Twilight paced the library floor, simply circling around a very nervous looking green colt. She gave him a neutral look, her expressionless face revealing no thoughts, no clues as to what they had in plan. She simply stared.

“Twilight, what are you doing?” asked Spike from the side with a bored look.

“Hush, Spike! I’m sizing the situation!” she retorted with annoyance.

“Sizing the situation? All you wanted to do was to talk to him about him being an Earth pony, what is there to size up from that? Just talk!” he explained.

“Fine! Ahem…” she turned to Lemon and began. “Well, Lemon, back at Canterlot you asked to become my student in magic, and I hesitantly accepted. However, back then, I thought you were a Unicorn… but you are not.”

“Y-yeah, I know…” he replied hesitantly.

“I suppose you know what question is coming next, then?”

“You mean the ‘why do you want to learn magic, then?’ question, don‘t you?” he asked, receiving a confirming nod from Twilight. “Well,” he looked ahead and took a deep breath. “I just really like magic! I’ve been interested ever since I saw this one blue showmare doing it back home! I’ve researched a lot of books on it, know some theories about it! An—”

“Wait, did you say ‘blue showmare’?” Spike interrupted with tentative curiosity. “Is this mare called Trixie, by the way?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Lemon replied with a shrug. “But she did have a cool matching cape and hat!”

“That‘s Trixie alright,” Twilight deadpanned. “But back to the point; why do you want to learn magic? What’s your purpose?”

“Well…”

“Good morning, ma’am, you assistant has arrived,” came a female voice from the front door, bursting in without a knock.

“Assistant?” all three asked at the same time with confounded stares, looking at the mare as she entered and closed the door; she held a familiar stern stare right behind the pair of glasses she wore, her dark mane tied in a bum, and a cutie mark of a book in her flank.

“Um… Captain Patch? Is that you?” Twilight asked as she got closer, recognizing her facial features. “Wait, are those my glasses without the lenses? I was looking for them when we arrived yesterday!”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Patch stopped her. “The name is ‘Bookish Delight’, remember that! And I am your new assistant in this here library!” she explained with a mocking accent.

“Firstly, terrible accent,” Twilight pointed out, with Patch frowning in return. “Second, I don‘t care much for the name, and third; Patch, that’s not what I asked,” she said returning to the topic.

“Sparkle! I am in disguise! And your glasses provided an excellent addition. You should be glad,” she replied, justifying herself. “Besides, I need to guard the human, and what better way to do so than being your assistant in the place he holed himself in?”

“He is safe, besides, I'm certain that he won't come out; he seemed out of it after what happened yesterday, so we don‘t need you to baby-sit him, ‘Delight‘,” Twilight explained.

“Even more so! He is in one place, and more prone to a focused attempt!” Patch pointed out.

“Aren’t you supposed to be watching Ponyville for danger, Ms. Patch?” Spike asked.

“Guard is already on flyover duty, while Recon is, well, keeping watch on the outskirts, little fellah,” she explained with a smile. “And my job is to keep John safe, so this set-up works well in this case.”

“Fine! Fine! Whatever! Can I please focus on Lemon here?” Twilight groaned with a stomp.

“I was not stopping you, Sparkle. Seems that you need to learn better focus on tasks.”

“Uuugh!” Twilight groaned, returning her attention to Lemon. “Alright, Lemon, sorry. Now, what were you saying?”

“Um? Oh yeah!“ Lemon shouted, his mind returning to the topic. “This might sound odd, though…“ he said doubtfully.

“Don’t worry, I’m very open minded, Lemon,“ Twilight assured him, while a quiet snort escaped Spike.

“Well, have you ever heard of the legend of the ‘Uniearth Pony‘”? Lemon asked with a hint of excitement.

“Legend of the what-now?” Twilight asked with a confused stare while Lemon rolled his eyes. "That sounds made up."

“That's because I invented the term!" he explained proudly. "Anyway, it’s an Earth pony who has the power to use Unicorn magic! Kind of like a Unicorn who was born from an Earth and Unicorn ponies has some Earth pony abilities!” he explained.

“Yes, there are a number of those Unicorns working at the Royal Guard, but I have never heard of an ’Uniearth pony… Is that a legend of some sort?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Yep! It’s in my hometown’s library!”

“Really?“ Twilight said, mentally noting the book for later research. “I take it you want to find such a pony then, correct?” Twilight continued. “If that’s the case, what do you want with them?”

“That’s a secret!” Lemon said firmly, doing a zipping motion over his mouth.

“Not getting that out of you, am I?” asked Twilight amused, receiving a fast shake from Lemon. “… Very well, I won‘t pry,“ she walked to the small podium and jumped on top, allowing her to tower above the rest. “I understand you still want to become my student, but I’ll have to think about it; why don’t you go and check out Ponyville in the meantime? This is a town with mostly Earth ponies, so you might find something for the study of your legend,” Twilight suggested, getting Lemon to grin excitedly.

