I was soon walking up the steps of the library, stomping my feet onto the flooring in order to get all the snow off my shoes before walking in. As I walked in, to my surprise, I found not only Twilight and Spike, but also Rainbow Dash, all three of them talking over some sandwiches.

The unicorn smiles as she sees me enter. "Hello Drak. Was your trip to the museum with Trixie fun?" She asked.

I smile and nodded. "Indeed it was. Would have been longer, but Luna said she had a meeting with-" I started to say before being interrupted.

"Wait a second? Luna? You mean Princess Luna?" Dash asked, a rather confused look on her face. "When did she come in town? And I thought you were with Trixie at that museum place."

I nod. "We were, and then Luna decided to come and join us." I said.

"She was also here cause she has a meeting with Filthy Rich about some stock exchange over one of his products." Twilight adds, taking a quick bite of her food as she does so.

Rainbow shakes her head before something else pops into her head and asking, "And Trixie just...allowed it!?"

I just nod in response. "She was a bit on the fence, I'll admit, but she did end up saying she could join us."

The pegasus mare just stares incredulously at me for a few moments before shaking her head in slight amazement. "Damn, player got the moves." She chuckles before going back to her sandwich.

Twilight glares at her speedy friend, and while I was very much confused by what she meant by that, I was also too hungry to really ask as I sat down on a spare stool. "Anyways, I hope you guys have some extra sandwiches, I'm rather hungry."

This time it's Spike who nods. "Yea, I did make a few extra just in case for myself, but you can have a couple of them." He says, to which I smile to the kind baby dragon.

As he gets up and goes to grab them, I remember the bag in my hand, and quickly pull out the tome that was inside, holding it over for Twilight. "Oh I almost forgot, I did buy a couple of gifts at the gift shop, one for Trixie and then I saw this tome and thought you might like it." I tell her.

At this we both hear a small, quick coughing fit that sounded very much like 'egghead' coming from the rainbow mare, to which we both ignored. Twilight smiled as she took the tome in her magic and quickly looked it over, her eyes widening a bit as she sees the cover. "An advanced Enchantment tome? I've been looking for one of these! How did I not see this at the museum during my own trips there?" She questioned herself, to which I could only shrug.

She opens the book and skims the first few pages before a frown creases her muzzle. "Oh, it seems to be about the more historical parts of old, advanced enchantments, more for studying than for learning new, practical ones." She says, to which I too frown. Seeing my sadness, she quickly adds, "Not that it's bad or anything, really! I very much enjoy the gift, and I'll be sure to give it a good, thorough read!"

I raise an eyebrow at her words. "Sure you're not just saying that?" I ask, though I already knew she was being true to her word.

"Trust me, she will have finished that book by tomorrow." Says Spike, having just returned from the kitchen with a couple of sandwiches, placing them both before me. "Here you go Drak, two Sandwich La Spike." He says, giving a fancy flourish as he places them down.

I chuckle at this as I grab one of them. "No flowers, yes?" I ask, wanting to make sure it is something I could eat.

He quickly nods. "None at all! I made sure to remove them for you, just a normal lettuce cheese sandwich." He says proudly.

I smile and nod my thanks as I quickly take a bite out of it, my teeth sinking into the tasty food...and then hitting something hard with a loud "CRACK!"

I freeze, mouth on the sandwich as the two ponies and dragon stared at me in shock. Finally it was Spike who speaks up. "Oh...might have forgotten about the rubies..."

Slowly, I pull the sandwich out of my mouth, and placing it on the plate again, I open it, revealing the bright, not even scratched ruby that I had just bitten into.

"Ok...ow..." I said softly, reaching up and rubbing my very much in pain jaw. I forgot that dragons were able to eat gems, which gave their scales that shine. How the hell he is able to crunch through them like candy is beyond me.

During this Rainbow was laughing her ass off, rolling in her seat and nearly falling over in her mirth. Thankfully, Twilight was much more kind hearted, quickly jumping off of her seat and standing next to me, reaching to pull my jaw closer to her. "Drak! You ok?" She asks, examining my jaw.

