In the library of Caffeinated’s ranch on Stallion Island, soft instrumental played in the background, filling the room with its harmonious melodies. Those in the know would recognize it as one of Lady Octavia's own compositions, one of her last pieces before she had announced her retirement from performing on stage. Sat across from his wife, Longshore was reading the Manehatten Times newspaper while Requiem read a book. He was studying the sport section. Air Raid’s first win had at last dropped from the pages, now they were speculating as to whether or not she could make it two for two this coming Sunday.

Finishing his paper just as Requiem turned the page, Longshore stretched on his seating pad. He smiled, imagining the kinky fun that was happening downstairs in the dungeon while they watched the house – not that they’d hear it above the soundproofing. “I think I should make sure the food hasn't gone bad.”

Requiem didn’t bother to look up from her book. The red and blue painted earth pony mare did however treat her husband to an eye roll though. As if he needed an excuse to dive into the buffet. “Do try to leave something for the after party, hmm?”

Outside the ranch, oblivious to the two inhabitants of the library, a bright yellow unicorn mare was trotting up to the garage door. In the rapidly darkening night sky, illuminated by the street lights and the full moon, Sparkplug smiled. She was on a mission, moving with a purpose and, after a brief explore, her goal was at hoof when she found the card key reader.

Ratchet, her big sister, had told her there was a party here at Mr. Caffy’s ranch that night and, seeing as she was too excited to sleep, Sparkplug had made sure she was dressed for it. Clad in her fluffy white bunny rabbit onesie pyjamas, she was ready for a slumber party. She was blissfully unaware as to the exact nature of the party in question as she slid her key card in the machine and let herself inside. “Hello?” she called out loudly. The garage held Air Raid’s Audi – whose engine she had personally rebuilt from nothing, and a Colt. One slot was filled with her family’s tools and equipment.

There were no ponies in there though. Cutely, Sparkplug pouted. In her foalish mind, she assumed it was a special slumber party. Then, putting two and two together, she reasoned it would be in the bedrooms. She knew where they were! Holding her bestest bunny, Mr. Flopsy, close to her, she trotted over to the garage door that lead to the back yard and, as it had the same card reader next to it, let herself through.

However, her trek around the back of Caffeinated and Thespian’s ranch was not to be without incident. No sooner had she stepped into the yard than she saw the swimming pool, the cool clear water shining in the moonlight. Sparkplug hated swimming pools. Ever since her accident, she had hated water in general. Wisely, as carefully as she could, the eighteen year old unicorn did her best to walk around it.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t careful enough. So focussed was she on the perceived slumber party that she didn’t look where she was going. She strayed too close to the pool and, with a yelp of fear, she dropped her beloved bunny into the water. When Mr. Flopsy hit the water, her yelp became a panicked scream.

As the glass doors that lead from the back yard to the ranch were closed though, Requiem and Longshore were completely unaware of the intruder outside. On the edge of the pool, Sparkplug saw her bunny on the surface of the water. Try as she might, she couldn’t reach him. Not knowing what else to do, she made her way around the pool to the glass doors. Casting a look over her shoulder, she saw her plush start to sink. In desperation, she tapped on the glass doors.

Inside, having just helped himself to a plate of daisy and watercress sandwiches, Longshore heard the tapping and, stopping to look, was sure he was high. He had to look twice, though on the second look the mixture of fear, panic and terror on the mare’s face shocked him to action. “Love,” he called to his wife, “we have a giant bunny at the back door, would you get it?”

Startled, Requiem blinked and, putting down her book, the earth pony walked out of the library. Straightaway she saw Sparkplug – Requiem recognised the unicorn from the race she had attended with the rest of the herd not a week prior in her bunny onesie and smiled. “Sure, I can get that.”

Requiem’s grin though was wiped from her face when, taking a few steps closer to the glass doors, she saw that Sparkplug was sobbing like a foal, tapping urgently at the glass door and pointing to the pool. Now Requiem was worried there was somepony with her, somepony who needed help. “Who is in the pool?” she asked as she slid open the door.

“Mr...Mr Fl-Flopsy!” Sparkplug wailed, tears leaking like faucets down her bright yellow cheeks, “He c-can't swim! Help, please!”

Thinking quickly, Requiem flicked on the full backyard lighting. In the new light provided by the lanterns placed all around the backyard, she saw the floating bunny rabbit become waterlogged and he started to sink. As soon as Sparkplug saw her plush sink into the pool, she properly freaked out. “He’s gonna get hurt!” she screeched, crying on the tiled floor, “Please...help him!”

Acting fast, and with no thought to her own safety, Requiem dived into the pool and she easily scooped up the toy as it went down. The loud splash of her entry into the water though brought Longshore to the back door with a plate of food in hoof. Moments later, and Requiem climbed out with a very wet bunny on her back. “Where's Belle when you need her?” she groused good-naturedly as she dripped pool water onto the tiles.

“Playing with a mile of rope, I'm sure…” Longshore’s sarcasm, though well meant, was met with a deadpan look from his partner. He then looked at their new guest. A whole raft of faces and names ran through his head. “Are you...Sparkplug, from the race?”

“Questions inside, Mr. Flopsy and I need to dry off!” Requiem cut across her husband and, wisely, Longshore didn’t question why she had a rather wet bunny plush on her back and instead he took his cue and rubbed Requiem down with a towel he appropriated from the cabinet near the pool after setting the tray of food down on a low table near the snivelling young mare.

Thankfully, as Sparkplug backed off fearfully from the pool, she found the patio was big enough that she was no longer near the dreaded water. “I'm Sparky,” she whimpered, not nearly as enthusiastic as she'd otherwise be, her ears well back to her scalp inside her bunny onesie. “Is Mr. Flopsy gonna be okay?”

“I think so, I just need to go check him out inside.” While Mr. Flopsy was a plush, Requiem could easily see that Sparkplug’s concern for him was very real. After a quick flick of her ears to Longshore, she squeezed out the vast majority of the excess water when her stallion blocked the view of the bunny twisted like a pretzel.

Longshore couldn’t block the sound of spattering water. “Is he...um...is he gonna be special now, too?” Sparkplug asked in a scared tone.

Before she answered that, Requiem thought about what little she did actually know for sure about the young sobbing pony sat on the patio next to her. That wasn’t much, but she knew a little. The psychiatrist in her naturally wanted to know more. “Isn't Mr. Flopsy always special?”

“He's my bestest friend!” Sparkplug squeaked and, smiling, she adorably wiped her eyes on the sleeves of her fluffy white onesie. “It’s just that Jackie says I was special after I fell in a pool…”

That gave Requiem a little more insight than she had before. “I don't know if Mr. Flopsy can be as special as you, but maybe he is a little more special with understanding.” She said as Longshore finished drying her with the towel. While no Belle-dry, it would have to suffice. “Come inside and we'll make sure Mr. Flopsy is okay.” Taking the towel, she wrapped it around the sodden bunny.

With all the trust of a foal, Sparkplug obediently followed Requiem and Longshore inside the brightly lit ground floor of the ranch. “I told him to be careful,” she sniffed, still more than a little upset by the whole experience. “Water is bad.”

Requiem processed that too. Regressive foalish behaviour, extreme phobia of water, an incident in her youth, it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. “Too much water is bad,” she agreed, “but I do like to take a bath.”

Once the two mares were inside, Longshore retrieves the plate of food he had been enjoying. “Do you want something to eat, Sparkplug?” he asked, sensing an opportunity to go get some more.

Almost instantly, Sparkplug perked up and hopped in place on the carpeted floor of the library like the bunny she was dressed as. “Is there cake?” she asked hopefully, looking about for any signs of cake. “Ratchy said there was a party.” It didn’t seem like any party she had ever been to.

With the towel in hoof, Requiem squeezed out the last of the water from the bunny. “Here is Mr. Flopsy,” she smiled her best warm motherly smile as she passed the now dry plush back to its grateful owner. “I think he is a little scared so you should hold him close.”

“We have a few different cakes,” Longshore grinned. This mare was just adorable, though he lacked the innate insight of his wife. “You can see which one you like.”

Like she was holding the national treasure of Equestria and the royal regalia of the Princesses, Sparkplug took Mr. Flopsy and held him very close indeed, kissing his head all over. “I like the cake with carrot in it.” She said between her kisses.

“You must have met Ms. Thespian,” Requiem winked at Sparkplug, “Because that is one of her two favourite cakes to make.”

“Yay!” the overgrown foal bounced eagerly on her hooves and then, finally she remembered her manners. Wheeljack always liked her to be a polite little pony. After all, please was a very magic word. “Please may I have some?”

