Even in the noisy and busy train station, the first day of Skyblazer's adult life felt oddly cold and silent. The chatter of the crowd, the banter of the merchants, an announcement from the conductor; it all faded into the background, leaving only the shrill wind of the high mountain peak Canterlot was built upon.

The train slowly passed out of view into a mountain tunnel. It had a second engine hooked onto the caboose to help with the winding descent to the town of Ponyville below, which was the next stop.

Skyblazer was now alone and free to do whatever he felt like. It was at once exhilarating and scary. He could have boarded the train with his mother, but instead, he had chosen to stay here in this unfamiliar town.

A part of him wanted to fly back home. His entire life up until this point was farming and growing hay, with limited time for flight. After he 'found his wings', as the figure of speech was, he had been a critical asset for their family farm. His mother and father were free to focus on improving the place and patching things up, rather than having to spend time on the long and exhausting walk into town with the haycart.

Did his father ever once acknowledge this? No! Rather the opposite. He expressed contempt at his son bucking tradition and flying the cart rather than walking. It seemed to Skyblazer that he had gotten zero appreciation for saving them so much time and effort.

It had, in fact, occurred that Barley's fear of his son leaving the farm had only further inspired young Skyblazer to do so.

Lightning had encouraged Skyblazer to ride the train back with her, or at least follow along behind in the air. The last thing he wanted, though, was more verbal abuse from his father.

Skyblazer weighed his options. He didn't have very much money or material possessions.

While his family had worked their way out of sheer poverty and up into a more steady, comfortable mode of living, they still didn't have a lot extra. The good, wholesome food on their table came from copying the Apples, and planting a kitchen garden out behind the house. Other food, and most of their furnishings, was from foraging and scavenging.

There was all of fifty bits in his money pouch. Everything he owned amounted to his saddlebags and their contents. He had some rudimentary food: hay wrapped in wax paper, dried fruit and nut mix, root vegetables, a couple bottles of dried spice to improve these bland rations. A sturdy canteen of water.

A sleeping bag with a durable canvas ground pad was rolled up and tied onto his packs. The threadbare notebook from his mother was stored in one bag, with a photograph of his family tucked into it.

He didn't spend long in Canterlot. While he really wanted to see the place and visit the castle, prices in this town were exorbitant. Fifty bits would barely cover a meal and a hotel room for the night.

There was another destination on his mind, a place his mother had feared and not dared to approach in all the years since the incident: The Everfree Forest.

Before going there, he decided to stop by Ponyville and visit the six ponies who had become well-known heroes, and who were friends of his mother. They probably had insight into the forest, its dangers, and if any griffon still lived there.

Skyblazer strolled down the aptly-named Pegasus Lane to where it reached an abrupt terminus at the sheer edge of a cliff. A number of vendors here offered goods to tourists. It mostly didn't interest Skyblazer, but he did spend five bits on a map of the kingdom. Ponyville would be to his south from here, and he could follow the train tracks.

On he trotted past a gigantic sign with garish red lettering that said 'Warning: Road Ends, Sudden Drop. Pegasus Flight Point 3'.

The wide cobblestone lane ended with a sturdy wooden fence to protect those who could not fly from stumbling over into a long, long fall. The town of Canterlot had been magically extended a ways beyond the mountain plateau it was built on. This created an overhang with a vertigo-inducing sheer drop on all sides.

A set of marble stairs climbed past the fence and up to a platform, where pegasi entered and exited the city from. Skyblazer noticed a number of messenger pegasi, all wearing cloaks with an envelope symbol on them. Many of them entered a two-story stone building which accessed both the flight platform and the ground.

Skyblazer decided to stop in and ask about being a messenger.

He approached a tired-looking unicorn behind the counter, who was busy sorting out dozens of letters and parcels. Skyblazer had to duck to avoid a small package that went flying by and into a niche on the wall.

"Can I help you?" the unicorn asked in a bored voice.

Skyblazer asked if they needed any new messengers.

The unicorn, now annoyed, said, "No, we're fully staffed right now."

"Could I talk to whoever is in charge here?" requested Sky.

"That would be me. We're fully staffed right now. I can make a note of it if you want."

"Oh, okay. My name is Skyblazer Haycart."

After writing that down, the unicorn blandly intoned, "You have your flight school certificate on you?"

"What?"

"I need to know your results from flight school."

"I, well, never really went to..."

"We get a lot of young pegasi here looking for work. You simply aren't qualified enough. Have a good day, Skyblazer."

Skyblazer left in an annoyed huff, and went to sit at the edge of the flight platform. The view over Equestria from here was breathtaking.

