Thursday, March 23rd, 1701 AFE. Outside the Golden Oaks Library. 12:25pm.

It took everything Rumble had to lift a hand and knock on the door of Dusk’s library, before he quickly stepped back beside Thunderlane and tried to look confident for his big brother. “Do… do you think Dash and Bronze will be ready? We’re a little early, and Dusk was supposed to be at the hospital this morning, wasn’t he?”

The sharp sound of Thunderlane clearing his throat made a shiver run up Rumble’s spine, and the pressure of his hand as it came to rest on his shoulder was a gentle squeeze. When Rumble looked up into Thunderlane’s eyes, his older brother answered, but spoke very carefully. “Don’t worry. Magistrate Dusk Shine left the hospital sometime ago, and Pinkie arranged a very small and private party for Vicarius Bronze Feather’s arrival. As for Weather Captain Rainbow Dash? I stopped to check in on her while you were having lunch and a shower. She’ll be here in a minute or-”

A sudden roar of laughter made Rumble turn, while Thunderlane turned red with embarrassment. Above them, Rainbow Dash was just starting to come in for a landing, and winked at Rumble before looking at his older brother. “Oh, by The Light, Thunderlane! He’s your kid brother, let him be a kid for a few more days at least! I mean, Dusk and Bronze? They’re just ponies, right? Sure, the’re important ponies, but do you know how often Dusk asks people to drop the titles? It’s every day.” When Thunderlane held her gaze and refused to back down, she shot Rumble a look that made his body freeze. “Look, Rumble? I get to judge a full third of your mark, right? You call him Magistrate, me Weather Captain, or her Vic… Vic… Vic-whatever the hell that damn title is! I’ll give you all zeros, flat across the board. I’m serious.”

Before Rumble could blink, the door behind him finally opened, and Dusk cleared his throat, before coughing once into his balled fist. “If everypony is done being silly, I’ll remind you, Dash, that a grade like that could be just cause for a review of Ponyville’s weather team. Remember, the old stallion that you replaced used to take bribes all the time. You wouldn’t want to attract that much attention, right?”

While Rumble was sure Dusk was joking, the change in Dash’s behavior as she almost meekly walked up to his side and whispered into his ear nearly made him laugh. If it wasn’t for how flustered Thunderlane looked now that nopony important was paying any attention to him, Rumble probably would have gone to his brother to talk about how odd the important ponies acted. Instead, he turned around and tried to stand at attention like Thunderlane had drilled him on last night, squaring his shoulders and straightening his back. He crossed his arms behind his back, so his knuckles rested just against his tail.

Then the mare who was inside the library with Dusk stepped outside, and he could feel his heart leap into his throat. Golden sunlight fell across her tanned skin, and muscles that made Dash look like a unicorn rippled as she moved. The duller metallic bronze hue of her feathers somehow looked like liquid silk with the sun on her back, and her eyes were like the sun filtering through the leaves of a tree in the fall, a bronze hue with brass and copper flakes. “She’s so tall, so strong, so perfect! No wonder he chose her as his vicarious… has anypony ever seen a mare this perfect? She’s as beautiful as Princess Celestia herself!”

The vision of beauty gave him no time to admire her fluid movements. Instead, she stepped past Dusk as he and Dash talked, the pair of them moving a little further away, and flowed with grace until she stood before him, her deft fingers reaching out and clasping the joint of his wing, carefully making him fully unfurl the wing while her fingers traced his pinions. Then she spoke, and he felt his knees knocking together at the song that was her voice. “You’ve beautiful feathers, Rumble. Strong wing bones, too. I suppose the nurses told you that when you got your physical, but trust me, I can tell just by feeling them. I’ve been training since I was a foal a fourth your age, and you’ve probably got better wings than I had when I was accepted as Shining Armor’s squire.”

Feeling like a puppet with its strings cut, Rumble tried to make his body work, though his mind felt like it was swimming through mud, and it was impossible to make his wing retract when she let go of his feathers. The faint scent of her perfume made him think of cinnamon and steel, but there was a background hint of rust he couldn’t ignore, yet somehow, that tiny flaw only added to the allure. Finally, after what felt like forever, he managed to squeak out an answer. “I… I’ve been drilling with Thunderlane for years, ever since Mom had to start taking jobs outside of Ponyville to support us.”

Bronze smiled at him, and ruffled her hand through his hair, and he found himself pressing into her touch a little. His face felt like it was on fire and his hands were shaking, but he couldn’t make his body do anything he wanted it to without what felt like an hour to warm up. His hands clenching into tight balls, he tried his best to get his body back under control.

Dusk saved him in the end by returning with Dash, his arms behind his back, in exactly the same way Rumble realized he himself was still standing at attention. Clapping his hands together, the magistrate turned a smile on him. “Now then, Rumble. Since you are underage, we have elected to break your exam into two separate parts. When you are ready, Thunderlane will fly a series of maneuvers. I need you to wait for him to return to the ready position and then try to copy his flight path and actions as carefully as possible. Remember that posture, speed, accuracy and control are all being judged with equal weight.”

With the magic broken, Rumble finally felt his wing relax and fold back into place. Worried it might happen again, he turned his focus to Dusk and nodded at the towering unicorn. “Yes, sir. I made sure to study the entrance requirements for Weather School with Miss Cheerilee. Thank you for giving me this chance.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Thunderlane grin and Dash grumble at his use of ‘sir’, but felt comfortable that this was far enough from formal titles that he might keep both happy. Dusk’s hand on his shoulder was the real shock, however. “Rumble, I’m not doing this just for you. I’m doing it for Ponyville, because there is such a shortage of Weather Makers, we don’t have one on our Weather Team. I’m doing it for your brother, who has spent years seeing the potential in you and trying desperately to coax it out. For Dash, who, despite whatever she tells you, likes you kid, and-” Dash hit him on the arm here, but other than the momentary break in his sentence, Dusk went on as if nothing had happened. “Who wishes she had your skill with making weather. And last, but most importantly, yes. I am giving you this chance, because you’ve got a talent that could help many ponies. But if you can not control it, you will kill somepony someday. I know that is very heavy for a foal, but you are no foal today. Today, you prove you are a stallion. Okay?”

