the distance, not too far away. She turned around, expecting guards, wondering if they had come over to listen to hear singing.

Instead, she saw Princess Twilight Sparkle and another pegasus, a soft yellow pegasus with a pastel pink mane. The yellow pegasus was hiding behind Twilight Sparkle. Loch Skimmer, always a friendly one, smiled and waved at the pair.

“Celestia was right about you,” Twilight stated. “This is my very best friend Fluttershy. You and Fluttershy share something in common.”

“We do?” Loch Skimmer asked.

Nodding, Twilight gave Fluttershy a gentle nudge and pushed her forward. After taking several minutes to gather her courage, Fluttershy spread her wings, raised her head, and in a soft voice, she began to sing. Immediately, all of the birds around her flocked close, and they joined her in her song. Some perched upon her spread wings, others on her back, and one perched upon her head.

“I can make the birds sing,” Loch Skimmer said, beaming as she realised she wasn’t alone and wasn’t a freak.

“Celestia thought so. She told me to head over here and come looking for you during the dawn. We have a job offer for you. Fluttershy heads the Dawn Brigade. Every morning the dawn is orchestrated. A song is chosen to help shape the mood of the day. Some days, it is hope. Other days, it is courage. Songs of peace and unity have been common themes lately because of the refugees. How would you like to work for the Dawn Brigade and make the lives of thousands of ponies better?” Twilight said, now smiling herself due to Loch Skimmer’s infectious grin.

“You’ll be paid a fair wage,” Fluttershy said in a small voice. “Our gift is rare. There are only a few like us in Ponyville. I need the help. If you don’t mind. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble that is. Ooh… have I been too forward again? Darn Iron Will… I still get so pushy,” she squeaked.

Loch Skimmer darted forward, causing all of the birds to fly away, and she hugged the squeaking pegasus, making Fluttershy squeak even more. With each squeak, the vicious cycle grew worse and worse as Loch Skimmer felt the need to make the squeaking pegasus feel better, and she was completely unaware that she was the cause of the squeaks.

Few ponies were so cheerfully oblivious as Loch Skimmer.

“I’m so glad to see you two getting along!” Twilight Sparkle gushed.

“I have a special song that I can sing…” Loch Skimmer boasted good naturedly.

“Oh? You do? Is it inspirational?” Twilight Sparkle responded in a curious tone.

“It makes ponies horny as all get out and want to make foals,” Loch Skimmer replied excitedly. She felt the pony she had her foreleg around go limp and she caught Fluttershy before she hit the ground. She gently lowered the fainted pegasus down to the soft grass.

“Oh my… poor Fluttershy. She’s fainted. Um, well… okay then. Celestia didn’t mention anything about this. But uh, well, hoo… there are probably times when we will need your special song like when Celestia triggers heat cycles. Every pony has a special purpose and every special purpose is special and necessary,” Twilight stammered.

“Wanna hear it?” Loch offered.

“No!” Twilight said, now completely off guard. She lifted Fluttershy in her magic and eyed the farmhouse. “Let’s get her inside, shall we?”

Loch Skimmer watched as Twilight Sparkle prepared tea. She sort of liked tea, provided there was a lot of sugar in it and maybe a bit of milk. Fluttershy was laid out on the couch in the living room, still completely unresponsive.

There were sounds in the house now as a few ponies began to awaken.

“Is she going to be okay?” Loch Skimmer asked in a worried voice.

“She’ll be okay in a while. She has very delicate sensibilities,” Twilight said sheepishly.

“Do I still have a job?” Loch Skimmer questioned.

“Of course,” Twilight said as she began to steep the tea.

“I don’t know anything about bits or money,” Loch Skimmer said.

“Time to learn,” Twilight said cheerfully.

“I can read and write,” Loch Skimmer announced.

“And that is why I know Buckminster is a good pony. His insistence upon education. Your whole herd seems geared toward self improvement and education. The focus upon knowledge and its importance seems to have become a central tenet of your herd’s ideology,” Twilight responded. “It is good that Buckminster has things he believes in."

