Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic!

Twilight could feel herself starting to hyperventilate. The sound of her rapid breathing was drowned out only by the pounding of her heart in her ears.

Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic!

The world became unfocused as her sight began to blur, the incriminating pair of goggles swimming in front of her eyes in triplicate.

Don’t Panic!

The world gave a sudden lurch as she stumbled to keep on her hooves, fighting the dizziness and the blackness spreading from the corners of her vision.

BREATHE!

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, sucked in a single breath, and held it. She ignored the jackhammer rhythm of her heart as she counted.

One sparkle, two sparkle, three sparkle, four sparkle, five sparkle.

Slowly and steadily, she exhaled as she counted five more sparkles before inhaling again over five more. She repeated again and again until she could feel her heartbeat fall back down to normal.

Now came the hard part.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like. It could be that she hadn’t looked closely enough and had preemptively jumped to conclusions. It wouldn’t be the first time she had flown into a panic over something inconsequential. Steeling herself, Twilight slowly opened her eyes to see the package sitting on her kitchen table. In the package sat a cracked and charred pair of mirror scope goggles of her own design, covered with dirt and flecked with small dots of dried blood. Caught in the cinch of the headstrap were several strands of her tri-purple mane. She quickly closed her eyes again.

Nope. That’s definitely what I thought it was. This is bad. Very bad. Freaking out is more than justified. Options?

Run around in circles screaming until we pass out?

Will those goggles still be there when we wake up?

Probably?

Anything else?

Investigate, determine how screwed we are, and determine proper damage control from there?

Let’s go with that.

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes once again and examined the ominous package. Critical lavender eyes soaked up every detail, searching for anything that could provide answers to the many questions racing through her mind.

The first question, ‘how did they get here’, was rather simple to answer. Obviously somepony had found them, packaged them, and delivered them to her doorstep. The second, more pressing, and significantly more difficult question was who?

An examination of the exterior revealed no shipping labels or address information, meaning whoever had wrapped it had probably delivered it themselves. Small teeth marks in the plain white string wrapped around the box, together with the rough hoof-wrapping, suggested that the culprit was not a unicorn. It was a shame she couldn’t just run a DNA test on any remnant saliva, but even if she had or could acquire samples from everypony in ponyville to test against, the damp paper indicated that the package had been sitting in her bush for several days at least. Any fragment of a sample she could obtain would be worthless.

With a small sigh of disappointment, she approached the problem from a different angle. Who would have even been able to find these goggles? Who had access? Twilight ran through a mental checklist of everypony who had or was likely to have gone into the forest in the week since she had dropped them during one of that day’s many brushes with death. As most sane ponies avoided the Everfree Forest, the list was short.

At the top of the list was the forest’s only known resident, Zecora. Twilight had intentionally chosen a route to give as wide a berth as possible to Zecora’s hut, but she didn’t know every path the zebra took when making her rounds. Was it possible she stumbled across the goggles while searching far afield for some rare ingredient?

Or maybe she was investigating that fire we caused. Nothing says covert operation like lighting up a bonfire so big it draws the entire Emergency Response-

Twilight’s hoof collided with her face. The Emergency Response Pegasi! They would have all been called to the scene to extinguish the fire and launch an investigation. Aside from Rainbow Dash herself, the culprit could be any one of them...or it could still be Zecora.

The last and most maddening question was why? What did it mean? Was it supposed to be some kind of message? A threat? There was no note of any kind or anything that might reveal the sender’s intention or how much they knew. Icy fear seized Twilight’s heart at the prospect that they might know everything. Twilight quickly shook her head.

Get a grip. Not even Pinkie Pie would make the logical leap from ‘at the scene of a fire’ to ‘developing and using custom made and completely original love spell’. The last thing I need is to go around ironically incriminating myself by wagging my tongue like a villain in some half-baked mystery novel.

Still, the fact that anypony could place her there at all was a problem she wasn’t entirely sure she could lie her way out of. She could claim to have lost the goggles weeks ago on some mundane trip and completely forgotten about them, but it would be hard to explain the specks of dried blood. And she still had no clue what this pony (or zebra) even wanted! All she knew was that she had to find them and...and what?

Remove them as a threat.