“Good idea! I’ll go right now! Thank you Ms. Twilight!” and without further words, he ran out the door without much a good bye. Twilight stared at the open door for a second with a penetrating glance, before remembering her lack of magic, and closing it by hoof, releasing a wistful sigh.

“Every time,” she groaned.

“What’s the matter, Twi?” asked Spike.

“Nothing. Anyway, I could say I'm surprised that an Earth pony wants to learn magic, but I'm actually more surprised that Trixie of all ponies would have an impression on him. She is a total show-off!”

“With no disrespect to the Princess, but I read that your magic inspiration began by watching her do something that could be counted as an act of ‘showing-off’ but at a larger magnitude, isn’t it?” pointed out Patch with a grin.

Twilight turned to meet her with her mouth open and a raised hoof. “How did y- Oh, right, the books about us…” she promptly closed it as she annoyingly recognized the truth in her words. “I’m starting to think that disliking you is not such a bad idea after all,” she hissed.

“About time you learned,” Patch retorted satisfied.

“Grr…” Twilight growled, turning to Spike. “Spike, what do you say to a day off? Maybe you can show Lemon the town?”

“That would be awesome!” Spike said excited. “But… I have chores today, remember?” he added disappointed.

“Oh, don’t worry, ‘Bookish Delight’ will take care of them: isn’t that right new assistant?” she explained, relishing on the words as Patch realized it.

“What!?” Patch yelped. “Bu-”

“Oh, wow! Thank you Ms. P-I mean, Ms. ‘Delight’,” Spike winked. “Thank you Twilight! I’ll see you later!”

“Don’t stay out too late!” Twilight advised him, and after a goodbye hug, he was gone. “Come on, new assistant, we have work to do!”

Patch simply stood in place, her jaw hanging open and an eye twitching. “… You win this round, Sparkle,” she acknowledged, before lazily following after Twilight to deal with Spike’s chores.

“Yes, that’ll be three bits, ma’am,” Harvest informed the pony on the other side, bagging a pair of turnips and handing them to the mare who dropped the payment on the counter. “Thank you for your business! Have a nic-”

“Sigh…” came a wistful lament from Ditzy from the side, causing both mares to turn to look at her.

“-er, a nice day, ma’am!” Harvest finished quickly, waving away the mare before turning to Ditzy. “Di-I mean, Derpy?”

“Sigh…” Ditzy continued sighing, completely missing Harvest’s call.

“Er, Derpy? Helloo?” she attempted once more.

“Siiiigh…”

“… Ditzy!” Harvest called one last time, getting Ditzy to jump in surprise.

“Harvest!” she shouted angrily. “I told you not to call me that out here!” she hissed, looking around frantically as she covered her friend’s snout, who simply held an annoyed look at her reaction.

“Derpy,” Harvest started calmly, removing her hoof. “Look, I know you have a thing with that name, but honestly, Dit… I mean, the other one is your name!”

“Harvest,” Ditzy simply said with a commanding tone. “It’s Derpy—end of discussion, alright?”

“Fine…” Harvest sighed, resigning to the familiar outcome; it wasn’t the first time she’d attempted it. She brushed her mane aside in exasperation and gulped a fresh of air. “Can you at least tell me what your problem is, then? No offense, but you are scaring away my customers.”

“Well so-rry! I told you I didn’t wanna come, remember?” Ditzy pouted angrily, crossing her hooves in annoyance. “But you HAD to make me come, didn’t you?”

“Look, DERPY, I dragged you here because you were moping and wouldn‘t leave your room! Seriously!” she reached under the stand and brought out a double sided ‘OUT FOR LUNCH’ sign, setting it up on the table and pushing Ditzy inside the tent right behind them, closing the place to give themselves some quiet. “Now, will you tell me what the heck is wrong with you? You usually get over things by now!”

Ditzy stood in place, her hooves clopping as she bumped them together with occasional nervous glances to Harvest who simply gave her a frustrated stare. “But it’s embarrassing…“ she started.

“I swear to Faust, if you don’t tell me, I’m calling you Ditzy out here from now on,“ Harvest threatened instantly.

“O-okay! Fine! Well, r-remember when I went out on that, er, special meeting?” she started, glancing to the side.

“The one from a few days ago? Yes, what about it?” Harvest questioned confused.

“Well. the truth is… I kinda went out with John, you know? The human, and…” she ran a hoof through her mane as a blush spawned on her face. “And I j-OOF!” she was stopped, as Harvest held a hoof in her mouth.

“Please, just… “ Harvest sighed. “You have a crush on him, don't you?” Ditzy blinked once, and after a second, nodded slowly, her eyes closing as her face became redder by the seconds. “I don't mean to be rude by asking this, but why?“

“W-well, because he is so nice, and he actually keeps his eyes on mine when we talk, even when they aren’t where they are supposed to be! And he is just really nice! A-“ the hoof returned to Ditzy’s mouth, stopping the barrage of words.

