The next week saw severe snow storms all over Everfree Province. Noblesse Oblige took advantage of the situation to begin integrating the Under-City Ponies into his holdings. The Bat-Ponies helped manage the hoards of volatile storm clouds that were needed to cement the magical sleep over the Everfree Forest. The Beetle-Ponies used their deepened connection with the planet given to them by their affinity to the ground and lives spent underground to find animal dens beneath the mountains of ice and snow. The Serpicorns used their training in battle magic to evaporate the snow to ensure that the whole province wouldn't be flooded by oceans created by conventional Pyromancy.

Anypony who would have spoken out against the Under-City Ponies for being freaks of nature or having an archaic culture were silenced by how helpful these immigrants were for handling the dire circumstances they found themselves in. It also helped that the Under-City Ponies helped deliver supplies that were granted to Everfree Province by the Twin Thrones to Ponies trapped in doors by the sudden and severe weather.

The Under-City Ponies were so useful and unique in fact, that nopony cared that the construction sites all over Everfree Province were given priority when it came to designating areas of settlements for clearing snow.

Noblesse smiled in pride as he saw Under-City Ponies working all over Ponyville with other residents of Ponyville as though it were normal to have demi-Equines everywhere. For the past seven days, the Under-City Ponies had been helping the surface settlements of Everfree Province through the harsh Winter it found itself in. Of course, this is what happens when you have to cram two months worth of weather into a single week.

It was probably the first time in Equestria's history that an inland province found itself in the midst of unplanned weather. Sometimes wild weather would blow in from extra-Equestrian lands or from the unpredictable seas that surrounded Equestria and would cause trouble for coastal provinces. Whenever this happened, the Provincial Governments would have to petition the Parliament for aid and would see economical repercussions for whatever damages there were on top of the monetary debt that was owed to Parliament.

However, most provinces weren't hoarding subterranean immigrants that were used to handling wild and/or weaponized weather. Because Noblesse had used his numerous contacts in the Under-Cities and endorsement from Princess Luna, Everfree Province now had Disaster Relief Corps that put the Royal Guard to shame. Everfree Province also had this luxury at no cost, courtesy of House Platinum's treasury.

His thoughts about the Under-City Ponies brought Noblesse to his first destination of the day. He had promised Twilight Sparkle an explanation of how Under-City Blood Rites worked, an explanation Noblesse couldn't really give himself. So, Noblesse decided to do the next best thing.

Spike ran to the front door to answer it, not even needing to be asked too by his sister/mother/landlady... they never really worked out what the relationship between Twilight, her family, and himself actually was.

Spike opened the door and was surprised by what he saw, “Oh, hello Noblesse. Please come in.”

“Thank you Spike,” Noblesse entered the building with his strange attire, or rather the lack thereof.

Despite the below freezing temperatures, Noblesse Oblige wasn't wearing anything to counter it. While he was wearing a saddle, it clearly wasn't the kind used to keep warm during the colder days of the year. The saddle was equipped with several large saddlebags that appeared to be holding boxes or bricks or something of that general shape. Tied to the saddle was an incredibly large sack that could barely hold it's contents, whatever they were. Spike couldn't actually deduce what was inside of the sack, not that he was given much time as his customer/guest spoke.

“Excuse me, but do you know where Dame Twilight is?” Asked Noblesse.

“I'm right here,” Answered Twilight as she entered from the kitchen, “Er, how can I help you, your grace?”

“Please Dame Twilight, there is no need to hold such formalities with me,” Replied Noblesse immediately, raising a dismissive hoof.

“Then there is reason to call me 'Dame Twilight,' I'm fine with just being Twilight,” Noblesse might not have known Twilight well enough to notice it, but Spike could hear the discomfort in her voice.

“Now, how can I help you today?” Asked Twilight trying to get control over her nerves, and failing.

“I actually came to give thou presents,” Noblesse horn was covered in a stygian black as his saddlebags opened, to reveal the contents to be books. Noblesse magicked the books over to a nearby table, “I know that I promised you an explanation on how Under-City Blood Rites worked, a promise I cannot fulfill myself.”