Not for the first time, Longshore was reminded of his filly when she had been, well, a filly. “Yes you may.” Cutting a very adult sized slice of the carrot cake, the earth pony stallion placed it on a plate for her. “I like this one,” he pointed to the one he had been enjoying. “Black Forest, it has cherries in it.”

“Thank you for my cake. Mr. Flopsy likes cake!” Sparkplug then made a very cute show of feeding the bunny before a thought occurred to her. One that had been bothering her but she was unable to express it. “Um...excuse me? Are you the only ones here?” A party should have more ponies than this.

“For now we are the only ones on this floor.” Requiem answered somewhat diplomatically, gracefully skirting all the adult things that were happening downstairs that she was sure were too grown up for big little fillies. “I'm sure the others will be here soon though. Is there a game you like to play?”

Luckily for Requiem, the well-timed distraction worked like a Luna given charm. When she wasn’t muzzle deep in engine parts, Sparkplug loved parties and party games. “I like musical statues!”

Requiem was just familiar enough with that game that she knew how to play. “Do you want to be the first spotter?”

Longshore raised a hoof, quickly swallowing the sandwich he had been enjoying. “After we eat our food, love.”

That drew Sparkplug’s attention back to the cake. The very, very tasty cake. She couldn’t remember a cake that was as awesome as this one was. “This is nice cake. Mr. Flopsy says it’s yummy.” She leant in and listened to him as she imagined him speak to her. “He also says thank you for letting us in to the party.” It still didn’t seem like a party to her.

A thought then occurred to Requiem. Namely that Sparkplug was here when she obviously shouldn’t be. “Did you invite anypony else, besides Mr. Flopsy to the party with you?”

Like a switch, Sparkplug’s mood changed from upbeat and cheerful to sullen as she shook her head, the ears of her bunny onesie flopping here and there. “Jackie and Ratchy are at a party in town. At somewhere called Trixie's. Hoist is having a party with a mare at home.”

Longshore didn’t have to be a psychiatrist to read Sparkplug’s mood. “Feeling left out then?” he asked, to which Requiem rolled her eyes and mouth, ‘Duh!’

“I wanted to go with Ratchy and Jackie, but they said special fillies need their bedtime…” Sparkplug snorted, suddenly annoyed and giving vent to her temper. “It's not fair! I like pyjama parties too!”

Requiem had to really fight in order to not laugh out loud. This filly in mare’s clothing was so adorable she was sure she had diabetes now. Watching her logic at work was beautiful. “Long, I didn't bring my PJ's.”

Now it was Longshore’s turn to roll his eyes at his wife. With a snort he said, like it was blindingly obvious, “Check Thespian's closet, love.” As he chuckled, Requiem made the ever popular and instantly recognised ‘Ohhh’ look.

“It has to be a PJ party, it's after dark.” Sparkplug’s logic was relentless.

“You two eat. Longshore will get you a drink too, sweetie. I'll find us some PJ's.” And with that, Requiem vanished upstairs, her destination Thespian’s costume closet, so fast one might have believed she had teleported.

Poor Longshore, who was still admiring the young unicorn’s logic, was caught unprepared as his wife zoomed up the stairs. “Us, err, yes, care for a drink, Sparkplug?”

“Yes please!” She was rather proud of herself for remembering her please and thank you. She set aside her half eaten carrot cake – Mr. Flopsy had said that she could eat his bit. “Can we have some juice please?”

“You can!” Longshore quickly recovered, his smile never faltering. “We have apple, orange, and papaya.”

“Pap-ay-a...hmm.” Sparkplug rolled the unfamiliar word around like she was trying it out, seeing how it felt. In the end she decided to go with what she knew. “I'd like orange please. Mr. Flopsy would like orange too, please.” Nodding, the earth pony stallion poured out the two juices, one in a small brandy glass. He then made a coffee for himself and an orange spritzer for Requiem, when she came down. “Asante!” Sparkplug beamed, looking very pleased with herself, “that's zebra for thank you. Ms. Thespy learned it me.”

Longshore was quite impressed. “Do you have stripes under you PJ's, Sparkplug? I thought that was a zebra talking to me.”

Concentrating hard, Sparkplug took the juice in her magic and she blushed a little. Of course she didn’t have stripes! “No, I'm just yellow, like a new crayon.” She then thought for a moment, looking at the stairs that Requiem had used. “Are you two special someponies? Jackie and Ratchy want someponies. That's why they went to Trixie's party. Hoist has a pony too.” She whispered to Longshore, “he was kissing her when I left the house. I want a somepony too, but Jackie says I'm too little.”

“By saying you're little,” Requiem said as she came back down the stairs, now dressed in the finest puppy onesie that Thespian had in her closet, “do they mean you're young?”

Eagerly, the unicorn nodded, “Cos I'm not little! I'm as big as Ratchet!”

“Do you think you're young still?”

“I guess so,” Sparkplug shrugged her shoulders at Requiem’s question. “I have to go a school for special ponies. I like the school here way better than the one in Canterlot.”

Requiem had a sense of what was frustrating the younger mare, but without her background, it was just conjecture. “When you get older you have to trade some fun for some responsibility. Making engines go fast is still fun for you, right?” she asked, carefully watching her response.

“Yes!” Sparkplug bounced extremely energetically, so much so that she almost spilled her juice. “I love making them vroom better!”

“Does your brothers and sister have as much fun as you, or does it seem like more work for them?”

“I have more fun than them,” Sparkplug giggled. She had fun. To her it was a game. Not that she didn’t know what she was doing, far from it. She just had fun doing it. “When Jackie drops the wrench on his hoof cos he's rushing he says bad words!”

Requiem was in no doubt about that. She assumed all stallions used bad words when they dropped tools on their hooves. “Part of growing up is you make your job more serious and less fun. Maybe you can help them see that it can still be fun?”

“But it is fun!” she giggled like the overgrown foal she was deep down. “Matching up the right shiny bits and putting them in the right place! Wohoo!” As she spoke, Longshore finished his food and looked over to see if Sparkplug was done with hers. She just had a mouthful of cake left. “Raid didn't believe I can make engines vroom, just cos I don't know the names of the shiny bits, but I showed her.” With that, she snaffled the last of her cake. “That was super yummy!”

“Ready to play musical statues?” Requiem asked as she had finished off her plate as well.

“Yes please!” she answered very quickly. “Mr. Flopsy likes to play too. He's really good, 'cept earlier when he fell over…”

About to start, a thought occurred to Requiem. “What music to you like to play for this game?” she asked, in no small part because Octavia’s classical cello music was still playing on the stereo sound system. Not exactly the right ‘feel’ for a party game.

“Have you got anything fun, like DJ Moonbeams stuff?” Sparkplug asked innocently, unaware that the mare herself was at this moment downstairs in the dungeon.

Longshore couldn’t help but smirk at that request. “I think Serenity has the entire collection here at the house.”

“I like it, it's fun!” Sparkplug enthused, “I really like Dance All Night. I did once. Jackie was cross because I played it real late. He said a lot of bad words, and Ratchet told him off for getting angry.”

Snickering, mostly because as parents they had been there and done that many times themselves, Longshore picked out the DJ Moonbeams track that Sparkplug had requested and placed it in the stereo. Down in the basement a pink unicorn's ear twitched and a shiver ran down her body. She glanced over at a very innocent looking teal unicorn. “Love,” the stallion conceded defeat, “I don't know how to set this CD to random pause.”

Giving a dramatic sigh, one that she was sure her husband knew the meaning of, Requiem went over and fiddled with the CD player’s controls. Her look of smug victory was unbearable. “That should do it.” When the music came over the speakers, Sparkplug began to dance very...enthusiastically. She was reminiscent of Princess Twilight but not as good. Longshore danced in a similar fashion but Requiem couldn’t even pretend to dance poorly. “Do you think Mr. Flopsy can take first turn to see who doesn't freeze?”

“He can! He likes this game!” Sparkplug clapped her hooves together, which made no noise in her onesie and she set her bunny down where he could watch. Again, Longshore danced, but he was an agent. Requiem really could dance. After the first pause both of them froze like perfect statues until the music started again. Just like before, Sparkplug’s dance was most uncoordinated, and she was the last to freeze, then she giggled when they danced. “He says we all good!”

The next time the music paused, Longshore staggered a couple of steps while Requiem was standing on one hoof like a statue. Once the music started again Sparkplug pointed to the hastily recovering stallion. “Mr. Flopsy says you are out!”

“He got me fair and square.” Smiling, he went over and sat down by Mr. Flopsy’s side to watch the rest of the game be played out. It carried on and, after the seventh pause, Sparkplug eliminated herself by trying to copy Requiem's one hoofed pose. She overbalanced and, flapping her legs like a bird, fell over.