Canterlot had been built on the highest mountain in Equestria. The southern slope of the mountain descended towards forested hills at the base, which opened out into plains. Far off in the distance, the scattered buildings of Ponyville looked like a scale model of the town.

Skyblazer opened his wings, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath of cool air. He ran towards the edge, and took off into a glide on the strong mountain currents.

He did some spins and loops in a state of deep tranquility. The air became warmer as he glided lower and lower towards ground level. He felt absolutely at peace without a worry in the world, and realized with a thrill of excitement that he could go anywhere he wanted to.

The world below him was a tapestry of forests, farms, rivers and mountains. Behind, Canterlot Peak towered above the landscape as though keeping watch. Ahead of him, far down, he could see the collection of buildings and the rolling orchard which was Ponyville.

Skyblazer descended into town, happier than he had been in years.

The crystal castle stood out in the daylight, gleaming brightly. It was an incredible display of gaudy magic. Distracted by this, Skyblazer had to flap hard to adjust his path and avoid a pegasus who was taking off with a cart.

He settled gracefully on the street with a clatter of hooves on stone, and looked around. It could best be described as a medium-sized town, smaller than Canterlot, but much bigger than Dodge Junction. The times he had visited before had been by train. Seeing the place from the air was a wonderful new experience.

The peace and quiet here was a welcome change from Canterlot. Skyblazer walked past Sugarcube Corner, and continued north towards the crystal castle.

It was always a very somber, humbling experience visiting the castle. He had only been there a few times, with how busy they usually were out on the farm.

The quaint library built into a tree which Skyblazer had fond childhood memories of was gone now. Replacing it was a towering, crystalline structure twisted up in the facsimile of a tree. This crystal castle was Twilight's new home and the town's new library.

It was framed by a perfectly circular, sunken area of ground. The dirt walls had become glass from the sheer heat of the spell which destroyed the library years ago, cast by the monster Tirek.

Skyblazer walked towards the door of this structure tentatively. He knocked, but no one came to the door. He entered.

This was the ideal mansion. Cavernous and majestic, yet cold and empty with far more space than it needed. The glittering crystal halls and arches were tastefully offset by simple furnishings and tapestries in warm colors to help it feel cozier.

More books were on the shelves now than had ever been in the old library before. It was an oddly chilling place to be with very few ponies residing in it. Skyblazer ascended another flight of stairs to a third level where he, at last, found Twilight.

She was sitting alone in a chair next to a massive world map. In spite of the chandelier full of magic lights overhead, Twilight opted to read by candlelight, and the room was dim with flickering shadows.

Skyblazer scuffed his hoof on the floor, and Twilight looked up in surprise.

"Oh, you startled me!" she said, as she took a moment to appraise the young pegasus, "Hmm, you seem familiar, but I can't seem to place your name."

He answered uncertainly with, "Uh, I'm Lightning's son, I'm going by Skyblazer now. We met a couple of times before."

"That's right, you're in the Haycart family. Wow, I'm sorry about that, it's just... you have no idea how crazy things have been here."

Skyblazer cast a glance at the incredible map which was built onto a table. It projected Equestria and some areas beyond that like a scale model. It had to be one of those magic projections which he had read about.

On this map could be seen Ponyville, Canterlot, the railroad tracks curving well around Everfree, Dodge Junction as a forlorn dot, and many interesting looking locations. Also on the map, and close by Twilight, was a stack of worn books, a glass, and a diminishing bottle of strong liquor.

Twilight didn't seem all that steady on her hooves, and she looked rather exhausted and ragged. Skyblazer was concerned by this, and immediately questioned her about recent events.

He asked, "Say, Twilight, I came here to ask you all about some stuff but... is there maybe, anything you need to talk about?"

"It's... nothing you need to be worrying about, Skyblazer. We have it all handled."

"My mom read me all of your letters. I know you've been through a lot."

"We just can't seem to get a break. I'm sure Lightning Ridge told you all about sending Tirek back to Tartarus, and that was just so insane... I still don't want to believe it's real. It's nuts that nopony got killed by all that."

"Yeah," said Skyblazer.

"It hasn't even been all that long since then, and yet here we are. Another serious threat to pony-kind. Did you know we have power-mad wizard tyrants in the world? Because I just took on a power-hungry wizard tyrant."

Skyblazer raised an eyebrow and stood with his jaw dropped in disbelief.

Twilight took another sip from her glass, and said, "Oh, and do you want-to-fucking-guess what? We didn't catch her. She got away. I can't even sleep at night thinking about what she's planning, her magic... honestly she might be every bit as strong as I am."

"When did this happen? My mother never told me about that."