Those eyes, those words, that serious tone... All of it came as a shock, yet as he looked back into Dusk’s eyes, he felt more confident than he ever had before. There was something inside those eyes. Faith? Trust? Hope? Rumble couldn’t name it, but suddenly it wasn’t Thunderlane he feared disappointing. Instead, it was the calm but powerful stallion who held his shoulder. Iron flowed into his weak knees and reinforced them. Steel flooded his spine, and he stood a little taller. Mithril flooded his wings, and he could feel every feather flex and shift against the afternoon’s quiet breeze. A smile spread over his lips, and he grinned up at Dusk. “I promise, Magistrate Dusk Shine. I will do you all proud. I just hope I can be good enough so that one day, I can feel comfortable calling you a friend, Dusk.”

Something in both Dash and Thunderlane’s tone as they each muttered something he couldn't make out told him he’d said the right thing. Dusk gave his shoulder another pat, and then released him, nodding a little and pointing to the sky. “Then get up there. Show us everything you’ve got without whipping up a storm, okay?”

Snapping off a salute that Thunderlane had been making him practice on and off for months, Rumble grinned up at Dusk, and gave a nod. “I will do my best!”

After an hour of watching the foal attempt to recreate everything his older brother did, Dusk passed his clipboard to Bronze and gave her a nod. “So it’s a consensus then, right? We are all agreed the kid is an easy pass on the basic flight, and he only failed three of the twelve advanced patterns. With scores like that, even the Wonderbolt Cadets would consider taking him into their junior academy, right Dash?”

Dash scribbled a few more things in the margin of her page, but gave a small nod. “He held control over his cutie mark, too. When we made him repeat the sixth step and go through that cloud, I was sure somepony was going to get soaked, but he came out on the far side dry. I don’t think the Bolts would take him without at least another year, but I’m sure the Weather School will love him. It’d be even better if he can keep up with me this afternoon when we do some REAL weather tests.”

Bronze added her signature to the bottom of the page Dusk offered her, passing it to Dash while she nodded absently, still watching the two brothers as they stretched out and cooled down from their extended flight some ways away. “I wish he had a more aggressive instinct, but he just isn’t that kind of kid. He’s soft, and from what Miss Cheerilee wrote, has only been in one or two fights at school. He is still young enough to go to try out for the Royal Guard, if Weather School doesn’t work out. Besides, strong colts like him are always needed in Canterlot.”

Dash rolled her eyes and signed Dusk’s paperwork before shoving it back at him. “Really, Bronze? Come on. Thunderlane, I could sacrifice to Canterlot as just another grunt who gets to fly one of the royal carriages around. He’s stronger than Rumble will ever be. But Rumble’s got a gift, and as much as I hate admitting it, Dusk was right earlier. I can manage the weather here most of the time. But that’s because we have Cloudsdale within a few hours’ flight most days, and Canterlot if there is a real emergency. Let the kid go to weather school, then in two years, Ponyville will have a proper weather team.”

Dusk gently squeezed Dash’s knee before speaking, adding his own signature to the exam sheet so it could be sent on to Cloudsdale for review. “Dash, we will still need a new captain when you join the Wonderbolts. Have you ever considered who could step up and take your place?”

She looked mad for a moment, but then pointed at the two mares who had just approached Thunderlane and were talking with him and Rumble. “Between those three, any one of them would do. When things calm down this summer, I plan to send all three to Cloudsdale for training. I found that part in the budget paperwork you wouldn’t shut up about. ‘Annual Training Allowances and Expenses to Foster the Development of Future Talent’ or whatever it was called. I’ll send all three of them together, then we have three possible new choices for captain, right?”

Relaxing, Dusk laughed and gave her a nod. “The twins. Right, I should write Princess Luna about them! I feel embarrassed, I haven't even sent her a letter about Thunderlane when he is your second.”

Barb’s return with two boxes of baked goods from Sugarcube Corner ended their conversation. Leaving them to relax with one box, Dusk took the other and promised to return as quickly as possible. It was time for tea with Derpy and Amethyst, and probably the most embarrassing conversation he was ever going to have… at least, until he had to repeat the same details with Rarity and Applejack.

Thursday, March 23rd, 1701 AFE. Derpy and Amethyst’s home. 1:39pm.

Dusk stopped on the porch and straightened his hair with his magic. Double-checking to make sure that he looked presentable, he finally adjusted the danishes in one hand and lifted the brass knocker with the other, before being suddenly pulled off balance as the door swung open and a stallion started to step through. The stranger pulled up short, his eyes full of shock. “I- I-... Oh my! I really must apologize! I was just on my way out and didn’t notice you were there. I must at least introduce myself before I rush off. I am Time Turner, the Tinkerer, and freshly arrived new renter. Are Derpy and Amethyst expecting you, sir...?”

Realizing the stallion was very politely waiting for him to supply his name in return, Dusk reached out, and shook the stallion’s outstretched hand. “Well thank you, Turner. I am Dusk Shine, currently the magistrate for Ponyville. It’s a pleasure to meet you, and I hope when we both have more time, we might have a better chance to talk properly.”

Turner’s grip was strong, confident and reassuring. Releasing Dusk’s hand, the stallion stepped carefully out of his way and waved to the open door. “I’m sure we will have much to talk about, my lord, but until then, I’m off to the market. I do hope your visit with the ladies goes well.”

Giving him a small wave as he walked away, Dusk couldn’t help but laugh. “If you only knew the half of it, my friend. Good luck on your business, and I’ll try to make time to properly welcome you in a few days.” When Time Turner gave him a wave and left, Dusk leaned against the open door, knocking once before calling inside. “Derpy? Amethyst? I just met your new renter. Seems like a charming stallion.”

At the sound of his voice, Derpy came to meet him at the door, the blond mare grinning at him as she swept up and cupped his free hand tightly between her own. “Dusk! Oh, you got to meet Turner? Isn’t he great?! And so good at talking to fillies! Dinky and him were talking up a storm before she had to go to school!”

Letting her lead him back into the house, Dusk settled the box of freshly-baked pastries on the table and gripped both of her hands. “That’s fantastic to hear, Derpy, really it is. I have important news, however. Is Amethyst around? We really need to sit down and talk.”

Ever irrepressibly cheerful, Derpy squeezed his hands back and gave him a happy nod. “Of course, of course! Don’t worry about it Dusk. She’s… Oh my!”

The way Derpy’s golden eyes went wide and her jaw fell slack, Dusk knew the sound of footsteps on stairs had to be Amethyst, but by the way Derpy had reacted, he knew she must have something really incredible waiting behind him. Bracing himself, he turned to look at the mare who waited on the stairs.