Harvest sighed once more. “Fine, I get it. For goodness sake… Well, I guess it’s time you told me what happened that day, then.”

“B-but, you still have to work, don’t you?” Ditzy argued weakly with a hopeful stare.

“Well, I do,” Harvest agreed, walking back outside and simply turning the sign from ‘OUT FOR LUNCH’ to ‘CLOSED’. “And now, I don’t. I’m all ears.”

Ditzy whimpered, but conceded with a nod. “Alright… You see, it happened a few days ago at Golden Oaks…”

“… And then we fell! It was really scary! And as I was about to say something, Rarity placed her hoof in my mouth stopping me, and even as we fell, I felt the beauty behin-”

“Yep, uh-huh, okaay,” Lemon groaned with feign interest, his focus remaining on the Earth ponies around him. “Noo, too short, too normal… Too buff, oh, wait, that’s a Pegasus: tiny wings!” he continued observing. “Hey, Spike?” he turned to talk to the dragon.

“…nally, like a ton of these huge dragons! And then, I-”

“Spike!”

“Woah!” Spike yelped surprised. “What was that for? I was getting to the best part!”

“Sure,” Lemon lied. “I was wondering, is there an odd Earth pony around here? Someone who is, you know? Really out of place?” he asked hopeful.

“Hmm…” Spike thought, his mind running the different ponies he knew. “I’m not sure…” he put his claw on his chin, closing his eyes as he thought of it.

“Wheee!” came a laughter from out of nowhere, surprising Lemon.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” asked Spike, a pink blur popping out from behind, and placing a party hat on top of his head.

“Yes! Who did that!?” Lemon asked surprised as Spike grabbed the hat.

“That would be me!” said a laughing Pinkie Pie, popping from the middle and giving each a hug. “I’m glad I found you, I was looking all over for you! I looked under my pillow, in Gummy’s favorite dinner plate, I even looked inside the oven, but you guys weren’t there!”

“Um, Pinkie, why didn’t you just look in the library? I sort of, you know, live there,” Spike said without any amusement.

“Doh! That was my fifty-seventh guess!” she said with disappointment.

“Hey… You are the pink pony who was in Canterlot, weren’t you?” Lemon asked, recognizing her.

“Oh, sorry! Yes, I was! I’m Pinkie Pie! Nice to meeeeeet you!” she greeted Lemon, shaking his hoof rapidly. “Now come on! We have to go to Sugarcube Corner, the others are waiting!” she shouted, popping from under Lemon and picking him up on her back alongside Spike.

“W-woah! What others, Pinkie?” Spike very validly asked.

“No time to explain! Come on!” and with a motor-like sound, she sped off, the other two quickly grabbing onto her for dear life.

“Cool! How did she do that?” Lemon started turning to Spike. “How did she teleport under us!?”

“I. Don’t. Know!” he replied, jumping as Pinkie began skipping. “I. Never. Question. Pinkie Pie slow down!” he finished turning to shout at Pinkie.

“Huh…” Lemon began thoughtful, a suspicion coming to mind as he wondered over the pink pony he was riding. “I wonder if she could be… Naaaah!”

Harvest drank a cup of tea, sitting down on a chair as she continued to listen to Ditzy‘s story, focusing on her words. “And then… you just left?”

“Um…“ Ditzy seemed exhausted as she finished. “… That’s when I decided to give up on him, yes, but after I got home I realized that I DIDN’T want to, and I became, well, like you see me now,” Ditzy finished, looking down sadly, her eyes tearing up “And I know I shouldn’t feel like this, b-b-but ouch!” she stopped, looking up to find Harvest’s hoof towering over her. “W-what was that for?” she pouted, rubbing the growing bump on her head.

“You are really silly, Ditzy,” Harvest said with a smile.

“I told you! I’m Der-ouch! Stop that!” Ditzy cried out, falling back in surprise at the new bump in her head.

“Wait until I’m done talking,” she ordered, making Ditzy tense up and stand as she waited for the words. “Good. Now, you told me that he was not YET interested in ponies, correct?”

“Well, yes, I di—”

“AND you then continued, arriving at the part in which you said he ‘obviously’ liked somepony else; do you see where I’m going with this?” she asked mockingly. “Rhetorical question, of course. You already know.”

“Yes, but… What if h-”

“What if NOTHING!” Harvest stopped her. “You don’t know that yet, they are friends, he was worried about a friend! He told you he wasn’t interested in ponies yet! Honestly, see what got you for not trying! You have to stand strong! You have to fight for what you want! You gotta show him you are the mare of his dreams!” she exclaimed, holding her hoof and shaking it in the air.

Ditzy said nothing, simply listening intently at her friend’s words.

“Now, as your best friend, I will try my best to help you with this, but you must promise me to NOT pout over this, and not give up until—and only if—he starts dating somepony else, understand?"

“Harvest…” Ditzy whimpered, tears falling down her face. “Thank you!” she shouted, jumping on her roommate, rubbing her cheek without restraint as she towered over her.