Remove them as in ‘remove’ remove?

Hopefully not. It depends what they know and what they want. Maybe I can spin a convincing enough story to settle the whole thing.

And if you can’t? Or if they know too much? Even if you pay them off, could you really let a loose end like that walk away?

I can try a targeted memory spell.

And if that doesn’t work? If you can’t isolate the memories or it doesn’t stick?

...I’ll think of something.

You’re already thinking of-

It won’t come to that.

If it does?

IT WON’T!

A faint noise reached Twilight’s ears. It took a moment for her to realize it was the sound of her teeth grinding together. The tension in her jaw slowly faded as she forced herself to relax once again.

There wasn’t much she could do while she still didn’t know the identity of the sender. The best she could do was to solve one mystery at a time and hope things would get clearer from there. Zecora didn’t exactly blend into crowds, so there was a good chance somepony would have spotted her if she had made a trip into town recently. As for the Emergency Response Pegasi, a complete roster would be in the records at town hall. It was at least a start.

Twilight gave a quick glance around the room. Before she could run off to play detective, she still had to clean up the mess she and Dash had made of the library. Spike would be returning from Canterlot later that evening, and though she wasn’t planning to keep her new relationship a secret forever, explaining what exactly she had been up to to create such a mess wasn’t how she wanted to introduce the subject.

As she settled into her task, the calm monotony of cleaning washed over her. As she straightened, aligned, and organized, her frayed nerves began to settle, her mind untangle, and her thoughts fall into place. Though her conscious thoughts remained focused on cleaning the library, wheels turned in the back of her mind as plans and contingencies began to form.

Another fluffy mass of white burst into oblivion as a cyan hoof cleaved through it. In a turn that made a mockery of momentum, Rainbow Dash changed direction to close in on her next target. With a stroke of her wings, she flipped end over end, bringing her hind legs in front of her for a high speed kick that reduced the cloud to a collection of widely scattered water droplets, each shimmering as they briefly refracted sunlight in a multi-colored halo. She turned in search of her next target, only to find that the area was completely clear.

“Wow. Looks like I’m particularly awesome today.”

It had been a while since she’d felt this exhilarated while at work. All morning, she had gone about her weather duties with a gusto normally reserved for practicing intense aerial stunts. The veritable glow surrounding her hadn’t gone unnoticed by the other pegasi as she glided gently into the weather dispatch station. Cloud Kicker came cantering up to greet her, waving a friendly hoof.

“My my, somepony certainly looks chipper this morning. Good weekend?”

“You have no idea.” Dash responded.

“Oh ho? And what does that mean? Get a little ‘recreation’ in?” Cloud Kicker asked with a wink. She paused briefly as her expression shifted from a knowing smirk into a gaze of deeper curiosity. “No, wait a minute. Could it be…?”

“Could it be what?”

“Could some lucky pony have finally claimed the heart of Ponyville’s most eligible bachelorette?! Oh Rainbow how could you?” The grey pegasus exclaimed, throwing a foreleg across her forehead and dramatically flinging her blonde mane through the air. “And just when I’d finally found the perfect date for you!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and sighed. “You mean like the last three friends of yours you tried to set me up with? Because I seem to remember you using the word ‘perfect’, when I think you meant ‘disastrous’.

“Hey, nopony could have predicted that thing with the teacups. Besides, I’ve vetted this one personally, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, well that certainly narrows it down.” Rainbow Dash replied with no effort made to restrain her sarcasm.

“Hush you. And don’t think you can distract me from the main issue. Who is this mysterious pony who will be the cause of all this wailing and gnashing of teeth in the dating scene, and the end of my lucrative finder’s fees?”

“Lucrative finder’s…? Wait, have you been CHARGING ponies to set them up with me?!”

“What? No! No. Maybe? Hey look at that! Lots of work to be done down on the south side. Very urgent! Better get on that, bye!”

Rainbow Dash stood there among the swirling cloud vapor left by the pony’s rapid departure. With a well practiced sigh and shake of her head, she walked over to the weather request board to find her next job. There was a recent request for a light drizzle at Sweet Apple Acres. Eager for the chance to visit one of her friends (and to do everything in her power to ensure a bountiful cider season) she quickly signed her name next to the request and took off.