I give a small nod, a bit restricted with how she was holding it in her hooves. "Yea, i'fine, jus a bi'o damage." I said a bit muffled from her hoof handling. I try to pull away from her grasp, but she just ends up replacing her hooves with her magic, moving them around as she examines me. Suddenly she forces my mouth open, to which I once again struggle, but she is very determined, looking in my mouth and at my teeth.

Now I was a bit extra worried about this, cause of my canines and what they mean, though thankfully all the ponies already knew that humans were omnivores. Safe to say that part of the myth about humans still lived, so there wasn't any panic when that was first pointed out. I thought it would have caused more issues among the herbivore ponies, but it seems they had plenty of dealings with other creatures of a similar nature, such as gryphons and minotaurs. I myself hadn't really had a chance to have any sort of meat to eat, supplementing my own need with nuts and other protein heavy food, so overall most others tend to forget that I had those pointed teeth. But it still made me a bit awkward whenever my teeth were on display in such a way, knowing my canines would make for a more menacing look to the normally herbivorous ponies.

Still, that didn't deter her in the slightest as she gives a small nod, slowly closing my mouth and placing her hooves on my shoulders. "Ok, looks like there aren't any cracks or chips, so you got lucky this time." She says with a smile. I give a pained smile back, and this time as our eyes locked, I notice first a bit of confusion from her, then alarm as she realizes just how close she is to me, to which she quickly pulls back and looks away. "Oh s-sorry." She says.

I just wave it off and smile. "You were worried, no harm done. Besides what was done to my teeth." I say with a chuckle, which thankfully gets a giggle back from her. "I am still hungry though."

Suddenly the sandwiches were slide back into view, causing me to look up at the young dragon. "Here you go, I took the gems out this time, so it should be safer for you." He says, waving one of said gems in his claws before tossing it into his mouth and crunching on it, the sound making me wince at just how damn sharp his teeth must be. Yet another reason why they don't care about my teeth if everyone is already used to Spike's razor sharp rows of dental work. He then also slides a glass of water towards me as well. "And some water, to soothe your jaw from biting the gem."

I eye the sandwiches closely for a few moments, slowly picking up the one I already bit into. "You didn't replace the ruby with flowers, did you?" I asked in a slightly joking manner, raising an eyebrow and giving a small smirk to let him know I was just kidding around.

Thankfully he took the hint, smiling back. "I'll admit, I did think about doing that." He teases back, which gets a laugh from all of us. At this I finally start to chow down, thankfully to a more human safe meal, the other two going back to their own food as well.

It stays rather quiet for a few minutes, just the pleasant sounds of munching and chewing going around in the room, all of us content to just focus on eating. Soon, we start to finish, and as Dash eats the last of her sandwich, she speaks up to Twilight.

"So, any chance you could help?" She asks her, most likely to a previously asked question from before I got here.

She frowns as she shakes her head, taking a sip of her water. "I wish I could Rainbow, but I already have plans to do some studying, plus I need to reorganize the library as well."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Wait, didn't you reorganize it a month ago?" I ask her.

Spike sighs. "Yea, she did." He simply says.

Twilight gives a sheepish smile at this. "Still, I found a new way to organize the books and make it much easier to find certain topics when searching for them." She says before returning her gaze back to her pegasus friend. "I'm sorry, really I am."

The cyan mare groans as she lays her head on the table. "It's fine, just that I promised her I would find someone to look after her daughter while she went to Canterlot in search of a temporary job, and yet no pony is willing to help, either too busy or just not interested." She says.

Twilight frowns at hearing this. "Wait, no pony is interested in babysitting her? Surely that isn't so? I mean she is so adorable and bubbly like her mother. And she is hardly a difficult filly to take care of too." She states.