“Alright, alright…” Harvest sighed happily, ruffling her friend’s mane. “You are hopeless, you know that?”

Ditzy only smiled, giving her friend the biggest grin she could muster. “Hey, I have to repay you for this!” she said excited.

“You don’t have to, I’m just happy to help you dummy,” Harvest replied, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I have to get back to work.”

“Aww, come on! I’ll take you to Sugarcube Corner! You deserve it!”

“Ugh,” Harvest complained, her sweet tooth activating at the mention of the sweets place. “Attacking me with my one weakness… Eh, what the heck? I can deal with one day without work. You can pay a bit extra for this month’s bills,” she exclaimed content and headed out the tent.

“Yeah!” Ditzy said happily before realizing what she’d said. “Wait, what? Harvest! That wasn’t in the deal!” she shouted, rushing outside the tent in a desperate attempt to stop her friend.

“We are here!” Pinkie Pie shouted, coming to a sudden halt, causing the kids on her to jump off, both hugging the ground dramatically as if thankful to be back on it. “What are you two doing? We have to go to the others!”

“Sorry Ms. Pie, I’m just showing the ground how much I appreciate it,” Lemon replied without a hint of sarcasm, before looking up and noticing the place. “Oooh! I remember this place, this is the place with the sweets! I love sweets!” he said instantly turning gears.

“Me too! Come on boys!” Pinkie grinned, pushing the pair inside the place, they went past the front section of the bakery, and into a different room, where suddenly, dozens of different colored balloons rained from the ceiling.

“Surprise!” came the shout from the filly in front of them, grinning and waving around a table which housed a cake shaped like a shield with the outline of a pony in the middle, oddly struck by a knife which had brought its perfect shape to an untimely demise.

“Oh, hi Apple Bloom!” greeted her Spike. “What’s this for?”

“Oh, heya Spike!” returned it Apple Bloom looking confused. “You came too? Eh, Ah’ always said that more ponies make parties more fun!”

“That’s what I was thinking!” Pinkie shouted, coming from behind the cake and expertly grabbing the knife. “The floor is yours, girls!” she disappeared under the table, and out of nowhere, the lights dimmed, a spotlight enveloping the group.

“Huh?” both Lemon and Spike said surprised.

“Scoots!” came Sweetie Belle’s voice.

“Got it!” and out of nowhere, the sound of a drum began playing, it continued its playing as another pony was pushed into the circle.

“Babs?” Lemon said recognizing the filly. “What’s going on?”

“Beats me! They had my eyes covered until now!” she replied looking around confused. “What’s with the sweet spotlight?” she asked looking at the circle of light they were in.

“I think we are about to find out…” Spike said nervously as Apple Bloom stepped forward with a scroll in hoof.

“We, the C- Um, Spike, can you come over here?” Apple Bloom said, motioning Spike to stand besides her.

“Oh, okay, sorry!” Spike apologized, running to stand by her side.

“Okay, now. Ahem… We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Ba-” she suddenly stopped, giving the scroll a good look before turning her head to the back. “Scootaloo! You forgot to write Lemon’s name here!” she groaned, dropping it to the floor.

“Sorry! I forgot!” Scootaloo replied, stopping the drumming. “Well, the mood is lost, turn on the lights, Sweetie Belle!”

“Aww!” came a cry from an unknown location, and with the sound of a switch, the light returned the place to its usual colored look.

“Ah horse apples, Ah’m winging this!” Apple Bloom said, jumping towards the pair and standing in front of them with a determined stare. “You are both hereby welcomed to the Cutie Mark Crusaders! You are both now, er…” she stopped, grabbing the scroll for a bit, reading some of it, and rolling her eyes before tossing it aside. “You are one of us now!”

“I need to revise the scroll, don’t I?” Scootaloo asked, approaching the group.

“Oh yeah, big time, Scoots,” Apple Bloom replied laughing.

“Well, there goes the plan,” complained Sweetie Belle, approaching them from the side. “Oh well, welcome to the CMC!” she told the pair who simply stood looking confused. “What’s the matter?”

“Sorry, I’m just… confused,” Lemon began. “We both probably are,” he said motioning towards Babs.

“It doesn’t matter right now! Let’s have cake to celebrate!” Apple Bloom offered, rushing to the cake where Pinkie Pie lay in wait with knife in hoof.

Pinkie smiled and raised the knife, cutting through the cake. “Alright, who is first?” *Knock, knock*. “Oh, we have company! Spike, can you cut the cake? I’ll be right back!” handing the knife to Spike, Pinkie rushed to the front door, where the sound of muffled voices could be heard.

“…okay, we can come back tomorrow…”

“Hello!” Pinkie greeted, suddenly opening the door fully, finding none other than Golden Harvest and Ditzy waiting right outside. “Oh, hey guys! Did you need something?”