Though the flight was short, it was ample time for her racing mind to conjure up memories from what seemed like a lifetime ago. Memories of when she and Applejack had been a couple.

They had been great times, filled with truly cherished memories. She had often been asked why they had separated when they had been so perfect together. She could never seem to give an answer that fully satisfied the pony asking. As unsatisfying as it was, sometimes things just didn’t work out. Two ponies could be the best of friends, even be attracted to each other, but sometimes a dozen miniscule idiosyncrasies meant they just didn’t work in a serious relationship. And sometimes both ponies were stubborn enough that they would take months getting around to admitting it.

Ending that relationship had been painful, but they both knew it had to be done. At least their friendship had endured, and now that she was with Twilight… well, current circumstances made prior heartache more bearable.

Twilight. Rainbow Dash swore that mare was a balm for the soul. The world simply shined when she was around. Seeing the rows of apple trees laid out before her, Rainbow Dash turned into a gentle descent.

Fluttershy unpacked her picnic basket with care, gently laying the neatly cut daisy sandwiches onto the plain kitchen table. There they joined an array of mouthwatering baked goods.

“Thanks again, Applejack. You didn’t have to take time out of your day just to have lunch with me.”

“For the last time Fluttershy, it’s no problem at all. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy a good lunch with friends, and the farm isn’t going to fall apart over the course of one meal.”

Just as the two hungry ponies slid into their seats in eager anticipation of their meal, a blue and rainbow blur streaked through the window before coming to a sudden stop and landing on the table.

“Hey AJ. Hey Fluttershy. I’m here to…” Rainbow Dash drifted off as she stared, transfixed, at a plate piled high with small puffy bits of cooked batter covered with powdered sugar. “Are those…?”

Applejack gave a familiar roll of her eyes. “Yes. And yes, you can have some.”

A high pitched squee of joy passed briefly through the room before Rainbow Dash lunged forward and began popping the bite sized morsels into her mouth. Fluttershy sat silently, blinking in mild confusion.

“A recipe one of my cousins brought back from a trip to the Neightherlands” Applejack explained.

“They’re great!” Rainbow Dash managed to mumble through a full mouth, hoof already reaching for another. “Applejack used to make these for me all the time, and she always uses plenty of the secret ingredient.”

“Love?” Fluttershy guessed.

“Butter,” Applejack corrected. “Lots of it.”

“Yeah, it’s not for the faint of heart...literally...I’m pretty sure it’s a heart attack waiting to happen.” replied Rainbow Dash, showing no sign of slowing down. Applejack said nothing, but raised an eyebrow at the voracious pegasus. “What…? I’m super athletic and stuff. My heart’s in great condition.”

“So, are you here for any particular reason, or did Pinkie just somehow teach you to get tail twitches when I start baking?”

Rainbow Dash paused to wipe powdered sugar from her muzzle. “Right! I saw your rain request back at the dispatch center.”

“And you came all the way out here for a basic drizzle job?”

“Of course! I couldn’t leave a friend hanging. Not with Sweet Apple Acres in such perilous condition, bereft of all moisture, calling out for a hero to swoop in and save the day. A hero with the guts, determination, and meteorological skill to avert total disaster!”

“So basically you got bored and thought you could goof off here a bit and maybe catch a bite and a nap on a tree branch?”

“Eh, pretty much,” Rainbow responded with a shrug before pulling up a seat.

Fluttershy gave a quiet giggle before asking a question that popped suddenly into her mind. “Why do you like to sleep in trees? Aren’t clouds much more comfortable?”

“Yeah, clouds are pretty cozy and all, but they don’t usually come with free snacks growing on them that you can roll over and grab.”

Applejack gave an affirmative nod. “I could tell which were her favorite spots by the apple cores laying around. Used to think I had some kinda pest infestation.” She stole a sidelong glance at Rainbow Dash, who had resumed helping herself to lunch. “Still do at times.”

“Anyway,” Rainbow Dash continued, ignoring Applejack’s last comment, “I don’t think I could make use of your comfy branches even if I wanted to. I’ve got way too much energy today.”