For all his time with Rarity in the last year, Dusk was shocked to realize another mare could rival her delicate unicorn beauty. Far shorter than his love, Amethyst waited on the landing, a dark blush making her face match her pale violet dress and bright hair, standing out even more due to the purple highlights. Unlike Rarity, her dress was a ball gown, with white beads lining the trim. Sleeveless, the dress exposed her arms, and she wore a silver bracelet on her left wrist, with a ring on her right hand, the twin stones reminding him of Derpy’s eyes. Her lips curved into a smile and she gripped her long dress between two fingers, dipping into a polite curtsy before speaking. “Magistrate Dusk Shine, a pleasure to have you honor our home this afternoon!”

Looking at Derpy, Dusk encountered a smug grin and a shrug. Suppressing a laugh, he straightened up, and stepped up to the base of the staircase before sweeping into a proper bow, remembering years of training in etiquette from a dozen noble ponies. “Lady Amethyst Star, I am delighted to be able to answer your summons today. I do hope this afternoon has treated you and your consort well?”

Extending a hand up to Amethyst as he stood back up, the mare accepted his grip, allowing him to guide her down the staircase, where she took command, and led him past Derpy, who latched onto his free arm. Together they guided him to their living room, and Amethyst sat right away, still holding his hand daintily. “Please, sit Dusk. I overheard you saying you have something to talk about?”

Dusk took the offered seat beside Amethyst on the couch, and was glad that she had dropped most of the ‘Canterlot Elite’ act; somehow it felt wrong coming from a down-to-earth mare like her. The gentle squeeze of pressure as she gripped his hand made Dusk push all of those feelings aside as he smiled at her. “First of all, the good news. My stud test came back, as well as my detailed physical. I am clean, as are Rarity, Applejack, and the others.” The mare perked up and was grinning as she nodded at him, but before she could reply, he lifted a hand to stop her and shook his head. “The other news I received was a little confusing, and according to Stud Law, I am required to inform you of the details. My sperm count came back with some confusing numbers and Redheart was worried enough that she had me produce several extra samples so they could send them off to Canterlot for reexamination.”

Here Derpy squeezed his shoulder, sitting on the coffee table beside him and looking up at him with great worry. “Dusk? Is everything okay?”

Smiling at Derpy, Dusk gave her a little shrug. “According to the lab results, I produce a very low sperm count. A fourth of the national average, and in the lowest 95 percentile. Oddly, I am also in the highest 98 percentile of siring a colt. Redheart estimates I come in at around a 30% chance.”

When both mares stared blankly at him, Dusk reached into his jacket and took out the lab report from the emergency second test Redheart had ordered. Unfolding it, and passing it to Amethyst, he gently squeezed her hand again. “Nurse Redheart said in simple terms, I have a very low chance of siring a foal, but there is a very high chance of any foals I sire being a colt. I know that isn’t the kind of news you were looking for today, but I wanted to tell you both everything, so you could back out of our contract.”

Amethyst was still looking at the paper that Dusk had handed her, but as soon as he stopped, she looked up and shook her head. “What? Oh no, Dusk. You shouldn’t be so worried. Colt or mare, a foal is a foal!”

Shocked, he looked at Derpy, only to see she was still smiling. She took his attention as a sign to slip off the coffee table and onto the couch behind him, gently gripping both of his shoulders from behind and turning her thumbs into the soft spot between his shoulder blades, shocking him at how much it relieved the pain he kept feeling there. “She’s right, Dusk! You shouldn’t worry so much! We want a second foal, we don’t need that today! Just whenever it happens is good with us.”

As if a hidden weight had been released from his shoulders, Dusk suddenly felt much better, and leaned back into Derpy’s touch while breathing a sigh of relief. “You mean… the fact I might not be able to sire for you sucessfully doesn’t matter?”

Amethyst laughed at last and tossed his lab report to the coffee table before leaning forward and kissing the top of his head, even if she did have to nearly stand up to be tall enough to do so. “Dusk, you're a great friend to Derpy, a strong stallion with good morals, and the only permanent magistrate Ponyville’s ever had. You’ve done us all good so far. I’ve waited years to have my own foal, waiting a few more won’t hurt anypony.”

Looking from Derpy to Amethyst and back again, Dusk finally felt a little better. Smiling again he sat up and took each mare by the hand, squeezing them gently and releasing all his pent-up tension in a long sigh. “Thank you, really, mares. You’ve made this conversation a lot less difficult than I expected. How about we have that tea and talk a little more? I don’t have to be back for Rumble’s Weather Exam for another hour or so.”

Thursday, March 23rd, 1701 AFE. Fluttershy’s Cottage. 3:00pm.

Still feeling a little light in his step, Dusk grinned at Derpy and stepped aside, letting her cross the small bridge to Fluttershy’s cottage first. Also in a good mood, the mare gave him her best attempt at copying Amethyst’s curtsy. “Dear Magistrate Dusk Shine! You are such a no- whaahhh!”

Off-balance from the inexperienced attempt at copying Amethyst, Derpy’s foot slipped out from beneath her on a wet patch of the small bridge, and Dusk only just managed to catch her in time from falling backwards into the tiny stream. Hands around her hips, he laughed a little and pulled her back upright, barely able to speak from laughing. “Oh my, Derpy, just… just give me a second. I know that fall wouldn't have hurt much beyond your pride, but it’s cold. Can’t have you catching a winter flu on the very last day of winter!”

Laughing with him, Derpy accepted his help to right herself, and walked very carefully off the bridge before attempting the curtsy again. This time, too far away from Dusk, when her feet tangled together, she wound up planting face-first into the snow, where her laughing fit started up again. When Dusk tried offering her another hand up, she shook her head and rolled over to her back, watching the sun wistfully. “No, no need this time, Dusk! I for one like the winter. When you trip or stumble as often as I do? Winter is a blessing, there are pillows to catch yourself everywhere!”

Giving her a minute to collect herself and stand back up, Dusk looked to the distant field, just visible on the far side of Fluttershy’s cottage and the edge of the Everfree Forest. Counting off the top of his head, he could already pick out more than a dozen pegasi who had gathered, and in the sky above, at least as many more were flying in. Even with a third of them being foals, that meant Dash had called in most of the weather team, and that made him feel a little better. “Did Dash explain to you why she needed the weather team here today, Derpy?”

Brushing off her cotton leggings, Derpy grinned at him, nodding. “Not that she had to! It’s a weather exam. Dangerous to do one so close to town, but Fluttershy’s animal friends flatten her fields pretty good, and this close to the Everfree, there is little chance of an out-of-control storm doing any damage to Ponyville. We’re just insurance to make sure nothing bad heads towards town, you know?”

