Author's Notes:

Tiger Speech is intended to be unreadable. Thus characters except those that speak the language are unaware of what is being said.

Twilight rolled over, and stretched her wings. She was eternally grateful to Fluttershy for suggesting using a pillow to prop herself up off the bed so her wings would rest properly. She shook her head to get her mane out of her eyes, and looked down. Spike was already out of bed and she could hear his claws clicking on the wood floors below. She stood and walked to the dressing table, then reached out with her mind and began brushing her mane with the hairbrush. She knew it wasn't necessary, and that she'd likely only find it messed up by some event later that day, but she enjoyed the feeling and it was a chance to exercise her powers, with minimal risk of accidentally blowing anything, or any pony up.

“Twilight? You up?" Spike's voice drifted up stairs.

“Yes Spike, I'm up. I'm just brushing my mane."

“Breakfast is almost ready." Spike's voice faded as he turned back to his work in the kitchen.

Finishing the brushing, Twilight walked to the head of the stairs. She put one hoof on the top stair, and stopped. She backed up and stared at the room for a moment, mind filled with calculations. Then she spread her wings and leapt. She glided for several moments, as graceful as possible, then she mis-judged her turn, bounced off the wall, and nearly plowed into a book shelf. She landed just short of the kitchen door, nearly landing on Spike. He managed not to drop the tray of sweet rolls he was carrying.

“Nice landing." he complimented her, even though she believed he was simply trying to avoid hurting her feelings.

“Complete accident. I mis-judged the distance from the balcony to the wall and --" she was interrupted by a sweet roll in her mouth.

“Twilight, accept the compliment. You're too hard on yourself." Spike grinned, and took a bite out of his own, sparkling sweet roll. Twilight bit into hers, and chewed. She'd learned not to steal Spike's sweet rolls, since the sparkling was caused by gem dust he collected from Rarity's workshop, and used as seasoning. It didn't agree with her.

“I know, I shouldn't be but you know me." showing uncommon wisdom, Spike declined to comment. "So, what's my number one assistant got planned for today?"

“Cataloging samples from the Everfree expedition, and organizing the book delivery, then Rarity want's some help with some secret project."

“Leave the samples, I want to try something with them, and it's easier to work with them in the box, than after they've been tagged and labeled." Twilight had another bite. "Besides, then you only have to catalog whatever survives." Spike chuckled. The last samples had burst into flame. Particularly surprising since they were samples of water.

“What about you Twilight? Got plans for the day?" Spike asked, in between bites.

“I'm going to see if Rainbow Dash has time for a flying lesson." Twilight ate another bite. "If not, I guess I'll see if there's anything else interesting going on around town.

“Cool. I'll go check on that book shipment and see you later." Spike finished the last of his half of the platter of Sweet Rolls. He stood up from the table and then headed out the door. Twilight watched him go, and resumed her breakfast.

---

Rainbow Dash did indeed have some time for a lesson, though it wasn't exactly on flying. “There you go Twilight, you're getting the hang of it now.” Twilight didn't believe a word of what she was saying, as she flapped. Rainbow Dash had her wrangling clouds, small ones, ostensibly to build her wing strength and fine tune her control. Twilight privately suspected that her good friend had found a way to get someone else to do her work for her.

The small nimbus cloud joined it's brethren as they started forming the basis of a weather front that was about to hit Ponyville. Sweat beaded on her forehead, as she flapped her wings, pushing the cloud together with the front being formed.

“You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Twilight asked.

“Of course I am." Dash laughed. “I love teaching.”

“And if it means you don't have to do it, all the better, eh?”

“Oh no, I could do it twice as fast, but I don't need the practice." she grinned. “And I wasn't the one who wanted to learn about flying." Twilight said something. Rainbow Dash ignored it. Twilight said a lot of words that she didn't recognize and she wasn't fussed about them. Particularly not after she found a book in the Library, entitled 'Curse words of the non-equine species.'

“One day, I'll learn not to say things like that.” Twilight said.

“If that happens, you won't be you.” Dash laughed, and put a wing around her shoulders. Twilight considered the technical implausibility of flying with one wing. “Besides, it's more fun this way.”

Twilight was prepared with a reply, when she heard a scream below. She looked down, scanning for the threat. What she saw caused her to fall a few feet. “Let's go.”

Pinkie Pie was on her way back to work from a delivery of sweet rolls to the edge of town, when she heard a scream and saw several ponies heading past her. She bounced up over several of them, and headed towards the source. What she saw as she rounded the corner was nothing like she expected. A huge orange shape, was moving towards the center of town. She bounded forward, and landed in front of the new comer.

“Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, who are you?”

The Tiger paused, and examined the bright pink, pony before it. “My name is Robert The Wing Kisser. But you can call me Robert.”

“ Pleased to meet you Robert The Wing Kisser." Pinkie extended her hoof. Robert shook it.

“You're one of the few ponies I've met who can pronounce my name. So, Pinkie Pie hmm? I've heard a lot about you.”