As Requiem clapped her hooves, the game began all over again. Since Longshore was the first out, it was his turn to watch and spot any moving statues. Sparkplug shared a hoof bump with the red and blue painted earth pony and danced again, at last having a great time at the party. This time around, Requiem fell over on the sixth pause. As it happened, Sparkplug also failed on the sixth, but just after the older pony. She was attempting a one hoof-stand, wobbled and landed on her face with a heartfelt, “Owww...”

“You're right,” Requiem breathed a little heavily, “Mr. Flopsy is good at this.”

“I thought I saw an ear wiggle,” Longshore added, “but I wasn't sure.”

Completely distracted from the sharp pain in her muzzle, Sparkplug giggled where she fell on the floor. “He's super good, like the Power Ponies!”

Quick as a flash, Requiem was on that like steam on a rice pudding. She sensed another ‘in’ with the young pony and shamelessly she exploited it. “Really,” she said, her eyes twinkling, “and which Power Pony is the bestest?”

“Masked Matter Horn is the bestest,” Sparkplug spoke with undisguised enthusiasm. She really, really loved the Matter Horn. “Because she's a real strong unicorn who can make all sorts of useful things out of magic to help the team beat the Mane-iac!”

“Back in a moment!” Again, Requiem took off upstairs, leaving her husband alone with their guest and her bunny.

“Do you like Power Ponies, Mr. Longshore?” asked Sparkplug, now her attention had been steered onto what was her second favourite subject after engines and making them go faster.

“I have it on good authority that it is good, because Ms. Thespian says it is good. My grandfoal, Shadow, is only one so she doesn't watch it yet.” Longshore quietly thanked all the alicorns for that, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to escape it for very much longer.

“My bigger brother, Jackie says its rubbish.” Sparkplug snorted derisively, as if her older brother didn’t know what he was talking about. Which he didn’t. Obviously. “He likes old puppet shows, like Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Terrahawks. You can see the strings!”

Smiling, Longshore stole a sandwich from the buffet table that was begging to be eaten and laughed, “I like those too, but one shouldn't call newer shows rubbish any more than you should call older shows rubbish.”

Unprepared for such a reasoned argument, the bright yellow unicorn cocked her head to one side, the bunny ears of her onesie following her movement. She thought on that and frowned a little. “You is right. I was almost mean. I'm sorry. I don't like mean ponies. Miss Sunrise was mean to my friend at school in Canterlot, so I got her back.”

Halfway back down to the ground floor, Requiem paused on the stairs to listen, making sure to keep herself out of sight. “You did?” asked Longshore, suddenly curious as to how this sweet little mare could have enacted her revenge. “My work has me deal with mean ponies too.”

“Uh huh!” Sparkplug’s blue eyes were alive with mischief of which she was quite proud. “My friend had a weewee accident at school, and Miss Sunrise got mad and shouted at her, which made her wee more, and she cried, and had to stand in the corner. So I put jelly in her horseshoes!”

“Hmmm,” Longshore saw his wife’s shadow on the stairs and had to really fight to not erupt in giggles, “was Miss Sunrise upset by that?”

“She was, but she didn't know it was me! But I wasn't letting her shout at my friend. It was only weewee!”

Longshore fancied he knew of ponies like this Miss Sunrise. “I find ponies get mean when they don't get what they want, and can get meaner when I don't give them what they want. Then they just get mad when I point out how silly it is that they want. Like blue towels in the dressing room and all I have is white. I tell them they can bring their own blue towels.”

Even Sparkplug laughed at that. “That's silly. It's just a towel.” However, that mischievous look was still in her eyes. “Then, another time, she shouted at me. She said good mares don't go out with mares, and good stallions don't date other stallions.” She made a snort through her nose, “I said she was silly. Jackie likes stallions and he's a good pony. She made me stand in the corner and I missed my lunch. Jackie yelled at her for that. He used a whole lot of bad words.”

Shaking his head, Longshore wasn’t surprised to hear that. Canterlot was Canterlot, after all. “Other times I find that ponies are mean to be mean because they think they have power. I don't hire them and they find how little power they have.”

“You're cool.” Just like that, Sparkplug made up her mind of Longshore’s coolness. She giggled and shared a hoof bump with him. “I think Jackie would like you.”

“Maybe.” Requiem chose that moment to walk back into the library. From what she had heard, she really liked this little mare even more than before. On her back, she bore the fruit of her search, namely one of Thespian's Power Pony plushes, The Masked Matter Horn. All the herd’s foals had played with them, so she saw Sparkplug as no exception.

As soon as she saw the plush sitting happily on Requiem’s back, the bright yellow mare let out a very big, very loud and very long squee of pure delight. “Matter Horn!”

Playing along, Requiem looked around behind her and then she jumped as if startled. “She snuck up on me!”

Sparkplug’s squee became a peal of laughter. She totally and completely bought the act. “That's cos she's the bestest!”

“Just remember she lives here,” said Requiem as she hoofed over the Power Pony plush, which the unicorn took in her glowing blue magical aura. “Do you think she is better at musical statues than Mr. Flopsy?”

“I'll remember.” Sunrise was already a forgotten memory as the young mare looked conflicted at the two plushies like she was seriously weighing up the pros and cons of each. Ultimately, so as not to upset her bunny, she covered Mr. Flopsy’s ears. “Matter Horn is better.”

Leaning into her young friend, Requiem whispered, “Maybe at some things, but I'll say that there may be things Mr. Flopsy can do that Matter Horn cannot do.”

“Mr. Flopsy is best at helping me sleep at night and keeping the bad dreams away.”

“That is very nice of Mr. Flopsy to do.” Requiem offered her a nuzzle, which she accepted before resetting the CD player with the DJ Moonbeams track. “It is my turn to watch, are you ready to play again?” Sparkplug’s happy bounce and clap of her hooves told her all she needed to know. This time around, Longshore lasted until the fourth pause of the CD, while Sparkplug gave out in the fifth. As the Matter Horn plush was well loved by a lot of foals, she toppled over just after the unicorn during the dancing.

Breathing heavily, Sparkplug looked at the plush on its side. In her mind she was having a rest. “Aw! She must be tired, Ms. Requiem.”

“Since Matter Horn is tired of dancing, maybe we could do something else?” Longshore suggested waving a hoof over to the games cupboard in the library. “The games are in that cabinet. There’s pin the tail on the pony – Celestia edition - a bucket of blocks, checkers as well as chutes and ladders.”

“You have chutes and ladders!” Sparkplug let out another excited squee. In Canterlot it was snakes and ladders, but she found the snakes a little scary. “Can we please play this?” she pointed to the board game, “I like chutes better than snakes.”

That was it. They were playing chutes and ladders. Taking the game out, Longshore set the game up on the floor where they all had room to get around the board. Mr. Flopsy chose to have the orange playing piece, because like Sparkplug said, it reminded him of carrots. Pushes the orange piece towards the bunny, Longshore took the white one for himself. The bright yellow unicorn chose yellow, her coat colour and Requiem took blue, the colour of her eyes. Last to choose, Matter Horn selected green.

In the end, Longshore won the game, though Sparkplug came a very close second. It was as she was giving him a celebratory hoof bump that she made a huge yawn. She was after all awake a long time past her bedtime. “Oh, excuse me...”

Starlight, who had left the dungeon with Selene when Mapper had taken out the spiked club to use on Serenity, called out, “Mom? Where are you”

“We’re in the library, Star.”

Moments later, Starlight and Selene walked in together. Starlight smiled when he saw the unicorn mare dressed in the bunny onesie. That at least explained why his mother was wearing a puppy one, and it also explained the music. “Oh, we have a guest!”

“Hi!” Sparkplug greeted the two newcomers with a smile and a hoof bump. At last there were more ponies at the party! “Are you two here for the party too?”

First of all, Selene caught Requiem’s look. Then she caught the ear flicks and responded that she understood. “Yes, we are, can we play with you?”

“Yes please!” the unicorn nodded so hard that her bunny ears flopped about. “I'm Sparkplug! You can call me Sparky.”

“Hi, I'm Selene, and this is my husband, Starlight.” As chutes and ladders had eight game pieces, there were more than enough for them all to play. Selene opted for the black piece and Starlight went for the purple one. After an intense and hard played game, Sparkplug eventually won, beating Requiem’s piece by one square to get to the one hundred square first. She celebrated her win by a dance and a sing along to “Dance All Night.”