“O-oh, hi Pinkie,” answered Ditzy surprised. “Um, I thought you weren’t home today…”

“Oh, yeah! It was my day off, but the Cakes had to go out on an important delivery so I stayed to baby-sit!” she explained. “Do you need something? A party? Did you lose something maybe?”

“Um, no, we came because we wanted to eat here, but if you are closed, it’s okay, w-we’ll come back,” Ditzy replied excusing herself.

“Oh, duuh! Of course you were, this is a bakery! I am NOT on the ball today! But that’s only because I don’t have one!” Pinkie laughed.

“Um… Right. We’ll just go then, alright?”

“No, wait!” Pinkie stopped her. “I don’t get to see you often at all!, Derpy! Like, I’ve seen you around thirty-seven times less than the pony I’ve seen the least! It’s ridiculous!” and without further arguments, she grabbed the pair and brought them inside, taking them to a different room to avoid messing with the CMC's party.

“Um… Thank you , Pinkie, but don’t you have to watch the twins?” Harvest asked worried.

“It’s okay! They are asleep, just don’t make too much noise and it should be fine,” she explained, handing them a pair of menus. “So, what can I get you?”

“We’ll need time to think, thank you, Pinkie,” Harvest explained, opening one of the menus.

“Okie, dokie! I’ll be back in a jiffy then!” she said before skipping away, leaving the pair on their own.

Harvest watched as Pinkie disappeared into another room, and with lighting speed, turned to Ditzy. “Psst! Derpy!” she called, hiding behind her menu.

“What?” Ditzy replied without paying much attention, her eyes literally fixated on a certain item.

“This is your chance!”

“Chance for what?”

“Ask Pinkie what she thinks about John, of course!”

“What!?” Ditzy yelped, barely holding her voice."Are you crazy!?"

"No! You need to do this, how else will you find out that but from the pony herself? Just be inconspicuous!" Harvest explained.

"But!"

“Oh, are you girls ready to order?” Pinkie asked, popping out of nowhere with a white apron on.

“N-not quite, can you give us a few minutes?” Harvest asked, holding back an awkward laugh.

“You got it! Be right back!” she agreed, skipping away from the pair and returning to the Crusaders, who by that point, had completely destroyed the shape the cake had beforehand. “Hey kids! Everything alright?”

“It sure is, Pinkie! This cake was delicious!” Sweetie said happily, a smidge of cake hanging around her snout. “Your pastries are the best!”

“Thanks! So, do you guys need anything else?” Pinkie asked, the phrase visibly boring her as its repeated use became apparent to her.

“Um, no it’s alright Pinkie, Ah’ think we’ll be fine,” Apple Bloom said warily. “Is somepony else here? Ah’ thought Ah’ heard voices,” she asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing! Don’t worry about it! Just enjoy the party!” Pinkie exclaimed excited. :”If you guys need anything, give me a call!” she explained before leaving the group to their own again.

“She is acting weird today, huh?” Scootaloo said surprised.

“When isn’t she acting weird?” Sweetie Belle retorted.

“Good point,” she answered, causing the group to burst into laughter.

“So, cousin… Can you tell me what I did exactly to become a Crusader now? You said something like that before,” Babs asked suddenly, looking at the three other fillies curiously.

“Oh, sorry! Well, remember your idea from today?” Applebloom asked.

“Wait, you are not talking about the ‘Demolition Cutie Mark’ plan, are you?” Babs asked tentatively, sighing at the reminder. “That was terrible, and I mean, the clubhouse…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! It was an awesome idea!” Scootaloo said excited. “The execution needed work, though…”

“Scootaloo, it’s demolition,“ Sweetie cut in. “The only execution we needed was ‘destroy’, which we did. It was pure pandemonium!” the fillies and Spike all looked at her with blank stares, confusion clearly plastered on their faces.

“She means chaos,” Lemon explained with a laugh, receiving ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the others.

“Oh, great, another dictionary,” Scootaloo sighed.

“Um… What?” Lemon asked with a perplexed stare, not knowing how to feel about the word.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it Lemon,” Apple Bloom replied with a mischievous grin.

“Right… Wait, what did I do to get into the club?” Lemon asked confused. “Miss Applejack said that I needed to join, but you don’t seem like the type to just let ponies in just like that.”

“Aaand you would be right, kid,” Scootaloo said grinning. “We were planning to have you do something awesome! But there was no need when, you know? The Everfree incident and all…” she stopped suddenly, noticing the others suddenly quiet. “Oh, right. Sorry…”

“What’s wrong?” Lemon questioned, looking at the somber looks on their faces. “Guys?”

“Well, you were out-cold when you arrived from the Everfree,” Applebloom started explaining, looking at the others. “But when you guys returned, Fluttershy sort of broke down and cried, and then there is Rarity…” she said, pointing to Sweetie Belle to continue.

“Rarity seemed okay, but when I tried to talk to her this morning and ask her about it, she yelled at me that it was none of my business,” Lemon and Spike seemed shocked for a second, but Sweetie quickly intervened. “It’s okay, she apologized right away, but she seemed really upset. She is resting now, though, so she‘ll be fine.”