Reassured, Dusk gave her a nod. “I see. I’m glad you all understand the situation. Rumble’s got a rare talent and we need to foster it, if possible. But it’s dangerous too, and if it gets out of his control, we could have another crazy storm like we had back in the fall. This isn’t the time of year for ponies to have their windows smashed out by hail, or worse.”

Confident, Derpy puffed out her chest and thumped a fist against her collarbone. “Don’t worry, Dusk! The Ponyville weather team will do you proud!”

“I’m glad, I really am, Derpy. Now let’s go, can’t be late!”

Rumble’s wings ached as he followed Dash into the cloudbank. He could hardly breathe, and Thunderlane’s hand-me-down goggles didn’t fit properly, even after they’d spent half the night with Flitter replacing the padding and adjusting the strap. But he could ignore that, because Dash was letting him make a snow cloud! He watched as she circled around a cloud roughly the size of his house, and then suddenly flipped one wing, soaring high overhead before plunging down again, splitting the cloud in half. He took one side and pulled it away from her half, moving closer to the Everfree Forest while watching her work.

Dash was good, and while she returned to circling the cloud, she called out orders to him, things to feel for inside the cloud. The water most of all. It had to have enough moisture, and you had to make it want to turn into snowflakes. All of this had been covered in the basic training for the weather team, but hardly half of his class had been able to do it successfully, and it left most of them simply exhausted unless they had found a cloud that was ready to do it on its own. Dash suddenly kicked her cloud and the light flakes began to fall free, dancing on the air while she turned to face him. Instantly, two members of the weather team surged forward and gave her snowcloud a light push into the Everfree forest before returning to their positions. Against the light breeze, he could hear Dash clearly. “Alright, kid. So here is your shot. No blizzards. No hail. No rain. Just some snow. If you can make that cloud snow for a good hour or so at a controlled pace, you’ve got it made.”

Rumble could feel the eyes of so many ponies on him as he began to circle his cloud, shaping it first. Dash hadn’t needed to do that. It was probably something that came with experience, but he could feel the inner forces of the cloud, and it felt wrong for a snow cloud. Pushing it tighter while trailing one hand just against the outside ridge, he tried to get a better feel of how much moisture the cloud contained, and panic welled up. “There is no way this will ever hold enough moisture to snow for an hour! Dash picked a bad cloud! Did… did she doom me on purpose?!” Panicked, he slowed a little and looked for Thunderlane, but caught no sign of his brother. Instead, it was the twins he saw, grinning at him and shooting him a thumbs-up together while making silly faces.

Swallowing back his fear and forcing it into his belly, Rumble pulled off his glove and shoved his arm into the cloud up to the wrist, ignoring the painful cold as he continued to circle. “Make it fit. Make it hold all the extra water it can. Maybe If I just… yeah! If I can make it draw in a little more from the air around it, it should last a good forty minutes. No way she can say I didn’t do the best I could at that point, right?”

On his ninth lap, he felt it. The ice crystals were forming, but now they were too tightly packed, it was heading for hail. Ignoring the numb feeling that had crept into his fingers, he tightened his lap, and shoved his arm in further, right up to the elbow. Determined to make it work, he forced the ice crystals to spread apart, and form soft snowflakes, not the tight, hard balls of hail. The chill in his arm kept spreading, but he ignored it, pushing the feeling aside and making sure everything was balanced evenly.

Finally, on his thirteenth lap, he felt it. The moisture was collecting exactly as he needed it, and the cloud had formed diverse, thin fragile crystals. Ignoring the aching feeling in his arm, he finally pulled free of the cloud and copied Dash’s earlier wing flick to twist towards Celestia’s sun. He let that heat coat his face and his eyes shut, then braced himself for the unexpected, and dipped into a dive, kicking the cloud as he passed it on the way down to where Dusk stood, watching and quietly talking with Fluttershy and Rarity. Clutching his aching arm to his chest, he dove on, turning back only in time to land before the stallion, bending his knees and landing in a crouch to soften the speed and force of his impact.

Silence met him as he got his balance back, Dusk’s conversation had ended the moment he landed. Fluttershy was suddenly on top of him, pulling his aching hand into her own and inspecting his fingers. She forced him to move them, and he was just as shocked as she was when the white layer that had coated his hand broke off and fell to the ground, revealing his hand. Apparently the cold had simply built up a protective coating of snow, and he showed no signs of frostbite. As she helped him stand up, something cold landed on his nose, and a roar went up from the crowd that had gathered all around him. Gentle flakes had taken some time to travel the distance to the ground, but they now settled on him and the gathered ponies, foals and adults alike.

It was only when Thunderlane hoisted him up onto his shoulder and started marching around the crowd that it sank in. He’d done it, and Dash had set him up. And everypony else had known it. He looked at the smug mare as she grinned at him, and called out at her, over the crowd. “That was never a snow cloud, was it?”

Punching him in his good arm, she laughed and gave him a nod. “That’s the point of Weather School, Rumble. It’s to take something that’s never going to be the weather you need, and finding a way to force it to do the job you need done. It’s hard, and you’ll hate me for it in the long run, but you did well. Just remind everyone at the pub tonight that I get to buy your first drink, okay?”

Shocked, Rumble looked around. But her words sank in and he relaxed a little. He was a stallion now. He’d found his cutie mark and he’d be off to Weather School soon. And if he did well, he could return home someday, and show everypony they were right for trusting him.

Thursday, March 23rd, 1701 AFE. Rarity’s Boutique. 7:40pm.

Dusk waited at the door as the soft echo of his knock faded away. Rarity had been acting oddly, and Fluttershy had been very clingy. She'd practically demanded he let her hold his hand throughout the exam and much of the walk back to town, looking resentful when he split off and turned towards the library.

Rarity’s invitation had also been incredibly specific. Dress up, but plan to go home to sleep, rather than their more recent habit of staying the night. As the door opened, the sight before him suddenly answered a few questions, but created even more.

Rarity waited for him inside, but Fluttershy was the one that answered the door. Dressed in a short skirt that hardly covered her ass, and made it clear she had no undergarments on.- Dusk could already tell what was going on. The powerful, wet scent of Fluttershy’s heat was so thick in the air he needed a moment to focus, fighting the instincts that smell brought about.

Unbidden, his eyes roamed the rest of her outfit, and he was finally able to place it. He'd seen it before in Rarity’s closet in a back corner, a black maid's outfit with a white undershirt. Only on Fluttershy, the top was clearly too small and had to be left unbuttoned, revealing the flesh of her breasts from collar to navel, where at last the buttons could be done up. In vain, somepony had used black laces to tie together the black top, but that only pulled the fabric against her massive bust harder, leaving lines that he was sure would remain for hours, if not days when Fluttershy finally got the outfit off.