“You do seem a might twitchier than normal. You been dippin’ into some of Pinkie’s cupcakes?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, nothing like that. It’s….well…” she glanced around in uncertainty. “Well, I don’t think it’s supposed to be a huge secret, but we haven’t really talked about it yet, so keep it on the down low for now. I just feel like I’m gonna explode if I don’t tell somepony. The truth is...TWILIGHT’S MY MAREFRIEND NOW!” No longer able to contain her excitement, Rainbow Dash lept up and began to fly tight circles above the table.

Applejack nodded. “I see. And when did this start?”

“Just a few days ago, on Friday. And it’s been GREAT so far.”

“Well then, congratulations sugarcube.” She stole a quick glance towards Fluttershy.

“Yes. Umm...congratulations.” Fluttershy responded, her naturally low volume masking the slight tension in her voice.

Dash continued to gush. “Oh man, it’s fantastic, SHE’s fantastic. It’s like doing a sonic rainboom every second we’re together. Colors, sounds, smells, it’s all better somehow.”

“That sounds...wonderful.” Fluttershy replied as she began to grind a back hoof into the ground underneath the table before taking a drink from her water glass.

“Yeah, it is. She showed me all the stuff in her lab, and I took her flying. Oh man did she love that.”

A bead of sweat rolled down Applejack’s neck as she cast a worried glance at the glass between Fluttershy’s hooves. A small stress fracture was slowly creeping its way up the side. “That’s...nice.” Fluttershy responded, shaking slightly.

Still oblivious, Rainbow Dash continued, hardly aware of her surroundings anymore. “It’s awesome! And I tell ya, she may look all straight laced and nerdy on the outside, but she’s positively wild when-” she was cut short by a sharp tug on her tail as Applejack yanked her out of the air.

“So Dash! Much as I’m interested in this story, there is work to be done. How about we continue the rest outside while I point out the dry patches in need of rain?”

“Uh, sure thing AJ.”

“Great, you go on ahead and get your clouds ready, I’ll just tidy up in here and be out in a minute.” With a nod and a salute, Rainbow Dash was out the door. Breathing a sigh of relief, Applejack turned back around to face the table. “You okay there, sugarcube?”

Fluttershy gave a silent nod and licked the small speck of blood on the inside of her lower lip where she had been biting down. She stood up from the table. “Thank you for the lunch Applejack. Sorry I couldn’t eat more of it, but I’m not feeling very hungry right now. I think I’d better go.”

“Not a problem, Fluttershy. Take care of yourself, and drop by whenever you like. My door is always open.”

Fluttershy gave a brief smile before walking toward the door. Halfway through she turned over her shoulder. “Oh, and umm...thank you. For…you know.”

“Don’t mention it, sugarcube.” With that, Fluttershy left and Applejack turned to clear the food away, grabbing a few bites from the meal that had been cut short. She reached out to clear away the glasses, and at the touch of her hoof, Fluttershy’s glass collapsed into a pile of jagged shards. Applejack cursed under her breath and stared at the small bead of blood trickling down from the cut on her hoof.

Her task finally complete, Twilight looked upon her work. The library was restored. Books sat in their proper spaces among the shelves, personal effects had been returned to their drawers, garbage and debris had been properly disposed of, and the furniture neatly aligned. In the kitchen, dishes were cleaned and put away, and the counter freshly scrubbed. Her bedspread lay impeccably made. A palpable sense of order permeated the air of the tree house. Twilight closed her eyes, basking in it, letting it flow into her and fill her with the resolve and determination she needed.

The world outside was turbulent and chaotic, but here she was in control. Here things were as they should be, a sanctuary from the turmoil. She would carry a part of this peaceful realm inside her as a candle in the dark, and through it, find the strength to beat a path through the outside world. To confront her challenges and impose order upon the universe through intellect and force of will. Now, brimming with determination, Twilight turned and pushed open her front door, closing it quickly behind her as she stepped outside.

Afternoon sunlight beat down, momentarily blinding her as her eyes readjusted from the dim library interior. She turned and started on a path to the town hall. With any luck she could get a look at the records and have a full list of all ponies on the emergency response team compiled in a few hours. With the occasional historical research project, and the number of times the mayor had asked her for assistance organizing for the next winter wrap up or getting the filing system under control, the sight of Twilight Sparkle coming and going from the town hall was hardly unusual.