“How about you, Lemon?” Spike continued. “Are you alright?”

Lemon only stood in place looking at the other ponies giving him a worried look, their faces showing their worry for him. He could do nothing but smile.

“I’m okay, I… Sorta passed out when the Chimera was chasing us,” he lied, remembering a certain order given to him by Captain Patch.

…

“Hey, kid?” Patch called, getting Lemon‘s attention as they arrived in Ponyville.

“Oh, yes Ms. Patch? Is something the matter?" Lemon asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

“Don‘t worry, I‘m not gonna hurt you, I just need you to sign this,” she brought out a paper, setting it down in front of him.

“What‘s this?”

“You are smart, so I‘ll make it easy; this is a non-disclosure agreement, I need you to sign this,” she explained. “What happened is classified information, I need you to keep anything unnatural that you saw a secret, understand? This is really important.”

“So, I can’t tell anypony about the gry-”

“Shh!” Patch interrupted. “No, you cannot. Trust me, this will help John more than you going on and spouting everything to all, understand?”

“Yes…” Lemon replied in agreement, signing the paper with a quill left to him. “I understand!”

…

“That’s okay, Lemon, we are just glad you are okay,” Babs continued, giving him a smile and interrupting Lemon’s memory.

“I…” Lemon began, not knowing how to continue. “Wow, I didn’t know you guys were that worried about me.”

“Well, of course we were! You are our friend!” Pinkie shouted, popping in out of nowhere. “And here is your Sundae!” she said, dropping a bowl of the treat in the middle.

“Pinkie, we didn’t order this,” Sweetie said, her eyes remaining on the treat, she licked her lips, resisting the urge to reach out for it.

“Oh, sorry! This is mine!” she said quickly, grabbing the treat and taking it out of the room. It didn’t take her long for her to arrive with Ditzy and Harvest who talked quietly as she reached them. “Sorry for the delay, here is your Sundae! And probably my best so far!” she said proudly.

“Thank you! Oooh!” Harvest smiled, quickly digging in on the sweat treat. "Hmm..."

“You are welcome!” Pinkie said, quickly sitting in the middle of the pair. “Soo, Harvest, how come I haven’t seen you in my parties lately! We’ve missed you!” she asked Harvest, who currently held a spoonful in the air.

“Oh, well, I went to Canterlot to visit my... well, to visit somepony last time. Sorry I didn’t go,” she apologized, quickly turning back to eat.

“Oh, that’s okay! How about you, Pinkie! Oh, wait! I’m Pinkie!” she laughed, smacking her own forehead. “What about you, Derpy? Haven’t seen you in any of my parties for around six-hundred and fifty three days now!”

Ditzy looked surprised at Pinkie’s count, but quickly shook it off, giving Harvest a nervous glance. “Um, you are right, I’m sorry Pinkie, I promise you that I’ll come to the next one.”

“Great! I can’t wait to see you there!” Pinkie yelped, hugging Ditzy.

“Ha, ha, yeah… Hey, Pinkie, can I ask you a question?” she began awkwardly, while Harvest turned to look at them interested.

“You can ask me ALL of the questions, but…” Pinkie began, edging closer to Ditzy’s ear. “Don’t ask me what I’m getting Gummy for his birthday, I don’t want him to hear!” she suddenly glared towards the next room, noticing a green tail disappearing around the corner.

“Um, right, Anyway! The question!” Ditzy started, only stopping as the question lingered on her mind.

“Yeeeeees?” Pinkie continued, pushing her face over Ditzy’s.

“Do you… like John?” *smack* came the sound from Harvest facehooving at that moment, giving Ditzy a flat stare.

“Well, of course I do! We are friends! We hang out, we do fun things! Why? You don’t like him?” Pinkie asked, giving Ditzy a disappointed look.

“No!” Ditzy hissed, suddenly remembering the twins sleeping upstairs. “I mean, I do like him! I meant the question, as if do you like-like him?” *thud, thud* Ditzy turned once again, this time watching Harvest smack her head against the table continuously.

“Oh! Hmm…” Pinkie managed to stop, actually thinking about the question without an outburst. “Well, of course I do!”

“Oh…” Ditzy sighed, letting out a sigh of disappointment.

“I like-like everypony! I like-like you too, Derpy!” Ditzy visibly recoiled at the words, suddenly being grabbed by Harvest and pushed aside.

“Aaaand, thank you very much Pinkie, here are some coins and my thanks for the Sundae, it was delicious, but we gotta go. There are vegetables to be sold!” she quickly excused herself, dragging the stoic Ditzy alongside her. "I think this should answer your question, Derpy," she whispered as she dragged her friend along.

“Oh? Wait, hold on! I‘ll bag your Sundae to go!” Pinkie ran, passing the room where the Crusaders and Spike were as she headed to look for a container, just as the group continued their conversation.