As if in contrast, Rarity was in a white silk dress, one he had never seen before. The cloth was so impossibly thin he could see her flesh through it, and it was impossible to miss the fact that she too had skipped wearing any undergarments.

Still in shock, it took Fluttershy greeting him a second time to get his attention. "Good evening, sir! Madame Rarity told us to expect you! Please, come in. Dinner will be ready shortly."

Entranced by the smell of Fluttershy’s musk, Dusk ignored her odd behavior and dipped his head a little to her, following her lead and acting like etiquette required, at least the Canterlot Elite version. He'd never been drilled on proper behavior for a brothel or how to act when visiting a 'madame'... Let alone a Madame who is also a member of his own herd!

Walking as casually as he could to Rarity's side, he wasn't surprised when she offered him her hand. Following the rules of etiquette, he knelt, kissing her knuckles once before gazing up at her, not quite able to keep the shock out of his eyes. Her hand was drenched in the smell and moisture of Fluttershy's musk, damp enough they had probably been fooling around before he had arrived. "Madame Rarity. A pleasure as always."

Laughing softly at him, Rarity let her fingers slide into his hair, pushing his long bangs back and catching some of the hair behind his ears. "Hello, darling. I hope you understand that tonight is a very special night."

Nodding a little and standing up when she motioned for him to rise with her, Dusk wasn't surprised when she looped an arm around his and began to guide him to the private show room used when someone needed a special order and was paying big bits.

The room had been carefully prepared, the walkway was gone and the curtain lay closed. Red velvet drapes covered all the windows, and a table waited in the middle of the room. Standing by the table, quivering in a way that reminded Dusk of Pinkie's rampant energy, Fluttershy waited, holding a chair. When Rarity motioned for him to sit, he did as bidden and was shocked as Rarity slipped into his lap, her thin dress hardly putting any distance between his groin and her plush hip.

Cupping his chin, Rarity kissed him, aggressively biting down on his lower lip and tugging. When she released him she leaned over his shoulder so she could whisper into his ear. "Before we start, Dusk, the rules. First, know that this is consensual, Fluttershy requested it. Second, her safe word is ‘rosewater’. She says it, you stop everything, understood?" When he nodded, she smiled, and kissed his cheek. "We are going to start very slowly to see what she can handle. I'm going to blindfold and gag you and cuff your hands so she feels comfortable. If at anytime you want us to stop, use your magic to let me know. Are you comfortable with the rules?"

Realizing just how much of their personal relationship he was being let into, Dusk very slowly nodded. Whispering back, he tried to give Fluttershy a smile, but the mare refused to look him in the eye. "I do. Let ‘lily’ be my word should she be comfortable enough to let me take off the gag."

Amused by his confidence, Rarity let her fingers stroke through his hair again, suddenly gripping down tightly and pulling his head back, her weight shifting around until she managed to straddle his lap, squeezing his hips with her knees while her free hand braced on his shoulder to support her weight. Finally taller than him, she hovered her mouth over his and kept his head pinned in place while she raked her teeth across his lower lip. When he strained to try to press a kiss to her lips, she pulled harder at his hair, preventing him from closing the gap. “No, no, no. Bad stallion. You just hold still, you don’t have permission to move yet.”

Picking up the rules of this new game as best he could, Dusk put aside the lust that had built up due to Fluttershy’s powerful scent, and made himself relax, his hands on the arms of the chair and his spine arched to take some of the pressure of his neck and spine from Rarity’s powerful grip. It felt like forever as he watched Rarity’s eyes, a hunger in them reflected the roar of his own lust, but in truth, it was probably no more than four or five minutes before she relaxed her tense grip and leaned down, pulling his lip between her teeth and dragging at it, tormenting him for a moment as she leaned back, letting the trapped flesh pop free of her lips. Finally, she leaned in and kissed his lips properly, linking close and grinding her hips against his own.

She only stopped when the sound of Fluttershy’s whimpers became loud enough to interrupt her fun. Shocked as a guilty look crossed Rarity’s face, Dusk watched as she gripped the other mare by the back of the head and pulled her close, thrusting her tongue between Fluttershy’s lips before pressing into the kiss. Fluttershy’s whimpers ended immediately, her knees grinding against one another still, but she seemed to relax a little, her wings still twitched occasionally. What Dusk couldn’t pull his eyes from, besides the two sexy mares in the middle of making out before him, was the slick moisture that ran down Fluttershy’s thighs, only making the smell that flooded the room even stronger.

At last, with a wet pop, Rarity broke the deep kiss, ignoring the way Fluttershy whimpered and pressed against her. Standing up, she cleared her throat, that action alone making the horny pegasus back down and take a step back. Turning to the table, Rarity opened a bag, and began pulling things from the depths. At last selecting out two sets of pink fuzzy handcuffs, she returned to the chair, clamping one end of the cuffs around Dusk’s wrist, the other around the arm of the chair, repeating the process with his other hand. Cupping his jaw and leaning in close, she kissed him softly this time, before whispering against his ear. “Remember, if you ever want us to stop, simply use your magic to light up your horn. I promise.”

Dusk lingered on her lips as long as she allowed, but when she moved to his ear and started to whisper, he relented and smiled up at her, breathing carefully. The sensation of having his arms restricted was a shock, but he trusted Rarity to keep her word, and lay back in the plush chair. He took a deep breath to keep himself calm, only remembering too late how thick Fluttershy’s musk was in the air, and how much it made his body ache for release.

Rarity ignored him and returned to the bag, selecting a purple ballgag and two matching black leather blindfolds. She went to Fluttershy this time, cupping the mare’s chin and whispering something to her that Dusk couldn’t make out. The effect was instant however, as Fluttershy stiffened up, standing up tall and putting her hands at her side. Rarity kissed her cheek, then slipped the blindfold over the pegasus’ eyes before speaking again. “That’s a good girl, pet. Now, until Mistress needs you, kneel and wait. Can you do that for me?”

Fluttershy nodded sharply, and moved to carefully kneel down, just a few feet away from Dusk’s chair. But he had no time to enjoy the view, as Rarity took the gag and blindfold from the table, and slipped back into his lap again, grinding up against the terrible pressure in his pants, and giving an appreciative moan of pleasure as their bodies fit together comfortably. “Now, as for you, Dusk. Just behave. I know you have a little movement in your hands, but please, don’t touch her, ok? She’s nervous enough as it is. And when you feel like cumming, it’s okay.”