~ ~ ~

“After you then, Tempest.” As they were the first to leave the dungeon, after Selene and Starlight’s early departure, Luna held the door to the dungeon open for her friend. “I’m afraid I need some fresh air after that, and I need it fast.” She couldn’t help but feel like she did after a visit to Room 101 located underneath the royal palace.

“No joke,” Tempest shuddered in the hall outside the dungeon. She still had the need to get out. “I was worried we would have a repeat of the incident from a few years ago that split us up. Serenity's need to bleed and the blood Airy has watered the ground with.” The violet weather mare shook her head. “I think we will survive this.”

“I'm certain that you will,” Luna smiled and, as they walked together up the stairs, she offered Tempest a comforting reassuring nuzzle. Something though gave the alicorn pause. That something being the sounds of an excited foal and the unmistakeable sound of a DJ Moonbeams song coming upstairs. It was Dance All Night, a song she had written to annoy Celestia with. “What in Equestria is that?” she wondered out loud.

“I don't know,” Tempest was just as mystified as Luna was. Not at the song but at the sound of the foal playing. It sounded like there was a party going on upstairs. What was Requiem playing ay? “Anypony underage would be at a sitters, not here.”

“That's what I thought,” Luna listened again, “That's definitely Requiem's voice I hear. Now I'm curious. Shall we investigate?” With a silent nod between them, Tempest agreed that they would. Not only did she want to know what was going on, as they crept stealthily up the stairs, she had a herd-mate to chew out.

Longshore was the first of the five ponies to notice the Princess’s presence when she and Tempest stood at the open door to the library. “Welcome to the party, Luna.” He glanced at his herd-mate and snickered, “Does Wily and Airy know you stole their date?”

Tempest, who had a whole head of steam built up and ready to unleash on Requiem and / or Longshore, found it somewhat put out when she saw the unicorn in the fluffy white bunny pyjamas. She wasn’t expecting to see her here. “Sparky?”

“I didn't steal...what is it now, ah, Honey from them!” Princess Luna giggled, happy with herself that she had successfully recalled Wildfire’s nickname for her friend from her memory. “She is here completely un-stolen!”

At the use of her name, Sparkplug looked up from the chutes and ladders board – it had been reset for a third game – and had she not been sat down, she would have fallen over. “Oh hey Stormy!” it wasn’t her though that caused her reaction. It was Luna. Her mouth dropped open in shock. “Look! It's the Sorceress!”

Stepping into the library, Tempest looked around and frowned. “Is any of the other pit crew here?” she asked, to which Requiem launched into a furious set of ear flicks that grew more rapid as the 'Face of Anger' crossed the violet weather mare’s face. Tempest, about to show why she was called ‘Stormy’, instead chose to do her deep breathing exercises before she said anything else.

“Hello Sparky,” Luna smiled and, while Tempest did her breathing exercises, she stepped into the large well stocked library, the alicorn supressing a grin because “Dance All Night” was still playing on the stereo. She remembered writing that specifically to annoy Celestia. “It's nice to see you again. Are you having a party with Longshore and Requiem?”

“Uh huh!” Sparkplug beamed happily, pointing to the game set up between herself, Longshore and the other two ponies, “and with Starlight and Selene! We played musical statues, and chutes and ladders! It was a fun party, way better than the ones Ratchy and Jackie went to! We had cake!”

“Cake?” That did get Luna’s attention. It was rare indeed that she got to have cake, so she was determined to make the most of this chance. “May we have some?”

Longshore, ever the agent, was quick on his hooves. Not just because there was a Princess present, but because if Luna and Tempest were up here with them, it meant the party downstairs was winding up, and that meant competition for the cake. “I'll get us all some cake. Drinks with that?” he then went and got a moonshine for the Princess and another juice for Sparkplug.

Tempest, who had at last calmed down, turned her attention to the bunny wearing unicorn. “Have you ever gone flying Sparky?”

Requiem’s ears went straight up. “Flying?”

The bright yellow unicorn shook her head, the board game for the moment forgotten. “No, Miss Tempest.”

Just then, Longshore came back into the library carrying a loaded tray with cakes and drink for all the ponies in the room. He was just in time to hear the word ‘flying’. “No tossing cake at ponies from above, please.”

Taking her second piece of carrot cake on a little plate, Sparkplug giggled as she imagined flying with the Sorceress over Miss Sunrise’s school and dive bombing her with cake. Gratefully, Luna took hers in turn and savoured a big un-Princess-like bite before she spoke again. “We wondered if you'd like to join us in a flight, Requiem?”

Oh, by the alicorn’s fetlock did she want to join them in a flight. “Freefall?”

Luna had a very playful glint in her turquoise eye. “Of course!”

As she had taken a big sip of her juice, Sparkplug suddenly leapt up to her hooves and squeezed her hind legs together. All those juices she had drank that night had gone straight through her. “Oooh! I need the potty!” she then zipped off to the toilet in a bunny shaped blur. Requiem went with her to make sure that she found the bathroom alright.

While they were both gone, and while Starlight and Selene were enjoying their respective cakes and drinks, Luna’s mind was working, as was Tempest’s. “She made it here on her own, Longshore?” the alicorn asked, relishing the taste of her own moonshine.

“She did,” Longshore answered carefully, lest he risk upsetting Tempest again. Nopony wanted ‘The Storm’ set free. “She was fine till she moved through the back yard. She dropped her bunny in the pool.”

Tempest though wasn’t so easily coddled. “How?” she asked, eyes narrowed.

Longshore had expected that though. “She said that Ratchet and Wheeljack went out to Trixie’s Place in town and Hoist was watching her. Hoist also had a marefriend over and after she went to bed, she snuck out. She overheard Ratchet saying Air Raid would be at a party over here.”

Unable to stop herself, Luna giggled brightly. It was the very serious expression on the pegasus’s face that set her off. It reminded her greatly of Celestia’s reproachful look she used to give her when she had been stealing from the pantry. “As if you never snuck out of the house, Tempest? I myself am guilty of a few night time raids to the pantry. That does explain the bunny pyjamas, though.”

As if offended, Tempest stuck her nose in the air and sniffed. “I never snuck out. I simply didn't go home.” She then sighed deeply, her supressed temper at last evaporating to the ether. “It's not her fault, but I'm not happy with her sitter.”

Cautiously, in case Tempest should fly off the handle at any moment, Longshore rested his hoof on his friend’s shoulder. “She is a child in an adult’s body, Stormy.”

“Yes she is, Longshore.” Luna nodded solemnly, looking quite thoughtful at that. “That was why I was impressed she made it here on her own. I dread to think if she had ended up elsewhere.”

“Well, this is a pretty safe neighbourhood, and anypony would think, dressed like that, she is part of this herd.” Tempest said reasonably, in her mind’s eye she could easily see Mapper and Serenity and even Wildfire dressed up in all manner of outlandish garb.

The lunar alicorn inclined her head, conceding that point to Tempest. “That is a good point, Tempest, very well made.”

Coming out of the bathroom, all freshened up, Sparkplug was all giddy, like she got on the last day of school and the first day of vacation. “The Sorceress is here! I can’t believe the Sorceress is here!”

Requiem couldn’t help but giggle. “She wouldn't turn down a Ms. Thespian party, Sparky.” Sparkplug giggled at that and, as she walked back with the painted earth pony mare to the library, she tried and failed to stifle a yawn. It was getting late and it had been a fun party.

“Would you like to go flying to get home, Sparky?” Luna asked when the bright yellow unicorn returned from her bathroom break.

Immediately, Sparkplug bounced happily on her hooves. “Yes please Sorceress...um, I mean Princess Sorceress Luna, I want to fly home, please.”

“Ms. Requiem is also going flying so I was going to carry her.” Luna smiled, “Are you okay with riding Ms. Tempest?”

“Okay!” Sparkplug was more than happy to ride with Tempest. She clutched Mr. Flopsy tight to her chest and she hugged the Masked Matter Horn plush one last time. “Good bye Matterhorn, it was fun playing chutes and ladders with you.”

By then, Thespian, Caffeinated, Coffee Bean, Moonbeak, Tinkerer, Belle, Recital and Trumpet all came up the stairs from the dungeon, the party there having been concluded. Topper and Bluefeather remained in the dungeon, both waiting for Lavender and Cyclone to come out of their respective suits. The rest of the ponies of the herd, as well as the friends, had retired to the club rooms. “I see the party up here has started!” Thespian exclaimed, “Hello Sparky, I hope my house sitters have treated you well.”

“Ms. Thespian!” Sparkplug galloped over and gave the older mare a bone crushing hug that Wildfire would have been proud of. “We played musical statues and had cake! Ms. Requiem let me play with Matter Horn, but she lives here and we have to go now.”

