Tarnished Teapot had come a long way since getting banished from Ponyville, and he knew that he would go farther still. All around him was the evidence of his success, they had braved the snow and freezing temperatures to be with him on this momentous day, the day of his departure for the fabled location of Skyreach.

Buttons was there, with her beloved pup, Knob, the very same pup that Tarnish had rescued and had sent home with Limestone. Long Ears and Kabuki were present, along with Minori and some of their tribe. They were the proud defenders of Rock Haven now, having integrated into the community. Doc Hedge was present, a little older, a little grayer, and perhaps, a little bit more ornery.

The Rock Farm was crowded with those that Tarnish had touched in some way.

Yet, for all of his successes, Tarnished Teapot still felt the need to prove himself, to push himself, to show everyone that he could be an exceptional pony. Tarnish had grown, had put down roots, and now, he was starting to thrive, having come into his own. He had proven that he could reach distant horizons, survive exotic locales, and return home more or less intact.

At this moment, at this time, with the evidence of successes all around him, Tarnish was not happy, not satisfied; there was one pony that he wished was here, but she had not come. Her absence pained him more than he would ever admit, it galled him, it saddened him, and it even made him angry. But he would never admit it aloud.

Even worse, he didn’t have the luxury of showing his feelings. Now was the time for strength, to put his best face forward. To be the adult he was expected to be, the professional. If he slipped up, his boss would lecture him, and she would be right in doing so. Tarnish loved and hated those lectures in equal measure. Hated them, because they were lectures, and loved them, because they were proof that his dear friend still loved him no matter how many times he screwed up—something he did quite often.

Any other pony would have ran out of patience by now and given up.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Cobra!”

Tarnish, distracted but for a moment, returned his attention to Maud. It was now, at the hour of his departure, that it really sunk in that he was leaving her and his newborn daughter. It felt weird that he was going adventuring without her, though he had gone on a few adventures without her already. None of those adventures were quite like this one though.

“Give Mama hissy-kisses!”

For Tarnish, Maud was the only pony in the room. Tarnish plucked Pebble away from her, dropped the quiet filly in front of her just-as-quiet aunt Marble, and then swept Maud up into his embrace so he could whisk her around the room. He didn’t care if it was crowded, there was still enough room for them to dance. Pebble, taken from her mother, let out a breathy grunt of frustration, and then glared at her father with infantile fury while he waltzed her mother around the room.

The crowd got out of the way, backing up against the walls, and some of them vacated into the crowded kitchen. With a little more room, another couple began dancing, and Vinyl took the opportunity to toss Octavia around the room. It didn’t take long for Igneous to pull a protesting, slap-happy Cloudy into a tight embrace, and then the living room felt a little cramped.

“Igneous! Ponies are looking!”

“Let them,” he replied, emboldened.

Tarnish was oblivious. He looked into Maud’s eyes as he held her close and he moved with a fluid, easy grace that belied his long, lanky body. Everything was right, everything was perfect—any disagreement that he and Maud might have had been forgotten, for now. Where Maud had once led, when she was still teaching him to dance, he was now in control and he whirled her around.

The private dance was interrupted by Vinyl, who hooked her foreleg into Tarnish’s, and Octavia, who did the same with Maud. An impromptu line was formed, the four of them balancing in a bipedal stance. Igneous and Cloudy joined, and then it was time to stomp, a proud and noble earth pony tradition.

Now, Tarnish was no earth pony, but he lived as one and shared their connection to the earth. He understood the stomp and he went at it as enthusiastically as any earth pony. The house rattled and shook, it was a testament to earth pony construction skills, and soon, others joined. Pinkie Pie joined the line, dragging Twilight Sparkle along. Twilight had terrible balance and flailed about, her wings extended as she tried to remain upright.

Earth ponies stomped. It was just what they did. They did it before a war, after a war, before, during, and after a wedding ceremony, they did it when somepony had been born, and when somepony died. Stand up, grab a partner, and make a ruckus. It was a simple, straightforward affirmation to life and living.

There were legends that vast armies of earth ponies all stomping together had brought down cities.

Pebble, entranced, held in Marble’s embrace, got bounced around as Marble joined the stomp, and the little filly’s ears rose and fell with Marble’s movements. Clapping their paws, several diamond dogs joined, and it was a wonder that the house remained standing. There was even stomping from the crowd in the kitchen.

Octavia gave Vinyl a hearty shove and Maud did the same to Tarnish. Now, Tarnish found himself face to face with Vinyl, and the little albino mare reached out and gave Tarnish an affectionate slap across the muzzle, all while her hind hooves kept stomping. The earth ponies in the room hooted.

Twilight Sparkle watched, unable to turn away as Vinyl and Tarnish stood facing each other, forelegs now akimbo, mirroring one another as they danced. The stomping became elaborate, complicated, and then Tarnished bounced on one hind leg while kicking out the other. Vinyl did the same, and the two struck hind hooves together with perfect, expert timing, causing the earth ponies in the room to cheer, hoot, and whistle.

Front hooves now clopped together in a blur, pounding out a complex rhythm, which the watching earth ponies contributed to with their stomping. Tarnish had a manic gleam in his eyes, and Vinyl licked her teeth as a mischievous grin took over her muzzle. Hunkering down, crossing their forelegs over their barrels, the two began squat dancing, just like the cossack ponies of Stalliongrad.