Okay. Step 1, obtain list. Step 2, narrow down possible suspects.

Twilight wrinkled her nose in thought as she walked.

How? What criteria am I even sorting with? I don’t have any enemies….do I? I’m pretty well liked aren’t I? I can’t think of anypony who would harbor a personal vendetta against me. Maybe it’s not personal then. No, that’s still assuming it’s some kind of blackmail or threat, I still don’t have any idea what the motive is supposed to be. But what else could it be? Arrgh, I just have to hope something jumps out once I have that list, and I still need to look into Zecora!

Twilight’s thoughts came to a screeching halt as she walked straight into a pair of lips that pressed themselves eagerly against her own. Her eyes snapped forward to focus on a bright cerulean face cropped by a rainbow mane.

“Well, glad to see I finally got your attention.”

“Dash? Wh-huh?”

Rainbow Dash unsuccessfully suppressed a giggle. “I’ve been flying here waving my arms and calling your name for half a minute.

“Oh.” Twilight kicked at the ground in embarrassment. “Sorry. I got kinda lost in thought.”

“Apparently. But anyway, as I was saying, I finished all my work and I’m free for the rest of the day. So what do you want to do?”

Twilight was torn. Reluctant as she was to blow off an afternoon with Dash, the city hall records archive wasn’t the best date location, and she really didn’t want to deal with the likely questions that would arise about it. If only there was some other way to spend time with Dash and continue her investigation at the same time.

An idea suddenly struck her mind, and she had to restrain her hoof from joining it through her face. It was so obvious. “Dash? You’re head of the Emergency Response Pegasi right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Do you know what happened with that forest fire a few days ago?”

“Yeah, it looks like a dragon got into a fight with a manticore and some timber wolves and lit the place up.” Rainbow Dash explained with a nonchalant wave of her hoof. “I had to write a big boring report about the whole thing for like a half-dozen different agencies. Come to think of it I still need to mail off the final draft.”

“Need an editor?” Twilight forced restraint to keep the eagerness out of her voice.

“Hmm?”

“You know, another set of eyes to proofread. I’d be happy to help.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “It’s pretty dull paperwork, but if you really want to, knock yourself out.”

“Great. If we swing by your place, I can grab a copy to take home and have something for you by tomorrow.”

“Sure thing.” Rainbow Dash turned and started idly flapping towards her cloud house. She threw a brief glance over her shoulder. “Oh, and thanks. You really didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.”

Twilight smiled in return. “No problem. What are eggheaded marefriends for?”

Before long they had reached their destination, and with a well practiced combination of cloud walking spell and teleportation, Twilight joined Dash in her cushy abode. Dash lead her over to a mass of cloud shaped into the form of a desk, and opened a fluffy drawer. She pulled out a stack of papers wrapped in a protective envelope to guard against condensation, which Twilight guessed would be a rather significant drawback to a workstation made entirely out of water vapor.

Twilight took the papers hoofed to her and gave a series of nods and affirmative mumbles as she skimmed through the pages. She cracked a small smile as she found what she was looking for. At the very end, amongst the boilerplate text of the acknowledgements section, was a complete list of all ponies participating in the investigation.

Step 1: Check.

Something else near the bottom caught her eye.

“Native Species Consultant?” She asked.

“ Right. We brought in Fluttershy as an expert on local animals to look at footprints and stuff. She’s the one who ID’d the timber wolves and manticore.”

“If you were investigating the Everfree Forest, why not use Zecora?”

“We tried, but she wasn’t home. We found a note on her door saying she was off on a week long trip. Wouldn’t be back until today, so we went and got Fluttershy instead.”

Twilight gave only a brief “Ah.” of acknowledgement, but inside she was jumping with joy. Not only had she gotten her list, but Zecora was removed from the equation with a solid alibi. Now she could focus on her list once she made herself a copy and churned out a quick edit of Dash’s report.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a set of teeth nibbling on her ear and sending shivers down her spine.

“Twii~l~iight.” A beautiful voice quietly cooed into her ear before the nibbling returned and started moving slowly down the back of her neck.