“I still don’t get it,” Lemon started. “What’s the point of shouting that?”

“It’s a tradition!” Scootaloo, Sweetie, and Apple Bloom said at the same time.

“Cousin? That doesn't really answer the question,” Babs agreed, nodding alongside Lemon.

“The point is to yell out to the world that we are getting our cutie marks! Right girls?” Apple Bloom said excited, the other two quickly joining her in a joining of hooves. “Let’s show them what we got!”

“Wait! What?” Pinkie gasped, hearing their plans, and rushing to stop them.

But it was too late.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS YAY!”

“WAAAH!” suddenly came the sound of crying foals from the second floor.

Lemon simply smiled sheepishly, the others giving the same smile in return. “I’m going to guess party is over now, isn’t it?”

…

The crusaders stood outside Sugarcube Corner, staring at Pinkie who had the twin foals sleeping on her back, snoring softly.

“Sorry about that, Pinkie, we didn‘t mean to wake them up,” Apple Bloom apologized.

“It‘s okay, you have no idea how many times it‘s happened to me! The Cakes get furious!” Pinkie said dismissively. “And I‘m sorry for cutting the party short, I guess I need to focus on these two, huh?” she said, turning to smile at the foals.

“Yeah, we understand. Thank you for letting us use your place, ma‘am!” Babs thanked her, bowing her head.

“Oh, don‘t thank me! It was my pleasure! Now, if you‘ll excuse me! I have to go… I think I learned a lesson here! I should write a letter to the Princess!” she finished as she returned inside, closing the door behind her and leaving the group staring at it.

“So, why exactly were you guys having a party here anyway?” Lemon asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

“Well, remember when we told you about the ‘demolition cutie mark’ thing?” Lemon nodded at Sweetie Belle’s question. “Yeah, the thing that got hit was our clubhouse, and trust me, it was NOT pretty.”

“Yeah, AJ must be angry,” continued Scootaloo. “So we are going back to apologize.”

“Yep! But before that, Ah’ wanted to welcome you guys to the club! Since crusading activities might not be happening for a while…” Applebloom finished sadly.

“Don’t worry cousin! It was my idea, if we all apologize we won’t get in too much trouble!” Babs joined in, the other crusaders joining with a ‘yeah!’ of their own.

“Bye Lemon, Spike! We’ll see you guys later!” Appleblom waved before running alongside her friends in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, as Lemon stared after them with a grin.

“… Hmm…” Lemon hummed, turning to Sugarcube Corner.

“What’s the matter, Lemon? Still hungry?” Spike asked in jest.

“No, I just remembered that I was supposed to be investigating,” he explained, sighing in frustration.

“What? You are saying that you didn’t have fun?” Spike said angrily.” You are an odd one. Eh, come on! Let’s go to the library, I need to set up your new room after all!”

“I wasn't saying th- wait, new room? What makes you think I’ll be living there?” Lemon ask confused, until it hit him. “Wait... you don’t mean?”

“Of course I do! I’ve known Twilight since we were little! She is going to say yes,” Spike replied knowingly, getting Lemon to return him a huge smile.

“Woohoo!” Lemon cheered loudly. “Gah!” *Rustle, rustle, thump!* “Huh? Did you hear something Spike?” he asked at the sudden sounds.

“I think you are hearing things," Spike said.

“Probably... Let's go then, Spike!" he said, grabbing Spike by a scale and tossing him on his back.

"Woah! Watch it! The scales are off-limits, buddy!" Spike said angrily.

"Sorry... Oh, hey, Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you know about Pinkie Pie?" Lemon asked.

"Pinkie Pie? Some things, I guess. Why?" he asked confused.

"Just wondering. Just wondering..." Lemon said with a grin as they marched on, back to the library.

…

“Ugh…” came a grunt from behind the bushes. “Darn kid, waking me up,” popping his head from the shrub he resided on, Recon sighed, jumping out, and with a quick spell, wiped the dirt from his coat. “And I was dreaming about Patch too…”

“RECON!” came a shout from behind the Unicorn, causing him to jump back into the shrub.

“I didn’t do anything!” Recon cried, cowering in fear.

“Seriously? That scared you?” the voice continued. Recon poked his head out, and noticed none other than Guard approaching him from the sky. “Recon, what do you think you are doing?”

“L-L-Lieutenant! Er, I was, um…” he stopped, and released a sigh. “I was sleeping instead of watching over, I’m sorry… Ouch!” he whined, as Guard placed a hit on his head, causing him to simply fall back in the now familiar shrub.

“Sometimes I wonder how you even got into the Royal Guard,” Gleaming Guard said with disbelief. “You are lucky it wasn’t the captain, or you would have been in trouble.”

“S-sorry captain,” Recon apologized again.

“Whatever, do you have anything to report from Canterlot yet?” Guard asked.