The two unicorns kicked out, somehow managing to miss one another, and each moved with perfect timing, in such a way that only two good friends could do. After watching and observing, Kabuki rushed in, hunkered down, folded her arms over her chest, and began mimicking the complex movements of the squat dance, her floppy ears bouncing up and down in time to her kicks.

Rainbow Dash, her flushed, blushing cheeks peeking out like rosy apples from beneath the flaps of her ushanka, guzzled down her mug of cider, wiped her muzzle with the sleeve of her flight jacket, and then began hooting while pumping her hoof into the air. This didn’t last long though, as she was pulled into a rousing dance with Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle. Twilight didn’t dance so much as she was flung around by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, the pair keeping the damage that Twilight could do to a minimum.

Tarnish rose, no longer squatting down, and he pulled Vinyl up with him. Reaching out with his forelegs, he pulled her closer, lifted her off of her hooves, up into the air, and Vinyl, with a mock-indignant look, slapped Tarnish, first on one side, then on the other as she got him again on the return. His eyebrow arching, he tossed Vinyl away, as if he was discarding her, and Octavia caught the flying albino unicorn with ease.

A.K. Yearling, who watched everything with a smile, glanced at the clock on the wall. They had an hour left before their scheduled departure, and she knew that the hour would be fleeting. Turning away from the clock, she tipped back her mug of cider, and emptied it.

It was an hour that passed all too quickly and being the consummate professionals that they were, they stuck with their schedule. The Endeavour, a small, swift modern ship, was ready to go. Her sleek semi-rigid nacelle was iced over a bit, but her flaps were clear and free. Her steam turbine thrummed with power and it sounded as though she was eager to go.

Rainbow Dash had excused herself from the crowd and was now doing the preflight inspection. She flitted about in the wind and the snow, her keen eyes looking for any sign of trouble. On the ground, Daring Do watched her and there was now a sense of urgency shared among the four companions.

Doctor Caballeron was a bad sort, and there was no telling if he was on his way there, right now, this minute, with a good head start.

Standing in the snow, wearing a well-fitted woollen pea coat, Tarnish turned his head to look at Maud. He was tall, handsome, and something about the coat made him look distinguished, as though he was an officer perhaps, or some seasoned sailor. A pale grey, plain, woollen scarf knitted by Marble was wrapped around his neck; it stood out in sharp contrast to his green woollen coat and his chocolate brown pelt. A shearling ushanka covered his head, a gift from Rainbow Dash.

“I feel torn,” Tarnish admitted to his wife. “I want to stay here with you and Pebble.”

“I know,” Maud replied, looking up at her husband. “But you have a job to do and you, you are the best pony for that job. Go and make us proud, Tarnish. Just come home to me.”

Tarnish nodded, but he couldn’t make any words happen. He stood there, trying to make his salivary glands work, and he worried that his tongue would shrivel. Unable to respond, he ducked his head down and kissed Maud on the corner of the mouth, his muzzle lingering there for quite some time. His eyes closed and his tail swished from side to side.

A short distance away, Octavia pushed Vinyl away, breaking their kiss. She looked flustered, aroused even, and she giggled a bit. A little ribbon of drool stretched between them, which broke and fell to the snow. She looked Vinyl in the eye and said, “Right then, off you pop!”

“Wave goodbye!” Pinkie Pie said to Pebble, who was hung from a sling around Cloudy’s neck. Reaching out, she took Pebble’s stubby foreleg and gave it a wiggle so she could wave goodbye. In Pinkie’s current oblivious state, she didn’t notice that Marble was beside her, weeping in silence.

Limestone was nowhere to be seen.

Fat snowflakes began falling as the feral snowstorm grew in intensity, but the winds remained gentle for now. Igneous stood beside his wife, snowflakes clinging to his sideburns, and he gave Tarnish a solemn nod of goodbye. Cloudy, not satisfied with a nod or wave, strode forward, and she looked up at her son-in-law.

“Your mother couldn’t make it because of the weather,” Cloudy said to Tarnish. “Get down here, you big, lanky hairball! What have I told you about growing taller? Stop that!”

Obedient, Tarnish lowered his head and he felt Cloudy kiss him on the cheek. There was a flash of black and grey in his vision, then another kiss on the other side of his face. Blinking, he saw Octavia come into focus. Marble scooted forward, looking shy and sad, and it was clear that she wanted her goodbye kiss as well.

Tarnish gave her one, then focused on Pebble, who was slung from her grandmother’s neck. She was looking up at him with her curious little eyes, curious little eyes that glittered with intelligence. Tarnish was taken with her, she was beautiful, perfect, and Tarnish knew that he had to come home to her.

Hearing the crunch of snow, Tarnish turned his head and watched as Twilight approached. Snowflakes clung to her feathers and dusted her mane. One landed on her eyelash, and remained there until Twilight blinked. He was relieved that Twilight was here to send him off, but his heart longed to see another alicorn, one that was very precious and dear to him.

Princess Celestia had led him out of the darkness and guided him into the light.

“Find Skyreach, Tarnished Teapot,” Twilight commanded. “Do the impossible yet again. Listen to Daring Do and be careful. Who knows, she might let you be her First Mate next time. Her current First Mate is a bit flighty.”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted as she scooped up a some snow.

The snowball flew with unerring aim and bounced off of Twilight’s glittering magenta shield that manifested mere moments before impact. Tarnish laughed, he couldn’t help it, Twilight’s wry grin was infectious.

“I love you all,” Tarnish said to those gathered around him.

It was time to go. It was time to find Skyreach and get an answer to their questions.

Author's Notes:

Right then, off we pop.