That work could wait a little. They said it was best to break large projects up into smaller objectives with little self-rewards for completion. She had a particular reward in mind.

Three weeks later and still no solid progress had been made on the identity of whoever had sent those goggles. To her great relief, the official report contained no mention of them or any evidence that she or anypony had been present at the time of the fire. The concealment of this evidence from the authorities seemed to indicate an attempt at blackmail, but without any kind of demands.

Furthermore, why send her the actual goggles when a picture would suffice? Why give away the singular piece evidence? Was there something else they had in reserve? Some other critical piece of evidence that she was still overlooking? Twilight wracked her brain, but couldn’t come up with anything.

Maybe the pony in question was unbelievably stupid? Maybe the goggles really were the only piece of evidence and she was home free, having reduced them to cinders weeks ago as soon as she was sure she had gleaned every last detail from them.

But I still don’t KNOW if that’s all! I don’t know HOW MUCH they know! And I don’t know what they WANT!

Twilight grit her teeth in frustration as she walked along the road. The whole gang was getting together for a spa day, and Twilight certainly had plenty of tension in need of release. Hours upon hours of staring at names on her list, replaying every detail of her time in the forest, and constantly running through the multitude of worst case scenarios had added more than one knot in her shoulders.

No demands, no note, nothing! What’s the point? Are they just toying with me? Just trying to drive me crazy with paranoia? Well I won’t give them the satisfaction. It’ll take more than that to unsettle me. Twilight thought to herself as another part of her mind ran through the checklist of emergency supplies stashed in several hidden locations, and a third part reviewed the chapters she’d read on defensive wards in Basics of Magical Self Defense.

Finally reaching her destination, Twilight found that the others had wasted no time getting on with the relaxation without her. The five other ponies sat in the large hot tub that occupied the center of the room. Rarity and Fluttershy sat on the right, melting in front of the jets with cucumber slices over their eyelids. Spike stood by attentively with a large palm frond, eager to burst into action should Rarity call on him. Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat on the left, conversing and treating the bowl of additional cucumber slices as a source of snacks. Pinkie was occupied in the center, swimming in circles with flippers, a snorkle, and a novelty shark fin strapped to her back.

Rainbow Dash turned her head at the sound of the door opening, and Twilight saw her eyes light up when they settled on her. It still gave her a chill down her spine to see it. Rainbow quickly followed up with an eager wave and a shout.

“About time you got here slowpoke! Hurry up and get in here before we get all pruney without you!”

The rest expressed similar sentiments as Twilight walked over and dipped a hoof into the water before sliding in next to Rainbow Dash, already feeling the heat begin to loosen up her muscles. A small movement through the water and her back was leaning against Dash’s chest, blue forelegs wrapped around her, and surprised at how quickly total relaxation spread through her entire body.

After Rarity expressed how glad she was that everypony could make it and how dreadfully long it had been since they had had a nice spa day, the group sat in silence for while, enjoying the jets and the hot water. After a few minutes, Twilight flicked an eye open and idly watched Pinkie’s shark fin, sans snorkle, making circles in the water.

“Pinkie, do you ever come up for air?” There was no response. “Pinkie?”

“Yeah Twilight?” Pinkie responded from where she was standing beside the tub, glass of ice water in hoof. Twilight whipped her head back and forth between Pinkie and the still circling fin.

“But...what..then who?” Twilight sputtered.

Pinkie reached in to retrieve her prop from the water, revealing Gummy. “I had him take over for me while I took a break. It’s thirsty work I tell ya.”

“Pinkie! That’s terrible for him! Alligators are cold blooded! He’ll overheat!”

“Silly Twilight, if his blood is cold, won’t that just help keep him cool?”

“Um, actually,” Fluttershy interjected, “it means that he can’t regulate his body temperature. His internal temperature will change to whatever is around him, so there’s the risk of getting too hot or cold. For any reptile, swimming in a hot tub for too long could be, uh, unhealthy.”

Pinkie Pie paused for a moment, blinking as she processed what she heard. Suddenly the color drained from her face and she leaped into the air. “OH NO! Don’t worry Gummy, I’ll save you!” She shouted as she deposited her pet on a nearby pillow and donned a nurse’s cap produced from places unseen. “I know! You can have my ice water!”