Dash nods. "Yea, but that also makes them worried cause they think she also inherited her clumsiness too, and you know how clumsy Ditzy can be." She sighs.

Twilight nods. "Yea, I-"

"Hold on, did you say Ditzy? Gray pegasus with bubbles for a cutie mark? And she needs someone to babysit Dinky for her?" I asked, having caught the name and recalling the familiar gray mare and her daughter from the fire.

Rainbow looks up in surprise at me, giving a slow nod. "Yea, how do you know her?" She asks, then gains a worried look. "Oh no, did she hit you with a lightning bolt by mistake, or crash into you too? Look I know she can be clumsy and bit addle minded, but-"

I quickly shake my hands to stope her. "Whoa, hold on now! She didn't do anything like that! We met during the fire, when I saved her daughter from the burning mail building." I quickly explain.

This gets her to quickly shut up, the information taking a few moments to get absorbed before she sighs and nods. "Oh, yea...that fire..." She sighs, lightly tapping her empty glass.

I frown at this, wondering why she suddenly got so upset, but thankfully Twilight manages to explain to me. "Sorry Drak, but she's a bit upset she wasn't here to help during the fire. She was out of town when it happened, so she had no idea till it was already over."

I give a small oh expression and a nod before turning to face Dash again. "Hey, it's not your fault Dash, and no one got hurt badly." I tell her, then give a chuckle. "In fact, I think I was the one who came out the worst after crashing through that burning debris." I add.

Thankfully this gets a chuckle from the rainbow mare. "Yea, Trixie went on and on with how dumb and stupid you were for diving in without a plan." She says before giving a shrug. "To be fair, I totally would have done it too, just you know...not as badly as you." She adds with a cheeky grin.

I just roll my eyes before getting back to the topic at hand. "So, Ditzy is needing to find someone to babysit Dinky? I don't see why that should be an issue? Dinky's such a lovely filly last I met her, very adorable and cute. Plus determined and brave." I add, remembering how quickly she adjusted after escaping the fire.

Rainbow once again sighs and gains a slightly forlorn look. "Yea, I guess you don't really know, but Ditzy is kind of the town clown." She explains. I just remain silent as I let the mare continue. "I don't mean she goes around telling jokes or anything, but she always ends up crashing or dropping things, sometimes at the worst of times. She means well, she really does, but her condition makes it hard for her to focus on anything in front of her, plus she is a bit of an airhead at times." She sighs as she leans on the table again, looking at the empty glass. "Others tend to avoid her on the account that they are afraid she may end up bumping into them or even zapping them with lightning whenever she is bouncing on one of the storm clouds that she so loves."

I stop her there for a moment. "Hold on, she jumps on storm clouds? As in the dark, thick ones filled with lightning?" I ask, to which she nods. "How has she not-"

"Us pegasus are very resilient to the weather, including their elements, such as the cold and even lightning." She explains, then adds, "Though it doesn't mean we are immune. Ditzy has sent a few pegasus and even herself to the hospital with her bouncing, thankfully with nothing more than just small burns."

I nod in understanding, frowning a bit as I hear this. "And from what you said, the others think Dinky got some of her mother's traits besides all the positive ones?" I ask, to which she nods.

"Yea, hence the lack of ponies offering to babysit her." She finishes. We all fall silent after that, most of us looking at our glasses, taking a sip here and there to try and remove the awkward silence that broke.

After a solid minute of nothing, Dash stands up abruptly. "Anyway, I need to go tell Ditzy the bad news, unless by some miracle some pony comes and offers to help."

"I can do it." I quickly say, to which gets both of them to turn to me in shock.

"Wait, you?" Dash asks after a few moments of pause. "You want to babysit Dinky? Have you ever babysat some pony before?"

I shake my head. "Not that I know of. Maybe in the past?" I add as I think it over before shaking my head. "Anyways it can't be that hard right? I mean it's just babysitting, it isn't spell science or anything."