Giving him no time to answer, Rarity put the purple rubber ball up to his lips and popped it between his teeth. The twin straps slipped around his head, above and below the ears, and while he felt her pull the buckle tight against the back of his head, the pressure wasn't enough to hurt, even if the taste of the new rubber ball was unappealing. Shockingly, she left behind the blindfold, putting a finger to her lips and hushing him.

Returning to the table, she put away the second blindfold and pulled a leather leash from the bag, along with a matching collar. Both were too thin and light to be of any practical use, but he quickly realized what she was intending when she clipped it around Fluttershy’s waiting neck. The leash was far too long, and as she gave a small tug on it, Fluttershy crawled in the direction her mistress pulled. Watching, Dusk thought to himself, “They’ve clearly done at least this much before. She responds so quickly to the leash. I wonde-”

The sudden pressure of Fluttershy’s body against his knees cut off his thoughts, the blinded mare being carefully directed by Rarity’s soft words and steady tug at her collar. For a moment, Fluttershy appeared much more reluctant as Rarity tugged her to slip between his knees, but rather than force her, Rarity knelt by her side, whispering carefully. Under that continued support, Fluttershy crawled the last few inches forward she could, until her cheek rubbed against his groin. Here she froze up again, but this time, she didn’t wait for Rarity to say anything. Instead, her lips parted and she sniffed deeply, a smile spreading as she turned her head to look at Rarity despite being blindfolded.

Laughing a little, probably at the cute way it looked when Fluttershy was clearly trying to beg for something, Rarity stroked a hand through the mare’s hair. “Of course you can play, pet. That’s why he’s here. You get to play, and he isn’t allowed to do anything. Take your time and have some fun.”

The joyful noise that Fluttershy made sounded almost like a squeal of delight, and the moment that Rarity’s petting stopped, Fluttershy turned back to him and thrust her nose back into his groin. At first, all she did was breathe deeply, occasionally nuzzling at the tight mound in his pants that his hard cock formed. The sensation was odd, and while it felt like forever, he ignored the ache as she tormented and slowly tested him, growing acquainted with the smell and feel of his flesh.

Then, as if some hidden switch had been flipped, her mouth opened, and she dragged her tongue across the mound of his cock through his pants. As worked up as his body was from the rich smell of her heat, Dusk thought that he might cum right then and there for a moment. Panting against the thick rubber ball, he shot a look at Rarity, who put a finger to her lips, but the laughter in her eyes showed she had already guessed what he was thinking.

It was so odd being unable to act. While Applejack had overpowered him occasionally as they had sex, she’d never pinned him like this and left him feeling so helpless. Fluttershy seemed to grow only more excited as she parted her lips and found the head of his cock through the wet fabric of his pants, sucking the tip between her lips and rolling her tongue across the trapped head, soaking it further. Her hands lifted and found his hips, holding them as she applied more pressure, beginning to suckle and pull against the erect cock.

The more Fluttershy played, the more Dusk squirmed, his hips shifting in place and his knees grinded against her sides. The first time they came in contact, she froze up, yet quickly relaxed, and soon she was pressing her weight back against his knees as he writhed in pleasure, giggling a little and finally letting her lips pull away from his trapped flesh. “Does… do stallions always squirm so much, Mistress?”

Finally joining in, Rarity knelt beside Fluttershy, licking some of the saliva from her pet’s cheek, just barely managing to squeeze in with her between his knees. “When you tease them this much? Yes, that’s normal. It’s like when I made you lay in bed and used the feather on your sex, remember?”

Gasping, Fluttershy first sat tall, and then wilted, pouting a little. “That’s terrible, Mistress! Can’t… can’t I relieve that feeling for him? That stress and pressure is so exhausting!”

Beaming with pride, Rarity reached out, and took a hold of Fluttershy’s left hand. Pulling it back, she placed it on his belt buckle, her voice soft. “Then open his pants. Unbuckle the belt, pull down the zipper, and pull aside his boxers. And be ready, as much as you like the smell between my thighs, I promise, this will smell even better.”

The giddy way Fluttershy rubbed his groin through his pants with her free hand while she followed Rarity’s instructions made Dusk ache for release all the more, but at the same time, he tried his best to remain calm. Unsurprisingly, considering how much she had been teasing him, the moment she unzipped his pants far enough, his hard cock did the rest, forcing aside his boxers and leaping up to stand proud, its precum-soaked tip slapping against Fluttershy’s cheek, leaving a milky strand on her flesh.

Again, Fluttershy locked up for a moment, squirming in place. Then the smell of his own musk reached her, and she groaned in delight. “Mistress! It smells so good! Are… are you sure he doesn’t mind?”

Rarity’s eyes flashed up to his own, and her eyebrow raised in a silent question. Nodding his head and groaning against the gag, Dusk panted with need. Rarity clearly felt that was answer enough, as she leaned in and licked the wet pre from Fluttershys cheek, enjoying the taste before finally answering her pet. “Why don’t you continue and find out yourself? You’ll know you’re doing something right the more he squirms.”

Unable to make it out, the sudden moan from Fluttershy, and the squelching sounds that joined it, must have been coming from Rarity’s other hand, probably playing with Fluttershy’s damp sex. That thought alone was enough to cause Dusk’s pent up cock to jettison another small string of cum, this one landing on Rarity’s cheek. The mare didn’t say anything, but the look she shot him told him she’d remember that, even if she looked to be mostly laughing at how badly he wanted release.

Leaning in close to his cock and drinking in the scent, Fluttershy sniffed again at his cock, murmuring happily at the smell and letting her tongue just barely slip past her lips. Dragging it slowly across the wet head of his cock, she pulled that thin taste of his cum back into her mouth and swallowed, before murmuring happily. “Oh… Oh my! Mistress! Does it always taste like this? Smell like this?!”

Dusk could tell Rarity must have shoved her fingers further into Fluttershy’s sex, as the pegasus arched her spine and moaned. When Fluttershy relaxed and started trying to catch her breath again, Rarity finally answered, seemingly holding back a laugh. “What a stallion eats makes a difference to the taste. The smell is mostly specific to a stallion, but can vary a little. Remember that you’re in heat, pet. It changes how you think about these kinds of things, so don’t expect it to smell and taste so good if you ever try and play with him again when you’re not in heat.”

Fluttershy seemed to wait for Rarity to finish talking, then nodded carefully and leaned in again, dragging her tongue from the base of Dusk’s shaft up to the tip, clearly taking her time to enjoy the taste, the smell and the heat he gave off. Breathing a sigh of delight against his shaft, she giggled as he squeezed his knees against them both, groaning with need against the gag in hopes of reminding her how badly he needed to get off.