"Only a few moons ago, haven't had time to send off a letter yet. I have had so very many things to take care of, what with being a princess, and saving the entire kingdom again, and trying to make time for my friends on top of that..."

She put her head down on the table, as Skyblazer took a seat next to her and looked at her uncertainly.

To change the mood, he asked, "Say, where are the others? I'd like to say hi to everyone, it's been a long time."

Without raising her head, Twilight answered, "Off doing their own things. This magic map thingy sent Pinkie and Rainbow off all the way to Griffonstone, of all places. So yeah. Now I get to worry about their safety, too."

"I actually came here to ask about a griffon."

Now Twilight lifted her head from the table. She gave Skyblazer a quizzical look as her purple magic ensconced the bottle and refilled her glass.

"I'm looking for one named Cobalt. She saved my mother's life back when the Wonderbolts battled to save this town. I need to know everything you can tell me about the Everfree Forest."

"Well, I've never heard of a griffon living in Everfree, but my friends and I do have plenty of experience with the place. It's pretty dangerous so you'll want to be prepared. But you're a pegasus, so you can just leave up if you need to."

Twilight Sparkle slowly got out of her chair, staggered a little, and led Skyblazer into a reading room surrounded on all sides by a vast archive of books. After several failed attempts to fly up and grab the book she needed, she asked her guest to get the book for her.

"Alright so this is what I have on Everfree," she said, "Now if this griffon still lives there, you'll want to talk with Zecora. She's a zebra, and an arsonist. Alchemist, I mean, don't mind me. It's hard to think right now. But yeah, she would know. I'm going to bed."

"It's the afternoon!" exclaimed Skyblazer.

"I can't--I just can't right now. There has been so much going on, and things just keep getting worse, and what if we aren't powerful enough to save the day every time, what happens then? I need to sleep on it. Good night, Skyblazer. Good meeting you."

Skyblazer watched this alicorn whom he had always idolized stagger her way awkwardly upstairs to her bedroom. This wasn't the same Twilight he remembered from all those many moons ago.

After gathering a few books into his satchel, he decided to visit the map room again before leaving. On the way back to it, he came across Spike, who also seemed more worn-out than usual.

He didn't offer much of a greeting, and said he had a lot of chores and formal paperwork to handle since Twi was out of it.

The giant magic map was by far the most impressive thing Skyblazer had seen in his life. He spent some time looking it over and comparing it with his own map, and made a few notes on his map. With a start, he realized it was almost sunset, and hurried off to visit another close friend of his mother's.

Night had fallen and the lamp-lighters were out as he reached Fluttershy's cabin. He knocked quietly in case she was asleep. She answered the door, and Skyblazer introduced himself. He was invited in.

"So, um, Twilight..." he began, but Fluttershy interrupted him.

"She needs some time to rest. We all do from time to time."

"My mother told me all about how she first met you, back after the, well, the incident."

"How is she lately? It's been moons since I've talked to her last."

"Oh, you know. Farm life is busy. Family to take care of, wheat to grow."

"A lot of things have changed here, and I don't know if it's all for the better... but as long as all the animals are happy and safe and as long as we can keep gardens and tea, I don't suppose it's as bad as all that."

"I think you're a very brave pony, Fluttershy."

She blushed a little and said, "Oh, goodness no. I'm not much help at all when it comes to... to monsters. But I will always be there for my friends."

Skyblazer got settled in with a cup of hot tea, and happily accepted an offer to stay in a chair by the fire like his mother had done so long ago. He asked,

"I'm looking for the griffon that saved my mom."

"Well don't go running into Everfree at night! It's even more dangerous that way."

"Okay, I'll remember that. Thanks. Anything else you can tell me?"

"It has been a long time. Maybe she has moved on to a new place?"

"No, no I really don't think so. My mother said that Cobalt didn't like how she was treated by the ponies, so I bet she's been keeping to herself like Zecora does."

"Zecora has actually been more outgoing lately. She comes to Ponyville all the time."

"That's also good to know! She can tell me where Cobalt is now."

"Why do you want to meet the griffon so bad?" Fluttershy seemed to shiver a bit at the thought of meeting a griffon.

"So my mom can tell her thank you, she needs to hear that someone doesn't hate her. I also want to see if she would maybe want to come explore the world with me, see if we can find a place together where we can belong."

"Oh, well be careful. I'm sure the griffon doesn't have the best impression of ponies."

They had warm applesauce with cinnamon before bed. Skyblazer mulled over visiting the Apples, but decided they probably wouldn't get along that well with a young punk like himself.

Fluttershy asked where he was staying.

"I guess, the world is my home right now," answered Skyblazer with a shrug.