"First of all, spell science is a very poor way of describing something to be an advance topic. Spells and science are two different, if somewhat similar topics, and saying spell science is like saying tomato couch. A better term would be-" Twilight starts to correct before Dash jumps in.

"Yea, it isn't like spell science in any way, but still, you sure you are up for it? I don't want to send you in and then get cold feet halfway through and just ditch her." She warns, eyes narrowing at the additional unspoken warning.

I nod. "I'm sure it will be fine. Besides, like you said, Dinky is adorable and very easy to take care of, I doubt it will be difficult." I say.

Dash stares at me intently for a good few moments, and I just look back with equal determination. "Besides, I saw them both after the fire, I know they are good ponies and if she is going through a hard time, I can't just sit back and watch. Plus..." I hesitate at this, unsure what they might think, but am quickly motioned to continue by Twilight, a knowing look on her face as well as a hopeful smile. "Plus...I need something else to do with my life. I'm tired of just sitting around barely doing anything while living here. I want to be of some help, to just do something to help someone, sitting here is just..." I give a sudden groan as I rub my face with my hands for a moment, perhaps a bit too rough as when I pull them back, I can feel my face a bit more red than normal. "It's just driving me crazy!" I say with exasperation.

This seems to hit the speed pony hard, and quickly her mind is made up as she swoops over and sits in front of me. "Hey, I know what it's like, standing around waiting and unable to do anything. I was stuck in the hospital for several days while my wing healed, and it was the worst time of my life." She then raises her hoof and spits on it before holding it out to me, looking me in the eyes as she asks, "You promise to do you damn best to take care of that filly?"

I've seen Dash and AJ do this sever times before, usually when they were making a bet, and while I was unsure why they did it like that, the meaning behind it was still the same as I can see the determined look behind her gaze. I look down at her hoof and then back at her eyes and, without hesitating, quickly spit in my own hand and take her hoof, shaking it firmly, my own eyes filled with determination. "Like she was my own." I tell her.

With that all done, we pull our hand/hoof away...and suddenly she jumps me, hooves wrapped around my back as she hugs me close, nearly knocking me out of my seat as well as knocking the wind out of me.

"Oh thank buck for that! I was so worried I wasn't gonna be able to find some pony to help, but now that you can I don't have to do it myself!" She exclaims, to which I blink in confusion.

"Wait, do it yourself?" I asks, looking down.

She breaks the hug as she looks up at me. "Yea, I would have helped her if I could, but I bought tickets to the Wonderbolts newest show. Front row seats, and they cost me so much bits!" She says with a smile before it slacks a bit as she adds, "I told her about it and she was understanding, but I also told myself that if I couldn't find some pony to babysit, then I would do it myself. She is a friend after all, as clumsy as she is, and I do care for her and her daughter, but..." She sighs before shaking her head, her smile returning, "But now I don't have to worry about that cause you said you can do it! Thank you so much again, I'll be sure to tell Ditzy about this. In fact I'm gonna go tell her now!" She quickly flaps her wings and raises into the air with barely any effort as she waves bye to Spike and Twilight. "Later Twilight, later Spike!" She says before zooming out the door, leaving it nearly crashing closed behind her.

I just remained speechless as I looked at where she left, glancing over at Twilight only to see her shaking her head lightly. "Honestly, she needs to close doors a lot more calmly." She sighs before standing up, glasses and the new tome in her magical grasp. She then looks at me and asks, "You want more water?"

I can't help but to chuckle and nod, standing up myself. "Yea, if you don't mind." I say, giving a small stretch then a grunt of satisfaction as I feel my spine pop lightly. "I think I'll read more on this Winter Wrap-Up to get a better idea of what to do during it in the meantime." I then turn to Spike and add, "You care to help me out? Would be nice to have the greatest dragon around to help me with understanding it."

Said dragon smiles at this, but then gives a small yawn. "Perhaps next time. Right now, this greatest dragon is in need of a nap. Night you two!" He says. With a wave of night to Twilight and I, he heads upstairs and to the room he shares with the unicorn.