“Whoa! Hold on!” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “You don’t want to send him into thermal shock. Put him in a bag or bucket or something with warmer water and put that in colder water so he can adjust slowly.”

The questioning eyes of five ponies and one dragon turned and settled on her for a moment.

“Well don’t worry” said Fluttershy as she scooped Gummy up onto her back. “I’ll get this little guy a nice sink of tepid water to sit in and he’ll be just fine.”

As Fluttershy left in search of an unoccupied sink, Rarity decided to join the conversation, turning a now uncovered eye towards Rainbow Dash.

“So…”

“What? I had a fish once.”

“More like five in a week before she finally learned that trick from the store owner, along with the importance of actually adding a heater to the fish tank.” Applejack added before artfully dodging a splash of water from one of Dash’s wings.

“Ah, of course.” Rarity replied. “For a moment there I thought it was just more of you and Twilight rubbing off on each other.”

“WHAT?! That was only one-!” Rainbow Dash was suddenly cut off by a cloud of purple magic shoving her head beneath the water.

“HAHA! YES!” Responded a very red faced Twilight, maintaining her magic over the angry surge of bubbles. “Yes I guess two ponies are bound to pick up a few mannerisms when they spend a lot of time together! Don’t worry though, you’ll still be able to tell us apart unless I suddenly sprout pegasus wings and start flying around. But really, what are the chances of tha-AAAHH!” Twilight suddenly found her back legs pulled out from under her as Rainbow Dash breached the surface and followed through, pouncing on Twilight in a large splash.

“SPLASH FIGHT!” Shouted Pinkie as she leaped to join the fray.

“Ladies, please,” admonished Rarity. “This is a place for relaxation, not ruckus.”

“Fracas!” Called Pinkie from the depth of the three way aquatic battle.

“Pinkie’s actually correct in this case. A ruckus is a noisy disturbance while a fracas has an element of physical altercation” Twilight managed to call out before being viciously tackled by both of her opponents.

“Yes, well, be that as it may, it is still quite inappro-” Rarity was interrupted by a splash of water that drenched her, until then, perfectly preserved mane. She turned, glaring daggers at a smirking Applejack. “Of course you realize, this means-” A second wave interrupted her once again. “THAT’S IT!” she cried out, burying Applejack beneath a magically propelled wave. “To me Spikey Wikey! Defend my honor from these ruffians!”.

As what little order was left in the room fell to pieces, Fluttershy walked in, wondering what she had missed in the approximate minute she had been gone. “Well Gummy is doing just fine so…oh, um I see you’re busy right now. That’s okay, I’ll just sit here and wait until you’re done if that’s okay with-eep!” A pair of pink hooves snaked out of the water and pulled her into the chaos.

After a few minutes, the hextuple sided free-for-all finally settled down. Ponies and dragon sat gasping for breath at the edges of the water, exhausted and smiling. There was a loud burp and a flash of green fire as a scroll appeared in the air. Twilight caught it with her magic before it could hit the water, and pulled it closer to read. As she scanned through the contents, her smile grew wider.

“Cadence is coming to visit!”

“Oh my. How exciting. Is there any special reason?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nope, she just managed to clear some time to make a social call. She’ll be here in two weeks.”

“Simply wonderful darling!” Rarity added. “It will be so nice to meet with Cadence without the stress of wooing inspectors, banishing dark lords, or repelling invading armies.”

“Come to think of it, isn’t this the first time she’s ever been here to ponyville?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie let out a gasp. “Oh my gosh! That means I get to throw a princess tier ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party! I need to visit my industrial scale streamer supplier!”

Twilight smiled and practically bounced with joy. She could hardly remember what had had her so stressed earlier that day. Something about those goggles? If nothing had come of it yet, probably nothing would. For all she knew the owner might never have noticed her hair in the strap and simply dropped the package by accident while carrying it home. It was ashes now anyway, time to get back to living the good life.

And life was certainly good. She had great friends, the mare of her dreams was deeply in love with her, and the former world’s best foalsitter, now world’s best sister-in-law was coming to visit. The only thing to worry about now was how to show off her new marefriend to Cadence.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza paced across her suite in the cozy hotel she had chosen to stay in, despite the generous offers Twilight and her friends had made of their own homes. She knew she needed to get some rest before catching the early train back to the Crystal Empire in the morning, but sleep was far from her mind.