In response to Thespian’s question, unspoken and sent via ear flicks, Requiem answered with ear flicks of her own. “Tempest,” the blue / grey mare smiled, “maybe you could take a cake with you, so that Sparky and her family can have some tomorrow.”

Tempest shrugged nonchalantly as the other guests who had come up from the basement level all milled around the buffet table and helped themselves to the food on offer. Moonbeak was particularly interested in the cinnamon rolls. “I can try to deliver a cake with no slices missing.”

“Thank you!” Sparkplug again hugged Thespian, “You're the best!” Standing by his wife, Caffeinated did a few ear flicks followed by Requiem, and the orange zebra stallion went and brought out the bright yellow unicorn’s favourite cake from the kitchen. “It's carrot! Look Mr. Flopsy! It's carrot cake!” she then hugged Caffeinated just like she hugged Thespian. “Thank you, Mr. Caffy, and my bunny thanks you too.”

Caffeinated was very pleased he was of earth pony stock. Otherwise, the unicorn’s hug would’ve hurt. “Just watch what the bunny eats so he doesn't get a tummy ache, okay?”

“I will, Mr. Caffy!” she finally released the tight hug and she went over to Tempest, an eager look on her face. “Are we flying now? Will it be high?”

“I will go as high as you let me go,” she whispered to her young companion as she got the cake secured on her back. “I think the Sorceress going to go very high though.”

“Okay! I like to go high, Ms. Tempest.”

Thespian’s brain worked as they – Tempest and Luna, Requiem and Sparkplug, got ready to leave. “I believe I'll leave Raid out of the loop, and let the crew tell her about this in due course.” There was no point making a scene and spoiling the party, not when all her guests were having a good time.

“Probably for the best, Thespian,” Luna agreed. “Are you ready, Requiem, we have a sleepy filly to get home.”

“I'm not sleepy!” Sparkplug protested, before promptly yawning.

“Would you like a ride to the balcony, Sparky?” Tempest asked as Requiem and Luna giggled at the widely yawning mare. They were still giggling when she hopped up onto Tempest’s back, holding her treasured bunny tight.

As she watched Tempest lead the way with Sparkplug on her back, Luna bent her head and spoke softly to Requiem, who was walking beside her. “I hope my filly is as bright and well-mannered as that one, Requiem.”

Requiem considered that on the way up the stairs to the first floor and the balcony that overlooked the pool and the back yard. “Dusky turned out okay, so I have high hopes for your next one. Starlight turned out okay, but I was surprised he came out early.”

“You’re right.” Luna commented, looking at Requiem as they walked to the balcony. Mostly because the last time she was stood there she watched her son getting rutted senseless by four stallions. That had been an experience. “You're interested in her, aren’t you? I can tell.”

Requiem let out a little sigh, though she didn’t mean it. “I'm that obvious? I would need her history, but age regression isn't that common.”

Luna giggled, “You're almost licking your lips!” the last pony she had seen with a look on her like that was her dear sister when she had dived muzzle first into a red velvet cake. “Her history I'm sure I can provide for you, along with her school records. I could scan her, like I did for Wildfire, if that would give you more of an insight?”

“That depends, would she notice such a scan?”

“No, she'll just get a warm fuzzy feeling and space out for a few moments.” Although, if she was honest with herself, Luna was certain that Sparkplug spaced out all the time. Shaking her head, she chided herself. That had been unkind. After all, the young mare had been part of the team that had kept her wife safe in the big race.

“Something you can do in the air, along with a cloud walking spell?” Requiem offered, watching Tempest getting ready to take off.

Without further ado, Tempest spread her violet wings and took off into the clear warm summer night sky with a powerful stroke but she rose slowly so that her passenger could easily hold on. She was ready, should the need arise, to swoop up an errant bunny should it try some free fall too. After giving them some space, Requiem climbed onto Luna's back. “To the great beyond!”

As Sparkplug whooped cheerfully, Luna nodded and, with a flap of her own very powerful wings, the Princess took off from the balcony into her night sky. “Seeing as I'm casting the cloud walking spell on both of you, I'll include you in the scan. Then you'll see what I see.”

If Requiem was licking her lips before, she was salivating at that idea. “Now to see how clearly I see,” she said softly, so just the Princess heard her. Louder, she called out, “Stormy! Let Sparky know she is going to have her hooves tickled by the Sorceress so she can walk on clouds!”

Tempest looked over her shoulder and saw a very excited bunny. “Did you hear that, Sparky?”

“I heard!” Sparkplug giggled loudly, “I'm super good at not being tickled! Even Jackie can't tickle me!”

“Let's see then, Sparky, how good you are…” Luna signalled Tempest to aim for an open bit of sky, with no clouds ahead, and to fly slow as she prepared to cast her spell. The bright yellow mare was about to say something to that when her jaw went slack and her eyes were suddenly vacant and glassy. A second later, as the complex piece of magic took effect, both the unicorn’s and the earth pony’s eyes shone with a white light. Luna, from her point of view, saw it like a thick fog slowly clearing to reveal a most heart-warming scene. It was a birthday party, Sparkplug’s fifth, if the banners, streamers and party balloons were to be believed. It looked to be a typical villa in the Lower Noble Quarter of Canterlot. There was a swimming pool, lots of ponies playing in the water, her family serving food and watching the foals play.

As she watched, the scene progressed with a pool game, something involving a soccer ball and inflatable ride on ponies. It was one of the most fun things Luna had ever seen. But then, without any warning, Sparkplug had her mane caught in the water vent.

The alicorn saw the uproar, she felt the panic like it was the most vivid of dreams. She had to remind herself this really happened. Several adults levitated the foals from the pool, and Wheeljack dived in after a second to try and get his sister out. He failed. Again and again he came up for air. After the fourth attempt, she could see Sparkplug stop struggling, her eyes closed, chest still and her body limp. Eventually, Wheeljack magically severed the stricken pony’s mane and pulled her up.

As soon as she was on the tiles around the pool, Luna saw Ratchet doing emergency CPR on her unresponsive sister while Hoist called for an ambulance. Then, there was a swirl of magical fog – she assumed it was because Sparkplug wasn’t conscious to witness these events. The scene cut ahead like a DVD on fast forward through a blur of hospital shots, of doctors and nurses talking with the family with Sparkplug present.

The general consensus was brain damage. Most of what the medical ponies said was utter gibberish. Again, Luna assumed that as she was scanning Sparkplug’s mind, and as she didn’t understand the big complicated words, she didn’t bother to remember them.

Once more, the magical fog heralded a scene change. This time it was a fast forward of two years. Sparkplug, now seven, was in a regular school. In the next instant, a blink of an eye, she was removed to a special school. A school designed specifically to help ponies like her grow. It was the first of many meant to help her develop, first run by Morning Glow, then Sunny Day, Sunny Skies and ultimately Sunrise. All of the schools and the mistresses that ran them that Luna witnessed were borderline abusive places that did nothing for the foals placed in their care. All they cared about was taking state money.

When Princess Luna ended her spell, she wore a death glare that Airmail herself would have been proud of. “Did you see what you needed, Requiem?” she asked, her voice cold and hard, with no trace of her former humour evident at all.

Requiem sighed, for she felt much like the alicorn underneath her. “I'm more than happy to take the money, but...I saw enough. It will be a long challenge as they have reinforced this behaviour over the years to where she sees it as normal.”

Luna’s voice could have cut through a lead lined bank vault. “I detected no brain damage, no lasting injury, nothing!” she spoke, not with her Royal Canterlot Voice, but with a cold, measured tone. It was no less angry and vengeful for that though. She was seething under Requiem, power crackling around her horn. “There is no reason why she shouldn't be a fully functional eighteen year old mare.”

“There is a reason,” Requiem corrected her softly, “Self-induced amnesia, but it has been thirteen years. Thirteen years of being told she is a foal and of reinforced low expectations.”

Raw power fuelled by her passionate emotions crackled at Luna’s eyes. Energy sparked from her hooves when she smacked them against each other. The Nightmare inside her wanted to hit something, break something, smash and tear and rend something, anything, until she couldn’t any more. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t give in. “I tell you I will not allow this any longer, Requiem.” She spoke through ground teeth, “I will do something about this. No more will the vulnerable be mistreated in my Equestria!”

For a moment, the very briefest of moments, Requiem thought she saw the Princess’s eyes become slits, only for a split second, before they regained their normal look. “I think we had this conversation before,” she spoke slowly and calmly, relieved to see Luna was listening. “Find the problem, fix the problem, stay vigilant.”

“The EEA are going to get a rude awakening very soon, and Sunrise and the others will have a bad Friday. I promise you that.”