Loch Skimmer nodded, now feeling a little lost. Some ponies were entirely too wordy. “Yeah. Bucky is a firm believer in getting drunk and scre-er, uh, gently making more little ponies,” she said in reply. She remembered Berry’s warning about being so blunt and she realised that “screw” might be a dirty word if she used it here.

Twilight froze for a moment and felt her eye twitch. Firm. It had to be an accidental choice of words. She took a deep breath. “Yes, well, fatherhood is a noble goal,” Twilight said as she thought about her own father’s raised eyebrow. She shivered. “Making little ponies is very important and so is the relaxed casual environment to make them. Alcohol might help as a social lubricant to assist in relieving anxiety. But being a good responsible parent means educating them, which your father seems very keen upon.”

“Berry is a berry good educator,” Loch Skimmer said with a broad toothy smile.

“Is she?” Twilight asked as she convulsed slightly from the pun.

“She taught me all about shagging and how to have explosive orgasms!” Loch Skimmer gleefully replied.

There was a thump as Twilight Sparkle hit the floor.

Looking on with some concern, Loch Skimmer wondered what was up with the ponies of the mainland. Perhaps there was some kind of disease or condition. She slipped from the chair, walked over, and prodded the passed out prone purple princess pony.

I don’t know what happened,” Twilight Sparkle said. She sat up slowly and got to her hooves. She shook herself. “We were talking about something…”

Nodding, Lyra finished the tea. It was strong from steeping too long, but it was salvageable. She shot Loch Skimmer a glance and the pegasus filly fell silent just as she was about to say something. Loch Skimmer had briefly explained what had happened and Lyra was having trouble keeping a straight face. With fine telekinetic control, Lyra set the tea out upon the table and then wandered off to the fridge to begin thinking about breakfast. Lyra came to the conclusion that they were going to need a much larger refrigerator. This one would be emptied within a day.

“Ooh,” Fluttershy moaned, her voice creeping into the kitchen from the living room.

Pouring tea as she sat down, Twilight made herself at home as she had already done so many times before in this house. She knew this house from the many hours spent with here with Luna and Barley. It was one of her favourite places, a quiet place of peaceful reflection. She doubted it would be a quiet place any longer. Even Celestia and Cadance had stayed here. Barley had always been a gracious host.

Fluttershy peeped around the doorway and then slowly entered the kitchen to join Twilight at the small kitchen table. She approached the table slowly and cautiously, as if she wasn’t sure if she was invited, and then after Twilight made a gesture, Fluttershy sat down.

Fluttershy meeped with surprise when Loch Skimmer hugged her to make her feel better.

“I’m sorry… I wasn’t always like this. Berry Punch made me better. I used to be a very broken pegasus. A lot of bad things were done to me. I’ve healed and learned to love. I love Rising, I love Sparkler, I love my sister more than ever now that my heart has been opened, I love Bucky, I love everypony in my family. And I tend to come on a little a stro-oooOOOOooOOF!”

Loch Skimmer never got to finish when Fluttershy suddenly ferociously hugged her back.

“Oh you poor dear… it must have been so awful for you!” Fluttershy cried as she began to squeeze the stuffing out of Loch Skimmer. The filly squirmed as the yellow mare applied a crushing amount of pegasus affection in her embrace. “I’ve heard stories… they made me sick. I had nightmares!”

Twilight watched all of this with a raised eyebrow. She’d seen this before. All it took was one little thing to trigger Fluttershy’s need to nurture and protect and suddenly Fluttershy was a pegasus again. Twilight found that she much prefered the company of pegasi. She thought of one pegasus in particular that she’d like to spend a little time with and she felt her cheeks grow warm.

“Oh you poor, poor dear… I’m so sorry that something hurt you… let me make it better!”

Twilight looked at Lyra. “Pegasi. What can you do?”

