"Well, there mustn't be a friendship problem here, then." Rainbow Dash looked so relieved until she noticed Twilight's confused expression. "What?"

I liked Rainbow's idea. From what we could see everypony looked super happy and content—happy and content plant-alicorns that is—and there certainly didn't seem to be any friendship problems.

"We have to, Rainbow Dash. We were sent here by the map for a reason." Twilight's eyes sparkled in the same way they did when she said the word science. "If nothing else, I really want to know what's going on with the plant stuff."

My attention turned to Sugar Belle and Tight Squeeze. They looked at each other with a hint of worry on their faces, and I was sure now that they were talking somehow. I wasn't always able to hear animals talking, but as far back as I could remember I knew they were talking.

Rarity was closest to me, so I leaned over to her. "I think they can talk without actually talking. Look at the way they react to each other." I kept my voice low enough that I hoped Sugar Belle, Tight Squeeze, and Bright Day didn't hear me.

"Do you mean to say this,"—Rarity barely nodded toward the plant-ponies—"is not all show?"

I nodded to Rarity, not trusting my voice not to blurt out loudly—or at least as loudly as I usually got.

"Ahem!" Getting attention was literally what Rarity was all about. Her clothing she made, her shops, even her personal primping was all to give her an edge—an edge she exploited at her every opportunity. "Would you have somewhere we can stay outside the town, then?"

Bright Day in particular responded to Rarity's eyelash batting. I noticed he was reacting to her in the way most stallions reacted to any pretty mare. "Uh, sure! We'll get something built for you before nightfall!" Bright's eyes were practically locked onto Rarity.

Sugar Belle and Tight Squeeze both looked at Bright Day with surprise, but nodded.

"I know. We'll get Starlight to come and grow a house for them. She's been dying to try that new spell!" Bright Day turned around, but rather than waling to the town he just seemed to stare at it.

"You are such a darling!" Rarity practically pranced forward, looking like she was playing her role for all she was worth—which she probably was.

With each step Rarity took, Tight Squeeze backed up. "Please! Don't come any closer!"

"We'll build you a house to stay in, but you can't come near anypony that has a tail like Tight's." Sugar Belle pointed to the swaying tail behind Tight Squeeze.

"Girls, back off and let them be." Applejack, surprisingly, stepped in front of Rarity and looked back at us all. While she did that, I could see Bright Day's eyes widen—of course he had the best angle to see Applejack from.

I think everypony but me glared at Applejack. Well, me and the plant-ponies. Bright Day was staring at Applejack's back end like he'd seen Princess Celestia raise the sun, while Sugar Belle and Tight Squeeze looked relieved.

"How'd we like it if strange ponies wanted to bustle into Twilight's castle and take a poke around at everythin'?" Applejack's logic was sound except for one thing: Twilight looked like she would love to have visitors. "Sugarcube, they wants some privacy, let's leave them be and talk when we're more rested."

I backed up a little and slid behind Rainbow Dash as another pony trotted up from the town. She had a thick, slightly curled mane consisting of two tones of purple and another of a light blue-green. Her coat was somewhere between purple and pink. She had a regular unicorn horn, but on her back was what looked like a pair of oddly shaped trees. Cherry blossoms were in bloom, and crowded out the feather-shaped leaves of the wing-shaped trees.

She slowed when she saw us, and I could see her mouth move a little while she looked directly at Sugar Belle. Some of them were clearly not as used to covertly talking (however it was they were doing it). She blinked rapidly, her mouth not moving, then a smile spread across her face, and she approached. "Somepony needs a house grown?"

"This is Starlight Glimmer. She's one of our top gardeners." Tight Squeeze looked really proud of something. "Starlight, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They're kinda the first visitors we've gotten, but it's a good idea to have something out here."

Starlight bowed to Twilight, which surprised me a little (not many ponies actually bowed to a Twilight, even if they did recognize her as a princess). "Welcome to Our Town, Princess. If you give me a moment, I can make you a dwelling. Do you all require your own rooms?"

"No. A common room for all of us would be fine." Twilight was quick to jump in and answer, I saw Rainbow Dash and Rarity both look like they wanted to argue, but a glance from Applejack quelled them.

"Well, I'll make it with extra rooms anyway. If we're going to have another house, it might as well be a house." Starlight turned and seemed to look around the edge of the clearing. "Okay. I hope I get this right this time."

We took a few steps back—as you do when a unicorn utters those words—and huddled together a little.

"Why don't we all get separate rooms?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes. It would have been splendid." Rarity looked personally affronted.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Because every time we done got separated in this kinda situation, everythin' goes t' horse-apples. Right, Twi?"

"Y-Yes…" Twilight kicked her hoof on the ground a few times. "And because Spike keeps saying that about his Ogres and Ooblettes game. 'Never split the party!'" She kept her voice low enough that none of the plant-ponies could hear. "Besides, if we need to do anything they said they were making extra rooms."

Looking thoughtful, Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes a little. "I wonder why Daring Do never says that?"

Twilight was about to reply, but what happened stole our attention.

A green glow poured like a torrent from Starlight Glimmer's horn. It reflected off the grass and ponies present more than even the fight between Queen Chrysalis had. Where it touched the ground suddenly burst with plant life.