“I'll read it in the news,” Requiem gave Luna a well meant nuzzle before she pointed to a series of thin clouds close together a few thousand feet above them. “Those look like good free fall platforms.” The red and blue painted mare could tell though that Luna still incensed. “Having dealt with these things, I don't know how much of that is admissible in a court. In truth, what we saw from Sparky would be dismissed as hearsay.”

“You're right, sadly.” Luna forced herself into a state of calm as they flew up towards the clouds. She breathed deeply through her nose and allowed her night to wash over her. Most importantly she focussed on the largest of the Midnight Stars, the one that represented Sky Dive, and made herself think. “Proof is what we need, and I have a mind as to how to get it. For now though…” her eyes glowed and several stars in her ethereal mane turned blood red, turning Miss Sunrise’s dream, and the dreams of the other teachers, to the most evil of nightmares. “I believe we are playing on that cloud.”

“Besides, it’s Open Mic night tomorrow,” added Requiem. “Better to show them just how bad a Monday can really be,” she ended with a giggle.

Up ahead of them, Tempest was climbing steadily up towards the Cirrus cloud that was close to twenty thousand feet up. “We're high!” Sparkplug squeaked, looking amazed at all the pretty twinkling lights both below and above her. “How high are we, please?”

Tempest replied, having quickly assessed the cloud’s height in her head and putting it in terms her passenger could understand and relate to. “High enough to go around a race track four times.” That said, both Luna and Tempest flew up to the twenty thousand foot high cloud and landed. Without hesitation, Requiem slid off the alicorn’s back on the side where Tempest was so that Sparkplug could watch.

Since she felt Luna's magic tickle her hooves, Sparkplug was confident that, as she got off of Tempest’s back, she would be perfectly safe on the cloud. She did however touch a hoof to it to make sure the cloud was solid. “Oooooh look at that!” her voice was full of wonder while Requiem was acting like a foal, bouncing and tumbling on the high cloud.

Sparkplug looked at Requiem for a split second before joining in with her, bouncing with her and giggling like an overgrown foal. Watching, Luna did a very good job of masking the furious look on her face, those red lights in her mane glowing ever so brightly. “It appears we have two large foals, Tempest.”

Tempest snickered behind her hoof, “I'm going to have to pay the sitters extra on gaming night,” she grinned as Requiem raspberried both her friend and the Princess.

“And why should the foals have all the fun?” asked Luna, talking to nopony really, the alicorn bouncing and tumbling on the cloud just like the others were doing. “Am I doing it right, Sparky?”

“Yes Sorceress!” Sparkplug squealed happily while Tempest, ever the mother hen, did a minor eye roll before joining in the fun too.

Luna, lost in a fit of giggles like an overgrown filly, recovered enough to be able to speak. “Sparky!” the alicorn put on her best regal voice, for impressing the populace, “For sneaking out, and being out past your bedtime, the Sorceress sentences you to many tickles!”

No sooner had the sentence been announced than the tickles began, the alicorn digging her hooves in Sparkplug’s ribs and belly. Just as quickly, Sparkplug was laughing fit to burst. Sharing an evil grin and a nod, Requiem and Tempest both joined in, each mare taking an armpit and her ribs. “Hahahahahoooohohoho!” she laughed and squealed, ineffectually she writhed and squirmed on the cloud. “Teeheehee st-staaaaaahp! Pl-Pl-eeeheheeheeease!”

After a few moments that felt like an eternity to the poor victim, Tempest stopped. “Tickling makes me want to pee.”

Requiem rolled her eyes. “Clouds make you want to pee, Stormy.” Giggling properly now, Luna stopped before she made Sparkplug pee. That wasn’t her intention, though her mood was somewhat lifted as she lay on the cloud and panted, allowing the young mare to catch her breath. While they did that, Tempest moved to the centre of the cloud and peed.

“Jackie tickles me until I can’t even breathe,” Sparkplug commented as Luna added her pee to the already loaded cloud. “He says there's a reason for it, but he won't say what it is.”

Finishing up, Tempest said, “I'll pass that to the pit boss to ask him.”

“Miss Amethyst?” Sparkplug asked when she could breathe, “I like Miss Amethyst. She's not afraid to shout at Jackie.”

Requiem giggled at that, though she was busy enjoying the magnificent view from where they were. How anypony could sleep through this she had no idea. “Zebra mares will shout at anypony, even the Sorceress.”

“I think he likes Miss Amethyst. But he likes stallions more though. He says they have his favourite bits.”

Tempest snorted. Like Requiem, she was taking in the view. It was like being on the ocean, the city lights almost a mirror for the stars above. “I can well understand that.”

“To each their own.”

That caught Sparkplug’s attention. “That's not what Miss Sunrise says,” she commented, sitting up on the cloud surface. “When I was at her school in Canterlot she taught us stallions don't love stallions and mares don't love mares.”

“I think that is more her upbringing,” replied Requiem before either of the other two could get a chance, “than the school system. Private schools are a bit freer with their own curriculum.”

Tempest though had to get her two bits in. “I'm sure if her siblings researched the school, Sparky wouldn't have stayed long.”

Requiem shot Luna a measured look. “You'll be surprised how easy it is to hide things, Tempest.”

Stood behind Sparkplug, well out of her field of view, Luna had a curious mix of outrage, heartbreak, anger and sorrow all warring on her face. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Everything, Sky Dive, the Nightmare, Octavia, had all been for naught. “When I returned, Celestia assured me attitudes had changed. I see Canterlot is still a rancid cess pool...” she shook her head to get rid of the growl in her voice. “I-I apologise. We were supposed to be having fun!”

“I'm still having fun!” Requiem protested, being joined quickly by Tempest. “As for attitudes, Time, persistence, and the hardest part, a change of heart. That’s a job for the Queen of Libraries.”

Without asking, Sparkplug walked over and hugged Luna tightly. “You looked like you needed a hug. Can we do more flying now, please?”

“I'm going flying!” Requiem declared loudly, getting up and walking to the very edge of the cloud they were stood on.

Tempest just shook her head, “You can ride with me Sparky, or you can go with Requiem.”

Now, Sparkplug may have been an overgrown foal, and she was, but even she could tell that Requiem had no wings and no way of flying, even in her wildest imagination. This was something she gave voice to, albeit uncertainly. “But...Ms. Requiem has no wings, how can she fly?”

Her mood suitably restored, Luna giggled, “Ms. Requiem still needs help on landing.”

Sparkplug’s eyes went wide at that, as she finally put the pieces together. “She's going to jump?”

“I'm going to jump!”

Now, another thing worth noting about Sparkplug was that she was not a mare that liked to be left out. “I wanna jump too!”

At the edge of the cloud, Requiem’s tone turned very serious indeed. “Do you trust Ms. Tempest to catch you?”

“Yes! She's super good at flying!”

“Follow me, then Sparky.” When Requiem trotted back to the edge of the Cirrus cloud, Sparkplug walked with her. She had her bunny held tightly in her hooves, which prompted the earth pony mare to take him and tuck Mr. Flopsy and she tucked him into her onesie so he wouldn’t get lost. Bunny secured, Requiem and Sparkplug turned their backs on the twenty thousand foot drop.

Facing Tempest and Luna, Requiem flicked her ears, letting her herd-mate know that it was vitally important he was caught should he fall out and Tempest acknowledged that. “Okay,” Requiem gave the young mare some last minute advice, “when you go over wrap your tail around your hind leg and keep your legs together and straight to the front and back, but there is the most important thing to remember…”

“What's that, Ms. Requiem?” Sparkplug asked, her head to one side, absorbing all that information.

“Have fun!” Requiem giggled and, holding hooves with Sparkplug, the two ponies dived off the edge together. They only held hooves for the first couple of seconds before they separated into their own dives.

“Was she hard to catch the first time?” asked Tempest of Luna, the pegasus and alicorn still sat on the cloud as if nothing had happened.

As they both dived off the cloud, Luna giggled and shook her head. “No, Tempest. I tried to catch her way too early. She waved me off. Sparky reminds me of Wildfire in how easily she trusts…”

Tempest however didn’t allow the Princess to complete her sentence. “I believe youuuuuuuuu...” she called out as she galloped towards the cloud’s edge and promptly jumped off. Realising, once more, that she was surrounded by foals, Luna shook her head, for the moment banishing her angst into a little compartment in her mind for later when she was alone with Celestia, and jumped off the cloud.

Falling, with the air rushing over her face and body, Requiem did a short power dive to be in Sparkplug's view and then she started her aerobatics. Watching, the bright yellow unicorn squealed happily as she fell. She tried to copy what Requiem was doing, but she ended up just falling. It felt a lot like being back in the swimming pool but there was no water.