She had been overjoyed when Twilight had introduced Rainbow Dash as her marefriend. It warmed her heart to see how happy the couple was together. But as that first day wore on into the evening she had started to sense something. Something just ever so slightly...off. And it was coming from Rainbow Dash.

It felt like an infinitesimally small pulse of magic, probably undetectable to anyone less than a full alicorn. Just the tiniest of ticks, easy to miss if distracted in conversation, and so infrequent that she was just about convinced it was all in her imagination before it would happen again. She had nearly dismissed it when it had stopped after returning to her room that night.

It was the second day, when the ticks returned, that she made the connection to Rainbow Dash. Every time the tick appeared, Rainbow’s smile would grow a little larger for a moment. As surreptitiously as possible, Cadence had tried a crude physiological scan, as good a one as she could manage without direct physical contact anyway. Those ticks were accompanied by a small spike in heart rate and, she couldn’t make out what, but SOMETHING was happening in the amygdala.

Cadance had never been an expert on neurology, but she knew a decent amount about emotional states, and she finally realized why those initial ticks had felt so unsettling. They had a faint air of familiarity, likely the only reason she could notice them in the first place. Like a story handed down by word of mouth for many generations, changing with each telling, but holding that same kernel of the original. Or an old and wizened stallion, ravaged by time, but with a shadow of the young colt he used to be. There was the faint shadow of magic she had felt a long time ago.

As she continued to pace away her third and final night in Ponyville, memories of Canterlot streets and a small purple filly came to mind unbidden. Images of ponies with hearts in their eyes swarming in an uncontrollable mass of chaos. Tears, shouting, apologies, and a conversation with Celestia about a promising new prospective student worth keeping an eye on. Memories years later of receiving notification of an ‘incident’ in ponyville along with strict instructions on what to do should any further ‘incidents’ arise.

Cadence sighed. She wished more than anything that she was wrong. That it was all a mistake, but she had been growing increasingly sure by the hour. With a heavy heart, she levitated a scroll, quill, and inkpot, and began to write.

Dear Auntie Celestia:

I regret to inform you that…

Celestia sat in her chambers, a picture of grace and calm, but inside she was tensed with excitement. Floating in her grip was Star Swirl The Bearded’s journal, which she was preparing to mail to Twilight as soon as her attached scroll was finished. One final test for her protege. Her excited writing was interrupted by an urgent knock on her door.

“Yes? What is it?”

“High priority letter from Princess Cadenza your highness."

Celestia opened the door, retrieved the message, and sent the guard on his way with her thanks. Opening the letter she began to read. Had her face not naturally been a pristine white, it would have drained of all color. Celestia hung her head and let out a sigh laden with regret and disappointment.

So close….it was so close this time.

Slowly she walked back to her writing desk, pushed aside the previous scroll and journal, and retrieved a fresh scroll. She held the quill motionless in the air, waiting a long time before touching it to the paper. This had to be handled with the utmost delicacy.

I did it! I finally wrote a chapter after disappearing for a year! *Insert standard apologies about how deeply ashamed I am for leaving you all hanging for so long* Editor is currently MIA, so this chapter is brought to you in part by my wonderful sister who agreed to give it a quick run through to at least help point out the more egregious misuse of commas.

I was considering whether or not to add another scene to that 3 week time skip regarding Twilight and Rainbow Dash becoming official and the requisite Pinkie Party, maybe with some more Applejack and/or Fluttershy perspective. Decided to skip it since I wanted to move along and I mostly just felt bad about using a time skip. If people want it, I might go back and add it in later, or just stick it in a character's flashback later if I find a good way to work it in.

Shouldn't be too long a wait until the next chapter which will be a lot shorter, but a lot more action packed, and finally kick the story into gear and get the ACTUAL plot going. Everything until now has been...I don't want to say filler...but setup. Then an indeterminate amount of time after chapter 3 as I need to somehow get a coherent timeline together. I have a bunch of individual ideas to run with but no clue how to get them to actually fit together without some extreme contrivance much less in a form resembling decent pacing.