Small saplings grew, twisted branches together, and kept growing. Every plant that the green magic touched suddenly leapt upward and started twisting parts of itself to its neighbors. The saplings—now trees in their own right—soared upward to the canopy. Lower branches bent over and created a roof for what was obviously a building.

In seconds, Starlight Glimmer had created a house from living trees that rivaled my own. I wasn't jealous, I was surprised. My house had taken years of work to guide into its shape, and special—magical—fertilizer to make it grow.

Starlight Glimmer turned around and smiled at us, and spared another bow for Twilight. "That should do the trick. If you notice it growing in odd ways, just come and get me." She turned toward the village itself and started trotting back toward it.

"Wait, don't come and get Starlight. If you have a problem, uh…" Sugar Belle looked stricken. She glanced at Bright Day and another of those communication moments happened. "Bright will stay with you, in one of the spare rooms. You can just ask him to get Starlight for you."

Bright Day was looking at Rarity again, and getting quite inviting looks back from my friend. I knew what Rarity was doing, but was she planning more than usual?

"We'll get settled, then. I guess we'll see you tomorrow?" Twilight started walking toward the tree house, and I could see that she was absolutely focused on it. She probably didn't even hear Sugar Belle and Tight Squeeze agree to her question.

It was easy to fall in behind Twilight Sparkle. Not only was she a good friend, but she was now a princess too. Following princesses was the thing all good ponies did. Following friends was what I did when I wasn't sure of myself.

The doors of the house were odd. They were no longer living wood, and seemed to have been snapped off by the trees themselves. We filed inside and found a very nice house. The floor was actually alive—I could feel the bark and wood under it with each step. There was no stove, but in one corner a pile of stones pushed up to make a fire pit that even had a wooden chimney above it. A hallway led to what looked life four rooms, each with their own doors.

"Please choose your rooms. I'll take whatever is left." Bright Day seemed to be completely nonplussed at the situation—he also hadn't lost his "excitement" either. Unlike the high society ponies, I didn't have any problem with males like that. I guess it helped that I was terrified of them no matter what. To me, a pony was just an animal that had a lot of extra complications added onto it.

"We'll take the first on the left," Twilight said. She made a fake yawn (I could tell it was fake because when Twilight Sparkle was actually tired, she would usually collapse) and headed down the hall toward one of the rooms.

For a few heartbeats I was stricken. Twilight had walked off without giving me a good enough excuse to move with her. I turned my head as I heard another fakeish yawn.

"I might call it too." Applejack bumped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and pointed toward the room Twilight was walking into. She walked off alone, too.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all left the same way. In the room was Rarity, Bright Day, and me.

"I don't like big crowds. Sorry if I got a little high-strung around your friends. I can't believe a real princess is in Our Town!" Bright Day actually looked relieved—but still "eager."

"Darling. Why don't we make things more cozy still? You could show me what these rooms are like." Rarity was all movement. Her mane and tail bobbed with a perfect bounce, her legs moved like a prance in slow motion, and she managed to make sure her flank was always facing Bright Day.

The two filed off down the hall and slipped into a different room.

The room was suddenly peaceful, relaxing. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and slouched just a little. "This is really amazing, and weird, but mostly amazing. How did she make a tree grow like that?" I approached a wall and lifted my hoof to rub it gently.

Living timber, solid and healthy, slid under my frog. There were no cut marks, no angles that didn't—somehow—look natural. It was beautiful work. It was harmonious. I don't know why I walked over to the door, but I had an urge to inspect more of the tree. Opening the door, I stepped outside.

It had grown darker while we'd been inside—not a lot, but it was noticeable. Night was coming to Equestria, and— Right at that moment Princess Celestia lowered her sun, and Princess Luna raised her moon.

I ignored the darkness. Darkness wasn't scary to me, not in wooded areas. I knew all the bad things that could happen to a pony in a forest—being able to see them didn't make me less scared of them.

The bark on the outside walls of the house was thick. I pressed my hoof against it and couldn't feel any give at all. "You're a really strong tree, aren't you?" I walked around the house, studying how windows and walls went together (seamlessly). The windows didn't have any glass in them, and were just shutters over empty holes.

As I got to the far end of the house (from the front door) I saw the light of Our Town, and something else. Outside town, just a little ways and near the edge of the clearing, there was more light.

My hooves moved before I realized it. I took a step. Then another. I was walking toward that strange in-the-middle-of-nowhere light. Some sound I couldn't hear called to me, some path my hooves didn't feel opened before me, and pretty soon I was standing at a strange cave.

The light had grown dimmer the closer I got, and now I was at the cave mouth I couldn't notice any light at all. Then there was a flicker inside.

Inside the cave.

Caves had bats, timber wolves, bears, or even an ursa major typically. Of course just the thought of a big, gentle bear curled up in the cave brought a smile to my whole face. I took a step into the cave, and then another. "Hello? Mr. Bear? Or is it Mrs. Bear? I don't want to intrude, but you might have left a light on."

As I walked inside the dark cave, I felt something brush my hoof.

Author's Notes:

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