Diving down, Requiem had her own agenda, so she was determined to continue with that. The red and blue painted pony still dearly wanted to pull off that reverse loop that had eluded her the last time, so she was happy to leave Sparkplug to Tempest. “Be a bird!” Tempest shouted when she was close enough, though she stayed at least ten feet away so she wouldn’t be hit by flailing limbs.

From experience, Tempest knew that from twenty thousand feet, they would get one hundred seconds of free fall before she had to think about catching her. Ten seconds after that was the catch area and another five seconds on top of that would be the must catch area, particularly for Tempest as she had no magic to slow Sparkplug down. The plummeting unicorn immediately began flapping her legs, making like a birdy, while Luna joined Requiem in her aerobatics.

As she fell, Sparkplug, with the air rushing over her, started to have flashbacks to the swimming pool and her fifth birthday. Although Tempest was a veteran flyer and was ready to act in case Sparkplug should panic, the young pony didn’t panic, strangely. In fact, she didn’t do anything.

Sparkplug watched the pool party unfold in her head, just like watching a television show. It was easily the oddest and most surreal thing she had ever experienced. She saw the pool games, she saw herself getting her mane stuck. She saw Wheeljack dive in to save her. All the time she was watching this, she just fell, absorbing all the little details.

Somewhat unnerved by this turn of events, Tempest flew in closer. “Do the birdy, Sparky…” Oblivious to Tempest and what she had said, Sparkplug fell. In her head, she watched Wheeljack keep the other partygoers at bay. She watched Ratchet do CPR on her lifeless body. She watched Hoist calling for the ambulance.

As Sparkplug fell, she watched the scene skip ahead to the next thing she remembered properly, herself being the foal, not growing up, regressing further and further into herself. It all made so much sense! Why had she never seen this as clearly as this before? A smile began to spread on her face.

Watching her like a hawk, Tempest saw that Sparkplug was completely relaxed, almost unnervingly so, in fact. Just in case, the violet weather mare dropped down and then she flew up so that her forelegs were in front of the wings and hindlegs behind. She then locked her wings into glide mode and performed larges spirals down. She determined not to say anything unless the unicorn spoke first. Requiem had by now lost sight of them as she performed her own routine.

After a few more moments of free fall, Sparkplug opened her eyes and smiled happily at Tempest by her side. “Catch me please, Stormy.” Over with Requiem, Luna was attempting some aerobatic manoeuvres of her own, but she wasn't all that great.

Tempest was right there, flying just underneath Sparkplug and adjusting her position until she was on the pegasus’s back. “I’ve got you. Let's look at the sights on the way down.”

“Tempest...” when Sparkplug spoke, she sounded a lot more 'grown up' than she usually did. Like she was speaking with another pony’s voice. “I saw the accident. I watched it happen.”

“All of it?”

“Yes, I watched it like it was one of those cheesy chick flick movies that Ratchet likes.”

Tempest wasn’t sure what to make of that. Instead of questioning the young unicorn unduly though, she decided to investigate a little in case she said anything that would be of use to Requiem. “Do you still like to make engines go varoom?”

Sparkplug giggled brightly at that. “I've always liked making engines go varoom, Tempest.” She still had that grown up edge to her voice. “It's odd...I-I've never watched it like that before. Then again, I've never jumped off a cloud before. I feel...I don't know, strange.”

Tempest listened and took it all in. “I'm happy that you're still you, as for the rest, you'd need to talk to somepony smarter than me, like that crazy filly that jumped off of the could with you.” She was sure after hearing about this development that Requiem would be getting involved. It was too tasty for her to resist.

“I...I don't understand,” Sparkplug felt confused. Her thoughts didn’t feel like her own. “I don't sound like me, I'm not...thinking, like me. Not like I usually do, anyway.”

From her recent experience with Wildfire, Tempest fancied that she sort of knew what the bright yellow mare was talking about. “As long as you still like to make engines varoom, you're still you. Since you're there, give me a hug and I'll look for the other two.” As Sparkplug hugged her from behind, she heard Requiem shout with joy on her way past them, with Luna close behind. “Never mind. I found them.”

As Tempest hovered to look for Luna and Requiem, Sparkplug was quiet for a long few moments as she too looked for the others. When she squealed though, she was once more her young foalish self. “There! There's the Sorceress Ms. Tempest!” Filing away what had happened, Tempest dived and gave chase to the Princess. “Varoom! Faster!” Sparkplug giggled gleefully.

When Luna flew closer to Requiem, the earth pony mare opened up her legs, ready to be caught after her long free fall. With her passenger safely on her back, Tempest up to the pair so they could all fly together. Sparkplug whooped and cheered, then she yawned. “I think somepony's the sleepy filly,” Luna smiled.

Again, Sparkplug yawned. “I’m tired, Princess.”

Tempest spoke up then, in answer to Luna’s unspoken question. “I know the address the pit crew is staying at.”

Graciously, Luna hovered in place before bowing to her friend’s superior intel. “Then lead the way, Mother Hen,” she giggled as Tempest gave her a well-deserved eye roll. “Are you coming along for the ride, Freefall?”

Requiem recognised her new given call name and she approved. “Flying is flying, even if I'm not using my own wings.” She smiled, sticking her tongue out at Tempest in response to her eye roll. As Sparkplug’s new psychiatrist, there was no way in Tartarus that she was going to miss out on seeing her home.

“Mother Hen,” Sparkplug started, “is that because you lay eggs?” Luna, who had been giggling, now burst out a very loud and very un-regal laugh.

Tempest let out a deep sigh as she flapped her wings, her course taking her over Stallion Island towards her new destination. “To me, the world is not full of ponies, but helpless baby chicks, like the pointy headed winged blue one over there.” As it happened, the pointy headed winged blue one was laughing so hard she was crying.

Luna was still laughing when, after a few moments flying, they heard a stallion's panicked voice call out from somewhere up ahead and close by. “Sparky! Sparkplug! Where are you?”

Instantly, Sparkplug recognised her older sibling’s voice. She honestly couldn’t remember hearing Hoist yell her name like that. Hoist was the quiet one, not the yelling in panic one. “Ms. Tempest,” she said quickly, “that's Hoist's voice!”

Angling her wings downwards for a glide to the ground, Tempest nodded. “May as well take him home too. I don't like my chicks scattered.” As they descended, Sparkplug made a very loud clucking noise, which didn’t stop until they were all stood on the sidewalk of the darkened side road that Hoist had been searching. Tempest, who had landed closest to the hazel coloured unicorn, looked him square in the eyes. “How long have you been out and about?”

“About twenty minutes,” Hoist replied, his voice quickly retreating back to its usual quiet subdued state. He was unaware that his little sister had been out for forty five minutes. “I went to the bathroom and noticed that her window was open…”

“Hey Hoist!” Sparkplug interrupted him, dragging him into a tight hug.

“Sparky, where have you been?” asked Hoist after he had carefully extricated himself from his sister’s notoriously tight hug, “We were worried about you!”

“I went to a party!”

Requiem smiled, the painted earth pony just loved the amount of happy pride in the bright yellow unicorn’s voice. “We had a lot of fun at Caffy's house,” she whispered loudly enough to be heard by everypony present, “Mr. Flopsy is really good at musical statues.”

“Caffy's...” Hoist’s hazel face went pale. “She made it all the way there? She’s never gone a whole eight blocks on her own before!” he shook his head, convinced that either Wheeljack or Ratchet would skin him alive for this. Most likely they’d both take turns.

“You live in a good neighbourhood,” Tempest assured him as Sparkplug loudly proclaimed how her bunny was the bestest bunny. It pleased her mother hen senses to see him so alarmed and upset. “Everypony here is used to Mapper's craziness.”

Hoist nonetheless breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank Luna she's safe!”

“You're welcome, Hoist, though Requiem deserves more thanks than I.”

Now Tempest lost it. The violet weather mare laughed so hard she choked out, thumping her hoof into the concrete of the sidewalk. “That should be by Luna's teat she is safe!” she exclaimed when she was at last able to speak again, wiping away her tears.

As they all started walking again, this time with Hoist in the lead, he coloured up in a huge crimson blush, not least because the Princess herself was with them. When he mumbled, he just managed to make himself heard, “The house is this way, Candyfloss will be happy that Sparky is safe and sound.”

On the walk back to the pit crew family’s home, which wasn’t a very long walk, Requiem did what she did best. She engaged in some light chit chat with Hoist, all the time paying close attention to anything Sparkplug said about the chit chat. Tempest, ever the mother hen, continued to give the bright yellow mare a ride.