Fluttershy seemed to pick up on his hint, and stopped tormenting him so slowly, her lips parting so she could draw his head into her lips, dragging her tongue over his tip and stroking it in slow circles over his aching dick, while she suckled with steady pressure. Delighted at how much attention she was giving him, he was shocked when she suddenly thrust her other hand between his legs, cupping the weight of his sack in her hands and rolling his balls between her fingers. She was hardly an expert and he could tell she was clearly experimenting every time she tried something new, but he hardly cared, as her playful teasing more than made up for her inexperience.

Overwhelmed by Fluttershy’s continued attention and his own pent up lust, Dusk moaned out against the gag, his hips bucking forward and straining against the binds, and her tight mouth. Shocked at his sudden motion, Fluttershy pulled back, but took one second to steal just one last small lick of his cum-soaked cockhead. At last he climaxed, thick hot shots of his seed firing wildly into her face and hair. But her shock was quickly overwhelmed when Rarity thrust again deeper between her thighs, hitting some sweet spot and driving Fluttershy to lock up in her own orgasm while his seed coated her flesh.

Panting against the gag in his mouth, Dusk hardly heard the tiny whisper that came from the post-orgasmic pegasus, but Rarity clearly did, as she suddenly was dragging the shivering mare a few feet away from Dusk, whispering in her ear and stroking her head. “Just breathe, it’s okay, pet. Relax and breathe. It’s okay, you did good, you did very, very good.”

Finally Dusk could make out what Fluttershy had been repeatedly whispering as she shook and clung to Rarity. “Rosewater. Rosewater, rosewater, rosewater.”

After five or six minutes, Rarity had calmed Fluttershy down enough to walk the still-blindfolded mare to another room, leaving her be for just a minute so she could return and ungag Dusk. As she removed the binds from his arms, she pulled him into a hug and stroked his cheek. “She did wonderfully. I’m just sorry she freaked out so much when you came. I hope you don’t mind going home now.”

Panting for breath, Dusk pulled up his pants and buckled the belt, reminding himself to rinse them as soon as he got home, or risk having Barb ask far too many uncomfortable questions about his evening at Rarity’s. Hugging her back for a moment, Dusk smiled and kissed her cheek. “This was really eye opening, ‘Mistress’. I do hope we will have another chance to try again someday when she’s ready?”

Rarity laughed, and hugged him back, resting her head on his chest for a moment before shaking her head. “No promises. This was nearly four months of build-up, Dusk. Her heats are very rare and she is different every time. I was shocked when she asked for you to come today, to be perfectly honest. Now you’d better head home. I think I’m in for a long night, and you might as well get some proper sleep.”

Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Dusk’s Library. 3:55am.

Dusk shot up in bed, sweat streaming down his spine and soaking the bed. Panicked, he struggled to remember what he had been dreaming of, yet came up empty. The darkness of his room seemed to stare back at him as he tried to remember, his breath growing shorter as he pushed against the empty veil, hunting for the lost memories.

Searching his own mind, Dusk worried at just what else he might find. "For all these years, I've had a nearly eidetic memory. That includes my dreams; what could scare me so much, and simply fade away?!"

After nearly fifteen minutes of hunting, he had found nearly nothing. He had blacked out a few times in the past, and had gaps in his memory, but he'd always been so exhausted at the time; there were no gaps that worried him like this. Of course, there was that one crazy day when he got his cutie mark... "No. I was still young, I forgot things all the time back then. Besides, I remember that day so well, hatching Barb, getting my cutie mark, the first Sonic Rainboom in nearly a century..." Dusk cut off that line of thought, as it only created more questions, like who had made the Rainboom. Dash would have only been a year old, in no condition to fly, let alone to create such a powerful reaction. "Besides, Princess Celestia looked into that for years and never found an answer. She really got her hopes up when Dash finally managed to pull one off years later, but again, it was impossible for Dash to have made the first-"

Dusk cut himself off, that kind of circular logic always left him with migraines and today he didn't need one. Despite having showered and rinsed off his clothing when he got home from Rarity’s, he now felt like he needed another shower. "Probably best if I change my bedsheets, too. Barb will have questions either way, but why leave this mess for her to deal with?"

Ripping the sheets from his bed and bundling them up, Dusk began to form his mental checklist for the day, but worried about the large section he had simply marked off as 'Winter Wrap-Up'. He'd read up on the past disasters of Ponyville’s old-fashioned tradition of dealing with winter with brute force, and the help of whatever pegasi happened to live locally. But between Amethyst and the mayor declaring it a very important tradition, and after Applejack's excitement when he tried to bring the topic up, he'd decided to leave it be. Trekking downstairs to the shower, he wanted to whistle under his breath, but the sound of Barb’s snoring through her open door made him stay quiet. He heard no sound at all coming from Bronze's room.

Slipping into the bathroom and tossing his blankets into the hamper, Dusk went straight for the shower, taking his time and enjoying the heat as it eased the stiffness from his muscles. Creeping back upstairs in his robe and dressing, Dusk reviewed his list again. "There is just nothing productive to do until they start Winter Wrap-Up. Maybe... well, I could always work on some more profiles for Princess Luna. I still haven't written about Thunderlane, the twins, Filthy Ri-"

The sight of a teal-haired mare jogging past his balcony for the second time, at a pace that felt too casual, caught Dusk’s eye. A quick mental inventory of Ponyville’s population left few possibilities, but to be sure, he pulled on a heavy sweater and formed a thin line of warmth at his feet, guiding the magic forward to melt a path he could use to walk to the edge of the balcony. "Why are you up so early, my lad-" Dusk stopped, cutting off his train of thought and starting again. "My dear spy? Out for a run this early?"

Another six or so minutes passed, and Dusk had to refocus the warmth spell to his hands and feet to keep off the chill when he heard the distant crunching of snow. At the far end of the street, shi appeared, still jogging at hir steady pace. Lyra wore only an extremely light and thin sweater with matching pants, but he could tell shi was sweating hard by the discoloration of hir clothing.

He waited, letting the magic he used to stay warm light up his horn gradually, until it acted as a small signal flare in the darkness of the pre-dawn. As Lyra's footsteps approached, he could make out hir breathing now, rapid with exertion, yet controlled. When shi was close enough to his balcony to be heard without yelling, Dusk called down, keeping his tone conversational. "Jogging alone so early in the morning? And on a day like Winter Wrap-Up? And here I thought I was the only pony who had bad dreams."