“Huh? Oh! Would you believe me if I said I haven’t checked?” he explained. Guard’s growl was enough to get his attention. “I-I mean, er… Ahaha…” his horn lit up, and in puff of smoke, a scroll appeared. “Um, whoops!”

“Just read it.”

“R-right…” after fumbling with the seal, Recon opened the scroll, quickly delving into the contents. “It seems that they found the Gryphon that might have killed the one you fought, sir.”

“I see… Any information from him?” he inquired with interest.

“No. Apparently, the kingdom of Gryphonia found out about him and have prohibited the use of the ‘Lunar Touch’ on him, so no interference from Princess Luna, it seems. They seem to be still interrogating him normally, thought, but with no success.”

“Darn it!” Guard growled, punching the nearby tree, his hoof denting into its bark easily.

“Well, there are some good news; I mean, Princess Celestia forgave us for what we did! She recognized that the Gryphons we killed was done in self-defense, so we are good on that end!” Recon explained, hoping to calm down Guard who seemed to be losing his patience.

"Excellent, we were forgiven for murder," he sighed sarcastically. "Anything else?” Guard asked tentatively, hoping for some better news.

“Well…” Recon said stalling as he continued. “This depends on your definition of ‘good’,” he said, handing Guard the scroll for him to read.

“What do you mea— oh…” Guard said nervously, reading the part. “Oh boy, this is NOT going to fare well for the Captain when she is told.”

They turned to look at each other for a couple of seconds, realizing what would have to be done, and with lighting speed, cried out at the same time.

“Not it!”

Lemon and Spike finally arrived at Golden Oaks, and without knocking, Spike headed in with a greeting. “Hey Twilight, we are ba- what’s going on here?” the pair watched as ‘Delight’ shelved books, an owl flying over her with a newspaper in its talons.

“Oh, hey Spike, Lemon,” Twilight greeted them. “I’m simply letting Owlicious teach Ms. Delight here how to alphabetize the non-fiction section,” the pair looked at the shelves, finding around a dozen books placed in it.

“Um… How many shelves has she done so far?” Spike asked.

“Oh, this is still her first one, she is not one for directions!” Twilight giggled satisfied, drinking from a cup with pleasure. “This tea is delicious, would you like some, Delight?”

“Uuugh, my name is Patch!” she shouted, grabbing the newspaper from Owlicious’ talons and attempting to swipe at the bird. “And I quit! There are MUCH better ways to take care of John than this hell!” she ran to Spike and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Little fellah, you are a trooper to suffer this much with this mare.”

Spike raised a brow at Twilight who simply shrugged, moving to help Owlicious to put them back once again.

“Well, you ponies seemed to have had fun,” came a comment from the still open front door as Guard and Recon entered the building.

“Ugh! Why doesn’t anypony ever close the door!” Twilight groaned, rushing to the still open door, and slamming it shut.

“What are you two doing here?” Patch asked, removing the glasses and undoing her mane. “I thought I told you to keep watch.”

Guard and Recon looked at each other and gulped, and after some fidgeting, took Patch to another room to relay the information, quickly returning to the lobby where Twilight stared with an annoyance.

"You know? I don't like secrecy in my home," she said with a grunt.

"Well, this is Royal Guard business too bad," she retorted before turning to her stallions. “Anyway, is that it?” Patch asked as she rubbed her head. “Or is there something worse?”

“Depends, Patch,” replied Guard, handing the scroll to her. “You might want to read the last part yourself.”

“Huh?” Patch hummed, grabbing the scroll and reading where appointed, her eyes growing as she continued. “Wait… this says that ‘we are here to stay until events are resolved,” she said with disbelief.

“Yes, ma’am,” Recon replied with a serious look.

“Wait, what does that mean?” Twilight asked, approaching the group curiously.

“It means that we are here to stay until further notice…” Patch replied in defeat. “So, we better get cozy with each other; we might be here a while.”

Twilight’s mouth hanged open at Patch’s words.

“Ugh…” came the complaints from a human in the room upstairs, the chatter making him groan under the covers. “Geez, can’t these ponies let a guy wallow in peace?” he asked, pushing the pillow over himself before letting out a sigh.

“Oh well, I should let them enjoy themselves. At least here I’m not causing trouble…”

Author's Notes:

This was kinda filler, kinda not. I hope you guys enjoyed the characters in this, though, I tried my best to make them likable.

Anyway, actual character chapter is next, and it is out! So you don't feel ripped for reading so much side-characters!

Spoiler Notes 30 - 06/08/18

Simple chapter. Honestly, my favorite bit about this one was the 'seamless' transitions between characters. I was experimenting with it, and for something done on the fly, I feel it went quite well. Honestly, the part I'm not too happy about was one of the last ones, but what you gonna do?

In this one, I tried to focus on characterization of the new characters a bit. I feel I did an okay job of it, but who knows? This one also introduces an element that will come back for sure if I stick to my finale notes.

At this point, I'm wondering if I'm writing these small notes for myself or for anyone else. It's probably a little of both.