“There's twelve books,” Pointed out Spike.

“Consider it me paying interest that is owed to thou,” Said Noblesse, “The others are books on Under-City culture, history, and copies of our religious texts.”

“Oh, thank you,” Twilight's worries were overcome with excitement at the chance to gain new books and knowledge, “I actually just finished reading my book on relations between the Japonese and the Zebras.”

Twilight read over the titles of the twelve volumes before choosing the ritual grimoire covering the Under-City Blood Rites in great detail, Twilight would also find that the book also covered the basics of Hemomancy as well as basic spells belonging to the school of Hemomancy.

“I'm glad you like it. I would stay and chat, but I have urgent business elsewhere today. Have a good day Twilight.” Noblesse politely bowed his head and left the library.

Twilight raised her head to ask her assistant to organize the other elven books in her personal reading queue when she saw that Spike was staring at the door, “Spike? What's wrong?”

“He said that these are all books that cover the history and culture of the Under-City Ponies, right?” Asked Spike with a slightly shaky voice.

“Yeah, so?” Twilight wasn't sure what could have spooked the little purple dragon so much.

“Then why did he refer to the religious tomes as our religious scriptures?”

Twilight almost spoke to try and dismiss Spike's concerns, it wouldn't be the first time he had a baseless fear. But this was different. Noblesse's words did imply that he thinks of himself as an Under-City Pony. While that wouldn't be bad in off itself, he had: arranged for a large number of Under-City Ponies to migrate to Everfree Province, waited for the perfect circumstance for the alien Ponies to be welcomed, and they knew that Under-City Ponies were militaristic zealots that revered the Equestrian continent to be Holy Lands and worshiped Alicorns as gods.

Twilight stopped as she pondered what this meant her home and the people within.

Ruby Pinch started to hear a constant beep as she slept, and it was annoying. Ruby had a serious headache that wouldn't go away. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Then a realization came to Ruby, she didn't remember going to sleep.

The last thing Ruby remembered was that Noblesse used his magic to cause some kind of shock wave that sent her and the other Crusaders flying. She also remembered seeing a huge sphere of magic hurling towards Noblesse.

Ruby awoke with a start and sat up immediately, and regretted it instantly. Her headache was irritated from getting up too quickly, “Somepony's up early today,” Said a familiar voice.

Ruby opened her eyes and turned her head to see Noblesse sitting in a chair next to the bed she was in. Ruby looked around the room she was and didn't recognize it, “Where are we?”

“The hospital,” Replied the metal colored colt, “You got hurt because of me.”

“Because of you?” Asked Ruby, “I seem to remember you saving us from some kind of magic attack.”

Noblesse's eyes widened in surprise, “I'm surprised you remembered that, not that it's important. The Ponies that attacked us were after me, and just didn't care about collateral damage.”

“Why would Ponies be after you?” Asked Ruby.

“My master isn't exactly the most beloved member of the Nobility,” Answered Noblesse, “Attacking his servants might be a means of threatening him. There is also the matter of the immigrants that the lord has brought in.”

“Why would they care so much about immigration?” Ruby was still ignorant of the Under-City Ponies at this point.

“It isn't immigration that they're concerned with, as much as it is the immigrants themselves.”

“I still don't understand,” Said Ruby. Living in such a welcoming community her entire life made any kind of racial discrimination a completely foreign concept to the pink Unicorn.

“You'll see for yourself when you're let out of the hospital later today,” Said Noblesse cryptically, “Speaking of outside, I took the liberty of getting your Winter clothes from your family.”

“What? It's cold out, but not that cold.”

“Are you so sure?” Said Noblesse rhetorically as he opened the curtains in the room.

Ruby had to shield her eyes as a bright light came in through the windows. When Ruby opened her eyes again, her jaw dropped. Ponyville was coated in a thick layer of snow, the light reflecting off of the snow is what caused the harsh light that flooded the room when the curtains were opened.

“What happened?” Asked Ruby, “I thought we were supposed to have no snow this Winter.”