Lyra's pace slowed as shi came to a stop, and shi looked up at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know anything about bad dreams. This is just the best time of day to go for a run. I have to stay in shape if I'm going to do my job properly."

Dusk arched a brow, leaning over the balcony a little and made a small gesture with his head. "Climb on up. We should talk about your job."

If the lack of staircase on the outside of the tree was an inconvenience for anypony, Dusk doubted shi'd be the pony to complain. Spreading his warmth spell out over the whole balcony, he got creative and tried to reshape the spell, making it fit more like Shining Armor's shield spell. Vaulting the railing of the balcony off a lower limb of the tree, Lyra remained calm, and pulled off hir soaked sweater, tossing it onto part of the deck that was steaming from Dusk's heating spell.

With only a strained sports bra across hir chest, shi crossed hir arms over hir head and began stretching hir back and shoulders, before finally watching him at last. "So, you've finally asked to talk to me. What did you really want to talk about? Surely a simple nightmare can't really be enough to panic you."

Dusk realized he had winced when shi cocked an eyebrow at him, and forced himself to straighten up and shake-off the lingering dread that was still haunting him. Trying to recover his momentum, he gave her a smile. "Let’s just say that it was the first nightmare I've had since Princess Luna's return and it gave me a lot to consider."

When shi only waited, watching him, Dusk pressed on. "I don't know enough about you, Lyra. Silken Flight provided me with papers on you, but it didn't even include such basic details as your real sex, or any of your extra training beyond the public records from SSU. So before anything else, Lyra, I want to apologize to you. If I'd known you were a child of Evening Rose, I'd have been more considerate and thought of a better cover job for you."

A scowl crossed the mare’s lips and shi hissed a breath between hir clenched lips. “Alright. You’ve a point, Dusk. It was damn uncomfortable having to tell a school full of foals that kind of stuff. I still get an odd look sometimes from a few of the parents, and that makes doing my work around town hard sometimes, when everypony knows who you are and watches you.” Turning away and scuffing a foot against the wood, shi rolled hir head back, looking at the first hints of the rising dawn sun. “I suppose I can answer some questions for you, though. We do need to work together, after all.”

Dusk drew a towel out of the distant closet in his room, floating it out across the deck to hir waiting hand. Tossing it over hir shoulder, he walked past her to lean against the balcony, staring at the rising sun. “And your training? Besides Silk, I mean.”

Lyra spat over the balcony, but began drying hir back with the towel, leveling a glare at him before reluctantly giving him a few more details. “I spent three years with several trainers. Princess Celestia was grooming me to take over for one of her spymasters. I learned a lot of hand-to-hand, fighting with any number of weapons, including improvised weaponry. Stealth magic, and any number of infiltration techniques. And the fitness drills. It’s why I jog three to nine miles a day, and spend at least an hour at the twin’s gym. They have respect for a mare’s privacy, and as long as I pay for damage to the training dummies, don’t do much else but offer a towel... “ Suddenly darkly blushing, shi looked away. “Well, mostly.”

Dusk let her have her private moment, and made some mental notes. “So, suppose I asked you and Bronze Feather to help show Dash, Applejack and Pinkie a little bit of what you know. The Apple farm is a big place, I’m sure we can arrange some privacy so nopony knows you are involved.”

Lyra threw the towel down on the railing of the balcony and picked up hir sweater again, shaking it out and admiring how Dusk’s magic had dried out the thin wool. Pulling it back on, shi slipped hir weight onto the railing, sitting as shi let hir legs kick idly before looking down at him. “Bronze? Yeah, between me and the kid, I’m sure we can figure out some kind of basic regimen so they can protect themselves. Why, is this about Fancy’s visit next week?”

Dusk sighed, and leaned his weight down on his crossed arms, hovering his head just over the wooden railing. “That’s a big part of it, Lyra. I realized just how helpless I am without my magic. Applejack, she’s strong, far stronger than Dash or I, but I don’t think she’s ever raised a hand in anger. Dash talks about the training she got at Flight School, but even she admits it was rather basic. And Pinkie? She’s like AJ, but a lot more energetic. If Princess Celestia is going to keep giving us duties like that dragon last year, we need to be ready, and not just to use the Elements of Harmony. If even one of us are hurt, they’re useless. It’s like… it’s like they are a glass cannon. Incredibly powerful, but dangerously fragile. We need to be more self-reliant, we can’t expect the Wonderbolts or you or Bronze to always be ready to rescue us when some mundane danger arises.”

Lyra gave him a nod, then hopped from the balcony railing, landing on hir feet and warming hir legs up by jogging in place. “Then make your plans. I’ll be in touch with Bronze.” Shi had just started to move away when a thought came to mind and shi turned back looking at him again. “What about Rarity, and Fluttershy?”

“Rarity… I might be able to convince her to take up fencing. She already admires Fleur-Dis-Lee, if I can get Fleur to come visit, that should go a long way to convincing Rarity to take it up. As for Fluttershy... I think that may be a lost cause… I don’t know of any way of making her rise like she did against the dragon… Frankly, I’d be scared to even ask her to try.”

“You’re right… I suppose I’ll let you know if I think of anything that we could add. Get ready for the day, Dusk. They’ll want you front and center to watch the festivities. I don’t think a magistrate has ever been in Ponyville for Winter Wrap-Up. I think you can expect them to try and show off no matter where in town you try to hide.” Not waiting for his answer, shi turned back to the path shi’d worn into the street, giving him an idle one-handed wave before disappearing into the sunrise.

As the sun rose , he considered her words. “Lyra may be right. Over the last few days, I’ve had a number of offers regarding different events I could watch. Nopony ever asked me to join in and help their team... well, nopony but the mayor.” Shaking that thought off, Dusk turned back towards the house, walking back inside. “I suppose I could always work on profiles for Princess Luna… I’m sure I can finish Thunderlane, the twins, and possibly update Lyra’s before Barb and Bronze get up.”

Heading to his desk in the library, Dusk went straight for his ink and quill. Already lining up his thoughts, he began his letter for Princess Luna.

“Dear Princess Luna, today Ponyville celebrates their version of ‘Winter Wrap-Up’ a traditional way of handling the change of seasons that traces back to the town’s Earth Pony founders. That, however, is not why I am up so early. Last night, I had my first nightmare since your return, and strangely enough, it is the first time I’ve had a nightmare I can not remember. This led me to a long conversation with Lyra, and these three letters. First comes Thunderlane, the older brother of Rumble and a rare pegasus with a very resilient streak...”

Author's Notes:

Another step in the right direction? You be the judge!