Throughout the walk, Princess Luna was the only one among them who was silent. Far removed from the idle banter, the lunar alicorn was busy marshalling her angry thoughts into something resembling an argument she could use with her sister against the EEA. There was always Royal Ribbon and the changelings she could call upon, that was an option. “Here we are!” Hoist’s cheerful call bought Luna from her reverie and she found herself looking at a three storey six bedroom mansion of a building. “Would you like to come in?”

“Yes!” Requiem squealed all too eagerly. A herd of rampaging yaks wouldn’t have kept her from going inside, it was just fortuitous she had been invited. “You see, Hoist, I'm really a cookie inspector and must determine if you have quality cookies.”

Tempest rolled her eyes at Requiem. “I'd like a coldnfree beer if you have one.”

“We have cookies!” Sparkplug yelped excitedly as she jumped from Tempest’s back. “I know where Ratchy hides them.”

At last, Luna found her voice. “I should like a beer as well.” She knew they wouldn’t have any moonshine, but a beer would more than suffice.

“O-Of c-course Highness...”

Cutting across the stuttering stallion, the Princess shook her head. “Just Luna, if you please, Hoist.” They were quite far enough away from Canterlot, and she was here among friends, definitely not here as a Princess, which suited her just fine.

Blushing again, Hoist attempted to hide his embarrassment by walking up the porch past the hanging electric lanterns to the white door. Unfortunately he was fooling nopony as he hoofed it open. “Candy!” he called out to his new marefriend of just two days who he had left guarding the phone, “I found her!”

“Hey,” Sparkplug protested, “We found you!”

As they all filed into the house, following Hoist’s lead, Tempest took the opportunity to check out this Candyfloss, purely to sate the mother hen inside her. She needn’t have worried. “Hi!” A very neon pink earth pony mare, quite the most incredibly pink pony that Tempest had ever seen – including Mapper and Trails – bounced over, her white and red striped mane bouncing with every step came over and bumped hooves with them all. She even smelled of cotton candy. She then came to Luna and froze. “Oh my gosh, it’s...it’s the Princess!”

Luna was unable to resist. She looked around in feigned shock, her eyes wide. “Where?”

While Sparkplug laughed, Requiem made shushing noises and leant in conspiratorially, “She is traveling in disguise, Candyfloss. Keep it under your hat.”

Now in the finely appointed living room, Tempest giggled, “I think she lost her party hat flying, so the disguise isn't as good as it should be.”

The situation at hoof, Sparkplug sneaking out and wandering off, his sister being returned by a Princess of all ponies, was all getting a bit much for Hoist. Wheeljack and Ratchet were better suited to handling things like this. “You ah...um...you wanted drinks...I'll be right back!” Quickly, though not quickly enough, he escaped to the kitchen.

In contrast to her new coltfriend, Candyfloss seemed to be taking it all in her stride. She sat on the couch in the living room, a couch that she and her stallion had been making out on and she had a smile on her face as Sparkplug came over for a nuzzle and a hug. “So...you're all Sparky's friends?”

Tempest shook her head at the hazel coloured blur that was Hoist. “That one is about as hard to tease as Wily.”

Joining Tempest in the head shaking, Candyfloss hugged Sparkplug and giggled brightly. “Hoist is a very sweet and quiet stallion, but savvy he is not. I'm Candyfloss, I work the carnival.”

“These are my friends,” Sparkplug beamed like an excited filly, “even the Sorceress!” Luna, who had sat down, was quite honoured by that remark.

“You’re a Carnie?” asked Tempest, “You know a unicorn of your colour named Mapper?”

“Who doesn't know Maps?” asked Candyfloss with her bright tinkling laugh in her voice. Everypony on Stallion Island knew Mapper, particularly those in the business. “Her plushie stall is nowhere near mine and I still hear her every five minutes. I sell the best cotton candy on the east coast. Now, I'm sorry we didn't hear Sparky escape, I was busy sampling Hoist's lollipop.”

Unfortunately for Hoist, the very shy stallion chose that moment to re-enter the living room, five beer bottles, a juice box and a plate of triple chocolate chip cookies held in his magic. He heard Candyfloss’s last comment and, eyes wide, he dropped two of the beer bottles, which Luna caught her magic. His sister didn’t help when she blurted out, “But we don't have lollipops!”

Requiem and Tempest both shared a look that just screamed they would tease the poor stallion relentlessly over this forever more. “You're lucky I'm inspecting cookies and not lollipops!”

Accepting the caught beer from Luna, Tempest did her best to not laugh. Yet. “We are herd with Maps, the herd sponsoring Air Raid.”

Poor Hoist let out an embarrassed whimper and retreated to the safety of the kitchen to get the cookies, only to remember that he already bought them out as Candyfloss giggled and hoof bumped Requiem. “I'm determined to bring him out of his shell.” Taking her own beer, the very pink mare looked at Tempest. “Are you really? Even you, Princ...Sorceress?”

Sipping her beer, Luna shook her head. “No, I just tagged along, Candyfloss.”

“She is honorary herd only. I'm Tempest, the inspector is Requiem, and I think you know the one in the bunny suit.” Tempest made the introductions before helping herself to a rather nice cookie.

“She's just the cutest lil' bunny!” Candyfloss affectionately petted Sparkplug’s head, between her bunny ears and the unicorn beamed. She would have answered but she had the straw of her juice box in her mouth.

“You may want to invest in a security system, or let Caffy know to get one,” Tempest commented as Hoist returned with yet more cookies for good measure. “He is very protective of friends and family.”

A very quiet Hoist was bright red as Sparkplug drank her juice and yawned the biggest yawn yet. “I um...I thought she was asleep...”

“I'm to blame,” Candyfloss spoke up, “I 'distracted' him.”

“Inspecting lollipops?” asked Luna, prompting the pink mare to laugh and the hazel unicorn to blush so hard he threatened to spontaneously combust.

“Ratchy said there was a party!” Sparkplug protested, “I didn't wanna sleep and miss a party.” She got up and hugged her brother tightly. “I'm really sorry Hoist. I'm ready to go sleepy time now.”

Blinking back tears, Hoist hugged his little sister as tight as he could. “I think we're all smarter after this. Thank you all for bringing her home.”

Moving over to the bright yellow mare, Requiem nuzzled her cheek. “I had fun Sparky, so thank you for coming over, but next time bring Hoist and Candyfloss, okay?”

Sparkplug nodded and returned the nuzzle to Requiem’s cheek before turning to the pink earth pony. “Can you tuck me in, please Candy?” She liked the way Candyfloss tucked her in. She told the bestest stories.

“Of course I can, sweetie, now, say good night to your friends.” Moving around the group, Sparkplug gave each pony a hug that Wildfire would have approved of and she went upstairs with her new favourite storyteller. As much fun as the party had been, all she wanted to do now was hug Mr. Flopsy and sleep in her bed.

“We need to be going back too,” Requiem said after she had consumed several of the triple chocolate chip cookies and finished her beer. “I don't want Long to eat all the cake.”

“Which reminds me,” said Tempest, the talk of cake making her think of the carrot cake on her back. “Thespy wanted you to have this carrot cake.”

Hoist seemed like he was between a rock and a hard place. “Thank you Tempest, we'll enjoy that tomorrow. Um...I'm thinking Wheeljack and Ratchet can live the rest of their lives and not know about tonight, please?” He knew it was a very long shot before he finished asking the question.

Requiem snickered, “It may be hard to hide the carrot cake from them.”

The hazel coloured stallion nodded at that. “Good point, Requiem, well made.”

The impish part of the Princess couldn’t resist a tease. “Maybe they'll both be in such good moods from their own lollipop inspections they won’t be mad with you?”

Not for the first time, Hoist wanted to combust. Or open up a hole and crawl into it. Or emigrate to Yakyakistan or Saddle Arabia. “M-M-Maybe…”

Tempest sighed, “Hoist, you worry too much. I won't say anything, but it may be wise for you to do so, and follow up on that security. That way an open window will alert you in the future.”

Having drained her beer, Luna stood and deposited her empty bottle in the trash. It had been a most pleasant evening, everything considered. Everything being the EEA. “Thank you for your hospitality, Hoist. I hope you enjoy the rest of your night.”

Requiem and Tempest also stood, stretching their legs. “Do come over next month, if not sooner.” Tempest extended the invitation out of hoof. Friends of the herd were always welcome at Caffeinated’s parties. Besides, she couldn’t resist a tease too. “I'm sure Candy would love to show off her lollipop.” Hoist stayed bright red as he saw the group out of his family’s house. He resolved to take her up on her generous invitation.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2 - Ratchet Takes Control Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 41 Minutes