“We were, but the EWA had to change the weather schedule on short notice,” Explained Noblesse, “Because Everfree Province is going to be experiencing a sudden and drastic increase in population, we need harsh snows for the rest of the season so that the Everfree Forest doesn't drain too much ambient magic produced by the new Ponies.”

“Why would that be a problem?” Asked Ruby.

“Because if the Everfree Forest's growth is directly affected by how much ambient magic is absorbs from the environment and leylines. If it soaks up too much, it expands and will overtake the entire province.”

“Whoa,” Ruby thought how bad that would be before an important thought came to mind, “Oh! How long was I unconscious?”

“Just shy of a week actually,” Answered Noblesse, “And that's my fault too, I wove an anesthesia spell into my shock wave so you wouldn't suffer any pain from any wounds you suffered.”

“You say that like it's your fault,” Said Ruby.

“The Ponies that were attacked us were after me. If I wasn't nearby, you girls would not have been in harm's way,” Noblesse's tone was somber.

Noblesse got up from his chair and started to leave. It was now that Ruby could see his now empty saddle and saddlebags, “I'll understand completely if you'd prefer to keep your distance from me, if only to avoid being hurt again.”

“No,” Said Ruby obstinately, “It's not your fault that Ponies were trying to kill you, why would I act like it's your fault?”

Noblesse turned and gave Ruby a smile, “I'm glad you feel that way, I just hope you don't get hurt again because of it,” The colt left the room before Ruby could say anything.

Noblesse was thankful that nopony else was in the hallway at that moment, it would be awkward explaining how he exited five rooms at once.

The five copies of Noblesse became five clouds of black mist and swirled into one place in the middle of the hallway before they reformed into Noblesse himself.

Noblesse needed a moment to process all of the information gathered by his copies before he could leave the hospital. Noblesse smiled as he gave a sigh of relief. None of his friends blamed him for what happened and were perfectly fine with staying as his friend.

Noblesse started to walk out of the hallway before he realized that he was still disoriented from separating himself into copies. Noblesse had the good fortune of finding a hidden passage in the Royal Canterlot Library during his two year stay. In the passage way he found several books on magic, including his great grand mother (a dozen or so times removed)'s personal grimoire. Noblesse's best guess is that Celestia moved several dangerous or personal tomes into this hidden passage after Luna fell to madness and either forgot about them or hoped they would stay hidden. Noblesse returned all of the books he found to the Royal Librarian, after he read them all of course. Of all of the spells in his grand mother's grimoire, Noblesse had the most trouble with the 'Shadow Clone' spell. He could turn himself into a single cloud of mist, use several of Luna's battle magic spells with ease, but making himself into copies was still just beyond his grasp.

Noblesse finally got his orientation back and started to leave the hospital. As he took the first turn out of the hallway, he ran into two familiar Ponies.

“Oh, if it isn't Mr. Exchange and Lady Alignment. Are you here to check on your daughter?” Asked Noblesse as he ran into both of Scootaloo's parents at once.

“Wait,” Said Equivalent Exchange, “You two know each other?”

“Er, yes. Yes we do,” Answered his wife, “The young lord here was a frequent visitor to the Royal Observatory.”

“Please Lady Alignment, there is no reason to hold formality with me,” Said Noblesse, “Especially since I am supposed to be incognito.”

Planetary Alignment was the head of the Royal Observatory in Canterlot Palace. She was a surprisingly tall mare, standing at least two inches higher than the average stallion. Her horn was also much longer than the average Unicorn's horn, I wonder if she's ever poked anyone's eye out with that glorified spear thought Noblesse sarcastically. Though many wouldn't agree with him, Noblesse liked the dark gold color of her coat. Noblesse also liked how her mane and tail were made of red and white stripes, similar to how peppermint sticks looked. Noblesse also appreciated the uniqueness of her Cutie Mark: an orb with two slightly, though noticeably, bigger orbs behind it being reflected in some kind of lens.

“Though I appreciate how you are always polite,” Began Alignment, “There is no need to call me 'Misses' or 'Lady,' just call me Alignment. And yes, we are here for Scootaloo.”