“Really? I'veheardnothingatallaboutyouandIusuallygetallthegoodgossipandI'mprettysureI'dhaveheardaboutatigerinEquestria." There was a sound as Pinkie inhaled at the end of her sentence. Then another as two winged ponies landed a short distance behind her.

“Pinkie, you okay?" Dash asked, trotting up beside her.

“ Peachy keen. This is my new friend Robert The Wing Kisser. But you can call him Robert." Pinkie introduced the Tiger. Twilight smiled.

“That's really your name?" she asked. She understood it, but unlike Pinkie, who pronounced it flawlessly, Twilight couldn't and wasn't in the mood to make herself look foolish trying.

“ My father chose it, and for all his impressive qualities, creativity is not high on the list. My mother wanted one who hunts with pride." Fortunately, my aunts talked her out of that. Twilight worked it out.

“Probably a good thing. So, what brings you to Ponyville?” she asked curiously.

“In a moment, I believe introductions are in order, though I can guess who you are already." Robert smiled, keeping his teeth closed in his mouth. Dash wouldn't have admitted it for all the apples on Sweet Apple Acres, but she was glad he did.

“I'm Rainbow Dash." she introduced herself, and held out her hoof. Robert shook it.

“And I'm Twilight Sparkle.”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Pinkie chimed in.

“Yes, that." Twilight said, eyes promising a talking too that Pinkie completely ignored. For all the glares, Twilight knew it would do no good and Pinkie knew she knew that, and while she wouldn't bother, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from glaring.

Robert for his part, nodded, and then bowed down on one leg. “Princess. A pleasure to meet you.” He held out his paw. Twilight shook it, with a slight grimace.

“Please, my friends call me Twilight.”

“I hope to be among them. Now, as to my reason, perhaps we can find somewhere quiet to talk, I seem to be disrupting the daily activities of the town." he didn't look around, but Twilight noticed most ponies were almost subconsciously avoiding him.

“Sure, I live in the library just over there." she pointed with a wing. Dash grinned.

“I've gotta go make sure the weather front gets finished, but I'll catch up with you later." Dash backed up a couple of steps, and lifted away.

“And I've got to go back to the Cakes, and... stuff." Pinkie simply disappeared. Robert blinked. He'd been looking straight at her and she still vanished.

“Don't bother. It's... just not worth your effort. Trust me." Twilight chuckled and lead the way. Robert followed her to the Library, examining the buildings around them with interest. "So, have you seen much of Equestria?”

“A little. It's a surprisingly peaceful place it seems." as they walked, he noticed that only the Earth ponies seemed to have a problem with him. The Pegasi ignored him, and there were only a couple of unicorns who paid him no mind whatsoever. Typical. Twilight reached out and opened the door to the Library. She followed Robert inside.

“It is pretty peaceful. Make yourself comfortable. I need..." she trailed off and flew up the stairs. Robert looked around and inhaled. He sighed loudly. “Like it?”

“I love libraries. So much knowledge, and so many adventures without ever leaving." Robert grinned.

“I think we'll get along just fine." Twilight set down her pad and pencil, and set herself down on a cushion. Robert settled on several pillows. “So you were going to tell me why you came to Ponyville?”

“Indeed. You might notice, that as a Tiger, I am lacking in something.”

“Stripes." Twilight smiled. It would be hard to miss, but she'd not wanted to comment on it.

“Indeed. Normally, a Tiger my age would have them, but I am not a normal Tiger." he sighed. " Do you know that we earn our stripes in much the same way as you earn your..." he paused.

“Cutie Marks?" Twilight supplied. Robert nodded.

“Indeed. Most of us earn them in training to be warriors, or healers, or leaders. My brother earned his when he proved himself Heir.”

“Heir?” Twilight blinked. Robert laughed.

“As in Heir to my father's leadership of the Clan. He defeated me and our two brothers in open combat. he glanced around conspiratorially. Not that I really wanted to rule mind you, but he won by a very narrow margin." he winked. Twilight shook her head.

“So... you're on a quest to get your Stripes?”

“In a manner of speaking. After my brothers' Trial, I went to the Tribe's Shaman for advice. He offered an apprenticeship. It seems that he saw in me more magic than other Tigers." Twilight blinked.

“All tigers can do magic?”

“To varying degrees. We are alike Unicorns. We can all do some magic, though what we can do varies. Shamans have more power. They... we, are like unicorns for whom magic is a talent. Though we have different strengths. I can do things my teacher cannot do well, and he can do things I simply cannot.”

“Such as?" Robert stretched himself and his wings. Twilight blinked. He folded his wings away, and they vanished.

“I can change myself, in someways. Yet, I cannot listen to trees." Twilight blinked again.

“Can you fly?" she asked. Robert shook his head.

“Not yet. My teacher said one day I might be able to, but for now all I can do is glide. Still, it is better than becoming a large, tiger shaped stain on the ground." Twilight tried, and failed to suppress a laugh.

“Sorry.” she said, not sounding it in the slightest. The door slammed open, and Spike came in.

“Twilight, did you hear? There's a... Oh. I guess you did.”