Seeing how it was just gonna be me reading, I give a shrug as I head on to the couch, managing to find a book that talked in detail about Winter Wrap-Up, sitting down as I started reading through it, the unicorn having already left to refill our waters. She comes back about a minute later as she hands me my now filled glass, to which I smile and nod my thanks, taking it and sipping on it a bit before placing it on the table next to the couch.

"So, how are you doing with the reading? You having any trouble understanding it?" She asks, sitting down next to me.

I shake my head as I glance over at her, noticing how close she is sitting yet again, but once again that isn't anything new. "Nope, so far it seems pretty clear cut to me. Everything it says makes sense, though..." I pause as I look down at the book, and with a prompting nudge from the mare, I continue. "I don't fully understand one thing. How long does this normally take? From the sounds of it, this seems like it should take weeks, maybe even months to do."

Twilight smiles, glad to offer some help. "Oh it doesn't take that long at all! In fact the longest it normally would take would be a week, though we have had it happen for as long as ten days, but that is cause of an unfortunate occurrence or some other poor timing. Thankfully that has yet to happen again since I got here." She says.

I nod, remembering that she said she is in charge of all the organization, which makes sense considering just how organized she is in the library. "So how long can I expect it to last then?"

"About a day, maybe two." She answers, which causes me to look up in surprise.

"A day!?" I repeat in shock before quickly recovering. "I mean, this seems like so much effort, surely it can't all be done in just a single day?"

She smiles and nods. "Yup, it's all done in a day. It's rather simple really, since every pony helps in some way or another, so we all get it done fairly quickly now." She says.

I nod as I think it over. That does make sense, with everyone in town pitching in, and with how organized she is, I can see just how it can get down so quickly and efficiently. I then recalled when she said I didn't have to do this, causing me to grin lightly. "Everyone pitches in huh? And here you wanted me to take it easy that day." I tease.

Sadly it seems she didn't get my teasing, frowning with worry and quickly shaking her head. "I didn't mean like that, I just didn't want you to get in over your head, plus with everything that had happened to you, I just-" She starts to say, before I silence her with a finger to her muzzle.

"Twilight, relax." I told her, which causes her to do just that. I remove my finger from her lips as I continue. "I know you only meant well. And like I said, I just wish to help the town that allowed such a stranger to stay with them and be so kind to me."

She smiles at this. "We've gotten a lot better at dealing with strangers, true." She adds.

I smile, recalling the story with Zecora. "You know, I have yet to still meet this zebra."

"Oh, you most likely will meet her during Winter Wrap-Up. I am assigning you to Applejacks team during it, seeing how the more physical labor stuff should be easier for you now, after all those work outs with Rainbow."

I nod before glancing at the book and asking, "What about the stuff with the cloud clearing and snow gathering?" I asked.

This time she giggles. "Unless you figured out how to fly during your time here, I'm not sure those will be easy for you to do." She says.

I chuckle and nod. "Fair point. So, care to help me read over the rest of this book with me? Would like to have a reading buddy for this." I offer, to which she smiles and leans in more.

"Of course! Though I may just skim it, seeing how I already read it." She admits, to which I nod in understanding. Leaning against each other, we both start reading through the book, getting nice and comfy against one another during the cold last days of winter.

A few minutes go by with this, both of us mostly silent with just the occasional question from me about something from the book, along with a responding answer from the mare, when something hits me. I look up in worry at the mare, who looks back at me, seeing the worry on my face as she frowns. "Drak, what's wrong? Did you get another memory again?" She asks, already she was reaching for her notebook and quill before I shook my head.

"No, nothing like that. I just...I just realized something about Ditzy." I say.

This causes her to tilt her head in confusion. "What about her?"

"I have no idea where she lives to go and babysit Dinky."

BOOM! Another chapter, so quick after the last one! I know I'm on a roll. And yes the ending is supposed to be a silly cliffhanger sort of thing, cause why not.