“She'll be glad to see both of you,” Said Noblesse, “She's fine by the way, but she'll be still overjoyed to see you two.”

“Have a good day you two,” Said Noblesse as he walked around the pair and left their line of sight.

“I was sure he saw us before,” Said Exchange, “I didn't know Ponies could do that.”

“The first month he stayed at the Canterlot Palace, he discovered Princess Luna's personal grimoire,” Replied his wife, “If the stories about how Nightmare Moon tried to stop the Elements of Harmony are true, then I bet he learned that trick from her majesty's spell book. I wonder what other spells he learned from that tome.”

“That's something I'd rather not think about,” Quipped the beet colored Pegasus, “Lets get Scootaloo and get out of the cold.”

“This is heavier than I thought it would be,” Said Rumble as he was walking.

“Well, it's made out of actual metal. So of course it's going to be heavier than some plastic toy,” Said Thunderlane.

“It was really nice of you to do this, especially since you've never actually met Scootaloo before,” Said Rainbow Dash.

Rumble had felt bad about nearly hurting those two fillies and destroying their scooter and wagon, so he decided on buying a new scooter and wagon for them. After hearing why his brother wanted more money, Thunderlane insisted on buying the scooter and wagon himself.

Rumble had put the scooter in the wagon and was pulling it himself while Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash accompanied him. Rainbow Dash was on her way to visit her surrogate sister in the hospital when she spotted the pair. Rainbow Dash decided to go with the two since they were headed in same direction, it also helped that Rainbow Dash hadn't got a chance to talk with her friend since the EWA started sending shipments of storm clouds to Ponyville.

“You know, we can rest if you're tired,” Said Thunderlane, chuckling at his brother's expense and determination.

“Nah, I'm good,” Rumble's tone and slowing pace said otherwise, but he was instant on giving the scooter and wagon to Scootaloo personally.

“RAINBOW DASH!” An orange blur crashed into Rainbow Dash, forcing the cerulean mare to her haunces.

“Oof,” Rainbow Dash grunted as the filly caliber bullet hit her, “Hey Scoots,” Rainbow Dash wheezed, “My friends and I were just coming to see you.”

“Friends?” Scootaloo's eyes zeroed in on the polychromatic mane, so she didn't notice the dark gray stallion or the near-white colt she thought was a filly.

“I... I...” Rumble could barely make noises past his labored breathing.

Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash laughed at Rumble as Thunderlane removed the harness on his brother, “I think somepony needs to hit the hay, I'll see you two later,” Thunderlane held Rumble in his fore legs as flew off.

“Dammit Scootaloo!” Said her mother, “You've been conscious for less than ten minutes, and the Captain of the guard is already after you.”

“What? No! Not this time,” Said Scootaloo, turning around too face her mother.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh at how quickly Scootaloo's mother had assumed that she got into trouble, “The squirt is telling the truth, Thunderlane's younger sibling wanted to give Scoots a new scooter and wagon as an apology for breaking the first ones.”

“Wait, really?” Asked Scootaloo as she turned around again and saw the brand new scooter and wagon. They didn't have any fancy paint jobs on them, but they weren't cheap plastic replicas of actual equipment.

“Oh wow,” Said Scootaloo, “But I never got the chance to thank her.”

“Don't sweat it Scoots,” Said Rainbow Dash, “She'll be in your class the next time school's in session,” Rainbow Dash thought it would be best if the Crusaders found out Rumble was a boy on their own.

“Sounds like you actually have a reason to look forward to school Scoots,” Said Exchange, now that he had caught up with his family and Rainbow Dash.

“Say Rainbow,” Began Alignment, “I don't have to go back to Canterlot until this Saturday and we were about to go celebrate Scootaloo's recovery, I don't suppose that you'd like to join us, would you?”

Before Rainbow Dash could answer, Scootaloo looked up to her with puppy dog eyes. Rainbow laughed as she ruffled Scootaloo's mane, “I'd love to.”

“Yay!” Scootaloo was practically bouncing the rest of the way to Sugarcube Corner as Rainbow Dash spoke with Scootaloo's parents.