“Not much you can do,” Lyra replied, yawning after she did so. She crossed the kitchen and looked into the pantry. The pantry was huge. It was an entire room unto itself. It was filled with hundreds of jars of preserved fruits and vegetables. Lyra saw a jar of stewed apples and cinnamon. She snatched it in her magic and levitated it over to the table. She fetched a bowl and a spoon. She unscrewed the jar and poured some apples from the jar into the bowl. She then sat down and began to eat.

Lyra’s ears perked and she cocked her head. “Three legged sound pattern. That’d be our patriarch,” she said as she looked up into the doorway, chewing as she did so. She saw Bucky come stumbling through a moment later and poured him some tea.

Bucky sat down at the table and peered around, unaware of the effect he had upon Fluttershy, who was sitting in his blind spot. She had let go of Loch Skimmer and was now staring at Bucky, her mouth gaping with horror. He was completely unaware until he heard her begin to cry. He turned his head to look at her, and then reached out to try and comfort her.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Bucky said to Fluttershy.

“You… your body… all of you…” Fluttershy whined.

“Fluttershy, are you going to be okay?” Twilight inquired.

“I think I need some hot tea,” Fluttershy sniffled. She wiped her eyes and demurely picked up her teacup between her front hooves, her eyes never leaving Bucky. “How is Berry Punch? She is a dear friend. We knit together,” she said, trying to make herself feel better with small talk.

“She’s going to have twins,” Bucky grumbled, not fully awake.

The words had a profound effect upon Fluttershy. “Oh that is very good. Twins are always a nice surprise.”

“Derpy is having twins too,” Lyra said.

“YON SCARY WEE BEASTIE! LEMME SEE YER WAR FACE!”

“Was that Barley?” Lyra asked.

“Yeah, who else would talk like that?” Twilight answered.

“What is going on?” Lyra inquired.

“I have no idea,” Twilight said with a shrug.

“I like Barley,” Loch Skimmer said.

“Everypony likes Barley. Even if they don’t want to like him to begin with,” Twilight said as she craned her head and tried to peer through the doorway.

“I BET YE DO YER FATHER PROOD!”

“All that yelling is very inconsiderate… ponies might be trying to sleep,” Fluttershy whispered after taking a sip of her tea. She continued to look at Bucky, her eyes glassy with tears, her expression broken hearted.

“Barley is getting acquainted with Sentinel,” Bucky mumbled. Using telekinesis, he stole a stewed apple out of Lyra’s bowl and gobbled it down.

“Hey! Get your own!” Lyra protested with her mouth full.

“SHARP TOOTHED TERROR OF YONDER NORTHERN EXPANSES!”

“Barley gets a bit worked up sometimes,” Twilight stated. “He and Luna occasionally go on a spree.”

“Ooh, yer a squire eh?”

The voice was still loud but was no longer shouting. Fluttershy drank more tea and continued to look at Bucky. Lyra was now guarding her bowl under a field of glowing golden magic. Twilight poured a second cup of tea. There was a loud thump upstairs followed by giggling. There was the sound of a toilet flushing. The house was slowly filling with the sounds of life.

Unable to poach Lyra’s food, Bucky began eating stewed apples out of the jar. He gobbled them down, eating wolfishly, not behaving at all like a proper unicorn. He was completely oblivious to how Twilight was watching him. In no time at all, he had finished the jar. He belched loudly, a thunderous belly busting gurgle, and Fluttershy cringed in her seat.

“I wonder if Thistle has caught any fish,” Bucky said. He slipped away from the table, leaving behind an empty jar. He hobbled out the room and down the hall to the back door.

“I noticed the fangs,” Fluttershy whispered after Bucky was gone.

“You know,” Lyra said to her companions at the table. “I think everything is going to be okay now. I finally feel like I am home, even though this isn’t Bon Bon’s place. We need to go there and see how the shop is, but I don’t feel like being mobbed.”

“I love this place,” Loch Skimmer said. “And now I have a job so I can help support my family. Life is unbelievably good.”

Author's Notes:

Sloooow introductions. Next chapter... wait, I ain't saying who is in the next chapter.

See any typos?